Butchers and supermarkets are not reporting any decrease in beef sales despite an Irish Times poll which found that 38 per cent of voters were eating less beef due to BSE.
Beef sales in Supervalu's 200 stores were at all-time high, said a spokeswoman. Sales for the first three weeks of January came to £2.06 million, an increase of 5.6 per cent on the £1.95 million spent in the same period last year.
"Consumer confidence at our stores has not been affected by the introduction of the Purchase for Destruction Scheme, which we believe can be attributed to our beef quality assurance scheme, put in place 18 months ago," she said.
In March 1999 Superquinn announced a beef tracing system which would guarantee full traceability from "pasture to plate", marketing director Mr Eamonn Quinn said. "Sales are very strong this month, with over 10 per cent growth compared to January last year."
The Irish Times/MRBI poll found the drop in consumption was most prevalent in Dublin (49 per cent) and in the ABC1 category generally (46 per cent). Superquinn, which would be seen to serve this category, has 10 stores in the Dublin region and seven stores elsewhere.
Tesco, with 75 stores, has "seen no noticeable decrease in beef consumption." Tesco had full traceability, a spokeswoman said.
Members of the Associated Craft Butchers of Ireland had not reported any decline in beef sales, the chief executive, Mr Pat Brady, said. "Sales are buoyant and some butchers are reporting unexpected increases.
"Butchers are much closer to their source of supply which is often local and can satisfy customer queries in a way that is not possible in supermarkets."
Mr Brady said butchers were required under the beef labelling regulations to publicly display information about the source of their beef.