March 15, 2007

UK to seize markets on offals
 

Newly-published reports in the UK highlight opportunities for beef and lamb supply chains to make better returns on offals.

An analysis of offal market opportunities and advice on reducing handling costs have been published by the English Beef and Lamb Executive (EBLEX) Offals Working Group.

Traditionally, offal (or fifth quarter) sales not only covered the costs of slaughter, but also provided a modest profit centre for the industry. This is still the case in other parts of the world, but no longer the case in the UK, where most offal is either sold cheaply for use in pet food production or treated as waste.

Last year, edible offal (such as liver and kidney) accounted for only 3.6 percent of all fresh and frozen red meat sales in England - with 80 percent of those sales to consumers aged over 45. Butchers' shops accounted for almost a third of all offal sales in 2006.

The Offals Working Group, which included representatives from the abattoir and processing sectors, was set up in June last year to explore ways of increasing industry returns from offal. It looked in particular at new export markets which came on-stream after the lifting of the beef export ban.

EBLEX chief executive Richard Ali, who chaired the EBLEX Offals Working Group, said the report is the first major analysis of offal market opportunities in over a decade and clearly illustrates an attractive market both home and abroad for fifth quarter products.

Ali said Eblex will be working with independent butchers to prepare creative dishes from these products to encourage more consumers.

The offals group, on its side, will underline certain issues such as packing and presentation of offals as well as logistics to reduce production costs.

The EBLEX Offals Working Group has published three documents: a report on The English Offal Market, An Assessment of the EU Offal Market and the Central European Tripe Market. The Red Meat Industry Forum (RMIF), which is a member of the Working Group, has published separately an industry fact sheet on the gut room and associated activities that highlight how abattoirs can reduce costs through adopting best practice.

On the farming side, diseases such as liver fluke can have a serious impact on the ability to increase returns from the fifth quarter, and EBLEX is now including this message as part of its ongoing work under its Better Returns Programs.