November 19, 2007
Scotland's ABC posts meat sales gains by 30 percent
ABC, Scotland's largest red-meat buying consortium, have increased its meat sales by 30 percent in the past three years since the Scottish government changed its guidelines regarding the procurement of goods for the private sector.
The figures have just been released by Quality Meat Scotland (QMS), which has been working with councils and other public sector bodies to help increase the amount of locally-produced red meat intended fir schools and hospitals. ABC, which has 11 local authorities on its books, mostly in the west of Scotland, has an annual fresh meat turnover in excess of GBP2.1 million.
QMS chairman Donald Biggar, speaking at the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) conference in Peebles, said the increase is an "excellent news for Scottish red meat companies supplying branded Scotch beef and lamb as well as specially selected pork to major buyers like ABC".
"It's also a feather in the cap for QMS, which has been working behind the scenes for several years helping public procurement agencies to develop tenders that can give Scottish companies a better chance of winning business without falling foul of EU legislation," he said.
He added the increase also meant that some of the "most vulnerable members of our society have the chance to eat red meat that is freshly produced by the Scottish industry and comes with unique guarantees on quality, production standards and animal health and welfare."
Recent research by QMS indicates that all of Scotland's 32 local authorities now include sustainability criteria in their food supply contracts - an increase from 27 last year.
In addition, increasing numbers of public buyers have asked QMS to assist in tracing red meat supplies right back to the farm of origin.
QMS is now working with other public sector buyers, including the National Health Service and the Scottish Government, to ensure that future contracts are written to specify conditions that can favour local red meat companies.
