Highland farmers and crofters will be out in force today to promote Scotch Lamb to Inverness shoppers.
The promotional event, which has been organised by NFU Scotland, take places at the Forbes Farm Fresh stand at the Inverness Farmers Market.
It forms part of Love Lamb Week celebrations, which kicked off on Thursday.
NFU Scotland’s regional manager for the Highlands, Ian Wilson, said: “At this time of year, Scotch Lamb is at its tastiest and most plentiful. This is a chance for people to try Scotch Lamb and support Scottish farmers by buying our produce.”
Love Lamb Week is a part of Quality Meat Scotland’s (QMS) ongoing campaign to promote the quality and versatility of Scotch Lamb, and all those involved in the lamb supply chain have been encouraged to support the campaign.
Celebrity chefs – including Jak O’Donnell and Jean Christophe Novelli – will be demonstrating lamb dishes at the Dundee Food and Flower Festival this weekend. The festival will also see local chefs supporting the campaign including Master Chef: The Professionals winner Jamie Scott.
Scottish retailers are also getting involved by hosting 36 in-store promotional events throughout the campaign week.
QMS’s continuous work to promote Scotch Lamb has proven successful over time with last year’s campaign boosting retail sales of fresh lamb in Scotland by 8%.
Meanwhile, a study conducted by NFU Scotland found that Scotch Lamb has been filling the supermarket shelves in the run-up to Love Lamb Week.
Secret shoppers from the union discovered that out of 850 packs of lamb inspected on supermarket shelves, less than 3% had been imported.
NFU Scotland livestock committee chairman Charlie Adam said he was pleased with the results.
“To find that 97% of the lamb in Scottish supermarket stores is home-produced, with the vast majority labelled as Scotch, is a fantastic boost to the Scottish sheep sector at the busiest time of the year. It provides a fantastic platform from which to encourage all retailers to build their commitment to Scotch,” he said.
To highlight the simplicity of cooking with lamb, new online recipe videos have been produced for this year’s QMS Scotch Lamb campaign.
QMS marketing controller Suzie Carlaw said: “The target market for the 2016 campaign is young professionals and busy working parents. We want to make Scotch Lamb a regular item on their shopping lists by tempting them with nutritious dishes which can be cooked in half an hour or less.”
