Sheep producers have been out in force promoting Scotch Lamb to shoppers as part of a special promotional campaign being run by red meat levy body Quality Meat Scotland (QMS).
The 10-week Wham Bam Lamb campaign, which started towards the end of August, is running again this year after reaping positive results in the past.
It sets out to encourage busy families to enjoy Scotch Lamb as a mid-week meal.
Recipes being promoted include meatballs, stir fries, biryani and kebabs.
Scotland’s young farmers have even got behind the campaign with enthusiasm and creativity.
A national bale art competition being run by the Scottish Association of Young Farmers’ Clubs (see story on page 7) tasks Young Farmers Clubs with incorporating Scotch Lamb into their bale masterpieces.
According to QMS, last year’s campaign resulted in a 10.5% increase in the value of identified Scottish-origin lamb sales.
What a fantastic achievement for everyone involved.
As these promotional campaigns demonstrate, informing the consumer about how to make use of a product is a great way to get them to buy more of it.
In most cases, lack of knowledge about how to cook something, asides from price, is the key reason for someone not buying it.
Why aren’t more sectors of the farming community going out to promote their goods?
Supermarkets are forever shouting from the rooftops about their pride in stocking Scottish produce, and I’m sure they would be more than happy to facilitate tasting sessions for Scottish food and drink as they currently do with Scotch Lamb.
With tattie harvest in full swing, and consumers facing delays on roads across the country due to tractors delivering potatoes from the field to store, surely now is a good time to promote the humble spud.
The decline in fresh potato consumption is widely documented, yet not enough is being done to inspire shoppers to buy more potatoes.
Tatties face stiff competition from pasta, rice and in recent years more trendy products such as cous cous and quinoa.
Growers will tell you potatoes are versatile, and that is definitely a strong selling point to tell consumers.
Shoppers need reminded of how easy it is to cook and enjoy a potato in various different forms, from comforting mash to crispy chips, or a steaming baked potato or golden roasties.
Perhaps AHDB Potatoes should take a leaf out of Quality Meat Scotland’s book and encourage potato growers to become tattie ambassadors.
The potato levy body has made tremendous efforts already to promote the health benefits of potatoes, but good old fashioned tasting sessions with consumers may well be the answer.
We are a nation of crisp and chip lovers, yet we don’t seem to want to eat fresh potatoes. Something is seriously wrong there.
Retailers and packers should also be encouraged to better present potatoes to shoppers. Despite Halloween being around the corner, green potatoes are a no no.
