Supermarket giant Tesco was yesterday accused of giving Scots sheep producers a “slap in the face” by selling New Zealand lamb under Scotch Lamb promotional material.
NFU Scotland criticised the retailer after finding shelves full of the imported meat under a banner saying “The Best Scottish Lamb in Season” at the company’s Tesco Extra store at Hermiston Gait, near Edinburgh.
Speaking at yesterday’s Kelso Ram Sales, union vice president Rob Livesey said: “We think it’s an absolute disgrace. All the promises made by the retailer are clearly worthless. We think as a policy we need to have exclusivity of British lamb in supermarkets from June 1 to January 1.
“If we expect farmers to survive, we need some loyalty form the market. The lower support payments coming to us and the market acting against us puts us in a very fragile position.”
Politicians were also on the offensive about the mishap.
The SNP’s rural affairs spokesman, Calum Kerr, said he would be writing to Tesco’s chief executive, demanding an apology be made to sheep producers.
“With problems such as low prices, a crisis in the dairy industry, supply chain issues and a poor summer, Scottish farmers are having it tough enough already without a major supermarket chain demeaning their products in this way,” he said.
“This move is doubly insulting as this is the peak season for our fantastic quality Scottish lamb and a major promotion campaign is underway – in which, ironically, Tesco is taking part.”
SNP MEP Alyn Smith also hit out and said he would be writing to the Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA) about the issue.
Responding to the allegations, a Tesco spokesman said: “We recognise the quality of Scotch lamb and we are proud to be its biggest customer, and we sell more Scotch lamb than any other retailer.
“All of our lamb counters are 100% Scotch lamb all year round and our Tesco Finest lamb is also Scotch. Our pre-packed lamb, which currently is predominantly Scotch, is clearly labelled with the country of origin to allow our customers to simply identify Scotch products as part of their shopping choices.
“As a long-standing champion of Scottish agriculture, we are supporting Quality Meat Scotland with their ‘Wham Bam Thank You Lamb’ tour, which is visiting 30 Tesco stores across country, to showcase and offer customers the opportunity to sample Scotch lamb.”