The Farmers’ Union of Wales today hit out at Tesco’s proposals to introduce an “Irish-born, British-finished” label which will add to consumer confusion at a time when UK retailers should be seeking to clarify labelling and source more British born and reared produce.
According to media reports, beef from cattle imported from Ireland for fattening in the UK could be labelled “Irish-born, British-finished” in order to circumvent current labelling rules and allow a country flag to be placed on the label.
But a Tesco spokesperson said: “We have no plans to introduce an ‘Irish born, British finished’ labelling system for beef.”
FUW Denbighshire county chairman Iwan Jones said: “Apart from undermining UK farmers and the UK market in general, the plans would simply add to existing confusion over food labelling and undermine consumer confidence which has already been severely dented by the horsemeat scandal."
“Consumers are looking for clarity in terms of food labelling and certainty regarding the origin of their food. We already have reliable labelling in the form of British Beef and PGI Welsh Beef and we should be seeking to simplify what is already out there, not add to the confusion.”
Jones said people did not want to be further confused by the type of label being considered.
“Where the labelling is specifically aimed at circumventing rules it will either undermine confidence in the label or, more worryingly, undermine confidence in existing brands.”
Jones said the FUW had written to Tesco’s chief executive Philip Clarke highlighting its concerns and warned other supermarkets not to follow suit.
“We sincerely hope that Tesco will not proceed with this plan, as it could be extremely damaging, and we would warn other supermarkets against considering similar approaches.
“The consumer deserves to know that meat they perceive as being British is genuinely British.
“They need clarity not more confusion which will simply raise suspicions and dent consumer confidence."
Food sales at supermarket giant Tesco have seen a fall over the past months due to the horsemeat scandal.
"A small but discernible impact on frozen and chilled convenience food sales due to the customer response to equine DNA being detected in four products" said chief executive Philip Clarke.
"We have set out our plans to put customers back at the heart of the way we do business, and this is particularly evident in our recent initiatives on price and on food trust."
In March, Clarke pledged to sell meat from sources 'closer to home.'
Clarke said Tesco introduced new testing processes in light of recent concerns from farming groups and consumers.
From July, he said, all chicken sold in its stores would be from British farms.
The retailer also announced its ambitions to build partnerships, become more transparent and to make 'real changes to the way Tesco source' its meat products.
Like-for-like UK sales, excluding petrol and VAT, dropped by 1% during the 13 weeks ending 25 May 2013.
