IFA president Tim Cullinan has described the sale of Polish beef to UK supermarkets as a “kick in the teeth for Irish beef farmers”.
“At a time when Irish beef farmers are facing collapsing prices, it’s incredible that the ABP food group, an Irish-owned company, would bring in beef from Poland to stock supermarket shelves in the UK,” Cullinan said.
“The European beef market is in turmoil. This has impacted more severely in Ireland as we are an export nation. We are being told by processors like ABP that the market for Irish beef has collapsed, yet we see the Irish-owned company filling orders with Polish beef.”
Empty shelves
On Friday, a spokesperson for ABP confirmed to the Irish Farmers Journal that it had supplied Polish beef, but this was a once-off, short-term measure because of the circumstances with empty shelves.
The spokesperson said the supply has now stopped and once Polish beef has worked its way through, they will be supplying British and Irish beef exclusively.
The Polish beef was in compliance with beef labelling regulations.
Cullinan said that “ABP Group should front up and give farmers a proper explanation as to why they chose to do this”.
“The IFA has made a detailed submission this week to the Irish Government and the EU Commission looking for market stabilisation measures. We have had many meetings with our European counterparts in preparation for a key EU meeting on Monday,” he said.
Build trust
“We made it clear last week that the whole sector needs to pull together to put a case forward to the Commission. I made the point that this crisis provided an opportunity for the processing sector to build trust by supporting farmers at this time. What has happened here will only serve to make matters worse,” he said.
Cullinan’s comments follow those of Ulster Farmers Union (UFU) beef and lamb chair Sam Chesney, who blasted UK supermarkets Asda and Sainsbury’s for selling Polish mince in their British stores.
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IFA president Tim Cullinan has described the sale of Polish beef to UK supermarkets as a “kick in the teeth for Irish beef farmers”.
“At a time when Irish beef farmers are facing collapsing prices, it’s incredible that the ABP food group, an Irish-owned company, would bring in beef from Poland to stock supermarket shelves in the UK,” Cullinan said.
“The European beef market is in turmoil. This has impacted more severely in Ireland as we are an export nation. We are being told by processors like ABP that the market for Irish beef has collapsed, yet we see the Irish-owned company filling orders with Polish beef.”
Empty shelves
On Friday, a spokesperson for ABP confirmed to the Irish Farmers Journal that it had supplied Polish beef, but this was a once-off, short-term measure because of the circumstances with empty shelves.
The spokesperson said the supply has now stopped and once Polish beef has worked its way through, they will be supplying British and Irish beef exclusively.
The Polish beef was in compliance with beef labelling regulations.
Cullinan said that “ABP Group should front up and give farmers a proper explanation as to why they chose to do this”.
“The IFA has made a detailed submission this week to the Irish Government and the EU Commission looking for market stabilisation measures. We have had many meetings with our European counterparts in preparation for a key EU meeting on Monday,” he said.
Build trust
“We made it clear last week that the whole sector needs to pull together to put a case forward to the Commission. I made the point that this crisis provided an opportunity for the processing sector to build trust by supporting farmers at this time. What has happened here will only serve to make matters worse,” he said.
Cullinan’s comments follow those of Ulster Farmers Union (UFU) beef and lamb chair Sam Chesney, who blasted UK supermarkets Asda and Sainsbury’s for selling Polish mince in their British stores.
Read more
Farmers 'let down' by UK supermarkets selling Polish beef
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