With the gap in beef prices between here and the UK at near record levels, concerns have again been raised of alleged accusations of the main beef factories operating a cartel-like operation.

I was interested to read a specialised report in the Financial Times of McDonald’s suing the four biggest beef processors in the US for conspiring to drive up the price of meat paid by the world’s largest burger chain.

The case, according to the report, follows similar litigation taken by cattle ranchers. McDonald’s said that one way in which beef companies had conspired was to suppress prices they paid for cattle fattened for slaughter. Sounds familiar?

However, compared with the Irish industry, the US is a model of transparency with net profit margin figures available on an annual basis. Tyson Foods, the biggest US packer, has admitted that it received a request for information on cattle and beef markets from the US Department of Justice’s anti-trust division.

In a 2022 study by Wisconsin University, Tyson had a net margin varying from 1.56% in 2010 to 6.57% in 2022. No such figures are remotely available in Ireland where all the major processors operate as unlimited companies with no obligation to file accounts, let alone report margins or turnover.

The US Department of Justice has investigated and fined a US subsidiary of the Brazilian based JBS US$107m over a conspiracy to fix prices in the poultry market.

We have a new office with the creation of the food regulator

For such a key Irish sector, it seems extraordinary that State grants for plant upgrading and marketing can be given with no public accountability on how the profits that arise from such grants are spent and no knowledge as to whether the beef producers gain in any way.

We have a competition and consumer protection commission but any investigation into the beef sector has, in my view, been half-hearted at best.

There is a very significant consolidation within the sector but still the lack of transparency continues.

We have a new office with the creation of the food regulator. It will be interesting to see if it presses for an expansion of its role and the creation of a capacity to investigate the market realities at work in the Irish beef processing sector