Scots butchers beef up sales to buck UK's downward trend
SCOTLAND - Scotlands independent butchers enjoyed a bumper year for sales during 2005, bucking the downward trend seen elsewhere in the UK.And Edinburgh butcher Jonathan Crombie said his family business is expecting business to boom again this year, despite renewed scares linking meat to cancer.
Over 2005, Scotland's butchers saw direct, over-the-counter sales of red meat jump by 14 per cent to £43.6 million, according to a study on behalf of trade body Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) by independent market research firm TNS. But across the wider UK, meat sales dipped by three per cent.
QMS marketing controller Andrew Ovens said: "This is excellent news for the hundreds of independent butcher businesses operating in Scotland."
According to the figures, Scots bought around 11 per cent more pork, ten per cent more beef and four per cent more lamb in 2005 than the year before.
"The figure for lamb is particularly encouraging making it the fastest growing red meat in the Scottish butcher shop sector as a result of a 37 per cent increase in value sales," said Mr Ovens.
Source: Edinburgh Evening News
9 February 2006
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