Written by John Swire
Love Lamb Week 2019 will kick start the second phase of AHDB’s £1.4 million lamb marketing campaign, which highlights its delicious flavour.
Using the tag, ‘Lamb hits you in the chops’ the campaign and the week, which runs from 1 to 7 September, begin at a time when British lamb is in peak supply. The activity aims to stem the decline in lamb sales and boost consumer attitudes towards the meat across target audiences.
Now in its fifth year, Love Lamb Week has grown to become an industry-wide initiative with support from the National Sheep Association (NSA), AHDB, the NFU, Red Tractor, the Ulster Farmers’ Union and meat promotion bodies, HCC in Wales, LMC in Northern Ireland and Quality Meat Scotland.
The call is now for producers, butchers, retailers and restaurants to save the date and join the celebration.
This year’s champion of the week is 24-year-old Coventry based sheep farmer, Charlie Beaty.
She said: “Lamb has a taste unlike any other meat and that’s what makes it perfect for a variety of dishes, from curries through to a slow cooked roast. We produce our sheep on permanent pasture, which helps to absorb carbon from the atmosphere and produces quality feed to give our lamb its delicious flavour.
“I hope farmers across the country will get involved in Love Lamb Week and inspire more people to put it on their plates. Not only does it taste great, it’s also a nutritious meat which is naturally rich in protein and provides vitamins which are good for health and wellbeing.”
Supporting the week and kicking off the marketing campaign in the autumn is a strategic decision to benefit the industry.
“British lamb is in the peak of its supply in supermarkets and butchers across the country in September – it’s a perfect time to promote this delicious meat,” said AHDB Beef and Lamb Strategy Director, Will Jackson.
“We have backed Love Lamb Week since it started and we’re bringing in additional support to engage shoppers and help the industry face up to unprecedented challenges.”
Speaking on behalf of sheep farmers across the country, Chief Executive of the National Sheep Association, Phil Stocker, said: “We’re pleased to see Love Lamb Week and the AHDB campaign is making positive steps to promote people eating the meat, at a time when its coming under attack.
“As well as being packed full of flavour, eating extensively reared grass-based lamb which is produced nationally, regionally, and locally is much better for the environment than any artificial supplements which are appearing on our supermarket shelves.”
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