The Scottish beef and lamb industry has been among the first to receive the newly created European Union (EU) grants for promotional activities. The grant of nearly GBP1m will support Scotland’s beef and lamb export for the next three years.
Quality Meat Scotland (QMS), the sector’s economic development body, received confirmation that its application to receive a share of EU money set aside to promote European agricultural products has been successful. It is QMS’s first EU grant to benefit the Scottish industry and QMS is the only UK red meat levy body to have applied for EU funding to support its export and marketing activities.
QMS Interim Chairman, Donald Biggar, said: “This GBP1m award means we can double the scope and scale of our marketing activities on the continent, positioning Scotch beef and Scotch lamb at the premium end of the export market.
“In addition to our existing plans for a series of exciting pan European events and initiatives to mark the return of Scotch beef to a world stage, we will now be able to underpin our activities with the biggest advertising campaign ever undertaken by QMS in Europe. This will be backed by 1000 days of in-store demonstrations and tastings in Belgium, France, Italy and the Netherlands.”
QMS hopes that these additional funds will facilitate a good performance from Scottish meat and lamb in continental Europe when trade restrictions are lifted this year.
