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Slam in the lamb (in 2007)
Scotch Lamb marketing initiatives will forever be remembered for their 1980s TV campaigns and catchy slogan to encourage consumers to cook lamb. The advert, featuring Geoffrey Palmer, was instantly recognisable and became an iconic image in kitchens and living rooms all around the country.
Nowadays, argues Margaret Stewart, lamb is worth a look more than ever before…
Twenty years ago, the choice of the word 'cook' was significant, mainly because men, in general, didn't really deal much with food around the home. Lamb was consequently marketed as being very simple to prepare, and as something that didn’t require any refined culinary skills while providing a tasty, nutritious meal for the whole family.
Scotch Lamb is at its best at this time of the year and the recent Foot & Mouth (F&M) outbreak down south, which could not have come at a worse time, has been a cruel blow for our sheep sector. With disruption to the vital export trade, farmers in the south have seen their Irish counterparts take their usual share of the French market, enjoying hugely inflated prices. Meanwhile, our farmers have had to rely on a UK market in which lamb consumption is comparatively very low. Scotland's intake, at only 22grams per person*, per week (1.1kg per annum) is less than half that in England, whose population consumes a weekly average of 55grams*.
In out-of-home statistics, lamb too is hugely underrated. Red meat makes up 42% of main course choices in restaurants and hotels, with lamb representing a very modest seven percent compared to 61% for beef. However, the outlook is not all bleak. Recent research by Quality Meat Scotland has demonstrated that the percentage of Scottish consumers who are 'open to buying lamb' has risen over seven percentage points during the last 12 months, to 50.7 percent.
We have also seen an increase in the consumer preference for local products, but the sharp reality of the F&M situation is that farmers can only keep producing if they too can make a reasonable living. Sheep-producers have been hurting over the past three weeks, and the markets will not return to normal instantaneously. In order to protect our current source of fresh, local lamb the simple solution is to use it more often, and to encourage your customers to try it as well.
To support the lamb industry this year, QMS is increasing its spending and extending the consumer campaign so that it runs right through to February '08. The campaign, entitled Scotch Lamb – it's Hot this Autumn, focuses on retail, but there is no reason why the foodservice sector should not take advantage of the promotional drive. Between now and February, QMS will carry out 325 in-store promotional days, combining tasting and in-store demonstration theatres. Scotch Lamb will also be seen on bus shelter posters, full-size billboards and in weekend press supplements, and foodservice outlets should benefit from this activity as well. Consumers who are impressed with Scotch Lamb in a retail situation will be equally impressed to find it on a menu when eating out.
These message is clear; if we do not collectively deliver a positive message to farmers, then Scotch Lamb may become more difficult to find in the future.
* Source: DEFRA (Household consumption of fresh lamb, excluding processed and out-of-home meals)
This article has been edited from its original version. For the complete feature, please see Catering in Scotland magazine September/October 2007.
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