Horse meat scandal 'could increase F&V sales'

One high street retailer has predicted that the horse meat scandal could result in greater sales of fruit and vegetables.

In the wake of the scandal, which has seen the likes of Tesco and Aldi admitting that its own-brand burgers contain horse meat, health food chain Holland & Barrett has reported that sales of its Frys Vegetarian Spiced Burgers have risen by 16.7 per cent for the week ending 2 February.

'We have noticed that shoppers are rushing to stock up on meat free products and believe that is down to concern about the provenance of the meat that they were buying,' said a Holland & Barrett spokesperson.

How, one supplier of produce as an ingredient to ready meals insists that the horse meat scandal will have a negative impact on ready-meal specific vegetables. He told FPJ: “I am sure the scandal will have repercussions at the cheaper end of the market. Especially for onions – they are the big ones really and are in almost every ready meal.”

Market analyst Key Note values the fresh and frozen ready-meal market at £1.85 billion and growing at a rate of six per cent a year; having forecast this to increase to £2.71bn by 2016.

But some in the sector think this growth will slow. “I think now we are going to see people thinking ‘I want to eat healthier stuff’,” said one industry insider. “This could be an advantage for fresh produce as people can see what it is and where it has come from. There is going to be a demand for sourcing from reputable suppliers across the whole food industry.”

Meanwhile, there is also disbelief within the fresh produce sector that the horse meat scandal could have happened at all. Rodger Hobson, chair of the British Carrot Growers Association said: “Personally I am amazed; when you think how traceability has been the cornerstone of the fresh produce industry for 16 years now.”

Nigel Jenney, chief executive of the Fresh Produce Consortium has warned suppliers against complacency. He said: “We need to take time to reflect and ensure something like this doesn’t happen in fresh produce. But I also think that what this does emphasise is that the EU and the UK are over regulating our sector but failing to oversee and manage the processed and meat sectors adequately.”

And Labour MP Barry Gardiner’s question to Tesco technical director Tim Smith at a recent cross-party committee meeting suggests that the scandal makes a mockery of the supermarket’s move to lower produce specifications after last year's poor weather conditions. Gardiner asked why the retailer, “notorious for sending back misshapen apples or pears to farmers” had not picked up that its beef burgers contained 29 per cent horsemeat.