Written by:
Catherine Smith
Chair
HCC (Hybu Cig Cymru / Meat Promotion Wales)
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Exciting plans to boost the international branding of Wales’ sustainable red meat products were unveiled by HCC Chair Catherine Smith at the Royal Welsh Show last week.
Explaining that HCC continues to operate in a crowded consumer marketplace, where red meat products are “surrounded by confusing claims and counter claims and where our honesty is heckled by misinformed or misguided activists,” she declared:
“This has to stop: it’s time to put some clear, transparent water between ourselves and the intensive farming practices of some global competitors.”
Catherine Smith was speaking to Wales’ leading industry representatives at the annual HCC breakfast event at the Royal Welsh Agricultural Show at Llanelwedd today. She advocated a collective industry commitment to further build on the tireless efforts of Wales’ fantastic farmers, saying that HCC was meticulously building clear and compelling evidence to fully substantiate all assertions that the production of Welsh Lamb and Welsh Beef was a global exemplar.
“We can show the world that Welsh food and farming is not just what we do – it’s who we are,” she said.
When speaking about priorities and plans to build on its evidence base, she referred to HCC’s Red Meat Development Programme which is nearing completion after five years of tireless activity and ongoing industry engagement. Upcoming projects include a new multi-platform, multi-media campaign to promote Welsh Lamb and an ambitious Red Meat Roadmap, currently in development.
“So, let’s form a new social contract with domestic and international consumers to allow the promotion of our Welsh red meat brands with honesty, transparency and integrity,” she said. “From now, sustainability will be the watchword for everything that HCC does. Along with the other core pillars of taste and nutrition, sustainability will be central to maintaining success and ensure a future in red meat production for the next generation,” Catherine Smith said.
