Horsemeat, decent local organic farmers and the vagaries of consumption

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Horsemeat, decent local organic farmers and the vagaries of consumption

Has the horsemeat just scandal just faded into the vague vagaries of the general mind? Oliver Moore investigates.

For the first time in many months, organic food sales are increasing once again in the UK. John Purcell of the Good Herdsman, Ireland's largest organic meat processor, has seen sales increase of 3-4% in the UK.

Survey findings from Kantar World Panel found a general increase in the UK over the last 3 months. “The 12 week year on year picture shows a +1.6% for organic food sales - the first time the market has seen year on year growth since 2009.” Kantar reported.

The backdrop to this is the horsemeat scandal, which primarily effected the UK and Ireland, and which hasn't involved organic meat.

European sales for Irish organic meat are strong, and growing steadily, but not in a significant way effected by the horsemeat scandal, John Purcell of the Good Herdsman, and others have said.

The move towards online and specialist purchases, noted in this blog recently, has continued, especially with supermarkets pulling organic lines in anticipation of what they were predicting as a decline.

So there is a small bounce due to a scandal, as there often is. The UK market is now OK, the European market quite strong, but what of Ireland, and Irish farmers who direct sell?

Michael Seymour (above) of Sheepwalk farm farms 125 acres in the farm in Borrisokane, Tipperary. He direct sells his meat in Nenagh farmers' market.

As his farm is half callows, his stocking rate is lower: he carries about 40 mostly Angus cattle as well as 80 Texel ewes and over 100 lambs.

From June he usually takes lambs to the butchers. In general, Seymour tried to sell as much direct as he can: this in practice is easier for beef than lamb.

I asked Michael Seymour if there has been a pick up in sales since the horsemeat scandal.

“There certainly was a spike, but its settled down now. People move on” he tells me, noting the fickleness of the media.

Horsemeat was front page story a few weeks back, but you also get new scandals, and people's minds focus on these.

He elaborates: “some old customers have come back, some new ones have also arrived who've said they've heard about me”

When pressed on where they might have heard about him, he couldn't elaborate. Perhaps his natural politeness and respectful nature wouldn't pry too deeply into this sort of information, but of course this is the kind of stuff the marketers are always telling people to do – pry.

“It might have been in relation to horsemeat, people were probably taking about where they get their meat from, and my name may have come up in conversation” .

This is of course likely – meat sourcing has been a hot conversational topic in recent months.

As well as word of mouth, Seymour does various trade shows and is part of the Tipperary Food Producers. So they may have heard of him in more than one place.

“Any significant media, big or small, gives a bit of a bump – If Peter Ward (of Nenagh's Country Choice) is on the Late Late, or if there is a big scandal, they all add a short term bump, but not a longer term one – that requires commitment from the customer.”

Some farmers markets face pressures from short sighted town councils who can't see the wood from the trees.

When Nenagh farmer's market wanted to change to a mote prominent location, the possibility of loosing a few parking spaces on a Saturday horrified the town council.

That was then - two years ago. Now the town council offer free parking on a Saturday, just to bring people into the town.

The wood from the trees indeed.

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