Maimie Paterson talks Scotch lamb exports

Asheep industry worth £1 billion to the Scottish economy – a forlorn hope or a realistic ambition? While unexpected midsummer temperatures have lifted spirits, sheep farmers are counting the cost of a year when winter seemed to be a permanent fixture and spring didn’t bother to appear at all. With plenty of outstanding jobs waiting to be done, not many are thinking about the potential for the sheep industry to be an economic powerhouse, and in any case, the key to that is in the hands of the processors.

Sheep producers are totally reliant on processors to add value to the basic product, find buyers and negotiate contracts with retailers. Scotland has more than its fair share of food and drink businesses which transform raw materials into something special that has the world beating a path to their door.

Distilleries and breweries lead the way, and cheese, baked goods and confectionery are also among the top 10 Scottish food exports. Scotch beef is on the list, but Scotch lamb is nowhere to be seen, and export information is not available. Only two processors currently export Scotch lamb, while the main lamb exporter in Scotland operates under its own brand.

English and Welsh processors probably export more Scottish-bred lamb under the British label than is exported from Scotland as Scotch. The textile industry’s contribution to the Scottish economy at around £760 million is more than treble that of the entire sheep industry but the actual value of the Scottish wool and sheepskins processed in textile production is unknown.

A few years ago the then Cabinet Secret ary, Richard Lochhead, led a mission to the USA and Canada to promote Scotch lamb. The headline writers were ecstatic – about the resumption of haggis exports to the USA. Scotch lamb hardly rated a mention.

Although statistics are not available, it seems that despite the best efforts of Quality Meat Scotland and its predecessor, SQBLA, in promoting Scotch lamb in Europe for over three decades, it has barely scratched the

The textile industry’s contribution to the Scottish economy at around £760 million is more than treble that of the entire sheep industry

surface of the huge EU market.

QMS has gone global to promote Scotch-branded beef and lamb but Scotch lamb exporters seem to be lacking in enthusiasm for breaking into new markets.

Back home, there are niche markets for Scotch lamb springing up in south-east England, but Scottish consumers remain stubbornly resistant to every effort to persuade them to change their ways and eat more lamb, while mutton in Scotland is a non-starter.

By anybody’s reckoning, a £1 billion sheep industry contribution to the Scottish economy is not to be sniffed at, but it’s likely to be no more than just another pipe-dream about missed opportunities. In reality there’s not much that farmers can do about it.

They are the producers of the raw materials only and it’s the processors who turn them into marketable products for sale at home or abroad.

The Scottish sheep industry clearly has great potential earning capacity, but how can the processors be persuaded to turn the key to unlock it?

Scotch lamb exporters seem to be lacking in enthusiasm.