FARMERS have named and shamed three UK-based supermarket chains for failing to 'go Scots' with lamb sold on shop aisles.
National Farmers Union Scotland said that a shelf watch showed that Asda, The Co-operative and Waitrose were "found wanting" with no Scottish lamb available on shop aisles.
And it was two German supermarket chains that supported Scottish lamb best - Aldi and Lidl - with all produce sold being marked Scottish.
It comes after the NFUS members and staff carried out a shelf watch over 50 Scottish supermarket over the first ten days of this month to identify which retailers are doing their part to support Scottish sheep farmers during peak production season.
The First Minister announced a campaign to promote Scottish lamb would benefit from £200,000 of new funding, while the NFUS secret shopper survey was being carried out. The funding will support Quality Meat Scotland’s 2018 Scotch lamb promotional campaign.
The shoppers counted over 2,500 packs of Scottish lamb, which has protected status under EU law, and identified which of the big supermarkets were sourcing the most Scottish and home-produced lamb.
But the NFUS said the results "notably demonstrate" that Asda continue to stock significant volumes (40%) of imported lamb, where many of its competitors have chosen to source Scottish and British lamb exclusively. It also found that no lamb was labelled as Scottish in the Co-operative and Waitrose.
The NFUS said the majority of lamb in the Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Lidl and Aldi stores, however, was labelled as Scotch Lamb PGI (protected geographical indication), giving the farming sector "reason to be encouraged" despite the ongoing uncertainty over Brexit, the NFUS said.
They found that Marks and Spencer stocked 26% Scottish, while at Sainsbury's it was 56%, at Tesco it was 59% and at Morrisons it was 73%.
NFU Scotland’s livestock committee chairman Charlie Adam said they would be raising the issue of stocking Scottish lamb with Asda in the coming days.
He said: “These shelf watch results show that support for Scottish and UK lamb producers is strong from a number of retailers, providing confidence to the sector. Indeed, six out of the nine supermarket chains that we visited were stocking only lamb produced in Scotland or the UK.
“While the majority of the lamb was home-produced it was disappointing to see that Asda, The Co-operative and Waitrose had no lamb labelled as Scottish available.
"In particular ASDA is way off the mark with competitors – stocking hundreds of packs of imported lamb at a time when Scottish lamb producers are busy finishing their stock. "
Last year, campaign group Keep Scotland the Brand was launched, prompted by the steady disappearance of the Saltire on Scottish-grown food, and its replacement by Union flag packaging.
The #KeepScotlandtheBrand movement has been growing after fed-up customer Ruth Watson began tweeting pictures of Scottish products in supermarkets packaged under a Union flag.
alkers, the Moray-based family producers of oatcakes, cakes and biscuits got support in the House of Commons in March in the wake of one row over Union Flag branding with some warning of a boycott.
Joint managing director Jim Walker said he was "not ashamed" to use Union Flag branding on what he described as a niche novelty products sold in London and abroad as gift items and insisted he and the company are "proud to be Scottish".
The executive which sells products in over 60 countries spoke out against those who were "mis-calling" his company last week and warned that boycotts "kill Scottish jobs".
The new NFUS results come a day before the Lairg store lamb sale, one of the largest one-day sales of sheep in Europe.
They showed that almost 45% of the lamb available was branded with the Scotch Lamb PGI, with an additional 44% labelled as British or Welsh.
Aimi McNeill of The Co-operative said that Scottish-sourced lamb would be branded British.
She said: "Co-op own-brand fresh lamb is 100% British across our entire store estate and we are proud to support British and Scottish farmers.
"All of our fresh own brand lamb is 100% British and labelled as such. We announced this policy last May as part of our commitment to British and Scottish agriculture.
"Regional lamb lines mean Scottish lamb is stocked in our Scottish stores."
An Asda spokesman: “We always look to offer our customers value and choice and are proud to stock a great range of Scottish lamb in our stores.”
Waitrose were approached for comment.
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