UK exports of red meat saw a strong increase last year, with increasing demand for UK offal and less-consumed animal parts internationally, according to a panel of experts at an “inward trade mission” hosted by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB).
At a panel session, the AHDB’s head of market access, Ouafa Doxon, said that to “reduce waste” it’s key that “every part of the carcass has a market”.
She added that the new sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) deal in the works with the EU, should also ensure “smoother trade” with the industry’s biggest export market.
Export boost
Exports of offal and other less desirable animal parts have been “a great success story over the last decade” said AHDB lead analyst for red meat, Hannah Clarke, with £244m-worth of offal exported last year.
Reflecting on the past five years since the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown, Clarke added that “in spite of global trade disruption, offal has continued to grow”.
Earlier in the year, AHDB reported that there was sizable growth in exports to the UK’s two largest markets: China and the Philippines, with increases of 1.8% (to £101m) and up 20.5% (to 24.5m) respectively.
One buyer from a contingent sent by Chinese distributor Hopewise said that, despite not buying significant amounts of UK pork, China is a “very big market” for pig offal, and that the firm was investigating opportunities to purchase these parts from the UK.
The trend towards selling offal and other offcuts – such as “hooves and liver” – is intended to boost the industry’s sustainability, ensuring “every part of the carcass has a market”.
The red meat industry is a significant source of pollution, with studies suggesting that animal agriculture accounts for 14.5% of the world's carbon greenhouse gas emissions.
Market growth
Experts said that beef, lamb and pig meat exports were worth £1.77bn last year, a year-on-year increase of 3.3%, and a £600m increase over the past decade.
This was driven by the “performance of beef shipments to Europe and further afield”.
Clarke said that red meat was exported to 110 markets in 2024.
The EU is still by far the UK’s largest export market for red meat, although Clarke said there was “grown that diversity outside of the EU”, with 40% of red meat products going to ‘rest of world’ countries.
EU SPS deal
Doxon welcomed the UK’s planned SPS agreement with the EU, which she hoped would make “trade smoother than what we have at the moment”.
Highlighting trade barriers that have arisen since Brexit, she said that export health certificates has led to “additional costs” for suppliers, has led to issues with groupage shipments of meat and other SPS products, as well as border delays.
She said that although the details of the deal are yet to be ironed out, “the direction of travel is welcome”.
‘Refresh the relationship’
Speaking to the Daily Update, Doxon said that exporters should consider shoring up existing EU contacts in anticipation of an SPS agreement is a good way to ensure readiness for an eventual SPS agreement.
“Pick up the phone and start to refresh the relationship you used to have with contacts in the EU”.
She added that now is also a good time to review whether your products meet buyer requirements.
Meat matchmaking
The panel took place as a “meet the buyer” event and gala dinner hosted by AHDB in London last week, which the organisation described as an “inward trade mission.”
Twenty-eight buyers from the Americas, Africa, Asia and the Middle East came to the UK for a four-day visit, which included farm tours to learn more about UK products.
AHDB International trade development director, Jonathan Eckley, said that “connecting with people is essential to helping ensure UK red meat exports thrive”.
He added that the event was “the ideal platform for buyers from across the world to gain further insight at source into how we produce our world-class red meat”.
