FRENCH consumers have chosen Quality Standard Mark lamb from Great Britain as their “best butchery product of the year”.

Manufacturers and distributors serving the French market were encouraged to enter their products in an online competition and consumers were then invited to evaluate them against each other. The winning product is the one that scores highest for value for money, presentation, satisfaction rating, likelihood of repeat purchase and recommendation.

In 2015, 45,000 consumers participated in a similar study in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, though this year was the first time it has been run in France. Awards were available in 18 product families, with the Quality Standard Mark lamb vacuum-packed cannon topping the butchery category.

AHDB export manager for France, Remi Fourrier, said: “We are delighted that French consumers have voted for this Quality Standard Mark product from Great Britain in such a resounding way. This type of public endorsement for British meat is unprecedented in France but it reflects an awful lot of hard work which is done each day behind the scenes by AHDB in both France and the UK.

“The winning product is innovative, fits into the modern lifestyle but, most importantly, is tender and tasty.”

The Quality Standard Mark lamb cannon packaged in a skin pack benefits from minimising waste, being ready to cook and having a longer use-by date. The new type of packaging acts as a “second skin” for fresh meat, offering numerous advantages to the consumer, including reassurance that the pieces of meat are well aged in a sealed environment.