SIR, – ‘French Wine’, ‘Scotch Whisky’, ‘Scotch Beef and Lamb’ – generic terms used by marketing people as hyperbole to promote and sell their produce.

But what is it, exactly?

What am I buying and consuming?

Bland marketing statements such as these are now inadequate to promote any produce.

They are meaningless.

I frequently sample ‘French Wine’.

Every bottle is well labelled to distinguish it from a competitor’s.

Typical French vin de table plonk costs about £5 a bottle from any supermarket.

A top end wine from an ‘1855 Bordeaux Classification’ vineyard (refer to the interweb) costs many many times more, often hundreds of pounds per bottle. Believe me, there is a market for such exclusive and expensive wine.

Sadly, not from my pocket.

I also sample some ‘John Barleycorn’ (consult Mr R Burns, Alloway, for guidance).

My preference is for west coasters, mostly from Skye or Islay, brands beginning with T, C or Lag – but I will sample others if freely.

With whisky, my favourite malts are about £30 to £45 a bottle from any supermarket.

There are some expensive and exclusive whiskies selling well above these prices.

A market exists at the top end, commanding top end prices for the right product – but it must be presented and marketed correctly. Here, the red meat sector has a lot to learn from the whisky trade.

To really sell a product and stimulate demand, which ultimately raises prices (which all livestock producers want, I hope, especially to pay for this winter’s fodder), the product must be precisely, accurately, truthfully and clearly labelled.

‘Scotch Beef and Lamb’, sounds great.

Born, reared, (went to school), stayed at home on holiday, did a virtual tour of some foreign country via the internet, whole life stayed in Scotland – I jest but what is it exactly?

It has a Blue Thistle label I hear being shouted from Edinburgh, but what is it, exactly?

Every bovine has a label, with more information than any wine or whisky bottle.

We call it a passport.

We strive to keep our passports accurate and you are penalised heavily if you don’t.

Sheep, too, have tags and these are even chipped. Soon to be followed by cattle.

Man’s best friend is now chipped so it won’t be long before we are as well and if you are carrying a mobile phone, you already are! The information is there, the technology exists.

Did anybody think of passing this information on to the consumer?

Don’t bleat about costs or difficulty, it doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.

Give consumers information and allow them to make a choice and develop a preference?

What a novel idea ... it’ll never catch on.

Funny, it seems to work surprising well with whisky.

Precise, accurate, truthful and clear labelling as you see on every whisky or wine bottle is strangely lacking on most beef or lamb, except in a couple of retailer’s stores.

To have any hope of selling our produce now or in the future against cheaper imports the red meat industry must up its game and think smarter than the opposition.

Post-Brexit there will likely be an influx of cheaper red meats, just as good (or better?) than ours.

How do we compete, certainly not on price or volume?

Equally, for our export markets, don’t they ask, ‘what is it, exactly’?

I could argue that we mostly produce ‘beef/lamb de table.

We do, but we also produce a lot of top end red meats. With the correct labelling and marketing, the top end should rise significantly in price – think malt whisky.

The ‘beef or lamb de table’ will be left to compete with the cheaper imports.

Which one will leave the best return? Give consumers the information, precise, accurate, truthful and clear labelling, then trust them.

For some livestock brands or breeds, the prices will rise, others will fall significantly, but ultimately for the long term good of the livestock and red meat industry trust the consumer.

After this winter ...

Disgruntled Drover (names and address supplied)