SCOTLAND’S national chef, Gary Maclean, is supporting a campaign to encourage Scots to get out of their mealtime ruts and enjoy more Scotch Lamb.
A new survey has revealed that more than 80% of Scots admit to regularly repeating the same meals week after week. The main reason given by respondents to the YouGov survey, undertaken by Quality Meat Scotland, is that they simply don’t know what to cook.
Average consumption of lamb in Scotland is only half of the UK as a whole and the results of the new survey also reveal that more than one third (38%) of Scottish adults never eat lamb mid-week. 
Gary said: “We’re lucky enough as a nation to have access to such high quality, fresh ingredients, and it’s time we stepped up and introduced them to our mealtimes on a regular basis.
“While lamb may have historically been considered a Sunday dinner staple, it’s an incredibly versatile meat that’s nutritious and really simple to prepare for the whole family. 
“I’m a strong advocate of dishes that inspire people to get out of mealtime ruts by introducing new ideas, techniques and flavours that can be mastered incredibly quickly, whatever the skill level. 
“Quality Meat Scotland’s Scotch Kitchen website is full of resources that put Scotch Lamb centre stage, whatever day of the week.”
Carol McLaren, director of marketing and communications with Quality Meat Scotland, said: “The research has highlighted that people are missing a great opportunity to discover loads of simple, tasty dishes when it comes to their mealtime choices. 
“This is largely down to simply not knowing what else to cook – which is where our new campaign comes in. We want to make Scotch Lamb the natural choice for mid-week dinner plates, encouraging consumers to visit our online resource dedicated to fresh, delicious recipes created with convenience at the core. 
“We have a great message to take to consumers. We have a delicious, nutritious quality assured food produced naturally right on our doorstep and there are endless tasty, mid-week lamb meals which take 30 minutes or less to cook,” Ms McLaren added. 
The research was commissioned by QMS and carried out by YouGov on more than 1000 Scottish adults as part of the ‘Scotch Lamb, naturally’ campaign.
The nine-week long campaign will for the first time include television advertising as part of the promotional mix, along with billboard, press, digital, social and radio advertising. 
The campaign is set to reach 4.2 million consumers (94% of the adult population) during September and October.
Consumers are encouraged to visit www.scotchkitchen.com to discover a range of new recipes created using Scotch Lamb – from satay style to slow-cooked.