ASDA HAS reneged on its promise to supply 100% British beef on its fresh meat counters.

The supermarket chain had been applauded by the farming industry in October last year for shifting its focus to backing British farms, but a source close to The SF alleged that Asda had since returned to importing Irish beef due to a 70 pence per kilo difference in price between Irish and British beef.

Asda has confirmed that due to a rise in British beef prices, they are sourcing some beef from the Republic of Ireland to 'cater for all customers budgets'.

The National Beef Association, which had lobbied hard to secure Asda’s support for British beef farmers, expressed its disappointment with this decision.

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“This is a commercial decision based on a price difference and it is deeply disappointing that Asda has not managed to fulfil their commitment for more than three months," said NBA chief executive Neil Shand.

“The industry will be deeply saddened especially given the support that retailers had during the pandemic to then not be able to support them in return.

“If I was Asda, I would be concerned what food price inflation their customers are going to face next year when prices will have to rise to account for spiralling input costs," he continued.

“The era of cheap food is gone. We are all experiencing energy inflation, next to come will be food price inflation,” warned Mr Shand.

NFUS president Martin Kennedy stressed that Asda's foremost priority should be to those producers on their own doorstep.

“It is hugely disappointing that Asda has shifted its commitment away from British already. It may be the case that they can’t get enough beef here but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t spend more to help the trade here first of all, as it can’t drop any more than where it is right now if we are to keep everyone in a profitable situation.”

Mr Kennedy conceded that the UK was not self-sufficient in beef – but urged caution as to where retailers should then look to fill the gaps.

“The whole of the UK is shy of 360,000 tonnes of beef, so if we are going to have to import it, then it needs to be brought in from Ireland rather than from other parts of the world. At least we know our closest neighbours are comparable to standards here.”

A spokesperson for Asda told The SF: ‘We know that it is important to our customers that the beef on our shelves has been produced to high welfare standards and is affordable. Unfortunately, the price of British beef has risen and whilst we continue to work hard to keep prices as low as possible for our customers, these increases are significant.

"All fresh beef in our premium Extra Special tier is and will remain 100% British and all of our fresh beef will be sourced from farms in the UK and Republic of Ireland. This allows us to provide quality products which caters to all customer budgets.’’