Northern Ireland Beef Week was a ‘resounding success’

The Livestock and Meat Commission (LMC), Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) and ABP Food Group joined forces to promote the health and environmental benefits of Northern Ireland Farm Quality Assured (NIFQA) beef from 23-30 April.

NI Beef Week began with a visit to James Henderson who farms near Kilkeel.

There, James runs a successful beef enterprise, alongside his family.

As part of NI Beef Week, James shared an insight into what FQA means to him.

LMC was also joined on farm by UFU beef and lamb chair, Pat McKay, who encouraged consumers to choose NIFQA beef and support the local agri-food industry.

Reflecting on NI Beef Week, Lauren Patterson, LMC marketing and communications manager, said they were pleased to have worked alongside UFU and ABP.

“This year the initiative has, again, proven to be highly successful.

“Over the seven-day period, LMC shared key messages about the world leading standards NIFQA farmers uphold on a daily basis.

“This, in turn, creates a nutritious food for our local consumers and those in export markets to enjoy, which can be traced from farm to fork.

“We are delighted that, via our social media platforms, this activity organically reached 25,000 people.

“We hope that these impartial scientific facts about beef production in Northern Ireland will have helped our audiences develop a better understanding of the provenance, nutrition, traceability and sustainability credentials of NIFQA beef,” Lauren ended.

UFU beef and lamb chair, Pat McKay, added: “We’re delighted with another successful Beef Week campaign, working alongside LMC and ABP to promote the very best of our NI beef sector.

“From raising awareness about the importance of local beef production, our world leading standards enabling us to produce high-quality, nutritious beef for consumers to enjoy, and not forgetting how beef farmers are a key part of the climate change solution, we covered a wide range of important content.

“While Beef Week has now passed, going forward, we will continue to promote our beef industry to the public, shining a light on the passion and dedication of our farmers across NI who take great pride in their work feeding the nation and delivering for the environment every day.”

George Mullan, managing director of ABP in Northern Ireland, congratulated LMC on its campaign.

“ABP was delighted to, once again, support NI Beef Week,” he stated.

“Industry collaborations such as this are an important way to reinforce the great credentials of Northern Irish grass-fed beef with consumers.

“We have a strong story to tell.

“It is vital to get those messages across so that consumers can make informed and fact-based choices about their diet, based on how their food is produced and where it comes from.

“We are looking forward to further showcasing our Northern Irish sustainable supply chain credentials next week at the Balmoral Show when we return as platinum sponsor.

“We will be celebrating all that is good about farming and food here,” he concluded.