Livestock & Meat Commission

Livestock & Meat Commission Origin of Produce Mystery Shops December 2016 Methodology and Sample

• The aims and objectives of this study are to understand the origins of beef and lamb that is stocked across a variety of stores in Northern Ireland.

• On a monthly basis a Millward Brown Ulster mystery shopper visits 10 separate stores and records from the product labels where the meat has come from. Per month, each of the 10 stores is visited twice allowing for a weekday and weekend mystery shop. Each month, a fresh sample of stores and geographical locations are selected. (From August 2013 – September 2014 only 5 stores per month were visited.)

• For each beef and lamb product the following classifications are recorded: • Was the product NI beef or lamb? / Did the product carry the NIFQA logo? / Was the product British beef or lamb (inc NI)? / Was it Irish beef or lamb?/ Was it from another EU country? / Was it non EU?

• The stores within the sample that are visited include Tesco, ASDA, Lidl, SuperValu, Marks & Spencer and Eurospar.

• Fieldwork was conducted monthly from August 2013 to December 2016.

• All fieldwork is conducted in accordance with the Market Research Society Code of Conduct, and in compliance with the international quality standard ISO 20252: 2012. Beef %NI Beef % NI FQAS LABELLED Beef % British Beef (Inc NI) % Irish Beef

100 98.6 98.2 98.1 96.8 98.0 98.0 98.0 97.0 96.5 98.0 98.0 97.0 97.089.0 90 96.0 84.0 82.0 78.7 79.9 89.0 78.0 76.9 78.0 78.0 80 75.0 76.0 75.0 74.0 73.0 83.0 79.4 78.0 77.0 76.7 76.0 70 75.6 75.0 75.0 74.0 75.0 71.0 68.0 60

10 3.2 3.5 4.0 1.9 1.4 1.8 2.0 2.0 2.0 3.0 2.0 2.0 3.0 3.0 0 November December Jan '16 February March April May June July August September October November December 2015 2016 %NI Beef % NI FQAS LABELLED Beef % British Beef (Inc NI) % Irish Beef

100 100.0 100.0 97.3 97.9 97.4 97.5 98.0 90 95.0 96.0 84.1 94.0 93.0 82.0 92.0 89.0 80.0 90.0 78.2 80 75.6 81.2 72.0 78.0 78.0 69.5 70 74.0 65.0 65.0 63.2 72.2 63.0 63.0 70.0 66.5 60 56.0 61.0 61.0 52.0 62.0 57.0 58.0 50 54.0 51.0 40

20 11.0 10.0 10 6.0 7.0 5.0 4.0 2.7 2.6 2.5 2.0 0.0 0.0 0 November December Jan '16 February March April May June July August September October November December 2015 2016 %NI Beef % NI FQAS LABELLED Beef % British Beef (Inc NI) % Irish Beef

100 94.0 92.2 88.0 87.0 90 94.0 92.2 84.0 80.9 82.0 87.8 88.0 79.0 89.0 86.3 77.0 78.0 80 84.0 76.0 73.3 80.9 81.0 73.0 82.0 82.0 79.0 70.0 78.0 77.0 78.0 73.0 76.0 75.0 70 73.3 74.0 74.0 70.0 70.0 68.1 68.1 68.0 60 65.0 65.0

40 30.0 30 26.7 27.0 24.0 23.0 21.0 22.0 19.1 18.0 20 16.0 12.0 11.0 7.8 10 6.0

0 November December Jan '16 February March April May June July August September October November December 2015 2016 %NI Beef % NI FQAS LABELLED Beef % British Beef (Inc NI) % Irish Beef

100

90 93.0 91.0 87.0 87.0 80 85.3 84.0 83.2 82.8 82.0 79.0 77.8 77.0 77.0 70 63.2 70.0 58.5 60

48.5 50 47.0 43.3 42.0 42.0 40.0 37.5 39.0 40 36.0 37.0 37.0 30.0 30 23.0 24.0 23.0 22.2 21.0 16.8 17.2 18.0 20 14.7 16.0 13.0 13.0 9.0 10 7.0

0 November December Jan '16 February March April May June July August September October November December 2015 2016 %NI Beef % NI FQAS LABELLED Beef % British Beef (Inc NI) % Irish Beef

100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

50 45.0 40

10 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 November December Jan '16 February March April May June July August September October November December 2015 2016 • The findings from the 2015-2016 SuperValu mystery shops show that, where stocked, 100% of the beef was British.

• NIFQA labelling was present on 100% of the beef products in the stores visited in February, March, May, July, August and October 2015. This was also the case in February, March, May, September, October and November 2016.

• In the mystery shops for January, June, September and December 2015 as well as January, June and July 2016, NIFQA labelling was present on 86%, 89%, 93%, 95%, 80%, 86% and 83% respectively.

• NIFQA labelling was not present on any of the beef products in the stores that were visited for mystery shopping in August.

• There were no relevant beef products at the stores visited in December 2016.

9 Lamb %NI Lamb % NI FQAS LABELLED Lamb % British Lamb (Inc NI) % Non EU

100 95.0 94.0 94.0 92.0 89.3 90 84.7 82.0

80 75.8 75.0 72.0 72.0 71.0 68.0 68.0 70 66.7 71.0 68.0 68.0 61.0 58.3 60 61.0 55.0 58.3 53.0 49.0 55.0 48.0 56.0 53.0 50 44.3 45.2 44.0 42.4 48.0 51.0 44.3 45.2 42.4 40 36.0 36.0 30 25.0 28.0 20.0 28.0 25.0 20 24.2 20.0 25.0 18.0 10 10.7 8.0 0 5.0 6.0 6.0 November December Jan'160.0 February March April May June July August September October November December 2015 2016 %NI Lamb % NI FQAS LABELLED Lamb % British Lamb (Inc NI) % Non EU EU Irish

100

87.0 90 85.0 82.0 81.0 79.0 80 71.4 73.7 72.0 67.0 71.5 70.0 79.0 66.7 67.0 70 66.7 66.0 65.0 64.5 64.0 63.0 72.0 63.0 60.8 60.0 70.0 67.0 66.7 65.0 60 64.5 64.0 63.0 63.0 60.8 60.0 52.0 52.0 50 52.0 52.0 39.2 38.0 40 33.3 34.0 33.0 28.6 28.0 30 26.3 21.0 19.5 18.0 19.0 20 15.0 10.0 10

0 November December Jan'16 February March April May June July August September October November December 2015 2016 %NI Lamb % British Lamb (Inc NI) % Irish Lamb

100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100 100 100 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100 100 89.0 90 83.3 89.0 80 83.3

60 56.0 57.0

57.0 50 56.0 43.0

20 16.7

10 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 November December Jan'16 February March April May June July August September October November December 2015 2016 %NI Lamb % NI FQAS LABELLED Lamb % British Lamb (Inc NI) % Irish Lamb % Non-EU

100

80 83.3 76.0 75.0

70 69.0 60 54.0 60.0 52.0 52.0 52.0 52.0 56.7 50 54.545.5 40.0 48.0 48.0 48.0 48.0 40 46.0 31.0 31.0 30 24.0 23.0 26.3 20 16.7 25.0 10.5 10.0 10 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 November December Jan'16 February March April May0.0 June July August September October November December 2015 2016 • In February, March, May, June and December 2015, as well as in March, May September, October and November 2016, all lamb that was stocked in the Supervalu stores visited had NIFQA labelling.

• For the rest of the months in 2015 and in January, February, April, June, July, August and December 2016, no relevant lamb products were stocked in the stores that were selected for mystery shopping.