As Germany is again making threatening noises about not lifting the
ban on UK beef, France and Britain are slugging it out over whose cattle
are eating what. While the French refuse to eat British beef, the UK is
weighing up its options: legal proceedings, a potential tit-for-tat
trade war, or an unofficial boycott.
The National Farmers Union (NFU), the Daily Mail and the Sun have called
for a boycott on French foods. Initially, this populist campaign saw a
few schools in Britain’s farming strongholds follow the lead of Kent
County Council and take French meat off menus, but for the most part,
the campaign fell on deaf ears.
However, last week’s news pictures of gendarmes helping French farmers
block the path of British food lorries, upped the stakes. The big
supermarkets began taking French produce from their shelves and Tony
Blair was forced to make a public statement about the legal grounds for
his rejection of a ban on French meat.
While the NFU is free to make political comment on the recent
deterioration of Franco-British relations, others who receive funds from
or are empowered by Government are more circumspect. ’Our official view
is that a trade war is not helpful to anyone, because in the long term
it will cause damage in terms of both trade and relationships,’ says Ray
Barrowdale, communications officer for the Meat and Livestock Commission
(MLC). He adds that this stance is especially relevant with France being
the UK’s number one European export market for lamb and the current
strong pound.
However, assuming that matters stay as they are regarding British beef,
MLC’s export marketing strategy will be low key, using PR rather than
advertising. The commission estimates that if UK beef was to return to
Europe in a big way, it would need to spend pounds 3 million on a
sustained PR campaign.
To date, the MLC has run small scale campaigns targeting sales at the
high end of the market - the restaurant trade. It has been talking to
potential importers and opinion formers overseas, about improvements in
farming that ensure the UK beef products now meet EU safety
standards.
With public figures like the Prince of Wales throwing his weight behing
the campaign, and with the Government recognising the need for a renewed
push, the financial backing for a pounds 3 million campaign may well be
forthcoming.
And if it gets the green light, the MLC is likely to turn to its
retained agency Bell Pottinger and its affiliates in Europe to take on
the work.
Talk of trade wars is also a cause for concern for other industries
besides meat. ’We’re not suffering any adverse reactions yet,’ says Mike
Lloyd, marketing director of the Scottish Salmon Board. ’But clearly if
things go further, it would be disastrous for everybody.’
Ironically, Scottish Salmon was the first foreign product to get the
French Ministry of Agriculture’s quality mark- Label Rouge - in
1992.
This makes for a very potent branding position in overseas markets.
’It’s very important that our product is Scottish rather than British,’
says Lloyd. Unsurprisingly, he is fiercely against any sort of action
that leads to the French authorities banning further UK goods and is an
advocate of ’let the consumer decide’. But he also thinks the current
situation is ideal for embracing agriculture minister Nick Brown’s
initiative to clearly label all food.
’We should use this opportunity to put pressure on retailers to have
complete openness in food labelling,’ says Lloyd. ’Consumers should know
the origin of the ingredients in the products they buy.’
However, other food promotion bodies are less concerned by squabbles
with France. ’We are reasonably removed from the British meat industry
and the UK doesn’t export a lot of potatoes to France,’ says Cliona
Cassidy, export marketing executive for the British Potato Council. This
view is endorsed by other fruit and vegetable organisations, which
recognise that while British lorries need a route through French ports,
the French themselves tend to stock supermarkets with home-grown
produce.
But is the Union Jack still a winning brand when selling UK goods
abroad?
’It depends whether saying something is British adds value,’ says
Patrick Davis, CEO of export marketing consultancy Food From Britain. He
highlights that in the US and Japan collecting products under a British
umbrella seems to appeal, while in Europe certain items such as Welsh
lamb and Scottish whisky benefit from their individual country
label.
Despite the ruling by scientists a few days ago in Brussells that UK
beef is indeed safe, Britain’s food and drink industries must wait to
see whether the outcome helps their case in France and Germany.
UK FOOD AND DRINK EXPORTS TO THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY
pounds Million 1997 1998
Meat 789 639
Dairy 474 523
Fish 578 664
Cereals 1,008 1,024
Fruit and vegetables 347 318
Sugar 194 192
Tea, coffee and cocoa 372 372
Other groceries 331 340
Oil, seeds and nuts 50 50
Fats and oils 193 164
Animal feed 331 302
Total Food 4,667 4,589
Drinks 1,280 1,289
Total Food and Drink 5,947 5,878
Figures from Food From Britain.
