Bayes academic comments on Morrisons’ consumer backlash

In a move to trial the sale of lamb from New Zealand rather than 100% British in 39 of its stores, Morrisons has angered many in the farming community.

Dropping its pledge to sell only British lamb, a spokesperson from Morrisons explained:

“The blunt commercial reality is that New Zealand lamb is cheaper to source, and therefore cheaper to sell, than British lamb.

“We will remain 100% British lamb on all our butchers’ counters, and the New Zealand lamb will of course be clearly labelled so customers in these trial stores will see the difference and can make a choice.”

Professor Anirban Mukhopadhyay, Professor of Marketing and Behavioural Science at Bayes (formerly Cass), commented on the situation:

"This story represents a complex coming together of several factors. For one, British lamb farmers evidently aren't able to compete on price. In addition, smaller businesses like butchers and high street employers largely struggle to compete with major supermarkets. As a result, many people earn less than they might have.

“Moreover, as modern-day consumers, we now want lamb (and all sorts of other seasonal produce) available around the year. And considering the cost-of-living crisis, people are feeling the pinch even for essentials. This makes it less affordable to buy products like lamb.”

But as Professor Anirban Mukhopadhyay explains, this practice is widespread amongst international markets.

“But this isn’t just a UK issue. Other countries subsidise certain farm products (like lamb from New Zealand) more than the UK can or would like to. But no one is accounting or paying for the "externalities" of shipping all this food across the world.

“There is no easy fix to this issue. The National Food Strategy (2021) puts it simply, "It is important to encourage imaginative, ecological livestock farming in the UK. Realistically, however, it could never produce enough meat to cater to our current appetite for beef and lamb."

"Therefore, the UK Government would need to work with federations, councils, and organisations to set some rules by which British consumers can have access to NZ lamb if they wish, but this would involve tariffs or other price control mechanisms on the supply side, and education about the "true costs" for us, the consumers. It's not okay for supermarkets, or anyone, to cut the chops off from under the British farmer.”