Ladies…are you passionate about British beef?

Are you a female working in the farming or butchery trade? Or do you know someone working in the industry that is passionate about British beef? If so, Ladies in Beef want to hear from you!

A relatively new organisation, Ladies in Beef, was formed to help promote and drive awareness of the quality and versatility of British beef to consumers using a country-wide network of dynamic lady beef champions. There are 25 ladies currently in the team – all of whom are British beef farmers and proud of it! The group is now looking for more ladies to join its campaign to help raise the profile of quality British beef to consumers across the country.

Ladies in Beef co-founders Minette Batters (a farmer in Wiltshire) and Jilly Greed (a farmer in Devon) are delighted with the response from ladies across the country so far. In a joint statement, they said: The interest that we have had so far from lady beef farmers has been fantastic. But were sure that there are women out there working in the butchery trade who are just as passionate as we farmers are when it comes to promoting British beef and we really would love to hear from you.

One of the youngest members of Ladies in Beef, 19 year old Harriet Wilson from Staffordshire, is no stranger to farming. Raised on a cattle and sheep farm, one of her fondest childhood memories is going along with her father to compete in cattle shows and looking after calves and lambs with her younger sister naming them and caring for them as if they were family pets. Ladies in Beef is important for Harriet as she believes that beef is a product that is seriously undervalued in the UK. She said: The general UK consumer doesnt think about the whole process of beef production – all of the work that goes on behind it. The UK beef industry is struggling and we need associations such as Ladies in Beef to support it.

Support for the British beef industry reached new heights during April as the first ever Great British Beef Week (23^rd 30^th April 2011) took place. Hugely successful, the Week was supported by a number of major multiple retailers including Asda, J Sainsbury, Tesco and Waitrose. Independent butchers throughout the country also displayed a special commemorative poster in their shops which encouraged customers to celebrate with a delicious rib roast.

Minette said: Establishing Great British Beef Week was an enormous achievement for Ladies in Beef and we were delighted with the support it received from multiple and independent retailers throughout the country. Now that its behind us, we now plan to focus our efforts on recruiting more members, so if you are interested in becoming a regional champion for Ladies in Beef, please get in touch via the website; www.ladiesinbeef.org.uk.

Ladies in Beef was formed to help promote and drive awareness of the quality and versatility of British beef to consumers using a country-wide network of dynamic lady beef champions. All the ladies are British beef farmers and proud of it! The group was formally launched at a high profile industry event last month, attended by guest of honour, Her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal.

Ladies in Beef was established to:

• Work with the supply chain to champion Red Tractor farm assured beef
• Increase consumer support for the British beef industry through all outlets
• Own and promote Great British Beef Week each year

This will be achieved by working with supply chain partners to identify PR opportunities to tell the story of farm assured British beef to consumers, covering a range of topics from nutrition and recipe versatility through to sustainability.