US beef off the menu despite trade deal, says sandwich boss
British retailers are unlikely to start importing US beef despite the UK's trade deal with Donald Trump, the boss of a sandwich-making giant has said.
Dalton Philips, the chief executive of Dublin-based Greencore, which supplies all major UK supermarkets, said customers were concerned about US food standards.
'Our customers are retailers,' he told The Telegraph. 'I think they will do a lot of in-depth research before they start introducing proteins where there may possibly be some anxiety from the consumer, and we work very closely with them.'
Sir Keir Starmer last week announced a 'landmark economic deal' with the US, controversially giving both countries reciprocal market access to each other's beef.
While the Prime Minister insisted there would be no lowering of food standards to accept products like hormone-treated beef, Mr Philips suggested customers may still be reluctant.
He said: 'You have got to go at the speed of the consumer. I think it's way too early to say where the consumer is on this.'
The sandwich maker does not source any food products from the US currently, Mr Philips said.
Instead, Greencore buys half its products in the UK, a small amount in the Far East and the remainder in Europe.
The UK-US trade deal has outraged British beef farmers and follows months of tractor protests in Westminster over inheritance tax changes that they warn risk putting family farms out of business.
Mr Philips, himself the son of a farmer, said: 'There's a lot of uncertainty out there at the moment, and there's a lot of concern from British farmers, quite rightly.
'British food resilience is absolutely key. We need to produce more in the UK, and eat more from the UK.'
While he would not comment directly on the Government's tax changes, he said: 'We need more farming in the UK, not less.'
Mr Philips' remarks come after Greencore on Thursday confirmed a £1.2bn takeover of its rival Bakkavor.
The deal will create a £4bn-revenue empire marrying the sandwich maker supplying Britain's meal deals with the ready meal giant behind pizzas, desserts and salads in supermarkets such as M&S, Tesco and Waitrose.
Greencore said the two companies had agreed the terms of an acquisition after reaching an agreement in principle in April.
Mr Philips said the company hoped to take a bite out of the restaurant market by offering a wider range of ready meals targeting families who feel they cannot justify the cost of eating out.
He said: 'If you're a family of four going out for dinner in the UK, it's crazy to think you could be at £160 quite easily. That's a lot of money. There is definitely an opportunity there.
'I think more and more we're going to see, as budgets get squeezed, people look into these big discretionary outflows and say, 'Can we do it differently?' And of course, you can do restaurant-quality food at home.'
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