Latest news with #USBeef
The Sun
15-05-2025
- Business
- The Sun
Supermarkets have no plans to sell American beef as politicians thrash out Trump trade deal
SUPERMARKETS have told The Sun they have no plans to sell American beef, upping the stakes for politicians thrashing out the details of a UK-US trade deal. Donald Trump and Keir Starmer announced the outline of an agreement last week that would allow up to 13,000 tons of US beef to be imported here tariff-free. 3 3 That is the equivalent of one medium steak per Brit per year. Currently the UK imports just £24million worth of beef a year, but Trump's team have called the deal a $5billion opportunity. However, Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's, Morrisons, Lidl, Aldi, Iceland and The Co-op all said they have no plan to switch from UK and Irish farmers. And the Government has said that imports of hormone-treated beef or chlorinated chicken will remain illegal. Tesco boss Ken Murphy said this week that he had no plan to sell US beef. He said: 'We source 100 per cent Irish and British and for the foreseeable future that policy will be the same.' Asda, Sainsbury's and Morrisons also said they don't intend to change supply or animal welfare and food standards. Budget pair Lidl and Aldi are also not budging on beef. Aldi chief exec Giles Hurley said: 'British farming is known for its high welfare, food safety and environmental standards — and we know how important that is to our customers.' Iceland boss Richard Walker said there was no appetite for US beef from customers or supermarket suppliers. He said: 'Consensus is that even at a ten per cent tariff it's a very price prohibitive option.' The Co-op's Matt Hood said: 'We're a long-term supporter of British farming, and the first national UK grocer to switch to 100 per cent British fresh and frozen own brand protein.' The National Farmers Union said: 'It's brilliant to see supermarkets championing British beef. Consumers value its high standards in animal welfare.' A government spokesman said: 'This is a great deal as we have opened access to a huge American market, without weakening UK food standards on imports.' Premier in £1B league PORRIDGE pots and Japanese noodles have helped to lift Premier Foods' branded revenues above £1billion for the first time. The Mr Kipling cake to Bisto gravy maker has been broadening its pantry with new products. Boss Alex Whitehouse said the firm was exploring 'mergers and acquisitions' after buying Spice Tailor in 2022 and entering a strategic partnership with Japan's Nissin Foods in 2016. Premier, which hailed its Ambrosia Porridge for growth, posted a 5.2 per cent rise in branded sales, boosting overall turnover by 3.5 per cent to £1.14billion. Pre-tax profits rose 6.5 per cent to £161.3million. Butty giant spreading GREENCORE, the UK's biggest sandwiches maker, announced it has agreed a £1.2billion takeover of rival Bakkavor to create a food -to-go giant. It will see £4billion of revenues generated from selling pizzas, soups, salads and sushi to almost all of Britain's supermarkets. But workers fear job cuts after the firms said they would save at least £80million in costs a year after the deal. GMB union national officer Eamon O'Hearn said: 'The likelihood of site closures and drop in headcount confirms our worst fears — that hard-working production staff will be facing job losses.' It's dirty business THE water firm accused of dumping sewage into Windermere has posted a doubling in profits a month after hiking customer bills. United Utilities said they had soared to £355million and it would be bumping its dividend by 4.2 per cent to 34.6p. It recently put bills in the North West up by £86 and says they will rise by an average of 32 per cent over five years. It said the increase was needed to fund £13.7billion of upgrades to its pipes and sewers. ITV's not love sick with US LOVE Island broadcaster ITV yesterday shrugged off any US tariff concerns as bosses highlighted its Studios arm made TV shows, not films. President Trump has spooked Britain's creative industry by slapping 100 per cent tariffs on movies 'produced in foreign lands'. 3 ITV yesterday said it did not 'anticipate any direct impact'. It came as the company toasted a return to growth for the Studios business, with revenue up one per cent at £386million after years of disruption from the Hollywood writers' strike. Speculation about a takeover of ITV or the Studios business continues to run rife, but insiders downplayed rumours. The broadcaster, fresh from winning a Bafta for Mr Bates vs The Post Office, expects advertising revenue to be lower than last year, when companies spent big on ads during the Euros footie tournament. Covid fraud axe MINISTERS have scrapped a Covid fraud recovery unit and transferred investigations to the Insolvency Service — after realising even more taxpayer cash was being wasted. Around £47billion was paid to firms as bounceback loans but there had been more than 100,000 cases of fraud and error. The National Investigation Service received £38.5million in state funding but has secured just 14 convictions. Trade minister Gareth Thomas said transferring the probes would 'remove unnecessary waste and inefficiency'. B&M goes Dutch DISCOUNT chain B&M has hired a Dutch former Tesco executive in the latest sign of FTSE firms looking abroad for leadership. Tjeerd Jegen, who recently led Europe's biggest ebike maker Accell Group, has also worked at German clothing chain Takko Fashion and Dutch retailer Hema. He led Tesco's Malaysian business in 2010 and was its chief operating officer in Thailand before that. B&M pushed out ex-boss Alex Russo after two profit warnings in as many months.
Telegraph
15-05-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
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.'
Bloomberg
13-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
JBS Profits Jump as Chicken Gains More Than Offset Beef Downturn
JBS SA said quarterly profits rose more than expected, with chicken making up for the bulk of the increase as the world's largest meat supplier faces deepening losses at its US beef business. Adjusted net income for the three months ended in March rose 78% from a year earlier to 2.92 billion reais ($520.7 million), the Brazilian company said in a statement. That compares with the 2.79 billion real average of analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
The Independent
08-05-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Government makes assurance on hormone-treated beef as UK-US deal opens up trade
A new trade deal between the UK and US will grant tariff-free access for US beef exports, but the government insists UK food standards will not be compromised. The agreement, announced Thursday by Sir Keir Starmer and Donald Trump, focuses heavily on agriculture. It reduces tariffs on US goods, including beef and ethanol, while also benefiting British car and steel industries. As the deal was announced, Government sources insisted imports of hormone-treated beef or chlorinated chicken, previously described as red lines for the UK in any agreement, would remain illegal. The agreement on beef provides a tariff-free quota for 13,000 tonnes of US exports, but the Government said there would be no drop in food standards as a result of the deal. It also includes access for British beef exports to the US. Farming leaders welcomed the Government's efforts on maintaining high standards and securing reciprocal access for beef, but raised concerns about the inclusion of bioethanol, a fuel made from crops, in the deal. National Farmers' Union president Tom Bradshaw said: 'We find ourselves in this position as a direct result of tariffs introduced by the US administration in April. This is not something anybody wanted. 'Since then, we have worked tirelessly on behalf of British agriculture, engaging closely with the UK Government to ensure our farmers receive a fair and balanced outcome within this deal and that the public is not exposed to lower-standard produce. 'We appreciate the Government's efforts in listening to our concerns, particularly around maintaining high standards, protecting sensitive agricultural sectors and securing reciprocal access for beef.' And he said: 'For several years, we've campaigned with the UK's agricultural attaches in Washington for market access for British beef, a product globally respected for its quality and strong environmental credentials. 'These efforts have contributed to enabling the UK Government to secure ring-fenced access for British beef exports to the US.' But he warned that the inclusion of a 'significant volume' of bioethanol in the deal raised concerns for British arable farmers, and added that agriculture could not continue to shoulder the 'heavy burden' of the removal of tariffs for other industries in the economy.
