Tesco, one of the big three Irish retailers, is understood to be reviewing its beef supplier arrangements with the possibility of moving to just a single supplier being one of the options.

In response to a query from the Irish Farmers Journal, the company said that “a routine tender process is under way for our beef supply to our Republic of Ireland stores and as such we are unable to comment further at this time”.

As has been the case in Britain, the larger retailers have been put under extreme pressure by the discounters, particularly Aldi and Lidl, both of whom offer a smaller but highly regarded beef range. Inevitably, supermarkets like Tesco will continually be looking for ways to fight back, and streamlining supply lines is one option.

Business

Currently, ABP, Dawn, ICM and Foyle/Hilton share Tesco’s Irish beef and lamb business. While it would be described as a significant account in the industry, the reality is that the domestic Irish market is a small part of the portfolio of the major Irish meat processors, whose main focus is export markets. Overall, Ireland exports 90% of the beef it produces.

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