Beef Market Taskforce work is continuing, its chair Michael Dowling has reassured all the parties involved.

The taskforce has not physically met since March and there have been calls for it to sit remotely.

One of the main outcomes of the last meeting was the awarding of contracts to consulting firm Grant Thornton to complete three transparency studies into the beef sector. The cost of the three reports will be almost €100,000.

Challenges

In a letter from Grant Thornton’s head of advisory Brendan Foster to Dowling, Foster cited “some unanticipated challenges”, including COVID-19, that will lead to delays in delivering the final reports.

The study focused on summarising competition law in the beef sector, which is at an advanced stage. Grant Thornton has identified all the relevant legislation and held consultation with stakeholders along the supply chain.

Some final consultations are required before it is finalised and issued to the taskforce.

An independent review into market and customer requirements for beef is also being undertaken.

This report will set out what the current in-spec bonus criteria are for beef and set out their alignment to customer requirements. It will also assess demand for particular cuts in key markets.

In-depth analysis of existing in-spec bonus criteria has been completed but the report itself has been delayed, as stakeholder engagements have ground to a halt in the face of travel restrictions and COVID-19 shifting priorities.

Supply chain

The final study is an examination of the total value of an animal along the supply chain.

It will map the supply chain from farm to market and allocate price points to the various parts of the animal along the chain.

However, in his letter, Foster said to maintain the anonymity of stakeholders, which include meat processors and supermarkets, only recurring themes around certain qualitative information from various consultations would be discussed.

He added “commercial sensitivities” around some of the data being collected meant it would be presented in an aggregated format.