Farmers receive 80% of the total sales revenue earned by meat factories, according to the initial findings of the third report being compiled by Grant Thornton for the Beef Market Taskforce.

The report, an independent examination of the price composition along the supply chain, was presented to members of the beef taskforce at Tuesday’s meeting.

Grant Thornton told the members that its finding was based on factories purchasing €2.2bn worth of animals from farmers and selling on €2.9bn worth of beef sales.

Meat Industry Ireland (MII) welcomed the report, which it says exposed the “false claims” made during the 2019 beef protests.

Cormac Healy, senior director of MII, said: “We welcome the Grant Thornton exercise as it provides independent expert confirmation that farmers receive 80% of the sales revenue processors generate from the sale of beef.

Challenges

“We hope that the sector can now move on and instead work together to address the challenges we face from issues like Brexit, climate change and EU trade deals. MII members also welcome the appointment of a food ombudsman to act as an ‘honest broker’ in addressing concerns in future through dialogue rather than factory blockades.”

Healy defended Irish factories performance on price, citing issues around food service demand in Europe and retail sales not making up this shortfall.