The Foyle food group has put the first consignment of UK beef into the US this week since the BSE ban from one of the Northern Ireland factories, Campsie, Co Derry.

When the Republic of Ireland had its b?an lifted in 2015, Foyle was also one of the first Irish suppliers from its factory in Co Donegal.

As well as Foyle having secured approval, WD Meats in Coleraine has also been recently approved to export to the US, as has Granville cold stores.

Despite securing approval in 2015, it was only in 2019 that the US began importing a noticeable volume of Irish beef, taking 4,687t. And this year, to the end of July, the volume has increased again to 7,500t, according to Bord Bia figures. This suggests that while it is a good time to enter the US market, it won’t be a huge-volume market.

The US is one of the top three importers and exporters of beef in the world, trading over 1m tonnes each way annually.

It exports high-value steak meat and imports lower-value forequarter beef and trimmings, usually for the burger and food service markets. The Irish Farmers Journal understands that the first Foyle shipment was beef tongues.