In the aftermath of the UK decision to leave the EU, the text books tell us we need to see the opportunity to reduce our dependence on a single export market and develop alternatives. Good enough theory, not quite as simple when your closest market is also the highest-value option. After the UK, France is our biggest export destination and the Netherlands comes next, importing up to 40,000t of Irish beef each year and considerably more if we include Northern Ireland sales.

Dutch R3 young bull beef is 59c/kg behind Irish R3 steers and Dutch consumers spend just over €18 on a basket of groceries that would cost over €22 in Ireland. That suggests it is a low-value market that it wouldn’t make economic sense for Irish beef exporters to supply, yet the opposite is the position. Irish prime beef is valued in the Netherlands because it strikes the balance between high quality and affordability. Even though the Dutch are price-conscious, with strong focus on value, they have equal focus on quality and Ireland hits the spot. In Bord Bia market surveys show Irish beef is regarded as higher quality and worth more than Dutch by most consumers.

Our reputation developed from the establishment of the Greenfields brand with the Albert Heijn supermarket group three decades ago and, despite haphazard use of the brand by Albert Heijn at many points in the intervening period, it remains one of the best-known consumer brands today.

Unlike near neighbours Belgium and Germany, the Netherlands isn’t much of a lamb market although we did see some branded Kepak lamb for sale in Sligro, a cash and carry-type chain. It is primarily a retail and food service market, with the Jumbo and Albert Heijn supermarkets the largest buyers by volume and value, accounting for almost half of Ireland’s total exports. They between them have over half the grocery sales in the Netherlands. There are several smaller groups of stores, many regionally centred and, like Ireland, Aldi and Lidl have a strong presence.

Bord Bia has an office and team headed by Margaret McCarthy in the Netherlands and they have a promotion campaign for the country to reflect the Dutch consumer’s interest in quality, welfare and good value. The association with cattle grazing in fields is the centre-point of the campaign.

Retailers concentrate on offering a retail packed product, prepared at a central butchery. In the case of Albert Heijn, this is the Hilton group’s factory in Amsterdam, which packs for the entire country. Unlike France, where most of the retail packing is done in-store, the Netherlands confines in-store cutting to serve over counters and they aren’t in all stores.

Albert Heijn

The supermarket that built the Greenfields beef brand goes back three decades to the mid-1980s. Originally a Northern Ireland-supplied brand, the beef export ban of 1996 led to an island of Ireland supply arrangement. Currently Albert Heijn is supplied by ABP, Foyle and Kepak and its offering of Irish beef is divided between the Greenfields branded product and its own-label offering. Interestingly, its premium beef range is South American, which is presented in better-quality packaging than either its own label or indeed Greenfields. While Irish beef only makes up a portion of its beef offering, the beef display cabinets feature Irish branding prominently.

Despite being the number one retailer in the Netherlands, with a third of total grocery sales, it is the number two customer for Irish beef, sourcing half the amount that Jumbo does.

Jumbo

This retailer has surged from being a small player to having over a fifth of total grocery sales and is also the Netherlands’ biggest buyer of Irish beef. It is very much a mainstream retailer, with over 650 stores, a focus on quality and an everyday low-pricing strategy. It sources beef from ABP, Dawn and the Dunbia/Shannon Dutch based supplier of Irish beef.

Other routes to the Dutch market

While Jumbo and Albert Heijn are the two main volume buyers, there is a multitude of other customers in retail and food service. Most Irish meat processors do business with these either on a regular basis or dipping in and out of the market through import agents such as Harry Johnsen who handles beef purchases for a collection of smaller regional supermarket groups that use on average 30t of Irish beef per week.

The Irish Farmer’s Journal also met with Joop Kaldenberg, who has the beef counter and cabinets in Sligro, a cash and carry group of 36 stores primarily supplying the high-end catering sector with prime high-value steaks and roasting cuts.

They source from a broad base of Irish suppliers and offer a well-branded product in beef and lamb – O’Sullivans, supplied by Kepak. In terms of presentation, this was the most impressive display of Irish beef. Kaldenberg typically buys 25t or 30t of Irish beef per week, all steer and heifer, and it consistently performs best in eating quality assessments.

An interesting smaller group is Vomar, a 120-store group that is pitched in the soft discounter category. They stock exclusively Irish beef and have adopted the Bord Bia “Q” logo in their package branding.

Challenges for Irish beef

Irish beef enjoys a superb reputation in the Netherlands but that doesn’t mean there aren’t issues. In what used to be a market for heavy beef carcases, the demand is now for lighter UK supermarket types. Steak meat from loins in the 8-10kg category is being offered for €14, €4-5.00/kg less than loins in the 6-8kg category which are worth €18-19.00/kg.

There is also a Dutch animal welfare scheme, “Beter Leven” which translates as “Better Life” and has a strong presence in many retailers but doesn’t fit an Irish production system. It was designed for intensive housed production systems and is out of sync with extensive steer beef production like Ireland. For example, they insist on “soft flooring”, which ideally is straw or peat bedded and don’t accept slats unless they are covered with rubber. Male calves also have to be given pain relief prior to castration. Despite multiple attempts to have the Irish Beef Quality Assurance and indeed the Northern Ireland Farm Quality Assurance schemes treated as equivalent, and more suitable for our extensive grass-based production system, so far it hasn’t been possible.

Verdict on the Netherlands

This is a market that shouldn’t work for Ireland if you look at relative cattle prices and demand by consumers for value, but it does. That is because consumers are savvy enough to appreciate value doesn’t always mean the cheapest – it is quality at a good price. Irish beef is positioned in this category with grass-fed steer beef enjoying a positive image and renowned for delivering a quality eating experience on a consistent basis.