Scottish lamb sales were up last month thanks to an industry-led campaign encouraging people to eat Scotch lamb for St Andrew’s Day.
The campaign, which aimed to make Scotch Lamb the national day dish, resulted in a 9% increase in the value of sales of Scottish lamb last month, alongside a 6.9% increase in the volume sold.
It was led by United Auctions with support from Quality Meat Scotland (QMS), NFU Scotland, the Institute of Auctioneers and Appraisers in Scotland, and the National Sheep Association.
The campaign also included an initiative to get school children cooking Scotch lamb.
This resulted in 11,600 pupils from 115 schools getting the chance to cook lamb dishes using lamb donated by farmers selling prime stock through Scotland’s auction marts.
“It has been fantastic to see the support for the campaign this year,” said QMS director of marketing and communications Lesley Cameron.
“To members of the red meat industry, households, schools and businesses throughout Scotland, thank you for helping make Scotch Lamb PGI synonymous with St Andrew’s Day.”
Ms Cameron said that QMS would continue to support the red meat industry next year with a range of activities including advertising, partnerships with influencers and an advert on STV.
She added: “This will continue to help consumers across the country buy our brands with the confidence our meat is rich in essential nutrients and produced to the highest possible standards.”
Earlier this month QMS launched an online toolkit to help those working in the sector have “positive conversations about red meat” in January.
UK levy body AHDB also revealed plans for a £1.5 million TV advertising campaign to promote British red meat and dairy products.
Both initiatives coincide with Veganuary – a campaign encouraging people to ditch meat and dairy to try a plant-based diet in January.