The farming industry has welcomed new figures which show more of the meat stocked in supermarket chiller cabinets is British. The survey, carried out in August by industry group Eblex, revealed 83 per cent of meat in supermarket chillers were British. This is the highest level since the quarterly study began in 2008.

Eblex said that 56 per cent of beef and 65 per cent of lamb packs also carried the Red Tractor farm assurance logo.

Alistair Mackintosh, NFU livestock board chairman, commented on the findings, “Our livestock farmers produce a product that is second to none and we are pleased to see that the major supermarkets are choosing to back British. There has been a consistent improvement in home sourcing of beef and we now look to see this commitment carry on into the future.

“We will remain vigilant on pack labelling including retailer support for the use of the Red Tractor logo, to ensure customers can continue to buy beef and lamb produced to leading standards of food safety and animal welfare.”

UK beef farmers in particular are currently farming well, as increased worldwide demand has raised prices. Though some fear this has created a market buuble, which could burst and jeopardise British farmers’ market position, the National Beef Association said that, while such sentiment was understandable, emerging economies and traditional importers have an insatiable demand.

For producers in the UK this means there are no pockets of cheap beef on the global market that supermarkets could buy up and use as leverage to reduce the price of domestic cattle.