Hereford Beef still performing for Waitrose

With an additional product added to Waitrose’ No. 1 range, Hereford Beef is doing well for the retailer, reports Dovecote Park.

Hereford Beef lines are still performing for Waitrose, says Karen Howarth, category and marketing manager at Dovecote Park.

She explains: “Hereford Beef sales continue to perform well in Waitrose, with growth in both value and volume in the latest year driven by steaks and joints. The poor weather during the summer, when compared to 2020, resulted in a disappointing burger performance during those key months.”

On the back of the success of Hereford Beef, October 2021 saw the launch of the new Waitrose No. 1 Hereford dry aged steak meatballs, which are a 300g pack containing 12 meatballs.

Karen says: “Online reviews from customers are positive with a number of five-star reviews that focus on the delicious taste. This product is a perfect addition to our Waitrose No.1 dry aged Hereford Beef range, enabling shoppers to buy a wide range of Hereford Beef products from their local Waitrose store.”

Looking more widely, demand in retail remained extremely strong in the first half of the year with lockdown restrictions still in place, explains Karen but adds this did start to ease as hospitality venues re-opened and the public began to visit restaurants and bars with family and friends once again.

She says: “As the year progressed, different challenges, such as labour shortages and ingredient and packaging lead-times, have impacted all aspects of the industry. “Shopper habits have also changed during the year, as customers have begun to return to stores to carry out their grocery shopping. Online sales at a total grocery level equate to approximately 13 per cent of all grocery spend, with many shoppers now purchasing larger shops less often. “Within Waitrose, online sales remain strong and we continue to see shoppers buying beef online – particularly mince and steaks,” she explains. Demand for Waitrose Entertaining lines continues to be ahead of prepandemic levels, as many shoppers now realise the wide range of products on offer. While shoppers may be returning to stores, their habits haven’t quite returned to ‘normal’, Karen states. Instead, shoppers are generally visiting stores less often and buying more when they are there. Karen says: “Shoppers are visiting store less frequently, which may be due to shoppers still feeling cautious in busy places and wanting to restrict the number of visits they are making, or perhaps they are now spending more time meeting friends and family rather than shopping for groceries. Whatever the reasons, it’s important that when shoppers visit a Waitrose store, we ensure there are plenty of products for them to choose.”

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Rebel Kicks wins European title

The show season of 2021 is one Tom and Di Harrison will not forget, concluding with winning the Champion of Europe title.

Moralee 1 Rebel Kicks KS R12 from Northumberland breeders Tom and Di Harrison was judged Champion of Europe before being placed third in the world-wide stage of the competition. This competition is organised by South African cattle man PJ Budler who now lives in Texas and is the first ever cattle judge to evaluate a national show on all six continents. It is judged by an international panel which this year included Non Thorne of Studdolph Herefords, Pembrokeshire.

Having won titles at many summer shows this summer, Rebel Kicks was previously named joint UK poll bull and reserve bull of the year in 2019, which was the last time the titles were awarded due to the global pandemic. Born in April 2018, it is by Danish-bred SMH King Size 87K, the 2019 sire of the year and out of Romany 1 Dawn D1 M6. In the show ring, Keadyview’s Steven O’Kane is usually found on the halter, with Tom and Di saying the two have a special relationship. With the winners announced on Facebook, Tom and Di along with Steven O’Kane and Helen Morgan are heading to Texas in February to collect their prize money at the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo, to be presented in the cattle ring before the invitational sale. Commenting on Moralee Herefords’ L-R Tom Harrison, Rebel Kicks and Di Harrison

success, Tom says: “It is beyond our wildest dreams and shows what Rebel can do on an international stage on top of all the interbreeds he won in 2021, while competing against the continentals and demonstrating the swing towards native-bred cattle. “Rebel’s calves are now really hitting the ground, including Valuabull which was the male champion at Agri Expo. His calves are exceptional and without doubt the best we have ever produced, showing he’s a true breeder, not just a show pony.” tenth edition of the Champion Hereford of the World competition and to be part of the panel which selected the final representative of each area to compete.

“It is always interesting to see the Hereford breed from all over the world. Being a photographic competition, it posed its own challenges, having to look beyond the quality of the image, at the animal itself. I was delighted by the standard of the representatives and had no hesitation in the placing of my top three.

“There was no doubt Rebel Kicks’ power and presence made him a worthy winner of the Champion of Europe title. Congratulations to all.”