Mission to ‘meat’ multi-million pound European appetite for quality British lamb

British sheep meat has been in the spotlight this week, as buyers from across the EU head to the UK as part of a major trade mission.

Twelve delegates from France, Germany, Portugal and the Netherlands have taken part in our mission to enhance the reputation of Quality Meat from Britain by showcasing British farming and food production.

The three-day visit (15–17 September) included visits to farms and processors to learn more about the production of world-class British lamb. It also included visits to butchers and retailers, as well as the chance to taste quality British lamb at a showcase dinner.

Our mission followed the recent publication of figures for the first half of 2025, highlighting that the value of total UK red meat exports, including offal, was up nearly 10% on the year at £966m.

Fresh and frozen sheep meat exports to the EU from January to June increased in value by 13% to £323m year on year.

Gareth Renowden, AHDB Head of International Marketing, said:

“Making strong connections with people is key to helping ensure UK red meat exports thrive.

“We were delighted to host delegates from across the EU for them to gain valuable insight into how we produce our world-class lamb.

“Our export trade adds value of £40 per head for the sheep meat sector and the EU remains our biggest trading partner and a key destination for British lamb.

“It was a real privilege to welcome delegates from across Europe and to show them, first-hand, the passion and expertise that goes into producing our world-class lamb.

“These kinds of visits are a fantastic opportunity to build trust, understanding and appreciation of our world-class production standards.”

The mission followed a busy first half of 2025. We launched a Quality Meat from Britain multilingual website to provide consistent messaging around provenance and high production standards for British red meat in the European market.

We also continued our partnership with Interbev – the National Interprofessional Association of Livestock and Meat in France – to expand the delivery of the 'Changeons l’Agneau' (‘Let’s Change Lamb’) campaign in France.

The campaign has played a major role in upskilling butchers and focusing on smaller cuts to help drive demand among younger French consumers.

In October, we will be joined by red meat export businesses at Anuga in Cologne – this year’s largest international trade show, which attracts industry buyers and key decision makers from around the world.

Gareth added:

“We’ve been very active, working on behalf of our levy payers to add value to the red meat sector and this inward mission is part of a wider portfolio of international trade development activity.

“This includes work on market access, participation in international trade shows, outward missions and the work of our representatives in-market.

“This work on the ground, coupled with consumer and international market analysis from our Market Intelligence team, helps equip our exporters with insight and practical support to succeed.

“Following this mission, we are looking forward to Anuga next month to support our exporters in building on existing business relationships and to develop new ones.

“We look forward to continuing to work with industry and government to support our exporters in being best placed to ensure our world-class produce thrives internationally.”

Further information about provenance and high production standards for British red meat in the European market can be found on the Quality Meat from Britain website.