The Beef Plan Movement has reacted with concern to reports earlier this week about people “misrepresenting who they are from”.

The movement was responding to claims made by meat processor Dawn Meats yesterday, Thursday, September 19, that it received “four enquiries on enhanced pricing over the past 36 hours from individuals representing themselves as Beef Plan members”.

Reacting to this, a senior member of the Beef Plan Movement said that, if people are claiming to represent the producer organisation, then they are not being truthful.

He stressed that only the National Council of Irish Beef Producers of authorised and approved individuals can represent Irish Beef Producers in price discussions with factories.

The member encouraged processors to return calls to allow legitimate contact points to be established.

Dawn rejects ‘fake news’ pricing deal claims

Yesterday, Dawn Meats moved to reject claims circulating on social media that it has engaged with protesters on enhanced pricing arrangements or that it is close to deals on pricing.

In a statement on the matter, a spokesperson for the company said that “Dawn Meats has not and will not engage on collective price negotiations as to do so would be in direct contravention of competition law”.

The spokesperson said that farmers “need to be made aware of the fake news and misinformation” that are circulating on social media.