The Beef Plan Movement has welcomed commitments from a number of retailers to attend the next sitting of the Beef Market Taskforce on January 9, 2020.
With Tesco already confirming its attendance, Beef Plan said that Aldi and Musgrave would also be in attendance.
The Beef Plan Movement issued its statement just as Musgrave confirmed its attendance. The retailer said: “Musgrave supports the work of the beef taskforce and has already accepted the invitation from its chairman Michael Dowling to attend a meeting scheduled for January 9, 2020.”
Although Tesco and Musgrave are the only ones to have publicly confirmed their attendance as of the publication of this article, it is believed that others have agreed to attend, or are in talks to do so.
Beef Plan also expressed appreciation for the efforts of Minister Michael Creed and his staff, as well as Galway TD Anne Rabbitte for engaging with these businesses.
It it believed that, before the end of the first taskforce meeting on December 3, chairperson Dowling gave a commitment to write to the retailers.
In the statement, the Beef Plan Movement also thanked both Aldi and Lidl for engaging with them at a number of meetings in recent weeks and months.
“It is through dialogue and sitting in the taskforce forum that we can bring about change for sustainability and food security for all those involved in the supply chain,” the Beef Plan statement said.
“Hopefully, there will be relationships developed between Irish beef farmers and retailers at the taskforce, because a one-on-one level of communication is key to building bridges and future relationships,” the statement concluded.