Capitalising on the more adventurous cooking habits of modern mums is at the heart of a new marketing campaign from EBLEX to ensure lamb stays on shopping lists across the country.
Michelin-starred chef Mark Sargeant is working alongside Simply beef and lamb, EBLEX’s consumer marketing channel, to encourage people to be more adventurous with their lamb dishes.
Nearly half of 2,000 mums polled for the project said that international food was deemed too exotic or a luxury when they were a child, yet now nearly two-thirds of families regularly eat dishes like moussaka, curry and noodle-based dishes. Just four per cent said internationally inspired cuisine was not a regular part of their family’s diet.
However, research also revealed that mums remain on the hunt for international recipe inspiration, with lamb topping the list of the meat that mums are looking to do more with.
Mark Sargeant said: “Mums who enjoy family holidays abroad are replicating local dishes at home and as a nation we are embracing international cuisine more and more. With Easter just around the corner, and with spring lamb the meat of the season, it seems they might be looking for something more adventurous this year.”
While EBLEX continues to push for market access in countries currently not open to exports of beef and lamb from England, which ultimately helps support the farmgate price and balance the carcase, this activity is not to the detriment of promoting beef and lamb on the home market.
“The domestic lamb market remains our most lucrative market and so we are always looking at new ways to encourage the lamb-eating habit and innovative ways to excite targeted consumers,” said Nick White, head of consumer marketing for EBLEX.
“The ‘adventurous lamb’ theme is something which will run through our work and which we feel will resonate with households across the country.”
While not core to this project, EBLEX will again be producing television advertising as part of its consumer marketing strategy after the success of the work in this area over the last couple of years, which has helped to maintain penetration of lamb in UK households and enhance the image of domestically produced beef and lamb as a quality product.