Waitrose Launches Beef and Veal Dairy-Bred Bull Calf Scheme
UK - Dairy-bred bull calves born on Waitrose milk suppliers’ farms are to be finished for beef and veal in the UK under a new scheme announced this week.
7 December 2007
1 minute read
Heather Jenkins, the supermarket’s head of meat buying admitted that ‘Calfline’ was a radical step, but one which was right from an ethical and animal welfare perspective.
She said Waitrose, with a commitment to 100 per cent British beef, felt every animal produced should have a useful function within the food chain – and should not simply be regarded as a by-product.
The retailer’s preference is that dairy calves are neither shot on-farm or sold for export but should, from both its standard and organic milk producer groups, be reared within the existing fully integrated supply chain.
The initiative, still in its infancy, revolves around existing suppliers of dairy-bred Aberdeen-Angus cross cattle to Dovecote Park, but who are now making available pure-bred dairy calves.
Source: Farmers Guardian
