SUPERMARKETS have told The Sun they have no plans to sell American beef, upping the stakes for politicians thrashing out the details of a UK-US trade deal.
Donald Trump and Keir Starmer announced the outline of an agreement last week that would allow up to 13,000 tons of US beef to be imported here tariff-free.
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That is the equivalent of one medium steak per Brit per year.
Currently the UK imports just £24million worth of beef a year, but Trump’s team have called the deal a $5billion opportunity.
However, Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Lidl, Aldi, Iceland and The Co-op all said they have no plan to switch from UK and Irish farmers.
And the Government has said that imports of hormone-treated beef or chlorinated chicken will remain illegal.
Tesco boss Ken Murphy said this week that he had no plan to sell US beef.
He said: “We source 100 per cent Irish and British and for the foreseeable future that policy will be the same.”
Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons also said they don’t intend to change supply or animal welfare and food standards.
Budget pair Lidl and Aldi are also not budging on beef.
Aldi chief exec Giles Hurley said: “British farming is known for its high welfare, food safety and environmental standards — and we know how important that is to our customers.”
Iceland boss Richard Walker said there was no appetite for US beef from customers or supermarket suppliers.
He said: “Consensus is that even at a ten per cent tariff it’s a very price prohibitive option.”
The Co-op’s Matt Hood said: “We’re a long-term supporter of British farming, and the first national UK grocer to switch to 100 per cent British fresh and frozen own brand protein.”
The National Farmers Union said: “It’s brilliant to see supermarkets championing British beef. Consumers value its high standards in animal welfare.”
A government spokesman said: “This is a great deal as we have opened access to a huge American market, without weakening UK food standards on imports.”
Premier in £1B league
PORRIDGE pots and Japanese noodles have helped to lift Premier Foods’ branded revenues above £1billion for the first time.
The Mr Kipling cake to Bisto gravy maker has been broadening its pantry with new products.
Boss Alex Whitehouse said the firm was exploring “mergers and acquisitions” after buying Spice Tailor in 2022 and entering a strategic partnership with Japan’s Nissin Foods in 2016.
Premier, which hailed its Ambrosia Porridge for growth, posted a 5.2 per cent rise in branded sales, boosting overall turnover by 3.5 per cent to £1.14billion.
Pre-tax profits rose 6.5 per cent to £161.3million.
Butty giant spreading
GREENCORE, the UK’s biggest sandwiches maker, announced it has agreed a £1.2billion takeover of rival Bakkavor to create a food-to-go giant.
It will see £4billion of revenues generated from selling pizzas, soups, salads and sushi to almost all of Britain’s supermarkets.
But workers fear job cuts after the firms said they would save at least £80million in costs a year after the deal.
GMB union national officer Eamon O’Hearn said: “The likelihood of site closures and drop in headcount confirms our worst fears — that hard-working production staff will be facing job losses.”
It’s dirty business
THE water firm accused of dumping sewage into Windermere has posted a doubling in profits a month after hiking customer bills.
United Utilities said they had soared to £355million and it would be bumping its dividend by 4.2 per cent to 34.6p.
It recently put bills in the North West up by £86 and says they will rise by an average of 32 per cent over five years.
It said the increase was needed to fund £13.7billion of upgrades to its pipes and sewers.
ITV’s not love sick with US
LOVE Island broadcaster ITV yesterday shrugged off any US tariff concerns as bosses highlighted its Studios arm made TV shows, not films.
President Trump has spooked Britain’s creative industry by slapping 100 per cent tariffs on movies “produced in foreign lands”.
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ITV yesterday said it did not “anticipate any direct impact”.
It came as the company toasted a return to growth for the Studios business, with revenue up one per cent at £386million after years of disruption from the Hollywood writers’ strike.
Speculation about a takeover of ITV or the Studios business continues to run rife, but insiders downplayed rumours.
The broadcaster, fresh from winning a Bafta for Mr Bates vs The Post Office, expects advertising revenue to be lower than last year, when companies spent big on ads during the Euros footie tournament.
Covid fraud axe
MINISTERS have scrapped a Covid fraud recovery unit and transferred investigations to the Insolvency Service — after realising even more taxpayer cash was being wasted.
Around £47billion was paid to firms as bounceback loans but there had been more than 100,000 cases of fraud and error.
The National Investigation Service received £38.5million in state funding but has secured just 14 convictions.
Trade minister Gareth Thomas said transferring the probes would “remove unnecessary waste and inefficiency”.
Cash-strapped country
ONE in ten Brits has no cash savings at all and 21 per cent have less than £1,000 to draw on in an emergency, a survey by the Financial Conduct Authority revealed.
In addition, a third of adults have less than £10,000 saved for their pensions.
B&M goes Dutch
DISCOUNT chain B&M has hired a Dutch former Tesco executive in the latest sign of FTSE firms looking abroad for leadership.
Tjeerd Jegen, who recently led Europe’s biggest ebike maker Accell Group, has also worked at German clothing chain Takko Fashion and Dutch retailer Hema.
He led Tesco’s Malaysian business in 2010 and was its chief operating officer in Thailand before that.
B&M pushed out ex-boss Alex Russo after two profit warnings in as many months.