Promotion of the West Country Beef and West Country Lamb labels has taken a step forward, spearheaded by Meat South West.
Interest in using meat with the Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) is now coming from across Europe, with Belgian supermarket chain Delhaize starting to stock West Country Beef in its stores.
It follows promotion of lamb in Italy to top chefs, including the Italian equivalent of Jamie Oliver, Simone Rugiati, a young chef and TV celebrity.
Simone took part in the filming of a short video to promote English beef and lamb. He visited a gastropub where he was filmed cooking English meat and also visited a couple of farms to showcase the production.
To meet the criteria for West Country PGI status, beef and lamb must be at least 70 per cent forage fed and come from stock born, raised and finished in Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Gloucestershire, Dorset or Wiltshire.
Chairman of Meat South West (MSW), Ed Green, said: “The Italian promotion was extremely successful and we are hopeful more will follow.
“The Belgian deal is another important step forward in the recognition of high-quality grass-fed West country beef.”