ABP Food Group backs Irish breeds

The company recently launched its Shorthorn Premium Beef brand to boost shorthorn cattle production, according to Eoin Ryan, sales and marketing director for ABP Ireland.

Irish Shorthorn Premium Beef will now be processed at ABP’s Clones and Nenagh facilities and marketed to ABP customers across Europe and beyond with a view to developing new markets for the product.

Irish Shorthorn​

This integrated co-operation has enabled Irish Shorthorn Premium Beef to become a unique brand and certified trademark under the control of the Shorthorn Marketing Company.

ABP​ aims to pursue new opportunities for Irish Shorthorn premium beef through retail and foodservice avenues domestically, throughout Europe and beyond.

Ryan said Ireland’s shorthorn herd had dramatically shrunk in the past 100 years to a shadow of its former self. “We are hoping to rebuild it,​” he said.

Hannan Meats​

Irish firm Hannan Meats​ was getting a lot of recognition for its work with shorthorn cattle, he added. The renowned butcher, based in Moira, Co Down, is a stakeholder and founder partner of the Glenarm Shorthorn Beef Scheme, working with more than 100 Northern Ireland farmers.

It draws on meat from the breed for a range of award-winning products, from its Glenarm Shorthorn 4 Rib Roast to its Himalayan Salt-Aged Glenarm Shorthorn Beef.

Shorthorn genetics have been used worldwide in the development of more than 40 different breeds. Modern shorthorn are prized for their docility, fertility and maternal ability.

Irish Hereford Prime​

ABP has already teamed up with Irish Hereford Prime to run a similar scheme based on this breed’s brand and aims to gradually develop other breed programmes.

“We started [this] in 1997 and now we have more than 2,000 farms supplying cattle to six factories in Ireland,​” said Ryan. “We’re supplying product to France, Italy, Spain, Holland, [butcher’s] Aubrey Allen in the UK and top restaurants.​”

ABP was also promoting its Irish Angus Beef Burgers, made with prime beef sourced from certified Irish Angus Farmers and simply seasoned with salt and pepper, at Sial​. The range was originally launched at Sial Paris​ in 2012.