beef

The Co-operative beef

Just like our fresh lamb, Co-operative fresh and frozen beef is produced from cattle reared on livestock farms the length and breadth of the country, compatible with traditional extensive farming systems, where it is possible to produce traditional fodder based animal feed.

Calves are suckled by their natural mothers, then weaned onto grass and other forage crops. Cattle are reared extensively on open pastures, park land and the uplands where they graze for most of the year. The animals grow slowly at their own rate, taking up to thirty months before they mature. This is why the meat has a rich deep colour with streaks of creamy white fat running through it. This marbling bastes the meat as it cooks, ensuring the end result is incredibly succulent and full of flavour.

The cattle are brought undercover into large open sheds or to protected open areas for welfare reasons during the poor weather of winter. We also allow the use of these sheds by farmers wanting to get the cattle together and ready for the processor.

During this time cattle are fed a forage based diet based mainly on locally harvested crops. Feeding stock on open grazing and high quality rations are pre-requisite features of Co-operative beef production.

All our beef is reared on farms that adhere to our strict welfare standards.

The Co-operative Truly Irresistible Aberdeen Angus beef

Aberdeen Angus cattle are a traditional old fashioned breed of cattle, known throughout the world for producing beef with superior eating qualities. The delicate marbling running through the meat is distinctive and gives the meat a succulence like no other.

The production of Aberdeen Angus cattle in Scotland is traditional and has flourished based on the growth of feed resources due to the temperate climate where there is abundant growth of lush pastures for grazing, silage production and growing crops for supplementary feed.

It should therefore be no surprise that Co-operative Aberdeen Angus fresh beef is sourced only from farms in its native Scotland.

The farmers must be active members of the Quality Meat Scotland Farm Assurance Scheme and all the cattle are born, reared and slaughtered in Scotland to comply with the PGI status for Scotch Beef.