Fresh Meat Sales Up As Horse Meat Scandal Continues (Schoolofwok)

It seems like there's no end in sight to the ongoing horsemeat scandal in the UK. However, as new investigations continue to emerge up and down the country, consumers are showing an increasing desire to buy fresh meat from more transparent supermarkets and independent, reliable sources on the High Street.

The public's reliability on ready meals has increased over the past decade with millions of Britons lacking the confidence or know-how to create fresh meals from their own home.

School of Wok, which sources all its meat locally, teaches customers how to whip up tasty dishes using the freshest ingredients in minutes.

The 'Quick-Fire Wok' cookery lesson in London shows that meals at home needn't be time-consuming, but just as quick to prepare as any ready meal, yet much tastier!

Hungarian Food Ltd from Preston is the latest retailer to come under fire after the Food Standards Agency found that it had imported 100 kilograms of so-called 'beef' from Hungary.

Lancashire County Council said that 40kg of horse meat was sold in 1kg bags labelled as "diced beef" at the group's own market stall and a shop in Liverpool. The meat is now being tested for the veterinary drug known as 'bute'.

The scandal began back in mid-January after equine DNA was found in frozen beef burgers sold by a number of the nation's largest supermarkets, including Tesco, Iceland, Aldi and Lidl.

Several large European food manufacturers including Findus and Nestle have since revealed that horse meat has also been found in their ready meals, with shoppers beginning to question where their meat actually comes from.

Consumer trust in the food industry has dropped by 24% since the horse meat investigations began, a survey by Which? has shown. Nearly a third of shoppers are said to be buying less processed meat while a quarter are purchasing less ready meals with meat in, or choosing vegetarian options.

As such, a large numbers of High-Street butchers across the UK have reported a rise in sales, with burger and pie sales increasing significantly.

Morrisons has also benefitted from the battered reputations of its competitiors due to its 'vertically integrated' business model, meaning that it owns its farms and can keep a close eye on the supply chain. The company said that it monitors its production line "from field to fork".

Fresh meat-counter sales at the supermarket rose an impressive 18% during the week commencing 4th February (compared to a month earlier), with fresh beef-burger sales jumping 50%.

Morrisons CEO Dalton Philips said: "There's never been a better time for consumers to buy fresh meat from sources they know they can trust."

With barbecue season just around the corner and consumers now looking locally for more reliable sources of meat, School of Wok is now hoping for a revival on Britain's High Streets.

If you're looking for different ways to cook fresh meat but don't know how, check out School of Wok's London cooking classes for inspiration and expertise from professional chefs...and as they say: "fresh is always best!"

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