A NEW, £250,000 multi-media marketing campaign to promote the positive environmental story behind Welsh Lamb and Welsh Beef was launched by Hybu Cig Cymru – Meat Promotion Wales (HCC) at its annual conference.

HCC’s chairman Kevin Roberts said its board had dipped into financial reserves to underpin the winter and spring awareness-raising drive, incorporating traditional and new media advertising and led by the industry’s farming champions. It will highlight that beef and lamb produced the ‘Welsh Way’ – the theme of the conference – can be a positive choice for environmentally-conscious consumers.

“We will defend, and positively commend, our industry’s position on climate change,” he told the red meat authority’s annual conference at Builth Wells, last week. “We say that it’s time to combat the constant rat-tat-tat of cheap jibes and false claims on matters that make a great difference to our businesses regarding veganism and environmental issues.

Mr Roberts added: “We’ll make consumers more aware of how the Welsh Way of rearing livestock is completely different from intensive production systems elsewhere. Our way is non-intensive, our landscape is ideally suited to rearing livestock on natural grass and rainfall, and our farms act as a carbon sink which can help mitigate climate change.”

The investment, which is additional to already-planned promotional spending in the British market, will feature marketing through HCC’s award-winning targeted social media strategy, as well as targeted advertising on digital TV and print media.

“We have a positive message for consumers who are worried about climate change - lamb and beef produced the ‘Welsh Way’ is part of the solution, not part of the problem," said Mr Roberts.

“British consumers want to know that their meat is produced responsibly, in non-intensive systems. This is exactly the story that we can tell about Welsh livestock farming.”