Austrian meat for cold cuts: A regionality check!

Austrian meat for cold cuts: A regionality check!

There is an encouraging development in cold cuts on the shelves of Austrian supermarkets. A regionality check by the rural economy association showed that 63% of the 220 varieties examined were proven to use meat from Austria. This result was particularly viewed as positive by chairman Robert Pichler and shows that consumers are increasingly placing value on Austrian quality products, even though 27% of the products have an unclear origin. The comparison between food retailers (LEH) and discounters is particularly interesting, where discounters offer a 69% share of local meat, while LEH offers 57%, reported ots.at.

Transparency required

Despite the positive results, there are concerns about the low number of products with the AMA seal of approval, which is only 33%. “The products with the AMA seal of quality stand for controlled quality, but the pressure from trade is clearly evident here,” explained Markus Lukas from Sustainable Animal Husbandry Austria (NTÖ). In addition, the association calls for a stricter implementation of the transparency goals by the EU Commission in order to create a uniform origin labeling system for meat products, as provided for in the Farm-to-Fork strategy spiegel.de informed.

In times of growing ecological challenges, the AMA seal of quality remains a trustworthy partner for consumers. In order to keep domestic production competitive in the future, Pichler calls for retailers to become more committed to the seal of quality and support its development.