Scottish lamb consumption is half the UK average

More than three-quarters of Scots are regularly repeating the same meals for dinner week in, week out.

The new research highlighted over half (54%) of the nation consider themselves stuck in a rut when it comes to dinner, with the majority (56%) of those who always have the same meals for dinner putting it down to simply not knowing what to cook.

Now, Scotland’s national chef Gary Maclean is supporting a charge to encourage people across the country to enjoy Scotch Lamb PGI.

Average consumption of lamb in Scotland is only half of the UK as a whole, with the new research – carried out by YouGov on behalf of Quality Meat Scotland – revealing that over a third (38%) of Scottish adults never eat lamb for dinner midweek.

Gary said: ‘We’re lucky enough as a nation to have access to such high quality, fresh ingredients, and it’s time we stepped up and introduced them to our mealtimes on a regular basis.

‘While lamb may have historically been considered a Sunday dinner staple, it’s an incredibly versatile meat that’s nutritious and really simple to prepare for the whole family.

‘I’m a strong advocate of dishes that inspire people to get out of mealtime ruts by introducing new ideas, techniques and flavours that can be mastered incredibly quickly, whatever the skill level.

‘Quality Meat Scotland’s Scotch Kitchen website is full of resources that put Scotch Lamb centre stage, whatever day of the week.’

Carol McLaren, director of marketing and communications at Quality Meat Scotland said: ‘The research has highlighted that people are missing a great opportunity to discover loads of simple, tasty dishes when it comes to their mealtime choices.

‘This is largely down to simply not knowing what else to cook – which is where our new campaign comes in. We want to make Scotch Lamb the natural choice for midweek dinner plates, encouraging consumers to visit our online resource dedicated to fresh, delicious recipes created with convenience at the core.

‘We have a great message to take to consumers. We have a delicious, nutritious quality assured food produced naturally right on our doorstep and there are endless tasty, midweek lamb meals which take 30 minutes or less to cook.’

The research was commissioned by QMS and carried out by YouGov on over 1,000 Scottish adults in an online survey as part of the Scotch Lamb, Naturally campaign.

The nine-week long campaign will for the first time include television advertising as part of the promotional mix, along with billboard, press, digital, social and radio advertising.

The campaign is set to reach 4.2 million consumers (94% of the adult population) during September and October.
Consumers are encouraged to visit www.scotchkitchen.com to discover a range of new recipes created using Scotch Lamb – from satay style to slow-cooked.