The first week of September saw the annual ‘Love Lamb Week’ initiative celebrate lamb’s naturally delicious flavour and versatility and encouraged the nation to try lamb in different ways.
This year’s ‘Make it Lamb’ campaign saw a reach of almost two million users across social media in a collaboration between all four UK red meat levy boards. Led by Quality Meat Scotland (QMS), with the support of the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), Hybu Cig Cymru (HCC; Meat Promotion Wales) and the Livestock and Meat Commission (LMC).
It was also supported by the National Sheep Association (NSA), in conjunction with the National Farmers’ Union, the National Farmers’ Union Scotland, the Ulster Farmers’ Union and Red Tractor.
Activities ran UK-wide and included new, tasty recipe content, farm-gate banners, retailer and butcher promotional packs and the engagement of social media influencers to provide inspiration.
In Wales HCC reached hundreds of thousands of social media accounts and had excellent broadcast results with Make it Lamb content. HCC also has a dedicated education newsletter where, as part of the campaign, it shared details on the nutritional importance of lamb in children’s diets.
HCC’s Head of Strategic Marketing and Connections Laura Pickup said: “Love Lamb Week was an excellent opportunity for us to engage consumers here in Wales, as well as in other parts of the UK, by collaborating with the other levy boards in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
“This new consumer-facing initiative, which celebrated everything amazing about lamb, ensured a wide-reaching, category raising national campaign during Love Lamb Week with a consistent look and feel that also allowed for tailored regional messaging.”
Philippa Gill, HCC’s Campaigns Executive, added: “Lamb is such a versatile and high-quality product with many different cuts to discover. Throughout this campaign week we promoted the many ways that lamb can be enjoyed, ranging from simple weeknight dinners through to traditional Sunday roasts.”
QMS had strong support for the campaign from influencers cooking recipes with Scotch Lamb on TikTok and Instagram with an organic reach of around 200,000 users - many of whom saved and shared the recipes, showing there is still a desire to cook from scratch. New recipes were developed especially for the campaign, including Harissa Scotch Lamb & Scotch Lamb Kleftiko and social post direction resulted in an upturn in web traffic to the Make it Scotch website’s recipe section. With regards to local press, QMS’ efforts within the Scottish titles achieved a reach of around 400,000.
QMS Marketing Director Emma Heath said: “By collaborating with the other levy boards in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to launch this campaign, it ensured consistency of messaging on a nationwide level.
“The first week in September being peak season for availability of new season lamb provides the perfect opportunity to encourage consumers not only to purchase it, but also to experience how easy it is to cook with and how delicious it tastes - the results of the campaign are very promising.”
Results from AHDB showed that its social media content was seen over 5.8 million times including over one-and-a-half million video plays (excluding replays). The organisation also sent recipe leaflets, campaign stickers and children’s activity sheets to thousands of butcher shops and ensured over half a million campaign stickers went on lamb meat packaging across five retailers.
Carrie McDermid, AHDB’s Head of Domestic Marketing, said: “This year’s Love Lamb Week highlighted the passion and unity within our industry, bringing together levy boards, farmers, chefs and consumers to celebrate the versatility of British lamb. The 'Make it Lamb' theme inspired many to explore new recipes, while highlighting the crucial role farmers play in producing high-quality lamb, and we’re thrilled to see the positive impact it has had.”
In Northern Ireland, the LMC chose to launch its 2024-25 post primary education programme during Love Lamb Week. 400 demonstrations were booked within the week, which will give pupils there the opportunity to cook with and taste lamb.
Commenting, LMC Chief Executive Colin Smith said, “Love Lamb Week shines a light on all the positive attributes of UK sheep production as well as highlighting the versatility of lamb and its nutritional credentials.
“We have a hugely positive story to tell, from farm right through to fork, and every year we look forward to sharing key messages via print, radio and digital platforms throughout the course of the first week in September, as well as launching our education programme.”
