Mey Selections Producers Of The Year 2007 Announced
17th February 2008
The Wick office of North Highland Products hosted a ceremony to announce the winners of the 2007 Mey Selections Producer of the Year Awards.
The winners in each of three categories - Aberdeen Angus, Commerical Cattle and Lamb, each received a silver cup and £100 prize. The respective winners in each category were W R Baillie & Co., R Mackay and James Sinclair & Co.
"Due to the high standards across the board, the results of this year's awards were extremely close. We have traded with 380 farmers, and have purchased 8,865 cattle and 47,301 lambs between January and December 2007. This high involvement and large pool of quality livestock, demonstrate just how worthy the winners are of their titles. I am delighted that so many of our livestock farmers have risen to the challenge of supplying the ever increasing demand for high quality beef and lamb from the North Highlands - something which is reflected by growing sales of Mey Selections meat products within Sainsbury's stores nationwide. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all the winners." Danny Miller, Chairman North Highland Products.
Second and third places were awarded in each category to; HM Seatter & Co. and GRT Scarth & Co. (Aberdeen Angus), HD Brown and N & B Isbister (Commerical Cattle) and M M & A B Campbell and Balintore Farms (Lamb). Cash prizes of £75 and £50 respectively were awarded.
Following the ceremony, those present enjoyed a celebratory dinner at Mackays Hotel, sponsored by The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). The bank's support to livestock farmers and the agricultural community in general, was emphasised by Jimmy McLean, Head of Agricultural Services at RBS. Mr McLean highlighted the key role agriculture plays in the rural community, especially in the more remote areas.
"We have moved from being a protected industry with its key drivers coming from government, to one where it's the market that now drives what happens. This market is a global food market and that means that whether we are supplying the domestic market or an export one, we have to be globally competitive to succeed.
"It is particularly encouraging and exciting to see the way farming has become more integrated into supply chains, as is happening here in the North of Scotland with North Highland Products and the Mey Selections brand. Few farmers are going to take the risks needed unless the benefits are clear and they have confidence that this route forward can really work, therefore I would like to congratulate North Highland Products and Mey Selections on the steps they have taken down this route, especially their Producer of the Year Awards."
Photo
Front row (left to right): Ron Mackay, James Sinclair and Ronnie Baillie. Back row (left to right): George Cormack, Jimmy McLean (The Royal Bank of Scotland) and Danny Miller
Mey Selections Recent Awards
In recognition of its quality, Mey Selections Rib-eye Beef won the SuperMeat Award in the Fresh Meat Category in an event organised by the Meat Traders Journal in 2007. One of Mey Selections cheeses, Highland Blue, won a Gold Award in the World Cheese awards in 2006. In May 2007, Sainsburys Taste the Difference Mey Selections Meatballs received the top award from The Grocer magazine in the meat and poultry category of The Grocer Own Label Excellence Awards 2007. In December 2006 the same product won the Best New Meat Product in the Meat Industry Awards in London.
The Mey Selections product range includes prize-winning beef, lamb, mutton and cheese, as well as oatcakes, honey and oat biscuits, shortbread, whisky, honey, and preserves.
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