How Differentiated is Scottish Beef? An Analysis of Supermarket Data

The Scottish red meat industry is a major part of the Scottish agricultural economy and is known for producing high-quality beef and lamb. Beef and lamb that are produced and processed in Scotland and according to a quality-assured production specification carry the EU “Protected Geographical Indications” (PGI) name of “Scotch.” In addition, red meat in Scotland has to compete with high-quality imported products (e.g., from Brazil or Argentina) or with meat from elsewhere in the United Kingdom. This article focuses on the situation of Scotch beef and how differentiated it is in the eyes of consumers. For this purpose we use two years' retailing data for Scotland (and by socioeconomic group) from a major supermarket to estimate the conditional demand for beef products from different origins. Results indicate that Scotch beef competes with the premium category and also with the supermarket own-label product. The article concludes by considering the marketing implications of these findings.