Argentine beef exporters are launching a €1m promotional campaign in the UK in a bid to repair the damage done by export restrictions.

The campaign is being led by the Argentine Beef Promotion Institute (IPCVA) which is spending most of its budget on three promotional events aimed at getting the meat into foodservice.

The first Beef Day is slated for the end of next month in London and will stress the quality of the meat, which comes only from extensively reared Hereford and Aberdeen Angus crosses imported from Britain in the 1860s.

It is the first leg of a strategy to get Argentine beef on to the shelves of the multiples said Sergio Gustavo Rey, foreign promotion officer for IPCVA.

He said awareness of the Argentine brand was so low in the UK that IPCVA first needed to target foodservice. Once the beef started to appear on menus, consumers would expect to find it in stores.

"There's very little known about Argentine beef - that's the challenge. We're positioning it as a premium product, but 30%-40% cheaper than its rivals."

The promotion has been delayed for two years after the Argentine government slapped unexpected export restrictions on the sector in 2005, stifling trade.

The policy was supposed to keep the lid on domestic beef prices. IPCVA director German Manzano said these had now been removed and no longer hindered exports.

"The government now recognises that selling the top cuts at a high price abroad makes the cheaper cuts even cheaper for the domestic market."

However, Argentine beef is still difficult to source, according to Josie Lewis at major beef importer Towers Thompson. "We have had cancellations and delays when we have tried to buy it recently," she said.

She welcomed the campaign and said upmarket shoppers were acquiring a taste for the meat as they went to Argentina on holiday. "A lot more people are eating the beef, which they recognise is good quality."

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