Farmright collapse won't affect beef supplies, says Sainsbury's

Sainsbury’s and ABP insist that the administration of four companies in the Farmright Group will not affect the supply of beef into stores.

Grant Thornton was appointed administrator of Farmright Group’s four subsidiaries - Farmright Ltd, Quadra Foods, Dairystix and Stickpack Europe - on Monday.

Although best known for its Dairystix sealed long-life milk pouches, Farmright also has a contract with ABP to rear dairy bull calves for Sainsbury’s.

Sainsbury’s confirmed Farmright’s administration would not affect its beef supply.

ABP said its the calves being reared would still be processed by ABP and there would be no impact on beef supply.

Grant Thornton attributed the companies’ entry into administration to their failure to attract the equity funding required to invest in new technology and to break into new markets in the UK and overseas.

On Monday, Dairy Crest said it intended to add £4m to its bad debt provision to reflect monies owed to it by Quadra Foods. It added it hoped to offset part of that against monies owed to it by the company for milk procurement.