Horsemeat scandal: Whitbread calls for tougher supply chain regime
The company said it had been dismayed by the discovery on 14 February of equine DNA in two of its products. It immediately withdrew those products from its menus and launched a full investigation into our meat supply chain.
The group said it was taking a wide range of actions to guarantee the quality and specification of its products and give its customers confidence in the integrity of its food. These include: extending its independent batch testing of processed meats to ensure that supplies meet our demanding product specifications, requiring certification from suppliers for all processed meat products, planning a completely new system of traceability to include a clear tracking of ingredients from ‘field to fork’.
The company said: “Our customers have reacted positively to the actions that we’ve taken and our restaurants continue to trade well. We expect to have newly sourced and certified beef burgers back on our menus this week.
“It has become clear that this is a Europe wide issue of quality control within parts of the processed meat supply chain, supplying many restaurants and retailers. The situation is totally unacceptable and we are determined to play our part in repairing a flawed system.
“We believe that that a wholesale change is required to the way the supply chain is regulated and a tougher regime needs to be put in place. As a major player within the industry we intend to take an active role and assist the FSA in setting the standards in the food supply chain that the UK public expect and deserve.”
Whitbread, made the statement as the leisure group, has reported a 2.7% rise in like-for-like sales in the 11 weeks to 14 February, with Costa again driving the growth, although the increase was “slightly suppressed by adverse weather conditions in January.
Total sales in the period grew 16.9%. In the 11 weeks, like-for-like growth at Costa was 5.5%, with +2.9% at Premier Inns, +1.7% at Hotels & Restaurants and +0.2% at Restaurants.
