Local Meat Supply
The Skye and Lochalsh Meat Supply Group (SLMSG) is a recently formed community organisation which aims to establish a local meat supply chain within Skye and Lochalsh.
There has been no local abattoir service for livestock producers in Skye and Lochalsh since the closure of the Skye slaughterhouse in 1992 and the removal of the subsequent mobile abattoir facility following a short trial in 1993. A voluntary collection/delivery service, operated by Skye Abattoir Services for three years, was discontinued due to the rise in haulage and killing charges.
Current options involve either taking livestock to Grantown or Dingwall for killing, selling livestock as store animals for lower returns or selling finished animals through the fatstock markets of the East Coast. The traditional practice of home killing is considered not to meet current legal requirements for food hygiene and waste disposal and crofters currently have no local alternative.
Since 1993, a number of studies have examined the need for a local abattoir and examined other aspects of the red meat chain and wider food marketing. Some of the conclusions have become out of date as the local food supply chain and general agricultural climate have changed.
The meat supply chain as seen by SLMSG on a visit to Mull and Iona, and an example from the Western Isles, act as case studies for possible operating models in Skye and Lochalsh.
Who's involved
Following a visit by a group of producers organised by Skye and Lochalsh Enterprise and LEADER +, to Mull in 2004, the new producer partnership named the Skye and Lochalsh Meat Supply Group was formed. The group has been working alongside the Lochalsh and Skye Meat Company and Skye and Lochalsh Food Link to progress plans for a fully functional local meat supply chain.
What it does
The group has now identified their preferred type and scale of abattoir/processing facility ,and has earmarked a potential location.