Beef farming in the UK is a complex chain with many types of farming systems from very extensive ones where cattle live out most of the year, to more intensive finishing systems where the cattle live in barns as they are made ready for sale. Housed cattle are fed a balanced diet containing both cereals and silage. All the beef farmers supplying our approved abattoirs meet national farm assurance standards and belong to our suppliers' Producer Clubs. We source cattle from all over the UK and Ireland.
We have 4 types of beef available at Tesco:
Value beef
Standard beef
Finest beef
Organic beef
Tesco Standard/Value
All our standard cattle are sourced direct from farm assured farms which are independently audited. These farmers are committed to the highest standards of quality, animal husbandry and animal welfare.
Every piece of beef sold in our stores can be traced back to the group of farms where it was reared and the cattle are always purchased direct from farm and never through livestock markets.
Value beef is taken from slightly older animals than those we use for standard beef but otherwise the standards are the same.
Tesco Finest Beef
Finest beef is selected from prime cuts, and then matured to optimize flavour and tenderness.
Tesco Organic Beef
Our Organic beef comes from farms which are audited by one of the organic farm bodies, such as Soil Association or Organic Farmers and Growers. Organic beef farmers only feed organic cereals and manage their pasture land without using artificial fertilisers and pesticides.