Editor’s note: Since this story was originally published, Coles has provided a response to a request for comment from Beef Central, published at the base of this page.
NATIONAL supermarket retailer Coles is applying substantial discounts in its Coles Finest Carbon Neutral premium beef range, produced with the use of methane-reducing feed additive Bovaer.
A social media storm erupted last week as meat and milk consumers in Australia, the UK and elsewhere raised mostly ill-informed concerns over the safety of products produced with the feed additive, the lack of disclosure about the use of such products in beef and other concerns.
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The makers of Bovaer, as well as Coles and Meat & Livestock Australia last week said the supplement has been widely tested and was safe to continue using.
The Coles Finest Carbon Neutral premium beef brand is the most widely known domestic beef brand in Australia to use the feed additive.
The range was launched in Victoria in April 2022, before being rolled-out nationally in all stores from April last year. In January last year the product picked up a significant national consumer award.
In November last year Coles announced that the use of Bovaer in rations had been expanded to three feedlots holding Coles supply contracts.
The current round of discounts on the Coles Finest product is not simply individual in-store mark-downs due to slow movement and expiry date issues, but part of a broader campaign. The VSP skin packs in the image published here had a best before date of 24 December.
Coles national online shopping portal this morning showed the following discounts being applied, ranging from 9-18pc:
- Coles Finest Porterhouse 370g, $17, save $2 (-10.5pc) $45.95/kg
- Coles Finest Flat Iron steak 420g, $12.18 save $1.26 (-9.5pc), $29/kg
- Coles Finest thick and juicy beef burgers $7, down $1, (-12.5pc) now $23,88/kg
- Coles Finest Beef brisket burgers 600g, $9, down $2 (-18pc), $15/kg
Beef Central asked Coles for a comment on this week’s discounts being applied to its Coles Finest beef, and whether the company’s overall beef demand had been impacted as a result of last week’s social media storm.
We received the following response:
“The specials you have identified in the story were all planned well in advance. To be clear, there is no relation between these specials and recent commentary on Bovaer.”