Red meat promotion and development body Quality Meat Scotland has nominated the bodies - East Ayrshire, Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Highlands and Fife Councils, as well as Tayside Contracts covering Perth and Kinross, Dundee and Angus Councils – for the sustainability category of the Government Opportunities Scotland Excellence in Public Procurement Awards.

The move follows full traceability audits of each region, which showed all the red meat served in public facilities was sourced locally.

The public sector is of great importance to the Scottish red meat industry, as procurement of butcher meat in Scotland's public sector is estimated to be worth approximately £6 million per annum.

Donald Biggar, Chairman of QMS, said: “These awards give us the chance to credit the eight councils nominated for the work they have done in ensuring local residents are fed top quality, locally reared red meat. In turn, this supports local farmers and provides a key market for the industry.

“The eight councils highlighted have been leading the way in working with us to ensure sustainability criteria in their food supply contracts.

“I’m pleased to say that all 32 of Scotland’s local authorities are now putting sustainability at the heart of their supply policies, up from 27 the year before.

“This comes at a time when more Scots are looking locally for their food and drink. Recent figures unveiled by the Scottish Government show that one leading supermarket has increased sales of Scottish products in Scotland by 20 per cent, and there is no reason that people shouldn’t get the same quality food from their local authority.”

The winner will be announced at the Procurex Conference on 29th October at SECC, Glasgow, where Donald Biggar will be presenting to delegates about the work many bodies are doing to improve their red meat sourcing, and offering advice to those that have contracts up for renewal.

QMS recently published new guidelines on the sustainable procurement of red meat in the cost sector and many buyers in Scotland are using these to their advantage.

Health & Education activities are also a major part of the work of QMS ensuring that all Scots understand the importance of beef, lamb and pork as an important part of a healthy balanced diet and can make informed choices about what they eat.