AHDB: The value of waste for the UK market
British shoppers spent £30 million on primary red meat offal in the last year (Kantar, 52 w/e 15 June 2025). This is up 1.8% year-on-year. However, this is solely driven by price increases as demand for primary red meat offal has declined over the last year with volume sales down 7.9% to 6,000 tonnes.
The most popular is lamb accounting for over half of volume sales, with pork at 30% and beef at 19%. For both lamb and pork, liver is the most common offal cut purchased but other cuts included in the sales are kidney and heart.
11% of households purchased primary red meat offal in the last year. Perhaps unsurprisingly it is older shoppers which make up the majority of sales with three quarters of volumes purchased by shoppers aged over 55. Retired households account for half of all red meat offal sales but they have declined their purchases by 6.9% year-on-year. Family households (with children under 16) account for only 11% of volumes but they have been increasing their offal purchases.
Lots of offal is unlikely to end up being sold in its primary format, with volumes that do end up in the British human supply chain likely being turned into pâtés, pies (such as steak and kidney) or ready meals (like liver and bacon). Within the processed cuts, chilled pork pâté sales totalled 20 tonnes last year, while haggis and black pudding sales were over 6,000 tonnes. However, both categories were in decline.
Exports
A significant proportion of the offal we produce in the UK is exported, so examining trade figures is a good way to indicate the value returned.
Pork offal
Pork offal exports deliver significant value back to the UK market, with exports in 2024 totalling £162 million. China is the primary destination for this product, with the Chinese taking over 55%, by volume, of all UK pork exports in the same year. Other key destinations include the EU and the Philippines. The majority of the product sent to China and the Philippines will travel as frozen offal, whereas EU product is mostly fresh offal.
Beef offal
In 2024, UK beef offal exports were valued at just over £70 million, up from £61 million in 2023. In terms of cuts, over half of this value came from frozen edible bovine offal, with fresh or chilled edible bovine offal making up the remainder. Key markets for UK beef offal exports include the EU (chiefly France), Canada, the US, Japan and Ghana. We have seen some of the largest growth in the value of products shipped to the US, Japan and South Africa.
Sheep meat offal
UK sheep meat offal exports in 2024 had a total value of just under £12 million. The key destination for UK sheep meat offal is the EU, taking 77% of all exported product in 2024 and accounting for £10.6 million in value. Most of these cuts are exported as fresh product. Sheep meat exports to the EU have increased steadily year on year since 2021, totalling 4,500 tonnes in 2024. Whilst the volumes are relatively small, this trade to the EU was valued at £10.6 million in the same year.
Looking further afield, the UK is increasing shipments of frozen offal to the Cote d’Ivoire, fresh and frozen to Kuwait and frozen offal to Ghana.
Domestic consumption of offal is limited in the UK, and volumes are decreasing. This means that export markets are increasingly important as an outlet for the parts of the carcase that are less popular in the UK. Using export markets to maintain carcase balance and ensure all parts of the carcase have a valuable outlet supports our domestic market and is a key component of carcase prices, delivering value back to the UK producer.
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