ABP FOOD GROUP has said it understands the decision by Tesco to stop sourcing meat products from Silvercrest Foods after the horse meat controversy.
In a statement released this afternoon, Silvercrest’s parent company ABP said it had let its customers down after the discovery of horse in some beef burgers and apologised.
Tesco earlier confirmed that it has dropped Silvercrest as a supplier, saying “the breach of trust of simply too great”. The contract, believed to be worth around €15 million, is a significant financial blow to Larry Goodman’s ABP company.
However ABP said that Tesco had decided to continue to source beef from other ABP companies.
“We have learnt important lessons from this incident and we are determined to ensure this never happens again,” said ABP Food Group CEO Paul Finnerty.
Recent tests carried out on the meat confirmed that the contamination in the beef burgers came from an additive sourced in Poland.
The Silvercrest plant remains closed and the management at the facility has been changed.
Paul Finnerty said the company has reorganised the way it does its business and has brought in new procedures to audit its third party suppliers.
“We are proud of our excellent reputation for quality and service throughout Europe and are determined not to allow the Silvercrest incident overshadow what is a great business,” he said.
He also thanks customers for their continued support.
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