Farmers' beef with Coles pitch

Supermarket giant Coles will be the first national retailer to sell only hormone-free beef.

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SUPERMARKET giant Coles will be the first national retailer to sell only hormone-free beef, but some farmers claim it won't be any healthier or tastier.

Coles on Monday announced it was moving to ban hormone growth promotant (HGP) from its stores in response to "widespread" concern.

Coles general manager of meat Allister Watson said the retailer had worked with its beef suppliers for more than 18 months to build a dedicated hormone-free supply chain.

HGPs are used in Australian feed lots to grow cattle faster.

A 2003 federal government review found they was unlikely to be any health risk from eating meat from cattle treated with HGPs - but they are banned from some markets, such as the European Union.

Mr Watson said HGP-free meat would have better "eating quality", and Coles had ensured it wouldn't come at the expense of customers or suppliers.

"Coles will absorb any additional production costs that arise from moving to HGP-free beef," he said.

"We'll ensure that Coles' on-shelf beef prices are not affected by this move."

But consumer group Choice says shoppers should be vigilant.

Senior food policy officer Clare Hughes said Coles might be willing to absorb the added costs, if they were offset by an increase in sales in the long-term.

But it was also well known that shoppers were willing to fork out more for products they believed were ethically or sustainably grown - a trend Coles was obviously looking to tap.

"We know consumers are worried about hormones in chicken, for instance, because we see products labelled hormone-free," she said.

"It would be interesting to know what the increase in the cost of production is and ... how long Coles will be able to wear it before passing it on.

"At the end of the day, it's always consumers who end up wearing the extra costs ... it's something we will have to watch long-term."

Australian Beef Association chairman Brad Bellinger said it was purely an exercise in marketing.

"Realistically, there's no evidence to support the claim that their shoppers will get better tasting beef," he said.

The HGP-free beef will be labelled as such and stores will be making the switch progressively from January 2011.