Lidl UK is to invest £66m in expanding its fresh meat and poultry range just months after it was engulfed in the horse meat scandal.

The 600-store discounter will increase the number of fresh meat and poultry lines in its range by 49% and installing new refrigeration cabinets in each of its 600 UK stores in order to accommodate the expansion.

The project, which is expected to be complete in early 2014, follows a project started last year which saw its fresh meat range increase by 30% from 2012 to 2013. It also revamped its meat marketing and increased the number of British products sourced.

The £66m investment comes just months after Lidl was among the retailers implicated in the horse meat scandal where beef products sold in UK grocers were found to contain horse DNA.

As part of its investment in fresh food, Lidl has employed designated ‘Freshness Managers’ across its eight regional distribution centres to monitor the quality of the fresh deliveries coming in.  

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