Allan Barber: Meat we eat is as good as the export product

Not so many years ago, people thought the term "export-quality" meant meat that was superior to the stuff at the local butcher. Sometimes this was true, but mostly the notion reflected the public's inferiority complex about local products.

Not much more than 20 years ago New Zealand life was dictated by myriad laws and regulations which prevented people from enjoying aspects of civilised life that Europe and North America had taken for granted for years.

Import licences protected locally manufactured products, foreign currency restrictions affected overseas travel, and liquor sales and licences were tightly controlled, with only a handful of restaurants allowed to serve alcohol.

Import protection led New Zealanders to assume that foreign was better than local - except for agricultural products and a few iconic brands like Fisher & Paykel.

In the case of agricultural production, this led to a perception that only the best was good enough to meet world demand - and therefore what fed local appetites could not be as good.

This attitude only started to change when import licensing was relaxed.

Manufacturers found themselves compelled to adapt or die and the farming sector was no different - except that it was the first to receive the cold turkey treatment with the overnight removal of subsidies in 1985.

Up to that point, meat production was still dominated by a carcass mentality.

The removal of subsidies began the process of changing the focus from volume to quality.

Over the past 10 years, output from the meat (no longer freezing) industry has changed beyond recognition.

At least 90 per cent of all lamb is now sold in cut form, and 20 per cent goes overseas chilled, compared with only 5 per cent a decade ago.

The export sales value of lamb has increased by 50 per cent, while markets have opened up for premium beef in North America, Japan and other Asian and South Pacific countries.

The domestic market, meanwhile, has become highly sophisticated and served by high-specification plants complying with NZ Food Safety Authority standards, which are - in many cases - licensed to supply demanding export markets.

The only difference between local and export production is in the ideal size of cuts.

The New Zealand consumer tends to favour smaller cuts.

For example, the ideal domestic lamb weighs between 15kg and 17kg carcass-weight and an export lamb from 17kg to 21kg.

The New Zealand market also favours beef from heifers aged 15 to 18 months and weighing up to 220kg, - quite a lot smaller than the specification demanded for export.

The local trade is heavily skewed towards retail and the New Zealand consumer has not yet been willing to adjust to the higher price of meat as a premium product.

Because of that, the retailer wants to keep the size of the cut down, along with the retail price.

The export beef trade is mainly directed at hotels, restaurants and manufacturing end-uses, such as hamburgers, and the European public is prepared to pay more for a high-quality lamb cut.

The introduction of the New Zealand Beef and Lamb Quality Mark in 1997, developed by farmers, processors, wholesalers and retailers in co-operation with the Beef and Lamb Marketing Bureau, has led to an improvement in consistency and ensured that the New Zealand consumer can now eat the most tender, grass-fed red meat available anywhere in the world.

Consumer perception that export-quality meat is better than what we eat here is unfounded - they are both world-class.

* Allan Barber is a freelance writer, business consultant and former chief operating officer at AFFCO.