Hungry World Cup fans' meat feast

Shane Yardley, head chef at the Hilton Hotel's restaurant, wants visitors to take good memories of Kiwi cuisine back home with them. Photo / Natalie Slade

New Zealand's biggest meat company expects the incoming horde of carnivorous rugby fans to sink their teeth into an extra 70,000 of its sheep, cattle and deer during the World Cup.

Silver Fern Farms has signed up 138 restaurants to promote top quality Kiwi red meat.

The meat processor co-operative said more than 430 farmers had taken an opportunity to contract supply for the August and September period - committing 25,000 lambs, 11,000 cattle and more than 31,000 deer in addition to the normal spot market supply.

In total up to 95,000 visitors are expected to visit the country during the cup.

Silver Fern Farms is working in partnership with food service distributor Bidvest.

Chief executive Keith Cooper said it was heartening that farmers were keen to be part of the initiative "and for us to all share in a unique event that showcases the best New Zealand has to offer".

"Restaurants have been planning for an influx of visitors in the country for the next couple of months and Silver Fern Farms has assisted both restaurants and farmer partners alike to be able to meet the demand for top class product."

The supply programme started more than a year ago.

"We were always concerned that we would get more restaurants than we could get supply so it was a matter of matching up the two," Cooper said.

"It's come together nicely."

"We didn't really want to see Australian meat being used in New Zealand when we had a whole lot of visitors here as well."

The initiative was a great example of an integrated supply chain in action, Cooper said.

"We gave them [farmers] a price that they knew what margin they would make when they started the programme to grow those animals as opposed to pot luck," he said.

"I think they'll be very pleased with what they've contracted at."

The company's strategy was to create a branded product range which would insulate it from commodity price trends.

"We took it upon ourselves to lead the charge on putting in front [of] all those global travellers our branded product range," Cooper said.

"It's an opportunity we shouldn't miss."

Beef and Lamb New Zealand's new season outlook shows provisional average farm profit before tax of $114,200 for 2010/11, compared to $66,555 the previous year and $9080 in 2007/08.

Featured restaurants in the Silver Fern Farms programme included Logan Brown and Pravda in Wellington, and the Hilton in Auckland.

Logan Brown head chef Shaun Clouston said the restaurant was excited about being able to promote New Zealand food to international visitors. "It gives us the chance to build on the idea that New Zealand does have its own unique cuisine and that it's fast becoming world renowned," Clouston said.

"We've been planning since February and are glad we did.

"Some restaurants are starting to worry that they might find themselves left short of supplies."

Shane Yardley, chef at Hilton Auckland's restaurant FISH, said the Rugby World Cup would bring a large number of travellers to Auckland and New Zealand in the next six weeks.

"This is an incredible opportunity to showcase what New Zealand has to offer in terms of quality of the produce and creativity of the chefs," Yardley said.

"We really want our visitors to leave the country with a positive, memorable experience also from the dining, food and beverage point of view, so that they will have more stories to tell once they are back home."