National Lamb Day commemorates a defining moment in New Zealand's agricultural history: the first successful shipment of frozen meat to Britain on February 15, 1882.
National Lamb Day commemorates a defining moment in New Zealand's agricultural history: the first successful shipment of frozen meat to Britain on February 15, 1882.
It’s National Lamb Day tomorrow, celebrating New Zealand’s first overseas frozen meat shipment back in 1882. So, how does the red meat sector keep its lamb chilled these days?
New Zealand has been exporting lamb for generations, with frozen lamb shipments first heading overseas as far back as 1882.
But these days, chilled lamb plays a major role as global customers look for a fresh, premium eating experience.
So how does New Zealand’s red meat sector prepare, pack and transport our free-range, grass-fed chilled lamb so it arrives in peak condition on the other side of the world?
The answer lies in careful handling, smart packaging and a tightly managed cold chain every step of the way.
Skilled butchers cut the carcasses to customers’ specifications.
Within 30 minutes of entering the cutting room, the lamb is packaged in cartons and back under refrigeration.
The cartoned lamb is then chilled until its temperature has stabilised within the range of -1.0 to -2.0C.
This is crucial as it is the temperature level that shipping container refrigeration units can maintain.
Chilled lamb leaves the country as soon as this process is complete.
Major technological developments over the past 20 years have also significantly enhanced the shelf life of chilled lamb - from an original eight to nine weeks, out to as much as 14 weeks today.
This includes the introduction of robotic dressing and cutting technology, and reducing human handling of carcases.
Sophisticated packaging systems now include vacuum packing to remove oxygen, or controlled atmosphere packing where oxygen is replaced with a gas such as carbon dioxide.
This includes a barrier to maintain the oxygen exclusion.
Chilling technology within processing plants has also advanced significantly.
Alongside carcase chillers, equilibration chillers - specialised refrigeration facilities - are used to bring the cartoned produce to that specific uniform temperature.
Chilled New Zealand lamb is generally transported to market by sea, with shipping container technology highly advanced.
In the early days of shipping chilled lamb, it would be transported in “porthole containers” run off a ship’s refrigeration system.
However, during the 1990s, refrigerated “reefer” containers were introduced.
These have inbuilt refrigeration systems, providing the ability to set temperatures and ensuring reliability and accuracy.
Rigorous checks are carried out ahead of each consignment.
The integrity, performance, condition and hygiene of the shipping container must be checked and certified for export.
The process requires careful handling, smart packaging and a tightly managed cold chain every step of the way.
The container structure, insulation, door seals and fans, as well as the refrigeration unit, must all be in good condition to meet the certification standard.
With all these processes in place and kept at optimal temperature during transport, the meat slowly tenderises and is fully aged by the time it reaches the marketplace.
For quality assurance, meat exporters monitor produce temperatures throughout the process, from initial chilling through to arrival in the marketplace, and keep records.
Many exporters include temperature loggers in cartons with the product, retrieved upon arrival at its destination.
The chilled lamb market is largely focused on premium cuts.
Although the UK, EU and North America have historically been the primary destinations for chilled New Zealand lamb, global demand is expanding, particularly in the Middle East and South East Asia.
New opportunities are also emerging in the Chinese market, where recent changes to access requirements for chilled product will enable a longer shelf life than was previously available for lamb shipped to China.
