Future For N.Z. Mutton On Japanese Markets

Press, Volume C, Issue 29504, 4 May 1961, Page 17

Future For N.Z. Mutton On Japanese Markets

Thp consumption in Japan of New Zealand ewe mutton might this year be twice that of last year, and the market might continue to increase by 5000 to 10.000 tons annually if the price remained reasonable, said a director of the Japan Meat Importers’ Association, Mr H. Nakayama, in Christchurch yesterday. Mr Nakayama is making a market survey in New Zealand and Australia with three other Japanese importers. Before coming to New Zealand they spent 15 days in Australia, and they have now spent 12 days in New Zealand. They will return to Japan in a few days.

The housewife in Japan was becoming calorie conscious, and bought meat because it was good for health. Lean mutton was preferred, said Mr Nakayama, because the consumers objected to the smell of mutton fat. The colour of the meat was also important, as dark meat was not popular. More than 90 per cent, of the mutton entering Japan was processed. Some was tinned, some was made into sausages, which also contained beef and pork, and some was pressed, with other meats, into a form of meat loaf. The unprocessed mutton sold by supermarkets and stores was usually cooked, with spices, in a stew, said Mr Nakayama. The average city household would have a meat meal perhaps three times a week, while in some rural areas, families might have a meat meal only once or twice a year. In these houses, fish was freqeuently eaten, but over the last few years the catch had been decreasing and fish was becoming harder to get and more expensive. Mr Nakayama said that for a short time rabbit meat had been imported into Japan from Australia, but the high costs of labour in Australia had pushed the price up, so that it was forced off the market.