Good Outlook For Lamb In U.S.

Press, Volume CV, Issue 30952, 7 January 1966, Page 3

Good Outlook For Lamb In U.S.

(N.Z. Press Association) HAMILTON, Jan. 6. Sales of New Zealand lamb to the North American market will be increased this year to 900,000 carcases. More will be sold if there are early indications of increased demand and rising prices.

Lamb sales were being increased because New Zealand's position in the North American market was strong and getting stronger, Mr J. W. de Gruchy. general manager of the Meat Board, said in Wellington yesterday. Mr de Gruchy, who has just returned from 18 months in the United States as head of the Meat Development Company's operations there, said that after several years of extensive promotion New Zealand frozen lamb was being accepted in many quarters of the trade.

“This market is most sophisticated and one of the most important considerations is uniform cutting and packaging of this product. “While prices for our lamb have increased considerably, it is likely that with increased demand—and this is evident —we can expect much better returns in the future,” he said.

The development of the North American market had not been without cost, he said. But the costs include special packaging and a 3 per cent duty on every pound of lamb entering the country. Mr de Gruchy said that the

30,000,000 dollars quoted by the board’s chairman (Sir John Ormond) as New Zealand’s earnings on the market with lamb were not profits. Lamb is selling for less in the United States than in Britain at present but Mr de Gruchy believes that by the end of this year, or next, the two prices will be similar. Mr de Gruchy based his predictions on two assumptions.

The first was that American supermarkets saw New Zealand lamb as another quality product and the second that,

because of the high prices of pork and beef in the United States, there was an incentive for supermarkets there to find an alternative. A third factor was that American domestic production of lamb was at a low level. TWO SHADOWS However, shadows were on the horizon. Domestic producers in the United States were trying hard to make it as difficult as possible for American re tailers to handle overseas

meat. Fifteen states had passed or were in the process of passing laws to that effect. One state, Tennessee, would have its “labelling laws” tested in court next Monday. Some American consumers were able, under the new poverty laws, to get meat at a reduced cost with food stamps. But the Food Stamp Act forbade the use of stamps for anything but home-grown produce. The board would watch the Tennessee court case with interest, said Mr de Gruchy