Swiss Eager For N.Z. Lamb

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31162, 12 September 1966, Page 10

Swiss Eager For N.Z. Lamb

New Zealand lamb is selling like hot cakes in Switzerland, according to a Swiss businessman visiting Christchurch with his family. He is Mr V. Flury, president of the board of directors of the Era Watch Company of Bienne.

Mr Flury said there had recently been a tremendous drive on New Zealand lamb in Switzerland. All butchers’ shops now carried it, and it was so popular that the demand was almost exceeding the supply. “New Zealand lamb and mutton are much cheaper than our home-bred product,” Mr Flury said. “The advantage is that it doesn’t smell. Our own sheep are kept indoors during the winter, and this tends to give the meat a very strong odour. It is quite unpleasant. “Lamb is now regarded as one of the very special dishes in Switzerland. Roast New Zealand lamb is a delicacy kept for very special occasions.”

Mr Flury said that in the first place it was the cheapness which induced the Swiss to buy the New Zealand product. Now it was the quality. Swiss methods of preparation were very similar to those in New Zealand. Grilled chops or a roast leg were the most popular dishes. Mr Flury said that New Zealand tourist publicity in Switzerland was excellent. He had seen some first-rate travel films on television showing New Zealand’s beauty spots, and he felt he wa§ visiting a familiar country.

“New Zealand is very like Switzerland,” he said. “The rain and fresh bracing wind

which we met when we got off the plane tonight made us think we were home again. This is just like home—the weather is not always the same as the postcards would seem to indicate."