N.Z. MEAT ‘TOO FAT’

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31381, 29 May 1967, Page 1

N.Z. MEAT ‘TOO FAT’

CN.Z. Preet Asen.— CopyrtoMl ROME, May 28. The quantity of fat on all but the most carefully selected cuts was a major drawback in efforts to increase sales of New Zealand meat on the Italian and other markets, meat traders at the annual Rome trade fair said yesterday. Their criticism coincided with reports among traders in Britain that lamb coming forward from Canterbury this year to the United Kingdom market is showing a higher level of fat than desired.

Dr. A. Zucconi, technical adviser to a large wholesale distributor in Rome, compared New Zealand lamb with "abbacchio” —Italian lamb marketed after the sheep has been killed between three and five weeks old. “Generally your lamb is too fat and heavy-heavy in the sense that it is very big,” he said. “Your lambs come forward at 18 or 19 kilos where we are used to abbacchio of about three or four kilos. "There is more interest this year in your lamb through publicity but you have to get people used to the idea that 1 frozen lamb is as good as i fresh lamb. "It would be much easier , for us to market smaller ' lambs from your country but 1 it may be possible for the ’ public to be educated to accept the bigger ones.”

I Italians are not big eaters > of lamb in the summer I months. i Dr. Zucconi said he be- > lieved the full benefit of the i promotion at the fair would I not be felt until the northern autumn. He believed a furi ther promotional effort should ■ be made about October. i A meat trader from Milan - criticised New Zealand beef i also for being too fat "This ■ is a market of convenience for you and you do not send i here meat specially selected i for this market Your high : prices are obtained in the t United States and you send i us beef only when you cannot get rid of It elsewhere. If • you want to develop your mar- ■ ket here you must cut down t the fat content Housewives ■ do not want to pay for fat > which they do not want to eat.”