More specialist meat plants advocated

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33382, 14 November 1973, Page 19

More specialist meat plants advocated

The Meat Export Development Company (N.Z.), Ltd, which sells lamb in North America, told the Meat Industry Commission in Wellington yesterday that it was having difficulty in getting products processed to its requirements, but it also said that extra processing was not necessarily profitable.

•‘Our market now requires large quantities of more specialised products,” said the company. “Our efforts’to have substantial quantities of boneless ! product produced have met I with modest success only. I The prospects for the next 'season (the present season) are brighter, but too few companies have the facilities

or willingness to produce for us. “Our efforts to obtain highclass, consumer-ready, prepackaged chops have been ; most disappointing. Our market requires lamb chops packaged on automatic machinery. Virtually no such equipment exists yet in freezing works. SPECIALISED PLANTS “The need is for more specialised plants, high speed band-saws, automatic packaging machinery, and skilled staff to produce high-quality products. To justify the necessary capital expenditure, it might be necessary to establish initially a limited number of very sophisticated central plants, rather than having many scattered, inadequate facilities. “The movement of carcases to such plants from works without these facilities would be necessary. For some time, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries has been opposed to the movement of our carcases between plants. It is our belief that companies able to comply with strict hygiene and handling standards should be en-

.couraged, and not restricted,] in this way. PROFIT ASPECT | “Companies have learned !the hard way that lamb fabricating and profitability do {not necessarily go hand in {hand. While consumers’ needs! {in any marketing situation ; might be thought to be paramount. specialised products ican only be produced when {the consumer will pay for {them . “We have found that fabricating over-fat and light-; ] weight lambs cannot be justiified for our market. The relatively slow rate of progress; ■in lamb fabricating would .indicate that other companies! {have reached the same con-; elusion. ■ “We have, in normal years,! purchased lambs with average weights of 331 b, compared with the national average of 301 b and in 1972-73 of 281 b. It is necessary for profitability that average weights increase to 351 b. Farmers should be encouraged to produce larger quantities of heavier, lean lambs suitable for fabrication.”