“Meat marketing needs streamlining”

Press, 29 March 1980, Page 19

“Meat marketing needs streamlining”

A wide-ranging streamlining in meat marketing techniques is needed if New Zealand lamb and offal is to retain its earning power in the United Kingdom.. Europe, and further afield, said Mr .1. B. Buxton, the London-based executive chairman of Towers and Company, Ltd. lie was speaking in Wellington on behalf of the ' board of Towers International. Ltd, of which he is a member. "The United Kingdom price is vital be-1 cause it influences the price! for a much wider area." he said. Storage: shipping, and the number of United Kingdom importers were the principal areas where change was most vitally needed, he said. . High stocks piled up in . United Kingdom cold stores ; have a disastrous effect on the market, Mr Buxton said. “In the interests of stability for farmers’ incomes, allied with commercial viability* for the meat industry, New'. Zealand must stop thisj* downward pressure on mar-i ket realisations.” Regional buffer cold stores; in New Zealand — possible! locations were Hawkes Bay.: Southland, Auckland and. Canterbury- — were needed:

to ensure that stocks in the United Kingdom did not rise above 20.000 tonnes. The 38.000 tonne level reached at times last season had done untold damage in a market where demand, and consequently price, was related directly to the known supply. “We would not propose that every freezing works should build additional cold stores,” Mr Buxton said. “But all freezing comnanies should co-onerate with the Meat Board, local authorities. and the Government to create four regional stores.” A total capacity of around 40.000 tonnes should be adequate, he said. A satisfactory system of long-range forecasting of market requirements already existed in the United Kingdom. Mr Buxton explained. Storage and shipping arrangements needed only to be synchronised with the forecast demand to ensure an orderly flow of lamb onto the market. The Meat Board already had powers to con-| ; trol shipping, Mr Buxton said. “With the provision of adequate storage facilities in! I New Zealand this power 'could be used to better advnntare. withholding unwanted volume until there was a marker, requirement.

Finally, Linited Kingdom! importers should be restrict-: ed to those who satisfied the New Zealand Meat Producers Board that they had a full regard for over-all industry- and national inter-j ests. ’"The Meat Board hasi some control over import-■ ers.” Mr Buxton said,; “through its poyver to grant! meat exporters’ licences.” The much-vaunted "opendoor" policy could only succeed if all exporters accepted a need for monitoring market activities abroad and were prepared to participate responsibly in the formation of trade policy and invest in marketing facilities, product development and new technology, Mr Buxton said. The United Kingdom was no longer the certain market for our lamb that it had been in the past. Competition from other meats, poor presentation of New Zealand lamb by some retailors. and New Zealand; conversion to consumer cuts for a market which , still showed a desire to do a lot of its own processing, made marketing a difficult and highly competitive business. New Zealand.must not convert a mass of carcase lamb into consumer cuts before shipping simply to take advantage of tax incentives without first prospecting consumer needs and added income potential he added. “As more volume continues to transfer to the supermarket, there is a threat of bulk discounts becoming accepted as a new market level for all wholesalers.” The United Kingdom market for the foreseeable future remained the key to a global marketing strategy for New Zealand lamb and offals, Mr Buxton said. “United Kingdom marketing must be a copybook operation to sustain and boost prices. Co-ordination of marketing techniques at all levels is vital to the New Zealand meat. industry.”