Meat industry in the 1980s

Press, 15 February 1982, Page 49

Meat industry in the 1980s

Prepared by The New Zealand Freezing Companies Association (Inc.). The importance of meat to NewZealand can never be over emphasised. At least one third of our total export earnings comes from meat and products derived from animal processing in the meat industry. In some years the export earnings from thisindustry have been as high as 40 per cent of New .Zealand's total. These variations from year to year also affect our other major farm exports, due to the cyclical trade in primary products. Although meat is very important to our economy, , it should not be forgotten that the volume we export, about 800,000 tonnes annually, is little more than 2 per cent of the total meat traded internationally each year. Nevertheless we are the world’s largest exporter of lamb and the third largest exporter of beef. New Zealand has an established reputation developed over many years of successful trading and market development. While this is helpful in maintaining our foothold, in reality the en-

vironment in the inter-, national market place is be- < coming more and more com- .• petitive. Competition as such is not.'-i only coming from other countries selling similar products, often heavily subsidised. but increasingly from alternative meat products like chicken, pork and fish. These commodities are often more cheaply and readily available to the consumer than red meats and are not necessarily imported. Price competitiveness is always an important factor and while we often can extract a premium from the market place because of our product quality, there is a growing concern that high costs of. production and transport are. eroding market realisations., Because of ‘the labour intensive ’naturae of the operation, the largest component in the-cost of processing and preparing, meat for export is wages — as the following chart illustrates. The annual wage bill in the meat export industry now exceeds SSSOM.

High costs not only threaten dur/competitiveness but ultimately reduce the return to the farmer which, if allowed to continue, would eventually inhibit livestock production.

The Supplementary Minimum Price (SMPs). are a cushion against this happening. So. to provide a stimulus for increased production and to retain our place in international markets we will need to be more cost efficient and maintain an aggressive marketing approach.

This will inevitably mean changes throughout the entire chain from farm to consumer. Scientists and farmers together will continue to strive for improved livestock performance, resulting in a higher birthrate and heavier, leaner animals. Selection of animals for slaughter will be made much more by electronic measurement rather than by feel and eye appraisal. Mandatory resting of stock before slaughter may well be done much more on the farms.

One of the major constraints to the fully automated processing of livestock is the variation in the carcase size and conformation. Robot technology is being used successfully in other industries so it is not difficult to imagine machines with built-in sensors instructing a pre-programmed robot to make fine adjustments to suit variations in carcases.

No doubt there will be changes in transport over future decades which will have the same impact as the refrigerated sailing ship had 100 years ago. In the shortterm the use of wide body jet

aircraft will bring the high value markets of the Pacific Basin much closer for larger volumes of freshly chilled meat. Although refrigerated transport by sea will remain the most important link in the chain, much denser packaging of containers seems inevitable as further processing develops. One certain change over the next 10 or 15 years will be in the further processing of by-products. An industrydeveloped low temperature rendering system produces a better quality tallow. This is an export product used in specialised lubricants, as an additive in plastic manufacture, detergents, cosmetics and tyres. The basic technology already exists for the recovery and use of edible blood which is now Used overseas as -an extender in sausage meats. Progress is being made in the recovery and processing of edible glands and organs. These are preserved by the lesser known technique of freeze drying and marketed overseas for use in health food preparations.

More than $3 million was. earned in exports in 1981 from high value raw materials for use in Pharmaceuticals. These raw materials are. in the main, produced from certain liquids recovered from slaughtered animals. Market research has shown there are opportunities for expanding the exports of these high value products.