Chilled N.Z. meat is units’ best customer

Press, 12 April 1984, Page 23

Chilled N.Z. meat is units’ best customer

By

DIANA DEKKER

in London

Meat from New Zealand is proving to be by far the biggest business for the chilled meat facilities at London’s Heathrow and Gatwick airports. The meat inspection unit at Heathrow was installed by British Airways in December last but already 240 tonnes of chilled New Zealand lamb—Bo per cent of the total goods handled—have passed through it to end up on the shelves of supermarkets such as Waitrose and Marks and Spencer. At the Gatwick facility, opened in 1982, Air New Zealand has brought in 201 tonnes since November 1 last year, and there is still a month of the season to go. Last year, of the 274 tonnes of goods handled at the Gatwick meat inspection unit, 242 tonnes were chilled New Zealand lamb. The quantity of New Zealand lamb coming in at Gatwick this season, which is petering out now that supermarkets have fresh

English lamb for sale, is slightly higher than last year. From November, 1982, to March 20, 1983, 172 tonnes were handled compared with the present seasonal figure of 172 tonnes. Other than New Zealand beef, Gatwick handles a mixture of chilled goods, but mostly in the nature of samples. There have been samples of New Zealand beef and 900 kg of venison from New Zealand. The Gatwick authorities originally believed they would be handling a great deal of American beef but the quantities never eventuated.

At Heathrow, which is capable of handling a million kilograms of meat a year, New Zealand lamb is expected to continue to provide the bulk of the business.

The Heathrow facility’s first consignment of meat was B’/2 tonnes from New Zealand in December last. Since then British Airways has brought in 4% tonnes each week and, for the last month, two shipments of 4Vz tonnes each a

week. Heathrow also uses the unit for fish from Norway and small quantities of other goods. A spokesman said that it expected to handle meat from Western Australia in the future.

Meat, which is legally required to be inspected on arriving at the airports, is generally in the units only a few hours.

Marks and Spencer and Waitrose cater to the top end of the market when they finally have the lamb on their shelves. At Marks and Spencer the most expensive cuts, leg steaks, are now on sale at £3.29 a pound. Cheaper cuts, for casseroles, sell for £1.69. At Waitrose, chilled legs are on sale at £1.99 a pound.