Meat Board outsells Australia

Press, 28 August 1984, Page 3

Meat Board outsells Australia

NZPA staff correspondent Tokyo The New Zealand Meat Board had outsold Australia and improved its market share to dominate the declining Japanese sheepmeat market in the first seven months of this year, the Minister of Overseas Trade and Marketing, Mr Moore, was told in Tokyo today. It was only the second time in seven years this had happened, said Mr Graeme Harrison, Asian director for the board. Mr Harrison briefed Mr Moore yesterday on developments in Japan since the board’s decision to establish the Asian Meat Company, Ltd (ANZCO), in December last year to take responsibility for mutton sales to Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and lamb sales to Japan. The board also formed

Japan New Zealand Lamb Marketing, Ltd, (JANMARK), a consortium between the board, Top Trading New Zealand Ltd,w SS' Stevens, Ltd, and Wailaki N.Z. Refrigerating, develop lamb sales outside the northern Wand of Hokkaido, traditionally New Zealand’s best sheepmeat market The board had achieved magnificent results in Taiwan, with a seven-fold increase this year to 2000 tonnes and was doing well in Hong Kong, said Mr Moore after his discussions with trade officials, Mr Harrison and the chairman of JANMARK, Mr Ces Stevens. In classic marketing terms, it was going about developing the Japanese sheepmeat market the right wa&psaid Mr Moore. ‘they’re spending a mas-

sive amount, in New Zealand terms, on research, which seems to me very sensible.” The board was looking at repositioning lamb and mutton in the Japanese market and was approaching the task in a very professional way, he said. The board saw Japan as a market which gave New Zealand an opportunity to reduce its vulnerability to the pressures of commodity trading in other existing lamb markets, Mr Harrison said. The board and trade officials had long considered that Japan, with some 400,000 restaurants and other food outlets and a high and rising standard of living, represented excellent potential for New Zealand. ANZCO would continue to develop the Hokkaido market and attempt tofidevelop

closer relationships with end users, and a Hokkaido New Zealand lamb development committee had been formed, said Mr Harrison. Despite efforts to introduce a greater proportion of boneless mutton items since the establishment of ANZCO, the product received had been less acceptable than that from Australia, he said. Corrective measures would be introduced for the next export season in October which would change specifications and excluded number of New Zealand plants from supplying this trade. New Zealand’s future share of the mutton trade would be determined by the industry’s ability to meet demanding market requirements, said Mr Harrison. Mr Moore said he thought the board was developing

the sheepmeat market in an extremely professional way. “They have not gone about saying we have X hundred tonnes of mutton that’s been ground into paste,” he said. “It has been the other way around by asking what does the market want.” Of his briefings on Sunday, which included one by Mr George Fields, of ASI Market Research (Japan) Inc, the best-selling author of “From Bonsai to Levis”, who has been assisting the board in its research efforts, Mr Moore said one of the lessons was to try to marry New Zealand foods into traditional eating habits. “I’ll be interested in talking to our people when they’re in a position to work from the research. We obviously wish them well in their efforts.” Earlier report, page 22