‘Learn, talk and eat chevon’

Press, 2 June 1989, Page 16

‘Learn, talk and eat chevon’

Many goat farmers did not recognise the qualities of their own product, the national conference of Cashmere Producers of New Zealand was told. Mr David Sloss, of New Zealand Chevon, urged goat farmers to learn about goat meat, talk about it, and regularly eat it themselves. He said one of the main problems facing the marketing of goat meat was the small domestic kill. About 100,000 goats were expected to be slaughtered this year but marketing the meat would not become easier until 500,000 goats were-slaugh-tered a year. "It is up to goat farmers to establish a larger kill,”

he said. The domestic marketing of goat meat was now centred on Auckland because of the concentration of population. New Zealand Chevon, a company wholly owned by the Mohair Producers’ Association of New Zealand, had developed a sausage product containing goat meat. It had been recognised as a low fat meat and Weight Watchers had included it in its diets.

It took the company six months to get the sausage product on to the shelves of one supermarket chain and hoped to have a second chain selling it within weeks.

In the first week of the

product launch, about 2.2 tonnes were sold. In the second week, without advertising and promotions, they sold 650 kg and hoped to sell 500 kg in the third week.

Mr . Sloss said New Zealanders ate an average of 14kg of lamb each year, 14kg of pork, 30kg of beef, and 17kg of chicken. “If each New Zealander were to eat Ikg of goat meat a year, we would not be able to export and would have a 50 per cent shorfall for the domestic market.”

The marketing manager for the Auckland Farmers Freezing Co-operative, Mr John Corner, said freight charges were one of the

biggest costs in marketing goat meat overseas. Canada and the Caribbean countries were the biggest buyers of New Zealand goat meat. Freight accounted for 36.4 per cent of the price for which a goat carcase could be sold in the Caribean. Processing costs were 35.9 per cent of the price, an extra 1.66 per cent was taken if Halal slaughtermen were used, internal freight amounted to 5.76 per cent, storage and interest 5.76 per cent, and the farmer was paid 14.39 per cent of the price. Affco was working on reducing the freight costs and any reductions would be passed on to the

farmer in increased returns, said Mr Corner. The processing costs were about twice those of sheep because goat hides had not been developed to their potential and there had been no progress in developing uses and markets for the by-pro-ducts of the goat carcase. In spite of the large percentage of the final price for the goat carcase taken by processing costs, Mr Corner saw more immediate return to farmers by a reduction in freight, rather than a reduction in processing costs.

He said the Meat Industry Association saw the goat industry as. one of sizeable potential wealth to New Zealand.