Brief Bites, 10th September

Alliance Farmer Shareholder News

In this edition:

Roadshow registrations open
Lumina and Handpicked Beef on show
Handpicked Lamb Programme
Manufacturing Excellence Programme showing results
MyOSPRI
Reminder about docking/ tail length requirements
Global market update

Roadshow registrations open

Our Annual Roadshow kicks off in less than three weeks and we’re thrilled that this year we’ll be seeing farmers in person. Twenty meetings will be held across the country, starting in Feilding on 27 September and finishing in Mossburn on 18 October.

The roadshow is a great opportunity for us to hear what is important to you and for you to hear first-hand from Alliance directors and senior managers. The meetings will include an update on our performance, progress, strategy and plans for the future as well as outlining the challenges, opportunities and market outlook.

To register, please go to events.alliance.co.nz or speak to your Livestock Representative. We look forward to seeing you soon.

Lumina and Handpicked Beef on show

Two of our premium products, Lumina Lamb and Handpicked Beef 55 Day Aged, were the stars of the show at the Beef + Lamb Ambassador Series dinner at the Bolton Hotel in Wellington on Friday night.

MacLean Fraser, Executive Chef at the Bolton Hotel’s Artisan restaurant, joined forces with award-winning chef Rex Morgan to cook a six-course degustation dinner, which included Lumina smoked lamb loin, horopito & sesame seasoned Lumina lamb cutlets and 55 Day Aged beef sirloin and pressed brisket.

The Ambassador Series sees B+LNZ’s Ambassador Chefs hosting degustation dinners preparing a menu showcasing their skill using New Zealand beef and lamb.

Handpicked Lamb

We have recently launched the next supply contract for our Handpicked Lamb programme. The programme uses an assessment system to measure eating quality, with the qualifying lamb exported to premium retail markets in Asia and North America. Suppliers are paid 15c/kg to all animals that meet the requirements at the time of processing. This is on top of the 15c premium we already pay for lambs raised without antibiotics.

We are seeing increasingly discerning consumers around the world willing to pay a price premium for our lamb and the attributes guaranteed by a brand they trust.

Our Handpicked Lamb is a key part of our strategy to capture greater market value for our products and pass those gains directly back to farmers supplying the programme. For more information on the programme, or to join, please speak to one of our Livestock Representatives.

Handpicked Lamb

We are seeing increasingly discerning consumers around the world willing to pay a price premium for our lamb and the attributes guaranteed by a brand they trust.

Manufacturing Excellence Programme showing results

As you know, we’re investing heavily in technology as we look to continually improve the quality of products that we supply to our customers.
A $12.5 million upgrade at our Lorneville plant saw us install automation technology that included new generation primal cutters, middles and fores technology together with an X-ray unit it uses to analyse each carcase, then optimise the cutting process. Lorneville is one of the most advanced meat processing plants in the Southern Hemisphere.

Willie Wiese, our General Manager Manufacturing, recently spoke to the New Zealand Herald about the gains we are making as a result of our Manufacturing Excellence Programme.

MyOSPRI

Sheep farmers are being encouraged to play their part in protecting the industry from exotic diseases by signing up to the new online portal MyOSPRI.

Over 1,000 sheep farmers across the country have already got rid of paper-based Animal Status Declarations (ASDs) and are now using MyOSPRI to send both farm-to-farm and farm-to-meat processor electronic Animal Status Declarations (eASDs). The eASDs provide accurate, reliable and readily accessible data about movements of sheep mobs and where farms and other places animals have been or are located. Good animal movement records will allow for fast tracking and tracing of a disease, improving the likelihood of eliminating it quickly.

For more information, please visit www.ospri.co.nz/our-programmes/myospri/about-myospri/

Reminder about docking/ tail length requirements

With lambing underway, it is a good time to review new regulations around docking/tailing rules.

Tail length requirements were introduced as part of new animal welfare regulations last year. The length of a docked tail must be no shorter than the distal end of the caudal fold, which is the end of the flaps of skin that attach the underside of the tail to the lamb’s body. This is the absolute minimum length under the animal welfare regulations and docking tails shorter than this can lead to an infringement fee of $500.

Under the new regulations, hot iron or rubber rings are the only methods that can be used to dock tails and the use of any other method can also lead to an infringement fee of $500.

For more on requirements, please visit this Beef + Lamb NZ page: Reminder about docking/tailing rules | Beef + Lamb New Zealand (beeflambnz.com)

Update from our global markets

Lamb

Global economic uncertainty is continuing to create negative sentiment. Seasonal consumption is low with in-market stocks, particularly in North America, UK and China. We are building to cover peak consumption for the last quarter. Growing volume out of Australia is putting pressure on prices in a number of key markets, namely Taiwan and Malaysia. Demand in the Middle East remains steady with interest now for last quarter supply.

Mutton

Markets are steady on seasonal low production with negotiations underway for last quarter supply. China remains the important market for mutton.

Venison

Frozen key account business has been shipped for the Game Season. In market inventories are manageable and are supporting current prices. Demand for Game Season chilled is firm with demand exceeding our ability to supply. An improved supply chain remains the key to the timely arrival of sea freight chilled product.

Beef

The Chinese market remains stable as the market consolidates. Importers are continuing to struggle with delays in the supply chain as local lockdowns continue. They remain focused on rebalancing import volumes, inventory, cashflow and sales, with the continual shocks of the last six months. The US market is slowly improving with greater interest across importers although pricing is staying within a narrow band. Some importers have taken a more positive tone in the last few weeks and believe a slow recovery in the US market is evident. Minced beef sales are improving with some consumers trading down in proteins as we move into the northern hemisphere Autumn. Chilled business and food service is under pressure as inflationary concerns remain in the face of the US economy cooling.

Co-products/Specialty Ingredients & Materials

Wool has weakened slightly in the latest sales with the Strong Wool Indicator for the South Island declining -15c, and 15 per cent of volume passed in. Tallow pricing improved in our latest auction, restoring the record pricing levels. Calfskins are shipping as we continue to process across our Fellmongeries. Consultation is beginning on annual contracts across specialty ingredients & materials for the 2023 financial year. Demand and pricing are expected to be similar to this year across all categories.