Pure South on board for butchery tri-nations

Sharp BlacksAlliance Group’s export brand Pure South has been confirmed as principal sponsor of the annual butchery test match which will now be known as the Pure South Butchery Tri-Nations.

The competition will see the best British and Australian butchers travel to Wanaka in March to take on New Zealand’s Wedderburn Sharp Blacks.

Murray Brown, general manager, marketing, Alliance Group, said it was fitting that a strong and successful export meat brand in Europe and Asia was backing a world-class competition.

“We’re pleased Pure South is supporting some of the world’s top butchers as they battle it out for the top honours. After a decade representing Alliance Group’s lamb in more than 65 countries world-wide, Pure South is now well-established as a brand associated with outstanding quality. Millions of consumer look for Pure South whenever their shopping or dining. It symbolises all the key elements of Alliance Group – pure southern location, world-class technology, production techniques and a proud heritage.”

2013 will be the inaugural Tri-Nations, following on from two years of Trans-Tasman battles between New Zealand and Australia.

Australia has come out the victor of both previous encounters by the narrowest of margins, so the Wedderburn Sharp Blacks, sponsored by Beef + Lamb New Zealand, will be looking for redemption on their home turf next year.

The competition will be accompanied by a study tour which will see 60 butchers from across the three nations travelling the Central Otago region.

Fresh meat for Wedderburn Sharp Blacks

Six of New Zealand’s best butchers have been chosen to represent New Zealand in the 2013 Wedderburn Sharp Blacks team.

After a battle between the four remaining 2012 Wedderburn Sharp Blacks and six new challengers the best butchers overall were chosen.

The result was two new additions to the team, with all those from 2012 maintaining their positions. The 2013 team is: Paddy Kennedy, Allenton Meat Centre, Ashburton; Peter Martin, Mad Butcher Onehunga, Auckland; Peter Tuapawa, Victoria Park New World, Auckland; David Timbs, Peter Timbs Meats, Christchurch; Bruce van der Nett, Pak’nSave, Taupo; and Corey Winder, Ashby’s Fine Meats & Deli, Christchurch.

The Sharp Blacks compete annually and after two years of trans-Tasman rivalry, the new team will be competing in the first tri-nation competition  – New Zealand, Australia and Great Britain – in 2013.

Newcomers to the competition, Britain, will be raising the stakes making the 2013 test match the most competitive yet.

Competition organiser Kim Doran, from Retail Meat New Zealand, says with Britain entering the mix the competition has reached new heights for the industry.

“The test has become a highly anticipated event on the industry calendar and with the new addition of Britain things will only become more exciting.”

Building these international relationships can only be a good thing for the New Zealand meat industry,” says Doran.

Earlier this year, the current team lost by only a fraction to Australia which means the new team will be looking for redemption in 2013.

The 2013 tri-nation match will be held in Wanaka on 9 March.

Knives are sharpened for tri-nations butchery competition

Nominations are open and soon a trial will take place for the 2013 Wedderburn Sharp Blacks. The trial will see the current team put through their paces against a team of challengers, all vying for one of the coveted five spots in the team.

For the past two years, the Wedderburn Sharp Blacks have taken on Australia in a test match, taking a side of beef and a lamb in a two-hour timeframe and turning it into a butchery display. In 2013, the test match will become a tri-nations, with Britain sending a team to compete.

Kim Doran from Retail Meat New Zealand, the competition organiser, says the contest is becoming a real highlight on the industry calendar.

“The rivalry developing in these test matches is intense. It’s all good-natured and there’s a great camaraderie developing between us and the Australians outside the match which can only be good for the industry.

“Adding the British team to the mix is an exciting prospect and is only going to add to the experience,” says Doran.

The 2013 Tri-Nations will take place on 9 March in Wanaka. Nominations for the 2013 Wedderburn Sharp Blacks close on 31 August.

Silver Fern Farms’ UK brand launch expanding

Silver Fern Farms’ launch of its branded New Zealand lamb range into British retail giant Tesco (Food NZ, December/January 2012) has been successful, according to the company, which is now looking at expanding the product range available in Britain.

This is the first time that branded lamb has been available in the fresh chilled lamb section of a major grocery chain in the UK. Chief executive Keith Cooper said the company was delighted that “the early good results at Tesco have given us the opportunity to extend the range with the introduction of Lamb Medallions to the current range – Roast, Rumps, Rack and Loin Fillets. We are currently stocking about 250 stores in the UK with pleasing upward trending occurring over the introductory period.”

Silver Fern Farms has utilised Primary Growth Partnership funding to assist with UK consumer research and using branded retail as a test market/prototype will allow the company to begin to meet its commitments to achieving the goals within the framework, Cooper says. The project was also supported by Beef + Lamb NZ with $1 for $1 matched levy funding.

The original launch was supported by an innovative marketing campaign focused on creating awareness at the point of purchase and tightly targeted towards Tesco shoppers using Tesco communications mediums.

The company is also fortunate to have a team of people in the UK who can work alongside its brand team here in New Zealand, group marketing manager Sharon Angus says. “We’re able to think local and act global.”

Published in Food NZ magazine (June/July 2012) .