PGP programme being welcomed by industry

Grant Cuff, Alliance Group.The new PGP programme, Collaboration for Sustainable Growth, announced yesterday is being welcomed by the industry.

Leading meat processor and exporter Alliance Group has welcomed the initiative designed to improve farmer profitability.

Grant Cuff, chief executive of Alliance Group Limited, one of the founding organisations taking part in the initiative says the new co-ordinated collaborative initiative will enhance the knowledge and capability in the sheep and beef sector and help improve farm performance, productivity and profitability.

“New Zealand can make significant gains in its export earning by ensuring all parts of the value chain collaborate so suppliers are using the best available farm and business practice and tools,” he says, adding that the initiative is an important step in the implementation of the Red Meat Sector Strategy (RMSS). “We’re supportive of any steps to lift the industry’s game and improve on-farm profitability.”

Alliance Group is already implementing many of the RMSS recommendations “as we strive to improve sustainable profitability for the sector,” Cuff says.

Alliance Group has invested significantly in technologies such as Hoofprint, VIAscan and Central Progeny Test trials and research into sheepmeat eating quality, which all aim to assist suppliers to produce high quality livestock and improve farm productivity, he says.

Mike Petersen, B+LNZ Ltd chairman.Another programme partner Beef + Lamb NZ Ltd (B+LNZ)’s chairman Mike Petersen has also welcomed the initiative which he says “will be a huge boost for the sector and will accelerate progress in an increasingly collaborative approach across a range of issues that are important for sheep and beef farmers.”

B+LNZ has been working increasingly closely with meat processors in recent years through its joint venture market development programmes and collectively with processors and exporters via the Meat Industry Association (MIA). The Collaboration programme goes behind the farm gate to help improve productivity and profitability and addresses a number of the issues highlighted in the RMSS, developed by B+LNZ Ltd, the Meat Industry Association and the government in 2011.

New venison plant for Alliance Smithfield

Alliance Group’s $8.6 million new venison plant at its Smithfield site, near Timaru, is now operating at full capacity.

New Zealand’s leading meat processor and exporter is processing up to 420 carcases a day at the plant, which serves the company’s upper South Island suppliers.

Until now, Smithfield has only processed sheep and lamb, so the venison plant marks a major milestone for Alliance. More than 50 workers are based at the venison plant, which operates most of the year.

Murray Behrent, general manager of livestock says: “Alliance Group has invested in Smithfield as part of its dedication to delivering exceptional product quality and food safety standards. It is also a reflection of our confidence in the region and we have received great support from our suppliers, who are producing the quality livestock that we require.”

“Smithfield is yet another example of Alliance Group’s ongoing investment to ensure we meet the needs of our suppliers,” he adds.

The outlook for venison remains positive and the investment at Smithfield showed the company was focusing on processing a variety of products for global markets, says Behrent.

ViaScan to be installed at Smithfield in the next year

The new venison plant was built to accommodate Alliance’s innovative ViaScan meat scanning technology, which will be installed within the next 12 months at Smithfield, the company says.

ViaScan visually analyses carcases measuring the lean meat, fat and bone, to capture yield performance levels. It has been available since 2003 for analysing sheepmeat, and is already in use at eight Alliance Group plants. The company announced it was first to be extended to its venison suppliers at the Alliance Makarewa in Southland in July this year.

Along with providing suppliers with the opportunity of improving returns, ViaScan also aligns farmers with current market information and helps them with decision-making and the selection of good genetics.

“Exceptional product quality and food safety standards are vital for Alliance Group’s export market,” said Behrent when announcing the move. “We’re targeting high-end consumers with discerning palates who rate meat quality highly when making purchasing decisions and ViaScan helps our suppliers produce the quality livestock that is required.”

ViaScan will also mean suppliers can measure the performance of each individual carcase, particularly when the National Identification and Tracing Scheme (NAIT) is introduced in February 2013 for deer, says Behrent.

Smithfield is one of the three Alliance premises selected by Marks & Spencer to provide chilled New Zealand lamb for its UK retail stores. It is also one of the five first plants to introduce the new Ovine Post-Mortem Inspection system of sheepmeat carcase checks this year.

In 2011, Alliance Group completed a $15 million project to upgrade its Mataura beef plant in Southland.