Greenlea scoops award for business excellence

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Editor

Congratulations to Waikato-based beef processor Greenlea Premier Meats, which scooped up the Supreme Award in the 2012 Westpac Waikato Business Excellence Awards, after winning the Tompkins Wake award for businesses employing more than 50 people.

Greenlea is a family-owned business that has grown over the last 20 years from humble beginnings to become a significant player in the New Zealand meat industry. It employs 370 staff at two beef processing plants in Hamilton and Morrinsville, with a turnover of more than $260 million and growing.

The company, which celebrates its 20^th anniversary this season, procures over 185,000 prime steers, heifers, manufacturing bulls and cows each year and also, in a new move last season, now also collects bobby calves. The product range includes 425 different specifications, with around 200 in production at any one time, and supplies over 40 countries with New Zealand beef.

Introducing Marel Streamline boning-room technology from Europe to its Hamilton prime-boning room in 2009 and its Morrinsville plant in 2010 was a first for a New Zealand meat company and using this technology for hot-boned beef a first, globally.

Tony Egan' Greenlea Premier Meats new managing director

Tony Egan’ Greenlea Premier Meats’ managing director

The modern and ergonomically designed system has helped to reduce the hard manual work found in traditional beef boning rooms, which means less strain injuries for staff, explains managing director Tony Egan.

The computer-based tracking system provides for more efficient monitoring of yields, quality, throughput and orders at the boning room floor. Supervisors now have the ability to provide data-based feedback to staff on their performance. The company also uses a locally developed tailor-made freezing technology.

According to Egan, Greenlea’s international reputation for reliable service and consistent high quality product has been a key factor in making it the processor of choice in many markets not only in manufacturing beef, but also for high quality prime beef table cuts.

He has a simple answer to how this has all been achieved. “Quite simply, it’s the people that make our company so special and our success comes from creating a great team and encouraging them to do great things.”

This article has appeared in Food NZ magazine (February/March 2013) and is reproduced here with permission.

A new Te Aroha emerges from the ashes

Posted on February 7, 2013 by Editor

Two years after Silver Fern Farms’ Te Aroha beef processing operation was destroyed by fire in December 2010, a state of the art facility opened in December and is up and running in its place.

Silver Fern Farms’ new $67m Te Aroha plant is a hot-boned beef processing operation designed for best practice processing of manufacturing cows, bulls, steers and heifers from farmer suppliers across the Waikato region.

It joins a network of 23 Silver Fern Farms processing facilities employing over 7,000 staff throughout the country. Te Aroha will employ up to 380 staff when operating at full capacity with two shifts in peak season with an annual capacity of 125,000 cattle.

At the plant’s official opening in December last year, Silver Fern Farms chief executive, Keith Cooper, said the new design reflected the company’s focus on plant economics and best practice processing and the investment was testament to the co-operative’s strong confidence in the sector.

The plant has been designed in consultation with internationally recognised experts in process layout and ergonomics. It is compliant with New Zealand, EU, US Department of Agriculture (USDA), and Chinese hygiene requirements and also to halal standards for the Middle East, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Te Aroha incorporates the latest meat processing technologies; including sophisticated traceability and yield measurement systems.

The plant is configured with a custom-designed two-level Milmeq slaughterboard. Extensive use is made of RFID tags, with scanning stations at slaughter, grading and boning stages, monitored through the new Marel Streamline computerised deboning and trimming system. The process has been designed for complete traceability and to enable Silver Fern Farms to closely monitor key production indicators.

Rapid feedback

This system has the capability to deliver rapid feedback to plant staff on how closely they are meeting customer requirements for particular cuts. This fits with Silver Fern Farms’ plate-to-pasture strategy where consumer requirements are driving process improvements in order for the company to extract higher value returns from products.

This data collection is underpinned by the Primary Growth Partnership FarmIQ joint venture programme – an investment of $151 million by Silver Fern Farms, Landcorp Farming, Tru-Test Group and the Ministry of Primary Industries.

Over the seven years of the programme the aim is to integrate the red meat value chain to maximise returns to farmer partners.

For farmers, information collected at the Te Aroha plant on meat yield and quality can be used to inform farm management decisions as they look for avenues to lift farm system performance. This information can also be married with information from the insights FarmIQ will bring from consumers so farmers can produce to target higher-value returns from specific consumers.

Trimming to specification

Following break-down and deboning, the primal cuts are distributed to work stations on the trimming line, based on operator availability. They are then trimmed according to individual specifications and all cuts are fully traceable. The automated conveyor system will enable Silver Fern Farms to closely monitor and control critical key production indicators in real time throughout the complete processing cycle. These include yield, throughput, cutting performance, giveaway and loss of sales. These are automatically registered and monitored for the entire line as well as for the individual operator, using Innova intelligent production control software.

Provision has been made for future installation of technologies including robotic bagging.

Sustainability top-of-mind

Eco-efficiency and sustainability were top-of-mind considerations. As a result, the new plant uses significantly less electricity and water per head and discharges less effluent per animal processed, setting new benchmarks in line with global customer requirements.

Keith Cooper says the rebuild gives the company an opportunity to review the environmental footprint of the operation. “Our focus is improving environmental efficiency while reducing costs through better use of resources and reduction of waste.”

The plant has also been orientated to ensure noisy areas and truck movements are at the centre or the rear of the plant, away from neighbours. Every effort has been made to reduce noise coming from the plant, even to the point that refrigeration equipment, undamaged by the fire, was relocated.

Health and safety focus

Health and safety was another major focus for the company when developing the specifications for the new facility. Process areas have been designed to minimise workstation hazards. A suite of solutions to minimise lifting, turning and carrying were factored into the design. The boning room has European-designed workstations intended to maximize productivity by minimising operator fatigue and discomfort. At trim stations adjustable work heights, reach to meat and easy access to work positions make for a safer and more comfortable work environment for staff.

Separate viewing areas let people observe the slaughter and boning processes without interfering with workers on the floor. The plant layout also factors in separation between pedestrian and heavy vehicle movement areas to provide a safer environment for people.

Throughout the rebuilding process, Silver Fern Farms endeavoured to provide alternative options for staff whose livelihoods were affected by the fire, to the extent of making positions available at other company plants in the North Island and providing accommodation supplements in the early stages. The company’s significant capital spend also has provided positive spin-offs to the local economy as a result of the number of contractors throughout the region engaged during the course of construction.

Cooper says the co-operative’s loyal farmer-suppliers in the area were particularly supportive of the company through the re-build.

“We are grateful to those suppliers who have stood by us and persevered while we got the new plant up and running – we know the disruption has been an inconvenience for many. But we are enthusiastic about the service levels and advantages we can now offer them as a result of our investment.”

Pictured at the Te Aroha opening are (left to right): local MP Scott Simpson; John Key; Eoin Garden chairman Silver Fern Farms; Keith Cooper, chief executive Silver Fern Farms; Kevin Winders, chief operating officer Silver Fern Farms.

This article has appeared in Food NZ magazine (February/March 2013) and is reproduced here with permission.

Polish meat filler at centre of burger scandal

Posted on February 1, 2013 by Editor

Results back from the meat at the centre of the European horsemeat scandal revealed earlier this week that a Polish supplier of filler product for the burgers is the source of the equine DNA.

Tests by the Irish Food Safety Authority (FSAI) showed positive for equine DNA against meat filler – supposedly beef – imported from Poland for use in the production of burgers at the ABP-owned Silvercrest food processing plant in Ireland.

The Irish minister for agriculture, food and the marine Simon Coveney TD said the investigation had established a direct correlation between burgers in which a high level of equine DNA was detected and this raw material product. He was confident that the raw material in question was the source of equine DNA introduced into burgers manufactured at Silvercrest.

Ireland and the UK have conducted an exhaustive investigation into the source of the DNA – vital to reassure consumers and trade about the safety of the food chain.

In Ireland, over 140 samples of primary products and ingredients were tested for equine DNA at the Silvercrest plant, with three burgers and one imported ingredient testing positive for significant levels of equine DNA. The current findings of the official investigation do not show any evidence that Silvercrest deliberately used horsemeat in their production process, said the Minister.

ABP’s Yorkshire-based plant Dalepak was cleared by the British Food Standards Agency (the FSA), after samples comprising all the meat being used in the production of the suspect lines showed there was no horse or pork DNA present in any of them. Investigation continues, however, into the origin of the DNA in some Dalepak products manufactured in 2012. The FSA has been answering questions at the British Parliament’s environment select committee this week.

ABP Group management has assured the Irish Minister that it will fully comply with conditions the Minister will apply to continued production standards at Silvercrest.

Silvercrest has commenced a deep cleansing of the plant, under new management, and will be submitted to a six-moth period of scrutiny by FSAI inspectors, after which it will be reviewed, advised Coveney.

“As part of this supervision, the Department will carry out weekly sampling of production in order to provide the necessary reassurance to its customers on the integrity of the production chain. A key component of this is the company’s commitment to source all its raw material from Ireland and the UK.”

The Polish authorities have been advised and the matter is now with them, said Coveney.

It is thought that the situation has been in place for a year, as that’s the length of time the Polish supplier has been providing the filler products.

Changes at ABP

Apologising for the impact the issue had caused, Paul Finnerty, group chief executive for Silvercrest’s owner ABP Food Group said he was relieved the that the source of the problem had been identified.

“As previously stated, the company has never knowingly bought or processed horse meat and all of our purchases are from approved and licensed EU plants.”

In addition to the deep cleansing and new Silvercrest management team, ABP had undergone a Group reorganisation with responsibility for Silvercrest transferring to ABP Ireland. Its sister business in the UK, Dalepak Foods, will come under the immediate control of ABP UK. The Group is independently audting all its third party suppliers.

He noted that the source of the contaminated meat from Poland is not related to ABP’s plant in Poznan. As with all other parts of the Group, this plant does not process any horsemeat, said Finnerty.

Rippes spreading wider

Meanwhile, the ripples are spreading wider. News reports this week showed that ASDA and the 2,800 store Co-op had joined Tesco, Lidl, Aldi, Iceland and BurgerKing in ditching Silvercrest as a supplier. In addition, Spanish burgers have been said to also contain horse DNA after testing by a consumer group there. The group, Organizazión de Consumidores y Usuarios (OCU), has approached the Spanish food safety body to ask it to investigate.

Breach of trust too great

As promised, Tesco Group technical director Tim Smith has been telling his customers what had happened. He said the evidence tells him that Silvercrest, its frozen burger supplier, used meat in their products that did not come from the list of Tesco approved suppliers they were given. “Nor was the meat from the UK or Ireland, despite our instruction that only beef from the UK and Ireland should be used in our frozen beef burgers. Consequently, we have decided not to take products from that supplier in future. We took that decision with regret but the breach of trust is simply too great.”

Adding that Tesco will not take anything for granted in future after the incident, he said: “It has shown that in spite of our stringent tests, checks and controls there remained a small possibility that something could go wrong and it did. We want to stop it ever happening again, so we are taking action to reduce that possibility still further.”

The retailer is introducing a comprehensive system of DNA testing across its meat products, which will set a new standard according to Smith. “It will be a significant investment for Tesco, borne by Tesco,” he said.

“We want to leave customers in no doubt that we will do whatever it takes to ensure the quality of their food and that the food they buy is exactly what the label says it is.”

PGP project suggests meat industry ready to co-operate, says Barber

Posted on January 30, 2013 by Editor

Yesterday’s announcement of the Red Meat PGP Collaboration Programme for Greater Farmer Profitability at a total investment of $65 million is fantastic news for the whole industry, says meat industry commentator Allan Barber. The key words are ‘collaboration’ and ‘farmer profitability’, he writes.

The first of these has usually been notable by its absence, while the second combination of words has only been evident at irregular intervals.

Half the funding will be made available from the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI)’s Primary Growth partnership fund, while 30 percent will come from farmers through Beef & Lamb New Zealand Ltd (B+LNZ) and Meat Board reserves and the balance from six meat companies, two banks and Deloitte.

B+LNZ’s contribution is contingent on levy paying farmers voting in support of the proposal at its annual meeting on 8 March. Although nothing is ever certain, it would be a shock if this support wasn’t forthcoming, because the programme represents a significant step towards fulfilling the objectives of the Red Meat Sector Strategy conducted by Deloitte and completed nearly two years ago.

The aim of the programme is to lift the performance of all farmers to match that of the best performers which was identified in the strategy as the best way of improving industry profitability. There is a significant gap between the top and bottom performers in farming methods and profitability. If this gap can be closed the gains for the sector and New Zealand are enormous.

The participation of the six meat processors – AFFCO, Alliance, ANZCO, Blue Sky, Progressive Meats and Silver Fern Farms – is as meaningful as it is welcome. These are the key sheepmeat processors which is recognition that it is the sheep meat sector in particular where the greatest gains are to be made. However, the focus behind the farm gate shouldn’t obscure the fact that there are substantial gains to be made from greater collaboration in the market place.

A striking aspect of yesterday’s press releases by Ministry of Primary Industries, B+LNZ, Alliance and Silver Fern Farms (SFF) was the difference in tone between the statements by the two meat companies and the enthusiasm with which Beef & Lamb is greeting the opportunity.

The tone of SFF’s press release was less than enthusiastic, emphasising the need for a levy vote in support before the programme could begin and the care taken to ensure this programme did not cut across SFF’s Farm IQ programme which was the first project out of the blocks.

In spite of a first sentence which confirmed SFF’s support for the collaboration programme, the main impression from the statement was that the company was a somewhat unwilling participant and would be guided by the farmers’ decision. If this happened not to be supportive, I was left with the feeling SFF would not be particularly upset.

In comparison with Keith Cooper’s guarded support for the programme, Alliance chief executive Grant Cuff was positively euphoric, stating:

“This new coordinated 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 earnings by ensuring all parts of the value chain collaborate so suppliers are using the best available farm and business management practice and tools.

“This initiative is an important step in the implementation of the Red Meat Sector Strategy. We’re supportive of any steps to lift the industry’s game and improve on-farm profitability.”

After my recent call for a sheep meat strategy, I am cheered by this progress. Admittedly, results won’t happen immediately, but it provides an investment over several years during which industry participants will work together for the collective good.

This must be one of the best possible outcomes for an industry which is noted more for its divisiveness than its potential to cooperate in the interest of a better future for all the parties.

Allan Barber is a meat industry commentator who writes a number of columns on the topics. He has his own blog Barber’s Meaty Issues.

PGP programme being welcomed by industry

Posted on January 30, 2013 by Editor

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.

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.

Pure South beef, venison and lamb to Singapore

Posted on January 29, 2013 by Editor

Leading meat processor and exporter Alliance Group is now supplying Pure South beef, venison and lamb to a restaurant in Singapore’s iconic waterfront precinct.

The cooperative’s export brand is on the menu at Singapore’s Fern & Kiwi restaurant, an offshoot of the Lone Star bar and restaurant. The restaurant, located in a refurbished warehouse in the upmarket waterfront dining area of Clarke Quay, is the Lone Star’s first outlet outside of New Zealand.

It follows trials with Fern & Kiwi and its executive consultant chef, former New Zealand Master Chef guest Mathew Metcalfe. Metcalfe has cooked for the world’s rich and famous including Apple founder, the late Steve Jobs, and leading figures in Hollywood.

The lamb, beef and venison is sourced from farms across the country and processed at Alliance’s Group’s eight plants.

Murray Brown, general manager, marketing at Alliance Group, said Singapore is known as a leading culinary city in Asia, which is a major area of growth for Alliance Group.

“Pure South is now well-established as an export brand after more than a decade representing Alliance Group’s products in Asia. Pure South lamb, beef and venison is New Zealand’s leading brand in many leading restaurants and top hotels throughout Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong and increasingly in the main cities in China.

“With Singapore having the world’s fourth highest income per capita, Fern & Kiwi is expected to help promote the New Zealand brand in Asia. The quality of the cuisine is excellent and the restaurant is the perfect fit for Pure South.

“Pure South symbolises all the key elements of Alliance Group – the pure southern location, world-class technology, production techniques, the proud heritage and the very best grass-fed red meat.”

Established in 1988, Lone Star is a Kiwi institution with 21 branches across the North and South Islands. The Clarke Quay site is the first restaurant to open since the flagship outlet was destroyed in the devastating Christchurch earthquakes.

Red meat industry to work together

Posted on January 29, 2013 by Editor

The red meat industry has agreed to work together to promote and assist in the adoption of best practice by sheep and beef farmers, as part of a new $65 million dollar sector development project with Government co-funding.

Wayne McNee, director-general of the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI), has just approved a commitment of up to $32.4 million from MPI’s Primary Growth Partnership Fund (PGP) for the red meat sector’s new Collaboration for Sustainable Growth programme.

This seven-year programme will bring together a number of participants in New Zealand’s red meat sector including co-operatively owned and privately owned processing companies that together account for a substantial majority of New Zealand’s sheep and beef exports, two banks and Beef + Lamb New Zealand Ltd.

It aims to ensure that red meat producers consistently have access to and are able to effectively use the best-available farm and business management practices, by addressing gaps in technology transfer and ensuring stronger co-ordination between organisations and individuals working with farmers.

MPI Director General, Wayne McNee says the new PGP programme will transform the delivery of knowledge and capability within the sheep and beef sector.

“Importantly this is the most comprehensive collaboration of its type ever seen in the red meat sector, and the opportunities are very exciting. The Collaboration programme will build base capability, delivering benefits across the sector and aligned with other PGP programmes.”

The next step to establish this PGP programme is to develop the contract with the Crown and to seek farmer support for their portion of the investment. It is anticipated that once the required farmer and company approvals and contracts are in place programme delivery can begin, expected to be in the third quarter of this year.

Organisations presently in this initiative are: AFFCO, Alliance Group, ANZCO Foods, ANZ Bank, Beef + Lamb New Zealand, Blue Sky Meats, Deloitte, Progressive Meats, Rabobank and Silver Fern Farms. The programme is designed to be open, enabling others to invest. Participants will establish a formal partnership to run the Collaboration programme.

Chairman of the programme’s Steering Group, Dr Scott Champion says the Collaboration programme is built on the findings of the Red Meat Sector Strategy and will deliver significantly on the Strategy’s sector best-practice theme.

“This initiative is evidence that the industry is committed to delivering on the recommendations of the sector strategy. More industry collaboration is high on the list of Strategy actions, and so to have the red meat industry focused on supporting farmers and united in this programme is of major significance. Importantly, the Strategy also underlined the returns available to all farmers by lifting productivity and management towards that of the country’s highest performing farms.”

The PGP programme comprises several elements, including investigating how farmers prefer to receive and use new information and what drives their profitability, as well as benchmarking and integrating relevant databases. New tools, services and knowledge will be packaged and delivered in a range of ways by programme partners.

“With a new awareness of what drives farm profitability, the Collaboration programme will change the sector’s focus from one that is dominated by price to one focused on performance, productivity, profitability and the factors we can control,” Champion said.

“This investment will support the sector to better control its future and ensure confidence for continued investment.”

The Red Meat Sector Strategy was jointly developed by Beef + Lamb New Zealand and the Meat Industry Association, with funding support from the Government. It was released in May 2011.The Strategy identified a range of activities that, when implemented, will improve sector productivity and profitability, and provide greater certainty for participants.

Is this the year for a sheepmeat strategy, asks Barber?

Posted on January 23, 2013 by Editor

Is this the year for a sheepmeat strategy, asks meat industry commentator Allan Barber in his latest column. The key question for the meat industry this year is whether anybody will make any money, he writes.

After last season when farmers enjoyed unprecedented procurement prices and the meat companies lost millions of dollars as a result, prices have headed south and look set to remain there for the foreseeable future.

Sheepmeat is the product most under threat with the traditional markets all showing serious signs of indigestion. As an example, a US importer has been reported as saying he has a year’s worth of inventory and can’t buy any more and neither is anyone else. This signals a major problem for middle cuts like lamb racks, while Europe isn’t exactly rushing to buy any product either.

This explains the amount of cheap sheepmeat available on our domestic market, although unfortunately local consumers have been turned off buying lamb as a standard part of their diet by last year’s high prices – no different from the rest of the world; and expecting New Zealand’s minute population to absorb any significant part of the oversupply is a bit like expecting Fiji to win the World Cup or the Black Caps to win the series in South Africa for that matter.

Beef may resist the worst of the price downturn because US demand remains steady against a backdrop of falling domestic cow numbers and consequently an increased share for imported beef. Asian demand will also remain firm, while New Zealand exporters may be able to pick up some of Australia’s market share, as Australian supply to the USA is anticipated to take the lion’s share of the increase there.

But even beef will continue to struggle under the impact of our dollar which is set obstinately at about 84 US cents with the greenback unlikely to strengthen at all, unless Congress can agree on a fiscal solution to the enormous American debt problem. In spite of averting the fall over the fiscal cliff, the US really hasn’t solved its long-term problem, merely postponed a decision.

The main difficulty for sheepmeat is the amount of inventory held by wholesalers and exporters which is waiting to be sold into a market which doesn’t need it and, even if it did, can’t afford to pay a price for it which will compensate for our exchange rate sitting at 52p and 0.63 Euro. This inventory problem will only be exacerbated by another season’s production which will hit its peak in less than three months.

If my pessimistic assessment is even only half correct, 2013 bears all the signs of an extremely difficult season for all participants in the sector. MPI’s forecast for farm incomes, down on last year, is still reasonably positive at least in historical terms, but it must come under pressure from any further price drops or cost increases. There is most unlikely to be any spare cash around.

After the beating taken last season by the processors, shown factually in the annual accounts of Silver Fern Farms, Alliance and Blue Sky Meats, and by implication in the results of the others, all the meat companies will be under pressure to get back into the black. The only way they can achieve this is to reduce procurement costs, increase operational efficiencies and sell inventory into the market, preferably with a profit margin on what it cost them.

This last one will be by far the hardest. There is already plenty of evidence of product being offered at very competitive, or silly, prices in spite of Keith Cooper’s claim before Christmas that working capital tied up in inventory is ‘good’ debt because it restrains companies from dumping product. Now if that isn’t a case of making a virtue out of necessity, I don’t know what is.

Logically if there is an inventory problem, it makes sense to quit it at the going rate rather than waiting for the market to recover by which time there will be more inventory in the freezer tying up more working capital.

The meat industry is becoming increasingly a division between sheep (very hard to make a consistent profit) and beef (quite or extremely profitable, mostly because of the livestock sourced from the dairy industry). Those companies which specialise in beef from dairy regions, notably Greenlea and Universal, appear to be very profitable without interference from the volatility of sheepmeat pricing.

Alliance has traditionally been the outstanding performer among the processors with a commitment to the sheep industry. Silver Fern Farms has reinvented itself as a company with a significant beef business which has reduced its vulnerability. But as last season’s results showed, the sheepmeat business placed serious pressure on their balance sheets which will inevitably continue throughout this year.

This may be the year when some serious strategic thinking is applied to finding a viable industry model for sheepmeat alone, instead of trying to find a single solution for the meat industry as a whole.

This column has appeared in NZ Farmers Weekly and interest.co.nz and is reproduced here with permission. Allan also has his own blog Barber’s Meaty Issues.

Nathan Guy new Primary Industries Minister

Posted on January 22, 2013 by Editor

Nathan Guy has been appointed as the new Primary Industries Minister as a result of the Prime Minister’s re-shuffle of Cabinet today.

David Carter, the current Minister for Primary Industries, will be the Government’s nominee for Speaker of the House following the departure of Dr Lockwood Smith.

The Prime Minister, John Key, took the opportunity presented by the change of speaker to look at the Cabinet line-up as a whole, “in the context of the Government’s priorities,” he said.

Primary Industries changes

Former farm manager, Nathan Guy, MP for Otaki, is the current Associate Minister for Primary Industries and was widely tipped as a favourite for the position. The 43 year old is a Massey University agriculture graduate who has also undertaken a number of study scholarships including a Kelloggs Rural Leadership course, a Winston Churchill Fellowship to the US and has also won a number of farming awards. From the meat industry perspective he is a former member of the Meat Research Advisory Committee and a former chairperson of Central Districts and Wairarapa’s New Zealand Beef Council, for which he was also deputy chairperson. Jo Goodhew, member for Rangitata and a former nurse, will assist Guy in the Associate Minister position.

Food Safety

Former Food Safety Minister Kate Wilkinson will leave cabinet and will be replaced by 33 year old Auckland Central MP Nikki Kaye. Kaye will take up the portfolios for Food Safety, Youth Affairs and Civil Defence. She will also be Associate Education Minister, reflecting her work as chair of the education select committee.

Other

Dr Nick Smith will return to Cabinet in the Housing and Conservation portfolios and Chris Tremain is to be appointed to Local Government.

The changes will take effect on 31 January, when the Governor-General appoints the new Ministers and all the necessary paperwork will have been completed.

“The refreshed Ministerial team is ready to continue the Government’s focus on is four key priorities for this term – responsibly managing the Government’s finances, building a more competitive and productive economy, delivering better public services within fiscal restraints and supporting the rebuilding of Christchurch,” says Key.

Burger hell

Posted on January 18, 2013 by Editor

The discovery of horse and pig DNA in frozen beefburgers manufactured primarily in Ireland this week has sent the UK and Ireland into a spin as experts try to track its source. While checks are in place here in New Zealand that should prevent a similar thing happening, it is a salutary lesson for the meat industry about what could happen if consumer trust is broken.

What happened in Europe, is that frozen burgers, supposedly made from beef by major EU meat processor ABP Food Group, were routinely DNA-tested by Food Safety Authority Ireland (FSAI) and found to contain meat/protein from other sources including horse and traces from pigs too. The affected burgers, produced in the company’s subsidiaries Liffey Meats and Silvercrest Foods in Ireland and Dalepak Hambleton in the UK are sold in Tesco, Aldi, Lidl and Iceland stores in the UK and in Dunnes stores in Ireland.

Though the FSAI stated in its announcement on Tuesday (15 January) that there was no food safety risk from the products, all retailers have all reacted quickly to remove the items from sale. Tesco, which has also removed all other products from the suppliers from its stores and online, has apologised to its consumers and is promising them that it will find out what has happened and when it does so, it will tell them.

Other supermarkets have also withdrawn similar meat products while answering the British Food Standards Agency’s urgent questions to all British retailers about the exact contents of those items. To date, a total of over 10 million burgers are estimated to have been withdrawn from sale.

The issue is accumulating column inches in the UK and comment from Jewish and Muslim religious groups, animal welfare groups and unions demanding more transparency and more regulation for the meat industry.

ABP is taking the matter “extremely seriously” and says it has “never knowingly bought, handled or supplied equine meat products.

“We are shocked by the results of these tests and are currently at a loss to explain why one test showed 29 percent equine DNA,” the company says, adding that it was checking thoroughly with the two concerned suppliers and “is considering its options”. ABP is conducting its own DNA analysis of the products and will be implementing a new testing regime for meat products which will include routine DNA analysis.

The company assures that its group companies only buy meat from licensed and approved EU suppliers. “These results relate only to where beef based products have been sourced by those suppliers from the Continent. Only a small percentage of meat is currently procured from outside the UK and Ireland. Fresh meat products are unaffected.”

The latest comment in The Guardian suggests that the horse DNA might have come from additives extracted from protein sources, rather than fresh horse meat directly.

NZ: legal requirements not to mislead

Here in New Zealand, there are legal requirements not to mislead the customer, says the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI), which will be keeping a close eye on proceedings in the UK.

New Zealand processors are subject to performance-based verification by MPI and meat products are not permitted for export until they first comply with requirements for sale domestically. In addition, MPI provides export certificates that provide MPI-verified assurances on the species of animal from which the exported products were derived.

Under its mandatory Species Verification Programme – which checks the effectiveness of the regulatory requirements in place to ensure truth in labelling with respect to species of origin – MPI samplers collect 300 samples of meat from randomly allocated cold stores all around the country. Each sample is tested and the test includes checks for contamination by other possible species, using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), which identifies proteins unique to a species. For example, a sheepmeat sample will be tested for the presence of cattle, deer, goat, horse or pig meat. These tests are conducted by an MPI contracted laboratory to do independent testing using an International Accreditation New Zealand (IANZ) method. The contracted laboratory operates under comprehensive quality systems that, as a minimum, comprise compliance with the ISO 17025 ‘Standard for technical competence of testing laboratories’.

In addition, the Australian/New Zealand Food Standards Code maintains standards for meat and meat products, specifying the proportions of fat free meat flesh and fat (sausages, for example, must contain no less that 500g/kg of fat free meat flesh and the proportion of fat in the sausage must be no more than 500g/kg of the fat free meat flesh content). There are also separate checks for contaminants and residues.

Together, these controls minimise the possibility of a meat not being mentioned in packaging being in the New Zealand product, says MPI, adding that there are no known incidents where a meat product in New Zealand was discovered not to be what it said it was.

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Tag Archives: beef

Greenlea scoops award for business excellence

A new Te Aroha emerges from the ashes

Polish meat filler at centre of burger scandal

PGP project suggests meat industry ready to co-operate, says Barber

PGP programme being welcomed by industry

Pure South beef, venison and lamb to Singapore

Red meat industry to work together

Is this the year for a sheepmeat strategy, asks Barber?

Nathan Guy new Primary Industries Minister

Burger hell

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