Greenlea scoops award for business excellence

Business Excellence Awards for Greenlea Premier Meats.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 20th 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.

Foodplus: value added to beef

More value is to be generated from beef with the development of innovative new products for food, ingredients and healthcare, thanks to the latest Primary Growth Partnership (PGP) programme.

PGP co-funding has been approved by the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) for an $87 million Foodplus programme, run by meat processor and exporter Anzco Foods. The PGP fund is committing $43.5 million over seven years towards the programme, with ANZCO matching that funding.

Foodplus will identify opportunities to create new products, with a particular focus on parts of the beef carcase that currently generate less value. ANZCO has identified three markets for innovative new products: food, ingredients and healthcare.

“Adding further value to the carcase is essential for the future success of the meat industry,” MPI director-general Wayne McNee says. “ANZCO’s vision for Foodplus is relevant and bold and now backed by a significant investment.”

Sir Graeme HarrisonANZCO Foods chairman, Sir Graeme Harrison is enthusiastic about the potential of the new Foodplus programme to enhance business opportunities for the sector.

It will give a vital boost to the industry, he says. “For too long, the meat industry has been criticised as being a production-led commodity business characterised by high volatility and marginal profitability. This government-industry partnership provides a springboard to further transform our industry, to leverage off the inherent strengths of our farming practices and animal health status and to collaborate and capitalise on the benefits of quality New Zealand research and innovation.”

“As Foodplus begins to use the PGP’s comprehensive research opportunities, ANZCO will introduce more projects that will certainly challenge and re-invent the traditional uses of beef cattle in particular.

“The Foodplus initiative will build on the existing expertise within ANZCO Foods but also add considerable new processes and opportunities never before realised in the meat industry,” says Sir Graeme.

Rennie Davidson, chief executive  of ANZCO’s Food & Solutions division says ANZCO welcomed the opportunity to partner with the Crown on the Foodplus programme. “It is a large-scale project that wouldn’t be achievable without collaboration. We’re excited about the potential that this will bring to the sector.”

The company also recently announced a company-wide energy management programme, which will see it working with the Energy Efficiency Conservation Authority’s business unit over two years to achieve savings of $2 million a year in its processing plant energy usage.

ANZCO Foods is a multinational group of companies and one of New Zealand’s largest exporters, with sales of $1.3 billion and employing more than 3,000 staff worldwide.

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

A new Te Aroha emerges from the ashes

Silver Fern Farms' Te Aroha exterior.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.

Te Aroha, December 2013: Computerised Marel Streamline technology monitors meat as it passes through slaughter, grading and boning processes. 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

Boning room technology at SFF Te Aroha.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

Te Aroha, December 2013: Trim stations are individually tailored for each workeer's reach to meat, height and access to work stations.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.

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.

‘Meating’ the plastic challenge

A series of challenges has been thrown out to the plastics industry to develop packaging that will help the meat industry maintain high food safety standards, increase shelf-life and develop new products.

The meat industry is one of this country’s biggest users of plastic, particularly in the form of packaging that keeps products safe, fresh and looking great right to through to the customer.

Speaking to the Plastics New Zealand conference in Queenstown in May, Meat Industry Association chief executive Tim Ritchie outlined where he thought future opportunities lay for the material.

He told delegates that the meat industry has been very responsive to market demands and there has been a very significant change in the business model over the last 25 to 30 years. Trade has moved from sending frozen carcases – which, early on, were simply stockingetted and later shrink-wrapped for shipping – to the UK, to now sending chilled and frozen cuts and ready-prepared products to more than 115 markets around the world, with a growing focus on the Asian region, he explained.

“Now, we are in the business of directly servicing supermarkets with quality, consumer-ready cuts of meat, produced and packaged at source in New Zealand.

The industry is now in the ‘disassembly’ process, exporting and marketing the ‘bits’ around the world so as to maximise value, he said, adding that “a steadily increasing proportion of trade is high value chilled product.”

Ritchie said that plastics are widely used in the production process, covering products such as clips, liners, covers, containers, crates and pallets, “ensuring that processes are as clean as possible while meeting the needs of industrial production for items that are lightweight and resilient.”

There is a need to ensure their biodegradability and detectability. “But the greatest opportunities for the future of plastics in the meat industry are probably in packaging,” he said.

Areas of opportunity lie in safety, shelf-life, environmental sustainability and, finally, product quality and presentation. Reducing costs and lifting efficiencies are also part of the equation.

A growing volume of New Zealand meat is chilled and it is vacuum-packaged and sometimes CO2-gas flushed.  “The use of barrier bags and gas flushing were important steps in the evolution of our business.”

New packaging that contains anti-bacterial agents, such as ‘biophages’, and ‘smart packaging’ which can identify changes in the product and alert consumers if there is a problem, are two new areas where manufacturers can assist the meat industry to maintain high food safety standards, according to Ritchie.

Shelf-life is another area which has become even more important especially for the perishable chilled meat trade, as the global shipping industry moves towards greater use of ‘slow-steaming’, which increases transit times and reduces the remaining shelf life of products once they get to market. He noted that packaging companies already working on solutions with shelf-life enhancing properties.

In addition, consumers are increasingly demanding environmental sustainability, which means reduced and/or recyclable packaging. Food waste, identified as a major problem especially by the European Union, is also an issue.

“But a significant amount also occurs after purchase and here packaging can be part of the problem,” Ritchie says. Packaging sizes for single or fewer portions, for example, or re-sealable and compartmentalised packages can help limit unnecessary waste.

“And then there are bio-plastics, such as those being made from meat by-products.”

It is not just being satisfied ourselves that all is sustainable and safe, said Ritchie. “We need to be able to demonstrate it to the consumer and retailer, who is often proxy for the consumer in this business.

“Plastics can play an increasing role in helping with food safety, extending product shelf-life, improving attractiveness and ease-of-use by consumers. At the same time, our industry increasingly needs products that are environmentally sustainable, with recyclable or biodegradable attributes,” he concluded.

“And of course, anything your industry can do to help us take cost out of the system and improve operational efficiency will be welcomed.”

This article has appeared in Food New Zealand magazine (October/November 2012).

Chuffed to be recognised by peers

Lamb processor Craig Hickson was “chuffed” when he learned he was to be awarded the 2012 Allflex Federated Farmers Agribusiness Person of the Year in July. Adding a new Welsh meat plant to his business portfolio this year too, makes it one to remember in his business journey.

“It’s very pleasing to be recognised by your peers,” admits the managing director of Progressive Meats.

The astute Hawke’s Bay businessman’s speciality has lain in seeking solutions for plant processes that meet modern demands and also for challenging convention. Over most of the last 40 years (up to 2007) he has been in operation, the straight speaking Hickson has deliberately steered away from direct involvement in exporting leaving others to concentrate on that while he has focused on the niche of contract processing product for exporters.

Recognised as one of the meat industry’s leaders, he holds a seat on the Meat Industry Association (MIA) council and represents industry on the boards of Beef+Lamb NZ Ltd and the New Zealand Meat Board and an assorted array of other directorships.

Born in Canada to Kiwi parents, the young Craig Hickson was moved to Waipukurau when he was three months and later, at age seven, to Havelock North. His schooling was completed at Hastings Boys High, with vacations spent working at the Hawke’s Bay Farmers Meat Company Whakatu works, before he progressed on a HBMC scholarship to Massey University. There, he graduated with a B Tech in food technology, specialising in the engineering side – which has stood him in good stead through several new plants and plant renovations since. Later, he added a BA in economics and marketing to his list of accomplishments.

However, at that stage, pure food technology was not for the young red-headed Hawke’s Bay lad. In 1975, he found himself a job at the Meat Producers Board as product development officer, before leaving in 1980 to develop his own business – a small lamb packing plant in Hastings, Progressive Meats, which opened with his wife in October 1981.

In order to satisfy customer demand for contract services over the years, the Hicksons were involved with a few others in the ownership, design, planning, contruction and operation of Lamb Packers Feilding Ltd and Progressive Gisborne Ltd – and also with Lean Meats Oamaru through a minority shareholding in Lean Meats Ltd.

Having sold their 50 percent share in Feilding and Gisborne to Bernard Matthews NZ Ltd (BM) in 2005, Hickson was part of a syndicate that bought 100 percent back again in 2007 – the same slaughter and processing plant in Gisborne, and slaughter plant in Feilding plus a further processing plant in Waipukurau – when BM decided to withdraw from New Zealand to concentrate on its UK operations.

New meat plant in Wales

Matching supply to demand is also the reason for the purchase in April this year of a small Welsh meat processing plant Cig Calon Cymru (pronounced kig kalon – like talon – kumru, roughly translated as ‘Meat from the heart of Wales’), at Crosshands, near Lllanelli in South Wales. The plant is principally a beef processor, with a small lamb line.

Hickson explained that they had been looking for a suitable processing opportunity in the area to supply lamb year round to British consumers – the British and New Zealand lamb production is largely complementary for chilled. This enables New Zealand lamb to be supplied during the December to May period, when Welsh lamb is in short-supply and then Welsh lamb during the June to November period, when New Zealand lamb is in shorter supply benefiting both sets of producers. It will go into the same packaging with the country of origin clearly labelled.

The name of the company will remain as is and the plant will continue to process beef, but the branding for CCC product is yet to be determined. The management team will include New Zealander Jim Goodall who has the role of general manager. According to Hickson, plant staff are pleased that the company will have a new lease of life, while the local farmers are “reserving their judgement”.

Federated Farmers here have welcomed the initiative as it sees the move is an example of the vertical integration called for in several recent reports and shows there is life in New Zealand’s traditional markets. However, it is not novel, maintains Hickson pointing to Silver Fern Farms’ previous ownership of Brooks of Norwich, which enabled it to process frozen cuts to retailers’ exacting specification in-market, and other New Zealand companies, such as Alliance, Affco and Anzco, which have had in-market representation for many years and, in some instances, association with local processors.

He’s pleased there’s a ‘family’ connection too. The Hicksons own a 1,500ha farm in Hawke’s Bay and the farm manager’s wife, Denise, is Welsh, hailing from St Clairs which is near where the new plant is situated.

Slow product development

Hickson has observed very slow progress of new meat product development in terms of ready-to-eat products over the past four decades since his graduation.

“The major development area has been in the form of natural cuts and portion-size,” he says.

One fundamental reason he gives for the slow development of lamb ready meals is that lamb is a relatively high priced meat as a competing ingredient. Another is the fact that the nature of lamb fat means that it solidifies at a higher temperature than beef or pork making it tricky to work with. It is best served hot or cold, not warm.

One famous product victim of the rising price of lamb was the Bernard Matthews lamb roast, a frozen product that did very well in Britain. The concept was based on the company’s technology and marketing machinery for its famous turkey roast and was so successful it led to a plant being built here in Waipukurau to manufacture the lamb version.

The product did very well until the price of lamb increased beyond what this market segment would support, he explained, and  volumes diminished to extinction. By then, BM had developed lines in chilled and frozen portion-controlled and weight-ranged lamb products for its range.

The new McDonald’s lamb burger, which has been trumpeted about recently, is one of only two examples of a commercial lamb ‘fast food’ item. The other being a doner kebab made from lamb flaps.

Contribution to processes

Hickson believes his most valuable contribution to industry has been to plant processes. Progressive Meats was at the forefront of changes to shiftwork, which though it had already been in place in the ‘follow on departments’ in plants, it was not utilised in slaughter and boning rooms. He gained union agreement in 1986, following a five week strike, just over a year before implementation in 1988.

“Shiftwork enabled small plants to be competitive, through the improved utilisation of capital,” he says.

It was its work on relationships with farmers that enabled Progressive to be the first company in 1987 to offer forward commitment arrangements for lamb supply. “At the time, other industry participants thought forward commitments were not viable and would fail,” Hickson said. But they didn’t.

Progressive was also one of the first companies to move away from the Meat Board’s grading system, which had been designed for carcase specifications, and adapt it for its own customers’ specifications for cuts.

“We talked to our farmers and encouraged them through payments to produce lambs to specification.”

After legislation changed to ban smoking in the workplace, he embarked on a lengthy court fight to establish whether a purpose-built, negatively-pressured smoking room next to the cafeteria at Progressive’s Hastings plant was outside the ‘workplace’. The challenge was lost, but had a silver lining.

“The legal wording was ambiguous and I thought, had the room been deemed not  a workplace workers would not need to change clothes to go outside for a smoke, saving time, and their smoke wouldn’t disrupt other non-smoking employees.”

In the end, the court decided the room was ‘a workplace’ and workers did need to smoke outside the building. As Hickson himself is not a smoker, in fact he says he is “vitriocally opposed”, his support surprised his employees.

“Industrial relations have never been so good as just after that court decision,” he says, adding that the union financially contributed towards the defence of the case.

Looking to the future

Looking to the future, he commented that the Red Meat Sector Strategy (RMSS) is essentially a collation and synthesis of the views of industry participants.

“It didn’t deliver anything new but it is in a coherent form and advocates the development of future business along the lines of what, in many cases, is already going on,” he says.

However, ‘competition to buy’, tends to restrict the rate of progress to that of other competing companies in the field. While there is a high degree of consensus when interviewing participants one-on-one, it is a different matter when actions are observed in the cold commercial, competitive reality, he believes.

He sees the major challenge for the industry is for pastoral sheep, beef and deer farming to be a competitive land use option (at the margin) compared  to dairying, forestry, viticulture and horticulture, among other uses.

“In 40 years, I’ve seen a dramatic change in the Hawke’s Bay Heretaunga plains, which was once prime finishing land for livestock and is now covered in apples, crops grapes, and other viticulture.”

Lifting prices is an obvious target, but is constrained by the fact that lamb is already a relatively high priced meat, he believes.

“Reduction in wastage getting the product to consumers is another target as is endeavouring to negotiate a larger share of what the consumer pays with supermarkets and food service people generally taking between 30 to 50 percent of what the consumer pays.”

“Sheep are a dual product animal and we neglect wool at our peril,” he says. ”We need to be actively seeking new applications to lift demand and hence returns, particularly for the mid-micron and strong wool,that are traditionally used in carpet making. Wool hasn’t kept pace with lambing percentage increases, or inflation and if we could arrest the decline, and reverse the trend, sheep farming will be more profitable and grow.”

During his spare time, hobbies include managing his 60 hectare farm around he and his wife’s home in Haumoana, where he keeps deer near to the house, “nice to look at and easy to keep.” He has a love of classic cars and still owns the first one he bought when he was 19, a 1954 MG TF. He plays tennis and cricket and enjoys sailing on Lake Taupo.

When asked what was his most proud moment over his career to date, Hickson paused to reflect and said he had difficulty picking one moment as they blend into each other.

“I’ve never felt as though I’ve climbed a mountain, I’ve always been on a journey.”

+++

Craig Hickson

  • 1970 to 1973 – B Tech (Food), Massey University.
  • 1973 – Management trainee at Hawke’s Bay Farmers Meat Company, Whakatu.
  • 1975 – Joined Meat Producers Board staff as product development officer. Completed BA in Economics and Marketing Victoria University.
  • 1981 – Hicksons start small meat packing house Progressive Meats.
  • 1982 – Designs , builds and commissions small venison plant alongside Progressive Meats for ‘start up’ local farmer company, East Coast Venison.
  • 1987 – Plan and design venison plant in Feilding for East Coast Venison.
  • 1987 – Design, build and commision lamb slaughter at Progressive Hastings.
  • 1990 – Takes a minority interest in Lean Meats Ltd.
  • 1993 – Takes a minority interest in Te Kuiti Meats Ltd.
  • 1994 – Buys venison plant in Hastings and, with partner John Signal, the venison plant in Feilding from Venison New Zealand (formerly East Coast Venison).
  • 1995 – Builds Lamb Packers Feilding Ltd.
  • 1998 – Builds Progressive Gisborne Ltd.
  • 1999 – Builds replacement slaughter plant at Hastings (original only 13 years old).
  • 2003 – A principal in setting up Progressive Leathers Ltd at Whakatu.
  • 2005 – Sells Feilding and Gisborne Lamb interests to Bernard Matthews.
  • 2006 – Takes a majority interest in Te Kuiti Meats Ltd.
  • 2007 – Syndicate, including Hickson, purchases Bernard Matthews NZ Ltd’s lamb-processing and exporting operations in New Zealand and renames it Ovation New Zealand Ltd (plants at Gisborne, Waipukurau and Feilding).
  • 2012 – Allflex Federated Farmers Agribusiness Person of the Year.
  • 2012 – Hicksons purchase Welsh meat processor Cig Calon Cymru.

Current directorships: Progressive Meats Ltd, Ovation New Zealand Ltd, Lean Meats Ltd,Te Kuiti Meats Ltd, Progressive Leathers Ltd, MIA Council, Beef + Lamb NZ Ltd, Meat Board Ltd, Ovita Ltd. The Hicksons also farm sheep, beef and venison on 1,500 hectares in the Maraetotara/Elsthorpe district in East Coast Hawke’s Bay.

An abridged version of this article appeared in Food New Zealand magazine (October/November 2012).

 

First meat plant introduces new carcase inspections

In early September, Affco’s Imlay meat processing plant in Whanganui became the first plant to introduce the new ‘Ovine Post-Mortem Inspection’ regime.

The new  inspection regime involves company staff, rather than AsureQuality personnel, checking carcases for non-food safety or quality aspects (see Food NZ, December/January 2011). The move came after trials of the new system at the Affco plant proved successful and overseas authorities approved the equivalence of the new inspection regime.. Four other plants  – Alliance Smithfield, Silver Fern Farms Pareora, Riverlands Blenheim and Affco Manawatu – are expected to introduce the new system later this year.

AsureQuality meat inspectors will still be onsite to undertake food safety post-mortem inspections on all meat products. Final oversight of the products remains the responsibility of the Ministry of Primary Industries Verification vets on the plant.

This article appeared in Food New Zealand magazine (October/November 2012).

Be smart: keeping consumers happy

Keeping its consumers happy and listening to what they want has significantly improved McDonald’s business performance including financial returns, according to one of the company’s top China-based executives.

Introduced as a “good friend of New Zealand beef” at the Red Meat Sector Conference, Arron Hoyle, McDonald’s senior director and head of strategy for China and Hong Kong and a major customer for New Zealand’s lean manufacturing beef, said that the result deserved “a massive thank you to the New Zealand meat industry.”

McDonald’s had selected New Zealand and Australia as its sources of beef for the region because of the two countries’ reputations for food safety. While the US is still the largest market for the company, the company is significantly growing its presence in the APMEA countries.

In 1990, McDonald’s entered China, the fastest growing market in the world, when it opened its first store in Beijing. In 2010, it had 1,000 stores open and by 2013 will have 2,000.

All new stores will have a uniquely McDonald’s style, reflecting Chinese expectations for a modern, trendy image.

“We found that we need to ensure consistency in supply of style and expectations.”

There is no silver bullet, he went on to say. “You have to work extremely hard and to understand your consumer better than your husband or wife.”

He believes that New Zealand is well positioned to grow in Asia, particularly in China with its need to “import virtual water” due to ever growing water constraints as the country develops.

The Chinese market changes rapidly depending on the supply/demand dynamic. McDonald’s is forecasting beef growth to 7-8 million tonnes a year by 2020 and McDonald’s China demand alone to surpass 60,000 metric tonnes per annum.

McDonald’s likes to think it’s a great partner for NZ, says Hoyle, “the industry and all suppliers we partner with, we really like New Zealand beef. We don’t manage the supplier, we manage the business together in a partnership with suppliers.”

For the New Zealand beef team, it’s going to be a case of being better at the value chain, to execute against the opportunity, measure effectiveness versus efficiency and being faster than the competition to solutions.

“The data is showing us the opportunity is behind the hill. We need to work together to get there,” he said.

This article appeared in Food NZ magazine (August/September 2012).

Delivered: second Red Meat Sector Conference

Delivered, as promised: Excellent, inspirational and thought-provoking speakers, all appearing in a packed programme for the 250 delegates attending the second Red Meat Sector conference.

Congratulations must go to the Meat Industry Association (MIA) and Beef + Lamb NZ Ltd (B+LNZ), joint organisers of this year’s well-attended Red Meat Sector Conference at Rydges Lakeland Resort hotel in Queenstown.

Alongside heartening optimism for future demand for red meat, recurrent themes were the massive potential for New Zealand of emerging markets in Asia, especially China, water issues, the need to utilise best practice, the need for all links in the chain to tell the industry’s story to the public, plus the rapid emergence of social media as a tool for communicating with consumers.

In his opening comments, MIA chairman Bill Falconer also noted that, while not as quickly as some would like, encouraging progress is being made on the Red Meat Sector Strategy and that “small starts are being made across the board.” Later in the day Rob Davison, from the B+LNZ Economic Service, outlined a number of matrices that the Economic Service is developing that will help to track progress against the strategy, and these matrices will “focus conversations, thinking and actions to drive the future”.

The Conference also saw the announcement of new Primary Growth Partnership (PGP) funding for the red meat sector, for a project to develop high-value grass-fed marbled beef, using Waygu genetics.

All the presentations were a veritable smorgasbord of information, packed with facts, statistics and views from many facets of the industry, enabling delegates to pick out what was relevant for their part of the value chain. While every single one of the speakers was passionate and eloquent about their topic, from an export food manufacturing perspective the highlights were excellent presentations from McDonald’s Arron Hoyle and vertically integrated meat processor Agri Beef’s Rick Stott from the US.

Besides the serious business, there was entertainment and laughter too. Lunch – finger food featuring B+LNZ Ambassador chef Ben Battersbury’s speciality “alternative cuts, not cheap cuts” like lamb riblets –  was amusingly heralded with witty comments from him. After dinner speaker Davey Hughes of Swazi Apparel gave an hilarious account of hunting expeditions in Africa and shared a few (tongue-in-cheek) items from his latest collection, including a new ‘mankini’.

Also noteworthy, was a significant Australian presence at the conference in the form of representatives from Meat & Livestock Australia and Aus-Meat. This put physical form to MLA’s managing director Scott Hansen’s opening comment in his presentation that “Australia sees a close collaboration with New Zealand.”

There was positive feedback from delegates, who came from all parts of the sector, including farmers, processors, equipment suppliers, researchers and media.

This article appeared in Food NZ magazine (August/September 2012). Copies of most of the conference presentations are available at www.mia.co.nz or redmeatsector.co.nz.

 

Second Red Meat Sector Conference

Closing speaker for conference: clinical psychologist Nigel Latta.

High quality speakers and ample opportunities to network are on offer to delegates from the meat industry, farming and their service sectors at this year’s Red Meat Sector Conference.

We’ve been given a sneak preview of the content of the meat industry’s second annual conference, which will take place at the Rydges Lakeland Resort in Queenstown. The event is co-hosted once again by the Meat Industry Association (MIA) and Beef + Lamb New Zealand Ltd (B+LNZ).

Keynote speakers include clinical psychologist, author and self-confessed ‘wearer of socks’ Nigel Latta and Swazi Apparel’s Davey Hughes. They are joined by a dozen or so other presenters to focus once more on the core themes identified in the Red Meat Sector Strategy launched in May 2011.

After scene-setting presentations from Colin James of the Hugo Group and Richard Brown of European market research group GIRA, three sessions will cover the themes of the Sector Strategy.

In session one: meeting the needs of consumers will be the focus of Arron Hoyle of McDonald’s and Murray Johnston of Progressive Enterprises, while John Carroll of AVANZA avocado growers will look at managing market supply.

Australian and US perspectives regarding procurement will be explored in the second session, while best practices will be explored by B+LNZ Economic Service’s Rob Davison, Mark Paine of Dairy NZ and farming leader Doug Avery.

The conference will close with a session on behavioural change from Nigel Latta.

Two major social events are planned during the conference; a Welcome Cocktail Function, supported by Hamburg Sud, to be held on the evening of Sunday 15 July; and a Gala Dinner, sponsored by Maersk Line, to be held on the evening of Monday 16 July at which Davey Hughes of Swazi Apparel will speak.

For the first time, ANZ bank has taken the premier sponsorship role.

Don’t miss out: register online and find more information at www.mia.co.nz.

RED MEAT SECTOR CONFERENCE: THANKS TO SPONSORS

Premier: ANZ

Gala Dinner: Maersk Line

Welcome Cocktail Function: Hamburg Sud NZ Ltd.

Pre-networking drinks: Milmeq

Morning and afternoon teas: Triton Commercial Systems

Gold: AgResearch, Bell Gully, Ecolab, Milmeq and System Controls Ltd.

Silver: Industrial Research Ltd, NAIT Ltd, Port of Tauranga, SATO NZ Ltd and Sealed Air NZ.

Delegate bags: Bemis Flexible Packaging Australasia Ltd.

Other: Marfret Compagnie Maritime.

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

 

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) .