New programme to add value to beef carcases

Ministry for Primary Industries Director-General Wayne McNee has approved co-funding from the Primary Growth Partnership (PGP) for the new Foodplus programme which will look at how more value can be generated from beef carcases.

The PGP Fund is committing $43.5 million over seven years for the programme, which is worth $87 million in total and is being run by ANZCO Foods.

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,” McNee said. “ANZCO’s vision for Foodplus is relevant and bold, and now backed by a significant investment.”

The Ministry claims the programme will result in:

* Re-positioning of the New Zealand meat industry from a mostly production-led, meat commodity-based business to a global, consumer-centric food products, food ingredients and healthcare business
* Improved value of livestock to the farmer and overall more value to the red meat supply chain
* New products and intellectual property (IP)
* Targeted collaboration between industry and research organisations
* Enhancement of the New Zealand primary sector’s reputation as a responsive, innovative and market-led industry.

Rennie Davidson, CEO of ANZCO’s Food & Solutions division said 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.”

ANZCO Foods is better known to farmers by the name of its processing plants and cattle feedlot: CMP, Riverlands and Five Star Beef. 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 3000 staff worldwide.

The New Zealand meat industry is a vital contributor to the New Zealand economy. For the year ending June 2012, total red meat exports (including co-products) were worth $6.1 billion, which equates to 13% of total merchandise exports and 22% of the primary sector exports.

The Primary Growth Partnership is a government-industry initiative that is investing in significant programmes of research and innovation to boost the economic growth and sustainability of New Zealand’s primary, forestry and food sectors. To date it has committed around $600 million of multi-year funding.

Background: Currently, a significant proportion of the beef animal is sold as lower value products.
The Foodplus PGP programme will start with a market analysis to identify opportunities to create new, higher value products, with a particular focus on developing new food, ingredients and healthcare products.
The programme is valued at $87 million, with PGP funding contributing $43.5 million over seven years.
Currently, a significant proportion of the beef animal (that is, those parts not destined for prime cuts) are sold as lower value products.