ONE of Australia’s leading Foodservice Suppliers, Andrews Meat Industries (AMI) believes smaller lamb carcase sizes would better satisfy the domestic market's requirements of portion, size and yield.
At the recent Lambex forum in Albury, Andrews Meat chief executive, Peter Andrews Jr said one of the biggest challenge for the foodservice industry was providing chefs with consistent portion sizes.
“At the moment the biggest challenge when buying lamb is the size of the carcase, which is causing real issues,” Mr Andrews said.
AMI process 800 tonne of meat per month, of which 210t is lamb which equates to 1512 animals per week.
The company receives 600 to 800 orders per day, and are processed and packaged within a six hour window.
The ideal lamb for food service is carcase weight from 20 to 23 kilograms, which he said was the best balance of portion, size and yield.
The average Australian lamb carcase weight continues to rise, with an increase of nearly one kilogram in three years to 23.7 kilograms per head in 2016, according to Meat & Livestock Australia’s sheep industry projections report.
This is due to the Australian lamb industry becoming more export orientated – taking 44 per cent of total production - with different market and sector preferences influencing processor carcase weight specifications.
However the domestic market remains the mainstay of the Australian lamb industry.
Mr Andrews said the company wanted to avoid 25 kilogram cwt which produced larger, fatter carcases.
He said large muscle size across the carcase were required be cut down to obtain correct portion size, shape and definition, with less value due to offcuts wastage and increased labour.
Mr Andrews said there were discounts if carcases were too small and too big, which could often make the cost of certain portion sizes prohibitive.
“Racks are sold per rib so if muscle size is inconsistent we cannot cost out accurately,” he said.
Since securing smaller carcases from Tasmania and New Zealand, Mr Andrews said they were receiving weights which were leaner, consistent and yielded 15 per cent more.
“It gives us the ability to utilise the carcase,” he said.
“The reason a larger fatter carcase creates issues, we still deal with it because that’s the way it works, but our preference is that we don’t get that because it creates extra labour yield issues, disproportionate cuts and at the end of the day we have to guarantee the product to our customers and the consistency of each cut.”
AMI supplies over 1600 customers spanning from Melbourne to Townsville.
It is at the forefront of product branding and brand development, which Mr Andrews said was due to their strong relationships connecting suppliers, farmers and end users.
The company represents eight beef brands and two lamb brands.
“Branding out customers’ needs to be more than just a pretty lid, it requires integrity of production and consistency of supply,” he said.