ABUNDANT and cheap Indian buffalo is poised to make serious inroads on Australia’s valued South East Asian beef markets, both boxed and live trade, a prominent Malaysian meat importer says.
Yusof Dayan Iskandar Carey, whose family business Butcher Carey in Kuala Lumpur, imports Australian beef and lamb, Indian buffalo and United States and New Zealand beef, delivered a solemn message in Canberra last week at the livestock export industry’s national conference, LIVEXforum 2016.
Price, consistency of supply and cooking style were paving the way for Indian buffalo to cause a lot of grief to Australia’s beef export trade to South East Asia, he said.
If Australia does not become more aggressive, particular in Indonesia, expect your current level of business to be halved very quickly, Mr Carey said.
“Unfortunately for Australian producers, your inability to supply consistently is hurting you,” he said.
“There is always a time where I hear from exporters ‘sorry Yusof, it’s too dry or too much rain or trucks can’t get in, I can’t supply today.
“That’s a problem I never have from India.
“I understand your season problems but when the Malaysian housewife wants her family to eat she doesn’t care about this.”
Malaysia produces 52,000 tonnes of meat annually but the demand is for 200,000t. It needs to slaughter 1.4m head annually to meet the current demand but is only slaughtering 200,000 head - at least 30,000 of those brought in from Australia.
“That shortfall has to be met one way or another and that is why 130,000t a year of Indian buffalo is now coming into Malaysia,” Mr Carey said.
And it’s only likely to increase, judging by the picture he painted.
Indian buffalo tenderloin in the wet markets sells for the equivalent of $A5/kg. Frozen beef tenderloins from Australia is priced at $22/kg.
“A family that needs to eat much red meat, will automatically go to buffalo,” he said.
“You can get it anywhere - any restaurant you walk into, the wet markets or Tesco.
“When it first came in the 80s no one knew it was buffalo, it was many years before we had to label it but now it is accepted.”
It’s not just the price but the cooking style - where meat is cooked for at least four hours to make rendang - that suits the meat.
“The housewife, again, asks why am I paying such a high price for this meat from Australia that will only fall apart when I cook it this way,” Mr Carey said.
“She prefers a tougher, lean meat and Indian buffalo falls into this.”
With the higher price of Australian beef in the past 12 months, Carey Butcher has dropped its orders by 20 per cent.
“I’m sorry but we have to make a profit too - Australian prices are now so expensive,” Mr Carey said.
Indonesia’s decision this year to open its doors to frozen buffalo in a bid to meet growing demand for animal protein was a big threat to Australia, according to Mr Carey.
“It will penetrate in a big way and you will see a decrease in your exports to Indonesia by half,” he said.
And if Indian buffalo is legally permitted to go to China, Australia’s live trade prospects there do not look very bright at all, he warned.
In response to discussion about the fast-growing consumption of meat in South East Asia and the argument there will be plenty of market growth to go around, Mr Carey said India was in a position to gear up its exports easily and quickly to cater for that additional demand.
“India has a population of 100 million buffalo. They are used for milk and then only when the animal is retired is it slaughtered for meat,” he explained.
“Australia is saying maybe by 2020, if lucky, it might have a cattle population of 29m. You see, India is way ahead of you.”
India is now only exporting 60pc of what it has and has “come a long way with their meat supply industry”, according to Mr Carey.
“They have many abattoirs just as good as those in Australia and often they are doing double a day what Australia’s are,” he said.
Asked if food safety might give Australian beef the upper hand, he said it was “not very regular that cases occurred, not enough to turn consumers away from the product.”
Meat and Livestock Australia figures show the South East Asia region commanded 96,271 tonnes shipping weight of Australian beef last year.
Indonesia was the fifth largest export market overall for Australian boxed beef and the largest for live trade.
Malaysia took 12,344 tonnes shipping weight in 2015.