New Zealand has a long history of 125 years accompanied by a solid reputation of exporting high quality meat. There is strong demand for meat in domestic markets as well as international markets and NZ’s pastoral meat industry has so many investment options for foreign investors.

The NZ red meat industry is thriving on ever-growing product demand. NZ exported meat worth NZ$4.6 billion in year 2006 and the export figure has seen consistent increases over these years. NZ’s meat industry has a reputation of providing safe, clean and reliable meat products and the country has a proud tradition of being a reliable supplier for major meat markets worldwide. The industry has considerably improved with time and has developed ways of providing high class meat products to international customers.

The growth in trade can be attributed to the fact that many meat producing nations have faced disease outbreaks while NZ has been able to maintain disease free environments. The absence of foot and mouth disease and BSE disease in NZ increases the prominence of the NZ brand and the meat products to be able to gain entry in the world’s most controlled and restricted meat markets. NZ animal husbandry is known to produce heavier and healthier livestock. Eighty to ninety percent of beef, sheep and lamb meat produced in country is exported to global markets.

The other factors that contribute to the high growth in this industry are NZ’s strong processing capacity in this sector which means their is less time required to transport animals from farm to production and processing units as many large companies have setup plants throughout the country. Moreover, the animals are fed on grass in natural surroundings and not on artificial feed in housing.  NZ has several industry bodies, research organizations and market participants which work with the government and meat industry to develop new cost effective processes and techniques that reduces overall cost and maximizes the value of meat products. The NZ government has regulations in place which prevents animal maltreatment and bans any kind of non sustainable farming practices. This achieves significance as the global community has become more sensitive towards such issues.

NZ has well established export channels to EU, United States, Japan, Canada and Republic of Korea. Biosecurity and assurance procedures are fundamental foundations of NZ meat industry. Investors have huge opportunities in the refrigeration sector and technological assistance to increase the yield.NZ farmers and processors have shown an inclination to work with research organizations and technology providers to innovate production techniques. Consistency in supply, quality of product and breakthroughs in the range of cuts will help NZ meat producers. New Zealand is known to conduct genetic screening of livestock for particular characteristics which leads to the high quality of meat products

 NZ finishing farms receive animals prior to processing. These farms either fatten them or promote qualities in them that are desired in the end products.  Running animals to these processing farms leads to higher quality meat which invariably leads to higher returns to processors and farmers.NZTE can help you identify the right opportunities of investment in this sector. It will  provide not only the important information, but also the required assistance  to set up Greenfield project.

Investment NZ is an initiative to market New Zealand as an investment destination all over the globe, to provide a networking platform for NZ businesses at a global level. For more information visit: NZ Business Investment