Beef + LambNZ's (BLNZ) awards dinner scheduled for Wednesday 2 February is postponed due to the arrival in the community of the Covid variant Omicron.
About 300 people had booked to attend the event designed to celebrate achievements in the red meat sector. It is just one of a number of events that have been postponed or cancelled or are being held virtually due to Covid.
BLNZ chairman Andrew Morrison says the difficult decision was made in consultation with sponsors, finalists and other stakeholders. He says they took into account a number of factors including the need to limit the number of those attending the Awards Dinner to 100, uncertainty about the extent of Omicron outbreak and the need to minimise the risk of transmission of Covid-19 in the red meat sector.
“So many people were looking forward to the evening to hear the announcement of the winners of the eight award categories and to celebrate our world-leading red meat industry, but ultimately the health and well-being of our finalists and all those attending must be our primary consideration,” he says.
Andrew Morrison says the organisation was looking at a number of options in which the industry could come together to recognise the finalists and celebrate the winners in the near future and will be communicating its decision as soon as possible