Move over ham, here comes lamb
It’s official, lamb will take centre stage on Kiwi Christmas tables this year.
Ham has been named New Zealand’s most popular meat for the 2021 Christmas feast.
The result comes as part of the Great Kiwi Christmas Survey which is run by Retail Meat New Zealand in conjunction with Beef + Lamb New Zealand.
The poll of over 3,300 Kiwis covers a range of Christmas traditions and debates, and this year saw pork take the lead with 36.2% of the vote – up 3.2% on 2020.
Lamb follows closely at 31.2% with beef at 10.9%.
David Baines, chief executive of NZ Pork says he isn’t surprised that, following a year of Covid-19 induced lockdowns, Kiwis are excited to come together with friends and family to celebrate.
“The holiday season is a time to celebrate – to catch-up with friends and family you may not have seen for a while, to share food and spend time together. New Zealand ham is the centrepiece of many Kiwi family Christmas tables and it’s no surprise why, it’s a delicious, traditional favourite that guarantees plenty of leftovers to enjoy in the days following,” he says.
Of those polled, 61.2% of respondents expect to have at least 1-2 days of leftovers, only 4.3% manage to eat it all in one day.
56% of Kiwis will be having two meals on Christmas day, with the majority sharing the day’s festivities with over 10 people (30.7%).
Farmer confidence has taken a slight dip according to the final Rabobank rural confidence survey for the year.
Former Agriculture Minister and Otaki farmer Nathan Guy has been appointed New Zealand’s Special Agricultural Trade Envoy (SATE).
Alliance Group has commissioned a new heat pump system at its Mataura processing plant in Southland.
Fonterra has slashed another 50c off its milk price forecast as global milk flows shows no sign of easing.
Meat processors are hopeful that the additional 15% tariff on lamb exports to the US will also come off.
Fears of a serious early drought in Hawke’s Bay have been allayed – for the moment at least.

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