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Alliance Group has shipped its first big meat consignment in vacuum skin tray packaging to Hong Kong.
Skin packaging hermetically seals right to the edge of a meat cut, extending its chilled shelf life for up to 11 weeks, retaining its colour and optimising tenderness.
The products -- cutlets, saddle chops and chump steaks -- will be jointly marketed under Alliance Group’s Pure South and the Angliss Hong Kong brands and sold in supermarkets, including those owned by the Aeon Stores Group.
Alliance Group general manager marketing Peter Russell says the shipment is believed to be the first New Zealand red meat packed at origin to be supplied in skin packs in Hong Kong.
“This trial and shipment [show the co-op] providing a more sophisticated offering for our customers and capturing more value for farmer shareholders.
“Skin packaging is a good way to display smaller consumer-ready portions. Because of the materials used, skin packaging gives flexibility to package small consumer-ready products in a range of cuts -- chilled, frozen, bone-in and boneless – compared to less-flexible vacuum packaging which is used for larger primal cuts to export wholesale markets.”
Russell says Alliance Group has been working on skin pack technology for the last two years. A team visited Hong Kong last year to discuss marketing opportunities with Angliss, he said.
“The co-op ran a trial shipment last year with Angliss and their customers were pleased with how they presented. They placed a larger order, so we are looking forward to hearing what the response is from the market.
“Our NZ food service team… has other innovations in the pipeline.”
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