Tuesday, 06 June 2017 08:47

The first of many?

Written by Peter Burke

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Taylor Preston chief executive Simon Gatenby beside the first shipment of NZ lamb being processed for the Iranian market in 25 years.

The chairman of an Iranian company that recently imported a trial shipment of New Zealand lamb says he would like to do more business, assuming the trial shipment goes well.

Mr J. Maghsoudi was at Taylor Preston’s processing plant, near Wellington, watching 50 tonnes (about three containers) of lamb being processed into primal cuts and packed for the Iran market.

In an exclusive interview with Rural News, Maghsoudi said he’d like to import more NZ meat, including frozen and chilled lamb, but this will depend on the success of the trial shipment.

In the 1980s Iran was a big importer of NZ lamb, at one stage taking 100,000 tonnes of frozen carcases. But this trade dropped off and it’s taken 25 years for it resume.

Iranians eat a lot of sheep meat: their national sheep flock is about 50 million -- almost double that of NZ’s. Beef is the most-consumed meat, closely followed by lamb, cut into portions and fried or used in stews.

Maghsoudi says he is keen to get NZ lamb back into the diet of Iranians.

“This trial shipment will be sold in many places. It will not only be sold in supermarkets but also supplied to restaurants. I think NZ lamb is of good quality, but first of all we need to test it.

“I have been doing business with NZ for several years and I am impressed by the food safety and quality control. Everything is nice and the people are good; with this friendship I think we can do good business.”

Simin Faravar, the company run by Maghsoudi, has a number of elements to it, including importing and a factory where products are repacked and distributed. For the last 20 years it has imported NZ dairy produce, including butter, which is bought in bulk and repackaged for sale in supermarkets. The company also buys milk powder.

Maghsoudi says it has taken nearly four years to get an agreement to export NZ lamb to Iran and he admits it has been difficult at times to get the fine detail in place. With this now accomplished he believes there could be more trade between the two countries.

This deal with Taylor Preston is, hopefully, the first of many, and the re-opening up of the Iranian market to NZ could provide a better balance of lamb exports.

From Taylor Preston’s point of view, the trial shipment is seen as a good initial arrangement and a nice easy specification to start with.

Chief executive Simon Gatenby is sure the company will soon be doing more sophisticated specifications.

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