NZ “tongue-soft” red meat innovation wins 2026 MIA Dragon’s Den
A New Zealand red meat product range with “tongue-soft” texture for elderly or unwell people has won the 2026 Meat Industry Association (MIA) Dragon’s Den competition.
Last month President Donald Trump signed an executive order cancelling additional tariffs on a wide range of food imports, including New Zealand beef and kiwifruit.
However, lamb exports to the US still attract a 15% tariff. While the US isn’t a big market for NZ lamb, it’s a very high value and growing market, according to Meat Industry Association chief executive Sirma Karapeeva.
Speaking at the NZ/US Business Summit in Auckland this month, she said unfortunately lamb was not the recipient of the recent good news on tariffs.
“The US is not a very big lamb market for New Zealand but having said that, it is a very high value and a growing market, so it is disappointing that we still face that additional 15% on our lamb exports and we are hopeful that over time that will also be decreased.
“Our exports into that market are complementary to the US production and it means for consumers that lamb is available on the shelf 365 days a year, so it’s a product category availability and it’s becoming more popular, particularly with the ethnic cuisines in the mix of different cooking styles in the US.
“So, we are hopeful that it will come off but right now we have to deal with the additional 15% tariffs.”
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The new tariff exemptions marked a sharp reversal, as President Trump had long insisted his import duties were not fuelling inflation for Americans. However, climbing prices and declining supply may have prompted the president to change tack.
Karapeeva told the gathering that the removal of tariffs on beef was unexpected and good news for the red meat sector.
“We woke up one morning and heavens forbid you know the tariffs are off, just like heavens forbid the tariffs were on,” she said.
The tariffs reversal comes at a time when global demand is strong for protein in general, and more particularly
for red meat.
Karapeeva says supply across the globe is quite tight, keeping prices strong.
“And that’s great news for New Zealand, it’s great news for our economy, great news for our processors and ultimately great news for our farmers that produce these wonderful animals that we process and export.”
Beef Exports
Beef exports to the US for the third quarter of this year is about 20% up from the same time last year.
Meat Industry Association chief executive Sirma Karapeeva says this reflects the economic conditions - strong demand, tight supply and good prices.
She says the forecast is that this will continue for the next two years.
“So, this is fabulous news when you think about where we are at in New Zealand with our economy.
“We need all the export earnings that we can to keep fuelling this economy. The US of course is our largest meat market, and it will continue to be so because at the moment that they are at a 70-year low in terms of their herd size, they’re going into a massive herd rebuild and so they really do need imports and particularly imports from the likes of New Zealand.
“We produce the high quality lean red meat that gets mixed in with their grain finish product to make those burgers that President Trump was so fond of.”
