Indigenous New Zealand herbs combined with Kiwi ingenuity are adding value to what were once ‘cheap cuts' of meat.

Pete Dobbie was kept busy slicing samples of the tasty beef from a rotisserie while his fellow research assistant Kevin Taukiri, and others on the AgResearch stand at Fieldays, offered the public the chance to sample the results of recent research.

'The aim is to add value to New Zealand beef and scientists have been working with indigenous New Zealand herbs, rubbing them into meat which has been salted to draw out the moisture,” says Alex Fear, AgResearch's senior communications.
The beef is designed to be packaged and exported ready-to-cook. Using New Zealand herbs, the combination of which is a secret known only to a select few, is also an important point of difference, Alex says.
The meat found ready acceptance with Fieldays visitors and its development fits with AgResearch's aims to use research to extract greater value from meat, including developing meat products with specific functional properties.

Tyranny
The meat treats were not all that was on display
on the AgResearch stand.
A photograph of a large container vessel was used to draw attention to the efforts to find smart ways of beating the 'tyranny of distance”.
'Container vessels are now using slow steaming which can save in the use of fuel and production of emission.
But it also means products we ship to market take longer to arrive,” says Alex.
AgResearch is researching ways to ensure product arrives in perfect condition, despite the slower shipping speeds.
Smart technology is also turning the long boat trip into an opportunity to properly age meat for increased quality.

Goats
The Fieldays stand also featured the work of the Dairy Goat Co-operative (NZ) Ltd and AgResearch, which has enabled the co-operative to position itself in new product infant formula development, and target niche premium markets in Europe within the paediatric nutraceuticals segment (estimated at $860 million per annum).
Benefits expected from new product and market development for the Dairy Goat Co-operative are projected annual export revenue increases of between $30 to $80 million, and anticipated expansion of the milk processing base with associated employment growth and additional goat milk supplier base.
Total project investment from 2007-2012 was $6.9 million from Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment, and Dairy Goat Co-operative.