After more than 30 years buying lamb from Alliance Group in Southland, he says NZ has the best lamb in the world, and he doesn’t source product from anywhere else.
While happy with pricing levels, he says they can go too far, as they have in the past, leading to buyer resistance and price falls.
“If the price stays as it is now, I can live with that, I think the price is good today, if it goes too high you can have a problem.”
Alliance’s sales manager Terry O’Connell said prices for some products —notably middle cuts — were at historic highs after a solid run over the last two to three years. The supply and demand picture was dictating prices.
There were no obvious headwinds in overseas markets right now. Exporters always had to be mindful of delivering the right products and quality to meet consumer tastes.
Bimpex chief executive Lannoo said the Benelux market was very traditional, but his business had moved from being a commodity buyer when it started to now not buying much commodity at all, and then only for further processing back in Europe.
There had been a big move to chilled product — now up to nearly 35% of total supplies — from 100% frozen when he started, and O’Connell said there had been a continuous move up the value chain to bring the shipped product closer to end-user consumer requirements.
Lannoo worked for another company in the early 1980s before setting up Bimpex in 1986, starting with frozen lamb and then buying venison from 1989.
Chilled venison for the peak November through Christmas trade is a big part of the business now, and in-market prices are high. “I’d say the lamb market is solid, and venison is very strong.”
The venison trade is also very competitive, with NZ supply up against game venison from Spain and Poland.
Lannoo comes to NZ every year at about this time, talking lamb and setting up the frozen venison contract for the year ahead.
The quality of lamb and venison is what keeps him coming back. “It’s 43 hours in a place to get from Belgium to Invercargill, and if the quality wasn’t good I would not come over.”
