Alliance general manager livestock and shareholder services Danny Hailes said the co-operative is desperately seeking farmers to join its Raised Without Antibiotics (RWA) programme.
He said while global markets are generally subdued, there is growing demand for antibiotic-free meat.
“We have one customer, (in) North America, where demand is just growing as customers become increasingly conscious of what they are eating,” he said.
“Put it like this, it’s at the stage where I’d like to drown our salespeople in RWA lambs.”
Hailes said hundreds of thousands of RWA lambs are raised by farmers right across the country.
“We are procuring from across the country all year round but May to September is the key market time for North America,” he said.
“We currently have lambs coming in from Canterbury, northern South Island and parts of the North Island.
“We do have them from Southland depending on the seasons.”
But the supply is not meeting market demand and Alliance is paying a premium to get farmers on board.
“This is one bright feature of the market’s current doom and gloom and we are out there paying a premium to get farmers in the programme,” he continued.
“At the moment, we are trying to get our hands on every antibiotic-free lamb and we are paying a 15c (a kilogram) premium to get them.”
On a 23kg lamb that is worth having, Hailes said.
The demand for antibiotic-free meat has been steadily growing over several years but Hailes said it is escalating rapidly now.
“People are more and more mindful of what they are eating and they want assurance these animals have been raised without antibiotics,” he said.
“On this basis we expect this will only keep growing.”
The Alliance RWA programme provides the assurance the customer is demanding.
“We make sure our producers are farm assured; farm audits are a part of this to become RWA certified,” he said.
“Any farmers who think they are able to supply need to get in touch with us, it’s key for them to get into the programme.
“This is a classic example of sales market demand for a particular product as we try to market demand both ways – farmer to the customer and customer to the farmer.”
Meanwhile, loyal shareholders in Alliance Group have been rewarded with a $5 million distribution.
The quarterly payments, April-June 2020, have been made to platinum and gold shareholders who commit 100% of their livestock to the company.
Farmers are paid an additional 10c/kg for each lamb, 6c/kg for a sheep, 8.5c/kg for cattle and 10c/kg for deer.
Alliance Group chief executive David Surveyor said the loyalty programme is an important part of the company’s strategy to recognise and reward its loyal shareholders.
The platinum and gold shareholders also receive other benefits including priority processing and the opportunity to take advantage of Alliance Group’s free store stock facilitation service.
The latest distribution brings the total amount distributed to loyal shareholders in the 2019-20 season to $13 million.
With the 2020 annual roadshows looming, farmers are being encouraged to register to attend an event in their region.
In all, 23 meetings will be held across the country starting out in North Canterbury on September 22.
For more details and to register go to www.allianceroadshows.co.nz
