Lamb vs beef? The industry speaks

Lamb vs beef? The battle broke out on social media in mid-January, prompted by veteran Lambpro GM Tom Bull.

“In 34 years I have never seen an exodus from sheep like we have seen over the past three years,” said the boss of the Albury-Wodonga lamb seedstock business. “It’s clear lamb is losing the battle.”

WA’s David Taylor from Tutt Bryant replied: “The cost to the end user in Australia is killing the industry in my opinion. What margin is big retail putting on this home-grown product?... Hard to justify when lamb is dearer than beef.”

Jackson Bush, sales manager at Queensland-based renderer A.J. Bush & Sons (Bush Proteins) said: “Independent butchers/retailers are buying lamb primals at the cost the supermarkets are selling at.” He added: “Supermarket margins must be low or they are bullying producers into selling to them cheap.” 

Tom Bull, replying said: “I don’t think the retailers are the issue with margins on lamb. In fact my understanding is they often lose on the lamb category at times.”

Exporter Alan Stone attacked the lamb industry’s ‘almost cartel-like behaviour’. “It is getting harder to compete on lamb and mutton. Beef, on the other hand, it is a pleasure to deal with.” 

Some commentators praised the MLA Australia Day marketing campaign, but one wondered if lamb marketing was ‘relying too heavily on a single (hilarious) New Year TV campaign’?

Gundagai Lamb was named by several commentators as the exception to the criticism, with its comprehensive trading information particularly praised.  Tom Bull praised Gundagai Lamb’s objective measurements covering eating quality feedback on carcase lean meat yield and IMF.