It continues to be one of the great Australian success stories of the last 20 years but the supply of lamb is nearing critical mass.
"A lot of people say how great it is that New Zealand is dropping its lamb production by 18pc this year, the EU production is down and so is ours but it isn’t really good news because it means less people eating lamb," CRF general manager demand, supply and marketing Malcolm Harvey said.
Having been at the forefront of developing overseas markets for Australian lamb and sheepmeat over his forty years in the industry, Mr Harvey said the quality of Australian lamb was amazing.
"We have had incredibly dry and difficult seasons but if you walk through any chiller you would know that, the high quality of lamb presented year after year is a great credit to producers."
Some 90pc of the lamb processed at CRF’s Colac abattoir is for Coles supermarkets.
Speaking to lamb producers at a Meat and Livestock Australia Prime Time day in Hamilton, Victoria, last week, Mr Harvey outlined the continued rosy outlook for Australian lamb, both domestically and abroad.
While prices are expected to stay at around or even a little higher than last year’s rates, demand has notably fallen in our key export market, the United States.
The financial crisis has certainly hit the "white tablecloth" restaurant trade in the US, with one major lamb importer reducing his order in the last month from about 200 cartons of lamb a week to 80 for heavy racks.
In response, some lamb is being marketed slightly differently into the United States, with a "$10 lamb pack" hopefully to entice those more cost conscious consumers.
"We are looking to reduce the total weight and therefore the price. The pack may include either two lamb shanks, a rack with four ribs instead of eight, half an easy calve leg or four loin chops," he said.
The main outlet for Australian lamb in the United States has been the Costco supermarket/wholesaler.
Mr Harvey said four Australian processors supply Costco and another avenue to the high value market would be very handy.
"Costco has been great and the Australian lamb industry is very reliant on them. Interestingly Costco are opening up a couple of stores here in Australia this year. They are very good operators for the food service sector and I’ll watch with interest."
While demand in the high value US market may have waned of late, other markets continue to pick up Australian lamb, notably China, the Middle East and Papua New Guinea.
Mr Harvey would not be drawn to comment about the recent announcement by the WA lamb co-operative (WAMMCO) to pay producers according to lean meat yield.
"It is up to Coles to comment there but I agree that producers should be paid for deliveringwhat the customer wants and it is a welcome development as more producer feedback through technology such as Viascan can only be a good thing".