This comes following a project between Meat & Livestock Australia and Aussie Select, a company specialising in hand-crafted, modern charcuterie products featuring premium Australian lamb.
The aim of the project was to develop and test a suite of Australian lamb products by Aussie Select to build on the ready to eat and deli meats trend to grow demand in value-added Australian lamb in the US.
MLA’s Michael Lee said American retailers had seen a 154 per cent increase in weekly ready-to-eat or deli meat purchases, but that there were no lamb products on offer.
“Research indicated that US consumers spent $7.7 billion a year on deli meats, including ready-to-eat or ready-to-heat foods,” Mr Lee said.
“Turkey, pork, chicken and to a lesser extent beef dominate the deli. Yet, lamb, particularly lamb from Australia, is growing in popularity in the United States.
“American consumers indicated pressures around cooking time and that they have little confidence in cooking lamb. As the number one provider of lamb to the US market, the Australian industry has a massive opportunity to break into this market as the first to market ready-to-eat lamb products.”
Aussie Select developed four products for the US market: Agave Rosemary Lamb, Tikka Masala Lamb, Lamb Pastrami and Lamb Prime Rib.
Chief executive officer Jaclyn Glatzer was “thrilled” to see the Aussie Select products rolled out throughout the south-east (Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina and Puerto Rico).
“The initial products in the Aussie Select line only scratch the surface; there is exciting growth opportunity for lamb in the ready-to-heat, ready-to-eat and snack-kit categories,” Ms Glatzer said.
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