Content supplied by Silver Fern Farms
Silver Fern Farms has launched a new campaign that shows consumers the care taken by farmers and the company through the process of creating inspirational food.
Silver Fern Farms General Manager Marketing Sharon Angus says the investment in building a trusted and recognised brand in premium markets is matched with consumer-focused new product development.
“We are showing the consumer the great lengths we go to at every step of our ‘chain of care’ from the plate right back to the pasture to give them and inspirational eating experience,” Says Sharon Angus.
“We have highlighted the important role farmers play in this process as we want people to understand the provenance story around our red meat to make their purchasing choice easy. We want them to know it takes the best farmers, the best pastures and hard work to deliver Silver Fern Farms quality.”
Recent New Zealand market research conducted for Silver Fern Farms shows a solid following of regular buyers earning over $80,000 per annum hold the Silver Fern Farms brand in high regard because it consistently meets their expectations.
“Part of the reason for the success of this approach is that we’ve investigated the market potential and opportunities for premium niche brands.”
Sales of the Silver Fern Farms retail product range reflect this sentiment, with year-on-year growth of 30% since the launch of premium value branded retail products in 2009.
The co-operative has put considerable effort into creating value through the whole supply chain, from the $151 million investment in FarmIQ to identify consumer preferences, research into creating value in consumers’ eyes, measures around performance and quality in plant and support for farmers to optimise product quality and productive capacity. This work is part of their plan to help farmers increase on-farm growth of $420 per hectare by 2025.
Sharon Angus says global trends show today’s consumer is time poor; meals have transformed from traditional sit-down ‘meat and potatoes with the family’ into a constantly shifting assortment of snacking and ‘eating alone’ occasions.
“One in four New Zealanders cite time as a key issue for not cooking. Combined with an ageing population and a trend toward smaller household sizes, our new products target the 1-2 person meal occasions.”
This month two new Silver Fern Farms steak cuts will be launched into New Zealand supermarkets.
“Our focus for launch is highlighting the quick cooking, convenient nature of our cuts with a ‘less is more’ philosophy to mealtimes. We also point out the importance of choosing a product which delivers on expectations for quality with consistent results each time.”
“Together with farmers’ hard work and by being market focussed we’re making consumers’ red meat experiences easy for them. All they have to do is take our best cuts and pop them in the pan – the hard work has been done.”
“We hope farmers feel a touch of pride around how we’re presenting their efforts and their produce.”
4 Comments
NG - I don't know any farmers who use HGP (hormone growth promotants) so don't think this is a typical or wide-spread industry practice.
If Farmers do elect to use HGP they must declare that they have used them on their ASD (Animal staus declaration) form when sending stock off the farm.
My understanding is that HGP use only applies to cattle and I don't think there is an HGP available for use in the sheep meat industry.
New Zealand farmers grow high quality grasses which enables animals to grow to good kill weights easily. Most farmers have specialised mixes in the paddocks with some Plantain and Chickory to assist. Strict stock rotations to ensure low worm burdons and regular FEC (Fecal Egg Counting) are also undertaken.
These kinds of practices allow for minimal drench to be used and no stock can be slaughtered if a product has been used and the animal is within a witholding period.
Most farmers use a good quality mineralised stock lick suitable for their farm and farming practice.
As farmers have an enormous amount of compliance which must be completed and supplied at time stock is shifted off farm I think the consumer should be able to obtain the information on the product they are purchasing. If the consumer can't then the system that farmers are locked into is definately not working and all the record keeping and declarations are a waste of time.
We welcome your comments below. If you are not already registered, please register to comment.
Remember we welcome robust, respectful and insightful debate. We don't welcome abusive or defamatory comments and will de-register those repeatedly making such comments. Our current comment policy is here.