Northern NSW-based beef processor Bindaree Beef is launching a new range of high-quality grass and grainfed beef brands, which will be complemented by initiatives to improve communication with both producers supplying the programs and end-user customers.

Bindaree says it will spend the next few months focusing on packing under the new MSA-backed brands, described in detail below, before introducing them more formally through a series of launches with food service operators and retail butchers in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.

The company’s logo has also been updated to reflect the company's new direction, and the new branding program is in the process of being rolled-out across the entire business.

Bindaree is a family-owned and operated processing plant at Inverell, capable of processing 1300 cattle daily for export and domestic markets. Most of its export activity is channelled through non-packer exporter, Sanger Australia.

Management says it also intends to build the company’s relationships with livestock suppliers by improving carcase feedback and conducting a series of producer workshops starting in July, which should help producers reach higher compliance rates against brand specifications.

Bindaree Beef general manager of livestock, John Newton, said he believed the changes would help the company move ahead of the market and drive demand over the next decade.

"Our new brands will allow us to better share the story of our beef and create a stronger connection with consumers," he said.

"Retail butchers, fine-dining restaurants, steakhouses, pubs and clubs will also appreciate our new products, as our brand names and the information in the stories behind them will create a point of difference amongst the other offerings on their menus.”

"As we help customers gain a deeper appreciation of our product, we're also looking forward to developing stronger relationships with our suppliers through an enhanced MSA feedback system and this year’s producer information days,” Mr Newton said.

Although Bindaree was unable to confirm it by time of publication, the new brand developments appear to be linked to Meat Standards Australia’s new Optimisation model, and the MSA index process providing deeper feedback to livestock suppliers.  

Bindaree’s new brands include both grassfed and grainfed programs, both yearling and more mature cattle. The brand messaging extends more deeply into the origins of each product and how and where it is produced. Larger versions of the brand posters can be accessed at the bottom of this page.

Here’s a brief snapshot of the new collection of Bindaree brands:

Two flagship brand products will represent the absolute best Bindaree has to offer, the company says. Both carry a personal connection and endorsement from Bindaree founder John ‘JR’ McDonald. ‘The Chairman’ is produced from the absolute best marbled grainfed pure Angus and British­breeds MSA-graded cattle. “This beef will only be available in small quantities and represents the best 1pc of grainfed cattle that we produce,” the brand descriptor says.

‘JR McDonald – The Trinity’:  Described as the finest pasture-fed, free-range marbled MSA beef from the New England high country. “This beef is effectively the ‘best-of-the-best’. Our MSA grading research shows that our suppliers in the New England and central west arguably produce the best beef that is grown in Australia,” brand messaging says.

Cape Byron Angus: Bindaree’s MSA Angus beef program will in future be packed under the name Cape Byron Angus Beef. “This represents the finest MSA Angus beef produced in the New England and Northern NSW from both grainfed and grassfed Angus, and pays tribute to the Northern Rivers region where Bindaree Beef first started,” messaging says.

Some would suggest the name is a nod to the great success of Tasmania’s Cape Grim premium grassfed program, right down to the use of the geographic latitude coordinates as part of the brand story.

Bindaree Vintage: A 100-day grainfed MSA product, which is “only selected from prime British-bred cattle raised by producers Bindaree has known and trusted for a long time.”

The Prestige: Bindaree has also introduced this as a 70-day YG grainfed MSA product, aimed at producing smaller cut sizes for high-end butchers and food service customers.