Meat & Livestock Australia managing director Michael Crowley has reinforced a focus on value-based marketing as a unique opportunity the Australian red meat industry can capitalise on in coming years.

MLA managing director Michael Crowley.

Value-based marketing involves shifting from livestock pricing systems based on weight and average-value across consignments to payments that reflect meat quality and yield of high value cuts within each carcase.

Meat quality experts maintain that the difference between the top and bottom performing animals in groups that otherwise look identical, including in mobs as small as 10 head, typically varies by as much as several hundred dollars per head (in the case of cattle).

With emerging technology making it easier to identify animals that can deliver higher value yields and better eating experiences for consumers, value-based marketing systems are seen as a means to incentivise an industry-wide shift toward enhanced meat quality across all sectors of the Australian livestock chain.

“Value based marketing is a theme that I’ve been pitching as I have been travelling around the country,” Mr Crowley told Wednesday’s MLA AGM in Tamworth.

“That pulls together a whole range of aspects – we can look at consumer and customer insights, work with brand owners and understand how brand specifications need to evolve, and unpack what does that mean for payment systems and how does the supply side, the production sector, need to respond.

“We have the technology to objectively measure for quality and yield and when we look at brand specifications and brand equity I think they’re the key pillars of how we look at value based pricing.”

Mr Crowley said feedback should not only flow back to the previous owners of livestock and their original breeder, but should also flow forward.

“The genetic potential of animals, the credentials around animal welfare, around environmental sustainability, and anything else our customers are asking us to do, and feed that information forward,” he said.

“And when we breed, feed and finish animals with a market destination in mind, our livestock will be valued appropriately on how well we meet those market specifications.

“The technology is also allowing us to push really hard on the commercialisation of a cuts-based model for sheep meat.”

“It allows us to look at not only identifying those premium quality lambs in our production system.

“We can identify those superior eating quality lambs and harvest those cuts to go into the high value five star hotel chains, white tablecloth restaurants and really lift the value of our lamb industry.

“We can also go beyond the lamb definition because the eating quality of sheep meat doesn’t stop .. there’s not a cliff of eating quality the day an animal no longer qualifies to be a lamb.

“So we can move to being more outcome focused for the sheep industry.”

Mr Crowley said multi-breed genetic evaluation also provided opportunities to drive growth in premium markets.

MLA is also undertaking a major redevelopment of the NLIS (National Livestock Identification System) database assisted by $22.5 million Federal Government grant.

This would not only future proof Australia’s traceability system, but would improve data security and create a significant opportunity for data capability for the supply chain.

In the 2024 financial year, domestic red meat value in Australia reached $20 billion, while red meat exports generated $17.8 billion in value.