WHAT changes, if any, are Australian Angus brand program managers making in the wake of the new AusMeat breed content trade description changes happening from 1 July?

At this stage at least, very little, judging by responses given to Beef Central by a sample of leading Angus brand managers.

With less than a fortnight before the new regulations kick in (see today’s separate report), AusMeat has confirmed it has so far approved only a ‘small number’ of submitted brand programs under the new Angus 50 category.

But that did not mean that others might not emerge later, AusMeat’s Ben Robinson told Beef Central.

“The market will dictate if and when when we see new programs start to come through. There will be the early adopters, which we have now, and should others in the market decide that there is a home for an Angus 50 brand offering, then they will roll in.

“But it could take months, if not years for all this to play out. Don’t read too much into what happens on 1 July,” was his advice.

One of the nation’s largest beef processors told Beef Central it regularly did considerable numbers of 50pc Angus cattle through its southern (and some northern) plants, but had no immediate plans to build brand programs around them.

The uptake within the domestic retail and food service sector will be important in how quickly things develop, another stakeholder said. Just last month, McDonald’s Australia pulled out of its Angus premium burger range, after 17 years.

He said for those processors who already had a successful Angus 75 or Angus 100 brand program, that the adoption of an Angus 50 brand might help make existing higher content Angus brand programs stand out more, potentially capturing more value.

“Some non-packer exporters are interested in beef on dairy programs using Angus bulls, so this AusMeat regulation change could open up some opportunities in that segment.”

Potential for trimmings brands?

Some of the brand managers spoken to for this report speculated that brands specifically focussed on Angus 50 trimmings (used for hamburger beef) – rather than muscle cuts – might start to appear first. The sheer strength of international manufacturing meat markets might drive that, several suggested.

“Even if its only for grinding beef, there’s a lot of customers that just want an Angus label,” a large southern processor said. “The quality is important, but some customers just love the fact that they can call it Angus,” he said

“At certain times of year, Angus trimmings (currently 75pc minimum) might be worth an extra 20-30c/kg in the export market, but at other times, much less than that, a large grainfed meat trader told Beef Central. “The level of China activity has a lot to do with that.”

“But there’s cost involved in putting that meat in a separate box – verification requirements for the cattle, separate boning runs and segmentation in the boning room and chillers. It might suit some smaller operators, rather than large ones with high production runs, where segmenting like this can add layers of complexity.”

All this could add production cost which might make a new Angus 50 claim on trimmings, much less attractive.

Angus brand managers’ plans:

None of the companies listed below said they planned to ‘soften’ their current 75pc or 100pc Angus programs to a minimum of 50pc – but several said they may add new programs for 50pc cattle:

JBS:

JBS has no plans to change or extend its current Angus grainfed brand programs based on next month’s breed description regulation changes. The company said it wasn’t interested in lowering the current Angus breed content requirement (and hence lower meat quality) simply to access an Angus 50 program. Current Angus-oriented brands include Riverina Black Angus, The Bachelor and Tender Valley – all 100pc Angus genetics programs.

“We’ll just watch and see what happens. There’s always potential opportunity, but there’s no immediate plans,” a company spokesman told Beef Central.

Greenham:

Greenham plans to launch an Angus 50 program with some of its customers. “We haven’t applied for it yet – but it will include different Angus crosses, including dairy,” Peter Greenham told Beef Central. The company is transitioning its current PureBlack grassfed Angus brand from Angus to Wagyu, still maintaining the ‘Pure Black’ title. The company does do some in-house Angus-specific brands for US customers.

Teys:

Teys Certified Premium Black Angus is a 75pc Angus program, but the company said some of the cattle involved are in fact 100pc. That will not change or be expanded under the new 50pc Angus option. A separate brand, Teys Black, is not an Angus program.

NH Foods:

NH Foods Angus Reserve brand is claimed to be Australia’s largest Verified Black Angus beef brand. It is a 100pc Angus program. “We have no intention to change this going forward, a spokesman told Beef Central. Separately, there is a 75pc Angus program in place called Omugi-gyu for specific customers in Japan. NH Foods said it planned to review its brand options, following the description rule change next month, but were unlikely to consider cuts programs given the product would not align to the Angus breed outcomes NH Foods customers had come to expect.

TFI:

Thomas Foods International has not plans to change its Angus Pure grain and grassfed brand programs, based on 75pc minimum content. The vast majority of cattle are in fact 100pc.

Jack’s Creek:

There are two Jack’s Creek Black Angus 100pc Angus programs covering 180 and 130 days. An earlier 75pc content program has been discontinued, but that had nothing to do with the AusMeat changes.

Confusion risk?

Discussions with stakeholders for this report opened a can or worms in terms of perceived risk of misinterpretion of some brand names.

A number of prominent beef brands include the word ‘Black’ while making no requirement about Angus content. These are typically supplied using British breeds, but some see this as a source of confusion, with terms like ‘black steers’ frequently used in industry to refer to Black Angus.

Defenders suggested the word ‘black’, signifying premium (think Johnny Walker Black label scotch), stems from the Japanese market where the colour black carries a connotation of prestige.

JBS’s Aberdeen Black program was cited by one contact as being potentially confusing. It carries no breed content requirement, but is a reference to the old Aberdeen meatworks site that was absorbed into what became Australia Meat Holdings. It has nothing to do with Aberdeen Angus, nor Aberdeen in Scotland.

Angus Pure is another word that potentially creates confusion, some suggest – a reference to no HGP/antibiotic, but could be interpreted to mean 100pc Angus genetics.