By Phil Boeyen, ShareChat Business News Editor
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Thursday 28th March 2002 |
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The Hastings-based firm is launching a new range of frozen food products into supermarkets under the 'Bite Me' brand which is says signals a new era in value-added processing for the company.
The first products are frozen beef burgers and frozen meatballs which are processed at Richmond's FoodTech plant at Takapau.
CEO John Loughlin says it's the first time the company has seriously entered the fast moving consumer goods market.
"While it's easy to recognise the value created in a steak or boned-out lamb leg when we see them in the supermarket or served at a restaurant, there are some meat items which will never qualify for these high paying markets.
"Bite Me is about lifting our returns by extracting the greatest value from the entire carcass beyond the glamour cuts. The paradox is that in producing highly tailored cuisine-ready items you also produce off-cuts and trimmings. The Bite me products are all about generating a higher value from such items."
Mr Loughlin says instead of being a price-taker by freezing and shipping undifferentiated lower priced items to manufacturers elsewhere in the world the company will capture a premium return for branded product.
The new products will be available from the start of April and the company is planning to launch a full range of other new meat products under the brand during the next two years.
Richmond currently exports 95% of its products to supermarkets and restaurants around the world.
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