Let's talk Mince!

WHY?

It has naturally been identified as an example of food cost inflation because it is a staple in so many households. Of course, it does not stand in isolation. Over the last months all beef, and lamb has risen to record prices. I can tell you that when we opened our butchery here in Taupo in late 2024, there were some cuts that we were retailing for a similar price that we are now buying them for.

SUPPLY AND DEMAND

The answer as to why is always fairly simple, and primarily in this case it is supply and demand.

Let’s initially consider supply. For a number of years, the beef ‘herd’ in New Zealand has been in decline. A number of hill country properties that have traditionally farmed sheep and beef have been sold to farm forestry interests. A much larger number of properties in the lowlands, exceptional finishing country have been converted to dairy farming. Farmers obviously make decisions based on best use of their land, and the value of that land if they are selling, and for some time the fluctuating prices for both beef and lamb has made it easier to decide that different forms of land use are more appealing.

If there is an upside, the record beef and lamb prices, and a solid return for milk, is a long overdue positive story for our farmers, who have certainly seen years when returns for their product has barely covered the costs of producing it.

So, the volume of beef has been in steady decline. This decline in supply has come at a time when global demand for beef is high, and climbing, and over that time period, the global market has changed.

President Trump’s global tariff announcements early last year threw the global market into a degree of disarray, beef prices increased as market places shifted, traditional customers sought produce from elsewhere in the world, and America was forced to source beef from other countries. This at a time when the American beef herd is also in significant decline, and their own supply chain is shrinking. That’s a situation that Trump hasn’t really helped in the last week, announcing the importation of three hundred thousand tons of lean beef into America, in an attempt to reduce the prices being paid for mince, or ground beef as they know it there. A move that directly impacts ranchers in his own country. But Trump, as we know, will be Trump.

So. Supply down, demand up. New Zealand beef is primarily a global commodity export product, completely subject to and tied by Global pricing. Hence the substantial increase.

QUALITY MATTERS

My approach to mince is very simple. We treat it at Heritage Meat with the same level of honour and respect I have seen it accorded in other parts of the world. The first time I ever ate vintage beef (the same style of beef I later introduced to New Zealand), was in a burger, made with beef from an eleven year old beef (not Dairy) cow. It had a depth of flavour I remember vividly. I am firmly of the opinion that a really high quality mince can carry flavour somehow more than any other cut. I think of it as a cut, not in the way that many supermarkets and butchers treat it, as opposed to what you do with all of the ‘bits’ that are left, sometimes irrespective of where those ‘bits’ have come from, or how pleasant they are to eat!

What does that means it terms of how we produce our mince. Firstly, we only utilise whole cuts and meat pieces, aggressively trimmed, in our minces. We make two forms, our premium mince which is a leaner type of mince , and our steak mince, which carries a higher fat content. We use chuck, brisket, steak trim and hind quarter primals, adjusting the fat content as required.

The leaner mince is well suited to ragu’s and bolagnese, allowing for full flavour without the oily slick from the excess fat. The higher fat mince is beautiful in burgers. It’s exactly what we make our own burgers from. We’re often asked what we put in our burgers, and I’m very proud that the answer is “Just Beef!” If you’re using high quality beef in a burger, and the fat content is right, you most certainly don’t need anything else, just a hit of salt the moment before it hits the hotplate or pan.

The increased fat content keeps a burger juicy, and stops it shrinking on you. See below for my gourmet burger recipe! The higher fat mince will work equally well in all sorts of recipes if you like extra fat, and as we all know – fat is certainly flavour!

Secondly, and very simply, we grind our mince on a daily basis, keeping it fresh. Doing it this way means we have no need for artificial preservatives, colourants to keep the product pink, or fluids to flesh it out (and increase the weight).

VOLUME PURCHASING

Back to where we started. Pricing. Yes, mince has become expensive. Yes, the mince that we supply at Heritage Meat is expensive, but we simply won’t compromise on the quality, and price relates to that. However, as you see below in our ‘cut of the week’, we are able to offer both of our premium and steak minces in quantity purchases that will most certainly bring the price down to below what you would be paying at any supermarket (for a comparable fat content mince).

HOPE FOR THE FUTURE

I can see solutions on the horizon, if not for the whole industry, then for a section of it who will farm with the intention of producing a high quality end product, not just a commodity. A growing sector of our industry is what has become known as beef over dairy. This is the use of beef bulls over dairy cows when the progeny is targeted as a beef animal, not as a replacement female for the dairy farm.

Some exceptional farmers are increasingly focussing on this as real opportunity, and are utilising either bulls or semen from bulls with exceptional beef genetics. The youngstock have a high standard of care, the ambition being to produce healthy vibrant calves that can grow out unchecked into beautiful beef animals.

This approach will allow New Zealand to scale up its Beef production, addressing the fall in numbers from the ‘beef from the hills’ model that has been in place over time. Supply can increase, and with demand beginning to be satiated, pricing following accordingly.

THE BEST MEAT FROM THE BEST FARMS

Some farming operations, with the scale and ability to do so, have created in effect a closed circle approach, with animals taken from birth all the way through to point of processing on the same property, which is a wonderful component of the ‘food story’ from an animal welfare and environmental management point of view.

I have been lucky enough to spend some time recently of a farming operation not a miles from the butchery here in Taupo, looking at cattle that have been produced using exactly this system, and I was both delighted and excited by the quality of animal grazing their paddocks – WATCH THIS SPACE!!