NEARLY every major processor in Australia now has an Angus brand in their product range, hundreds of restaurants have labelled Angus on their menus and most wholesalers and butchers have ensured they also have at least one branded offering.
Consumers want Angus on their plates and ask for it by name, such is the modern-day marketing power of the breed.
Talk to the industry leaders at the forefront of that brand juggernaut and it’s clear it is founded on the ability of Angus cattle producers in Australia to provide consistent volume at the high level of quality required.
Don Mackay, managing director of NSW-based operation Rangers Valley which developed the awarding-winning Angus brands Black Onyx and Black Market, said
the key to successful beef brands was delivering something unique, consistently.
“We are supplying white tablecloth restaurants and for the people who are their customers, price is not the main consideration but rather the fact it is high quality every time,” he said.
“A brand must deliver something and it has to be lived up to every single time.
“Customers are too smart for just giving something a fancy name.”
Why Angus at Rangers Valley?
“Number one, there is volume available,” Mr Mackay said.
“And number two - Angus provides the best genetics for doing this - high levels of marbling fed for a long time.
“The breed has done a terrific amount of work on developing traits around growth and marbling.”
Angus Australia marketing manager Diana Wood said recent Angus brand launches had come from both large processors and small producer-owned businesses and the majority of Angus brands in Australia were having a lot of success.
“You only need to look at the results being achieved in competitions like the Sydney Royal Fine Food Awards or the World Steak Awards, where Angus brands are regular winners,” she said.
“Angus has a reputation for producing high-quality beef and that is driving consumer demand.
“The international success of Angus brands has had a huge impact on the cattle industry.
“It’s flowing back to the commercial and seedstock industries as buyers are being asked to source more and more Angus cattle.
“This level of demand is driven by the fact Angus breeders are able to provide not only the numbers required by the processors but the quality.”
Certifi ed Angus Group (CAG) owns the two most prominent Angus brands in the country CAAB (Certified Australian Angus Beef) and Angus Pure.
Chief executive Kate Brabin said the eating quality of Angus had gone hand-in-hand with Australia’s ever-growing reputation for producing clean, green beef to drive demand for branded product.
CAG is an independently managed company wholly owned by members of Angus Australia and CAAB, established in 1996, is Australia’s most awarded brand of beef.
In the first half of 2015, an exclusive supply deal was struck between CAG and the largest entirely Australian-owned meat processing company Thomas Foods International.
Since then, sales of CAAB and Angus Pure product had increased, with particularly strong growth in global markets like Korea and Saudi Arabia, Ms Brabin said.
“We’ve also seen new international markets such as China open,” she said.
“We’ve been able to tap into the fantastic job Meat and Livestock Australia is doing in those markets of promoting Australian beef with its True Aussie branding.
“That’s a big part of the conversation we are having there and Angus fi ts perfectly with the concept.”
Domestic sales had also increased under the Thomas Foods International arrangement, she said.
