Marketing co-op's direct to butcher approach paying off

The Tooraweenah Prime Lamb Marketing Co-op has about 90 members spanning from southern Queensland to Condobolin.

Since December, it has been supplying about 60 lambs a week to 10 butchers around Sydney.

Board member Harry Kemp, Binnaway, said the plan was to grow that number of lambs up to a couple of hundred each week, provided the pilot proved viable.

Mr Kemp said the idea was borne out of processing backlogs last year.

"We struggled to get lambs into major processors - like many people - with oversupply," he said.

"We had members coming to us wanting other options just to try help market our lambs. We decided, why don't we have a crack at going direct to butchers?"

The group found butchers through word-of-mouth and spent several months developing the idea, he said.

Board members sent small numbers of lambs each week as a trial before the pilot gained momentum and was opened up to members.

"Getting the lambs is the easy part, it's the processing, delivery, all that kind of stuff that took a lot of time," Mr Kemp said.

"You've got to make sure your system is right so you don't outgrow yourself."

Chairman Matt Howard, Tooraweenah, said the co-op had focused on export markets, turning lambs off at 30 kilograms or heavier.

The butcher trade required lambs in the 20 to 24kg range, he said.

"It gives members another option of weights for another market," he said.

The group wanted to target the higher socio-economic groups by ensuring they only sent quality lambs.

Mr Howard said all lambs were assessed prior to being sent to ensure consistency.

"We want to try keep a really tight grid and have a really good product," he said.

Mr Kemp said it was a way for producers to be rewarded for a premium product. Selling direct was also a more personalised system, he said.

"As a producer you work so hard to get that lamb to where it is," Mr Kemp said.

"This way they're not just another number in a big processor.

"They can actually go and see their lamb in a shelf in Sydney or they can get phone call saying, 'gee, those lambs were good'."

He said the paddock to plate experience was also growing increasingly popular with consumers.

"There's a great story for the butcher, because they know they've come from Matt's farm in Tooraweenah - here's a picture of his family and this is what they're trying to do," he said.

"That's a great marketing tool."

Butcher Raymond Shipley, co-owner of George's Fine Meats, Cherrybrook, met Mr Kemp through mutual friends.

He said the Tooraweenah Prime product was differentiated on the shelf and also marketed on social media.

Whenever the shop received a delivery, the co-operative gave him information on which farm produced it and the family behind the operation.

Mr Shipley said as a family-run business, it was important to support other smaller enterprises.

"I've been in this business for 20-odd years and I've seen a lot of good producers fall away," he said.

"I think supporting someone from the beginning and building that relationship will benefit all businesses - not everyone can be big.

"Most of the profits from the sale of the lamb would go back to the families, rather than getting caught up in the cost of the processing.

"We'd know the money would go back to those families and we'd all reap the rewards of those benefits."

He said social media was a vital marketing tool and being able to tell the story behind a product was important.

"Social media is a huge platform for customers - they come from far and wide to shop here," he said.

"For us to communicate that message, that we're buying direct from a family in Binnaway, just gives our customers that comfort knowing that this meat is coming from an individual, as opposed to being a huge business.

"People will come in looking for the product knowing it's available here."

Mr Howard said the board were also looking into 24-hour meat vending machines as another avenue for producers in the future.

He said the co-operative itself was also continuing to grow. Although it was developed to market prime lambs, it had since branched out to include cattle.

It currently employed one full-time field officer and was recruiting for another, he said.