Middle East and Northern Africa
The Australian red meat industry is committed to supplying safe, healthy and quality red meat products to the Middle East. For this reason, MLA and its predecessors have maintained an office in the region for over 30 years.
MLA's regional office is based in Manama, Bahrain. From here, market access and development activities for red meat and livestock exports are conducted for the Middle East and African region.
Building demand
Market access
Maintaining market access is a key role of MLA in the Middle East. Because countries in the region import the majority of their food, governments place a very high importance on food safety and have stringent requirements that exporting countries must meet to ensure their products are safe.
MLA is continually monitoring market access issues and works collaboratively with key government officials in the Middle East. Australia's very low disease prevalence and strict food safety standards means our red meat products are highly sought after in the region.
Market development
Building and maintaining networks are key steps in ensuring supply of Australian products to markets in the region. MLA provides technical support through product training, communication and cooperative promotional programs with key importers, retailers and foodservice operators of Australian lamb, mutton and beef. MLA works with suppliers in Australia to continually improve and deliver our competitive advantage within the market.
MLA is working with Australian exporters to capture market share in the evolving foodservice channel through public relations campaigns and trade marketing initiatives including the MLA Black Box Culinary Challenge.
The rapid expansion of international retailers across the region is changing the traditional retail landscape and creating opportunities to expand the retail presence of Australian red meat products. A range of activities with targeted retailers based on category management principles are underway to maintain and increase consumer awareness and purchasing intent for Australian lamb.
These activities include:
- Staff training
- Food sampling
- Point of sale material
- Print media advertising
Market requirements
Halal
Islamic consumers place paramount importance on the religious requirements for the production of food. For this reason all cattle, sheep and goats processed in Australia destined for the Middle East market are slaughtered under the Australian Government Supervised Halal program, by Muslims approved by accredited Islamic certifying authorities in accredited processing plants, according to strict Islamic law or Shariah. This program is guaranteed under the Australian law, and administered by AQIS.
The Australian red meat industry has adopted strict procedures to ensure only certified Halal meat products are available for export. This is why Australian red meat is 'Guaranteed Halal'. It is one of MLA's roles in the Middle East to promote Australia's Halal program to ensure that governments, religious leaders and consumers are confident that Australian red meat is 'Guaranteed Halal'. For this reason the Australian Halal Marketing Brand logo is placed on promotional material and other supporting material to relay this message.
Product specifications
The Middle East markets have a preference for carcases in the 10 to 16kg (cwt) range due to a perception that the smaller the lamb, the younger the animal. The local sheep breeds produce light and lean lamb carcases, many with the characteristic "fat tail", that are considered to be the highest quality and subsequently receive the highest prices in the market.
Sheepmeat exports to the Middle East have historically been in the form of frozen carcases. With improvements in technology, the market has expanded to include large volumes of chilled lamb cuts and carcases for both the growing food service and retail sectors.
Marketing red meat around the globe
More information
Nigel Gosse
Phone: 1800 023 100
Email: middleeast@mla.com.au