logo
Australian producer develops new marbled lamb in hope of rivalling wagyu

Australian producer develops new marbled lamb in hope of rivalling wagyu

Marbled beef is synonymous with premium prices at high-end restaurants and lamb producers are working hard to compete for top spot on the menu.
After years of development, Australian breeder Lambpro has created lambs with a high distribution of fat in the meat.
General manager Tom Bull said they had reached a marbling score of 7 per cent or more.
"It's that level ahead … it's really hard to go back to eating generic lamb once you start eating the really good stuff," he said.
Marbling of meat changes the flavour when it is cooked, making it more tender and juicy.
That flavour edge motivated the lamb industry to increase marbling levels, working for over a decade to make it happen.
"Now the technology is really coming together, we can start to really pull out those top-end lambs," Mr Bull said.
"The biggest advantage for us now we can do that, we can actually charge a lot more and we've got customers willing to pay."
Mr Bull said average lamb marbling was 4 per cent in Australia, and he was hoping the meat would feature more prominently on fine dining menus as quality shifted.
Joseph Abboud, chef and owner of Rumi Lebanese restaurant in Melbourne's Brunswick East, uses a lot of lamb in his dishes.
"Lamb is a really important part of Middle Eastern cuisine," he said.
Mr Abboud said using lamb with high levels of marbling had not been an option before.
"I just don't think there's the spectrum of lamb where you have such a noticeable difference," he said.
"A wagyu beef compared to just regular beef, they're almost different products."
He said the 7 per cent marbled lamb "sounds great" and he would be interested to see what it would be like.
"For us the flavour is the most important part of the lamb … we're looking for a more robust flavour and we tend to go towards an older lamb," Mr Abboud said.
"A marbled lamb sounds like it could give us that tenderness which you get in the young lamb, but also that richness of flavour."
One of the biggest sticking points for the production of high-end lamb has been consistency.
"Chefs are used to having the likes of a wagyu and Angus where you might have a marble score of 10-plus and every piece of meat is the same," Mr Bull said.
Lambpro developers have worked to calibrate their testing machines in the abattoir to sort and pack the meat into different marbling grades.
But Mr Bull said the years of work had been worth it.
"There's a real incentive to be able to breed a lamb that hits 7 per cent and financially you certainly get rewarded," he said.
"We can sell racks at almost double what a commodity rack goes for."
The hefty cost of marbled lamb would not deter Mr Abboud in his restaurant.
"When you have something like that to offer, it's generally worth it because it is something tangible that's different," he said.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Australian cow market takes off as tariffs loom and US burger prices rise
Australian cow market takes off as tariffs loom and US burger prices rise

ABC News

time10 minutes ago

  • ABC News

Australian cow market takes off as tariffs loom and US burger prices rise

As the world waited this week to see what US President Donald Trump's next move on tariffs would be, the value of cows in Australian saleyards started to soar. Heavy cows, light cows, it didn't matter. If they had four legs, they were in hot demand. At Roma on Tuesday, processors forked out $4.40 a kilogram for heavy cows, which livestock agent Geoffrey Maslen said was incredible. "Records were smashed here at Roma. In my 21 years, I can't remember cows getting $4.40 a kilo," he said. The national processor cow indicator jumped 46 cents a kilogram this week and is close to its record high reached in 2022. Meanwhile, the national dairy cow indicator is at an all-time high of $3.51 per kilogram. At Echuca on Wednesday, some dairy cows made $3.90/kg, selling for nearly $3,000 each. Processors are forking out record money for Australian cows, while the US is handing over record money for lean imported beef. The US cattle herd is at its lowest point since the 1950s due to drought, and its supply of beef for making hamburgers is tight. StoneX Australian livestock and commodities manager Ripley Atkinson said US demand for beef was strong, but Aussie processors were worried about the pipeline of cattle available. "What's fundamentally driving the cow market at the moment is the southern processors and exporters looking to source slaughter stock to maintain kill chains [in abattoirs], maintain their workforce and operate their facilities," he told ABC Landline. "The recent rain in southern Australia, on the edge of spring, has tightened the physical cattle supply and forced those processors to compete harder in northern markets — and that added competition is driving the market." The US has relied heavily on beef imports from Australia and Brazil this year, but is now getting ready to enforce a 50 per cent tariff on Brazilian beef. The tariff is due to take effect on August 7. analyst Matt Dalgleish said the Brazil tariff would bring its beef trade with the US to a halt. "I don't think we're going to see too much Brazilian beef go into the US for the rest of this year, and that will provide opportunities for Australia because our tariff is still at 10 per cent," he told the Country Hour. "So it puts Australia in an even better position. ABC Landline has been told some Australian processors may have paid extra for cows this week in expectation of tariffs stopping the Brazil beef trade to the US. Global Agritrends analyst Simon Quilty said the cow price hike was "not really about burgers, it's about the lack of throughput for southern processors". He also said the federal government's controversial decision to allow US beef imports looked to have "paid off", with Australia avoiding a Trump tariff hike — for now. Watch ABC TV's Landline at 12:30pm on Sunday or on ABC iview.

Victorian Premier launches push to make work from home legal right
Victorian Premier launches push to make work from home legal right

The Australian

timean hour ago

  • The Australian

Victorian Premier launches push to make work from home legal right

Working from home for two days a week could become a legal right in Victoria, under new plans proposed by Premier Jacinta Allan. The state government is promising to introduce the law — covering both public and private sectors — by next year, with it applying to anyone who can 'reasonably' carry out their work away from the office. Ms Allan will tell the annual state Labor conference: 'Working from home works for families and it's good for the economy. 'Day after day, unions are being contacted by workers who have been denied reasonable requests to work from home, and across the country, Liberals are drawing up plans to abolish work-from-home and force workers back to the office and back to the past. 'That's why the Allan Labor government is acting. Enshrining work from home in law means this life-changing practice isn't something you or your loved ones have to politely ask for. It's a right you'll be entitled to.' The plan would make working from home two days a week a legal right in Victoria. She will add that a consultation will take place on the proposed Australia-first law, but added it won't determine if the plans should go ahead. 'We're already clear on that: it should be. We just need the appropriate laws to reflect it,' she said. Ms Allan said the new policy is aimed directly at supporting families, promising average savings of $110 per week, or $5308 annually in commuting costs. 'Work from home supports women with children, carers and people with a disability to work,' Ms Allan said. 'Thanks to work from home, workforce participation is 4.4 per cent higher than before the pandemic.' The legislation is expected to be introduced later this year. The move follows significant debate about work from home policies during the federal election, with Peter Dutton forced to backtrack on a proposed policy to limit remote work for public servants due to public backlash. Amelia Swan Journalist Amelia Swan joined News Corp as a cadet reporter in 2024. Amelia Swan

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store