Development of Frews Ready Meal Supply Chain Value Add Strategy

Summary

​Background
Many meat companies in Australia consider diversifying their current portfolio of products and business model to complement existing business. The key objective of this project has been to examine opportunities and methods related to ready meals, in particular, positioning of Australian red meat industry as a whole to deliver this to local or overseas markets.
Research
Under the MDC projectP.PIP.0461, meals designs that contain a high content of meat were achieved and the potential for direct sale of such meals as a hot product to consumers around the world wasassessed and presented, which concludes the first stage evaluation of the approach under a Frew Group PIP project with the Australian Meat Processors Corporation (AMPC) and the Meat Livestock Australia (MLA).
It was shown that the opportunity for producing meals with high meat content and direct vending as hot food to consumers represents a significant growth area. An important part of the project was the assessment of distribution and direct sale with the use of automated vending merchandising and dispensing that handles a select number of sealed prepared meals packs from chilled state. An innovative business model to expand Australian Meat Export in the longer termwasidentified, potentially overcoming the current tariff/quota status where certain restrictions for fresh meat compared to cooked or partially prepared meats represent incremental growth opportunities (e.g. European Union Countries). Operating models for establishing a supply process as a new business venture revealed high profitability potential for processors in Australia.
Outcomes
Further research and practical feasibility with a small cluster of vending machines is necessary to reach understanding of many factors including ergonomics of the process, supply chain management, consumer acceptance and behaviours. The establishment of a new business based on the concept of this project would potentially return a further $5.00 per lamb as the value proposition to Australia through increased export. There is potential for exploring opportunities in a similar way using lower priced, but quality red meats, expanding Australian exports, beyond the products considered by this project.
To further explore the above, a follow on project is underway with the processor.