An MEQ Probe at work on New Zealand lamb in an Alliance plant.

FARMER-OWNED New Zealand beef and sheep meat processor Alliance Group has invested in eating quality objective measurement technology.

Cooperatively-owned Alliance is New Zealand’s largest red meat processor, with seven plants turning over around NZ$2.2 billion in beef and lamb sales each year into 65 export markets. The company claims to be the largest lamb exporter in the world.

Alliance’s farmer-shareholders can now access real-time artificial intelligence-powered insights into the eating quality of their lamb and beef following the investment in Meat Eating Quality technology.

MEQ probes installed across Alliance’s plant network use cutting-edge machine learning and AI technology to analyse intramuscular fat in lamb and marbling in beef – key indicators of tenderness, juiciness, and flavour.

Insights from the MEQ probes provide farmers with objective feedback about the quality of their animals via a bespoke insights dashboard, supporting them to make more informed decisions about breeding, feeding, and livestock management.

For lamb, the technology identifies a ‘sweet spot’ by combining IMF levels with ViaScan whole-carcase camera imaging technology for lean meat yield and carcase weight data. This sweet spot represents the ideal balance of tenderness, juiciness, and desirable fat components like omega fatty acids*, ensuring a consistently premium eating experience for consumers.

“This new insights dashboard underpins Alliance’s commitment to helping our farmers consistently meet top quality standards and deliver a premium meat-eating experience to consumers,” Alliance’s chief executive Willie Wiese said in a statement.

“Our Meat Eating Experience (MEEx) program independently verifies the quality of each livestock unit to ensure an exceptional eating experience.

“IMF is influenced by genetics, animal health, feed and on-farm management systems. By focusing on natural IMF levels, lean meat yield, and the presence of beneficial polyunsaturated fats*, we’re supporting our farmers to produce meat that stands out for its tenderness, juiciness, and flavour,” he said.

Alliance farmer shareholders can now access the MEQ dashboard and receive tailored results via the Alliance farmer portal.

“We are thrilled to deepen our partnership with Alliance and play a part in connecting advanced technology with on-farm decision-making,” MEQ chief executive Remo Carbone said.

“The MEQ dashboard is providing Alliance farmers with unparalleled insights to optimise livestock quality while staying ahead of market demands.

“This not only empowers farmers to make data-backed decisions but also underscores Alliance’s forward-thinking approach to delivering quality meat. We’re excited to see how these insights are driving tangible value for Alliance’s farmers and the broader food industry.”

By the end of 2024, Alliance will have regional benchmarking data based on the data generated by MEQ, which the company’s livestock representatives will share with loyal farmers to further help them seize opportunities to create more value on their farms.

Standard quality metrics are also available on processing and chiller assessment sheets, giving all Alliance farmers a clear view of their livestock’s eating quality performance.

“This new dashboard is part of Alliance’s enhanced offering for farmers, alongside a simplified equitable livestock pricing schedule and processing sheets, a reshaped loyalty programme, and refined premium programmes,” Mr Wiese said.

“The data will give farmers the ability to understand which levers they can use to build more value behind the farm gate. We are proud to provide our farmers with these advanced tools to improve on-farm practices, maximise returns, and meet evolving consumer expectations worldwide.”

MEQ confirmed that the technology measures IMF concentration only – not the extent of mono versus polyunsaturated fat in a sample.

Source: Alliance Group