Page 18 - April 2018

Page 18 – Australian Pork Newspaper, March 2018
www.porknews.com.au
Nearly one in three consumers willing to eat lab-grown meat
ALMOST a third of con- sumers say they would be happy to eat so-called ‘cultured meat’ – with vegans the group most likely to do so, according to new research.
Specialist PR agency In- gredient Communications commissioned Surveygoo to conduct an online sur- vey of 1000 consumers in the UK and US.
Respondents were told that cultured meat was re- al meat grown from cells in a laboratory and not sourced from animals.
They were then asked if they would be willing to eat this type of meat if it was available to buy in shops and restaurants.
In total, 29 percent said they would, 38 percent said they wouldn’t and the remaining 33 percent said they didn’t know.
The survey findings show that American re- spondents (40 percent) were much more likely to choose to eat cultured meat than those in the UK (18 percent).
The results suggest that cultured meat pioneers
would be well advised to target the US market first. In what was perhaps a surprising twist, vegan re- spondents were revealed as the consumer segment most likely to eat cultured meat, with 60 percent stat- ing they would be willing
to do so.
The figure was lower for
vegetarians (23 percent) and pescatarians (21 per- cent).
Meanwhile, 28 percent of meat eaters – the larg- est cohort in the survey (888 of 1000) – said they were prepared to give cul- tured meat a try.
Ingredient Communica- tions founder and man- aging director Richard Clarke said, “It’s easy to see why so many consum- ers welcome the prospect of lab-grown meat.”
“People enjoy eating meat but often feel guilty about related issues such as animal welfare and the impact of farming on the environment.
“Cultured meat address- es those concerns, which is a compelling benefit.
“Nevertheless, we were
surprised by how many respondents expressed a willingness to eat cultured meat.
“It’s such a new con- cept and when you con- sider the backlash against GMOs, and the unstop- pable momentum of the naturalness trend, it seems counter-intuitive that peo- ple would be willing to eat meat produced in a laboratory.
“However, our survey shows that it has appeal for a significant propor- tion of consumers, par- ticularly those in Amer- ica.”
Particularly interesting was the fact that vegans were by some distance more likely to eat cul- tured meat than any other group.
“This could be because vegans, perhaps more than any other group, are al- ways on the look-out for new, ethical sources of protein,” Richard said.
“This offers interesting potential for companies operating in the embry- onic cultured meat indus- try.”
www.primegro.com.au
Results are based on typical progeny growth performance achieved using Primegro Genetics grown under a high health environment and fed using the Rivalea Nutritional Program.
Primary producers urged to prepare for cuts in Chinese tariffs
WITH China extending tariff cuts at the end of the year to a range of Australian fresh fruit and vegetables, nuts, sea- food and pork, local pro- ducers looking to access this lucrative market are being urged to start plan- ning now so they are ‘China ready’.
Demand for selected Australian fresh food is expected to soar when tariff cuts of up to 30 percent on some prod- ucts come into effect in 2019.
Peter Verry, director of leading Australian cold chain consultancy Peloris stressed the importance of allowing plenty of time to prepare for exporting to China.
“Typically it can take up to 12 months or even longer to receive the ap- propriate credentials and authority to export cer- tain products to China,” he said.
“Failure to adequately understand China quaran- tine and customs require- ments resulted in 160 Australian manufacturers being placed on a black list and 406 shipments dumped or returned in 2017 because of non-com- pliance.
“In some cases the mis- take was as simple as a
non-compliant product label.”
Mr Verry said demand within China for Aus- tralian produce, which is highly prized by the Chi- nese for its image of being green and clean, meant China was now Austral- ia’s largest food export market.
“We have witnessed an unprecedented demand for products such as fresh milk (which sells for more than $10 a litre) and fresh beef over the past three years.
“The cuts in tariffs, which will come into ef- fect in January next year, can only benefit produc- ers who are prepared to invest the time and effort to get their goods on the shelves.”
The China-Australia Free Trade Agreement, which came into effect in 2015, is a phased program of tariff reduction for goods and services.
Mr Verry said one of the greatest hurdles facing exporters was developing a market profile.
“There are 34 provinces, municipalities and ter- ritories in China and it is unlikely an Australian producer will have the re- sources to service demand in all those areas,” he said.
“We suggest looking at
regions and cities where there is limited import competition and start to build a profile in anticipa- tion of the tariff cuts, lever- aging off Australia’s repu- tation for quality produce.
“Doing business in China is rewarding but requires significant ad- vance planning and com- mitment, and there is a risk that if producers don’t start laying the ground- work now they will miss out altogether.
“Issues such as protect- ing intellectual property and cultivating appropri- ate partnerships can be time consuming but are worth the effort.”
On January 1, 2019 the following cuts will apply to fresh food:
• Pork tariffs of up to 20 percent will be elimi- nated;
• Elimination of the 10 to 30 percent tariff on fruit (except citrus);
• Elimination of the 10 to 13 percent tariff on all fresh vegetables; and
• Elimination of the 8 to 15 percent tariff on se- lected seafood.
A full list of tariff cuts can be found here: dfat. gov.au/trade/agreements/ chafta/fact-sheets/Docu ments/fact-sheet-agricul ture-and-processed-food. pdf