News

Scott’s down in his favourite region of Western Australia, but it’s not for what you think.

• Located in the picturesque region of Margaret River is a group of farmers collaborating with a talented processor to market their beef under the brand Margaret River fresh.
• Margaret River Fresh has just taken out gold at the Perth Royal Food Awards, winning Champion Large Producer in the Beef Category.
• Margaret River Fresh has been working with growers now for 35 years, giving feedback to the farmers over time. Allowing them to reach a point where their product is so great it is able to win awards.
• Its Margaret River Fresh’s first big award and they couldn’t be prouder.
• Taking out the award for their grass-fed product, which has a better taste, as it is fed naturally on the grass in the paddocks and has as a leaner meat than grain fed beef.
• There were a number of entries judged as part of the Perth Royal Food Awards in and the prestigious title Champion Large producer is only possible thanks to the brilliant work of the Royal Agricultural Society of WA, a not for profit organisation that drives the Perth Royal Food Awards, helping us all identify the best in the West.

Margaret River Fresh striploin entered by Western Meat Packers Group was judged Champion Large Producer in the beef category of the 2018 Perth Royal Branded Meat Awards.

The entry had earlier won gold in Class Five for Pasture Fed 52 Weeks Grass Finished Beef.

According to Royal Agricultural Society of WA Councillor in Charge, Jo Pluske, the Perth Royal Branded Beef competition had some excellent entries, with all eight receiving a medal, but only one gold was awarded.

“The outstanding Margaret River Fresh entry from Western Meat Packers Group had sensational taste and very good overall liking,” Dr Pluske said at the awards ceremony last week at Claremont Showgrounds.

“While other entries were extremely tender, they lacked a little in taste and so did not score so highly,” she added.

Gold is awarded for entries gaining more than 90 points out of a possible 100 that are allocated for taste (30), juiciness (10), flavour (30) and overall liking (30).

Speaking after the award presentation, Western Meat Packers Group Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Fuda, said the award reflected the company’s commitment to offering a premium beef product sourced from one of the world’s premium clean and green food bowls.

“While the Margaret River region has long been globally recognised for its fine wines, it is now also acknowledged for its fine food and our Margaret River Fresh branded beef is helping lead the way by giving Australian and overseas consumers a taste sensation second to none,” Mr Fuda said.

“In all of our export markets, including Japan, Korea, USA, Hong Kong and Singapore, there is strong demand for sustainably sourced, clean beef products and the Margaret River region is renowned for these qualities.”

The Margaret River Fresh trademark is registered with IP Australia to Western Meat Packers Group and is used exclusively to package the group’s premier products.

Cattle are selected after grazing on their natural pastures and then raised and fattened almost exclusively on pasture, before carrying the Margaret River Fresh brand after processing at Western Meat Packers abattoir located on 250ha in the Margaret River region.

Western Meat Packers Group, which has an annual turnover of more than $150 million, is 100 per cent owned by Rod Russell, who started the business in 1983 and his wife Shana.

It employs 450 people across its Osborne Park processing and packing headquarters, Margaret River abattoir and Bibra Lake value adding facility.

Recently reported in the news have been some exciting Management acquisitions at WMPG.

As reported by Brendon Cant in the “Cant Comment” section of the Australian Pork Newspaper

“Lui Rinaldi has joined leading beef processor and exporter Western Meat Packers Group after a lifetime in the pork industry at Watsons and Craig Mostyn Group. At WMPG he will work closely with WMPG CEO Andrew Fuda.”

According to Brendon Cant “WMPG is a WA beef processor well worth watching. ” Brendon goes on ” With a street wise and very savvy owner in Rod Russell, a very motivated and astute CEO in Andrew Fuda and now with Lui on board, plus a new GM in Jason Spencer (ex JBS), WMPG is going places, so watch this space.”

Now that is a great testament.

WMPG founder Rod Russell has taken full control, buying out other family members.

Rod and Shana Russell have completed a buyout of Russell and Lee family members in WMPG’s Margaret River abattoir, meaning the couple now have 100% ownership of all group assets. The couple have announced plans to expand the Margaret River facility to 400 head a day. Under the plan, the site will be bolstered with significant chiller capacity upgrades and other fit outs to accommodate developing export market prospects.

The upgrade is expected to create a 100 more jobs.

WMPG chief executive Andrew Fuda said such a positive investment by the founders signalled an exciting stage in teh beef company’s future.

Here is a flashback to the Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) marketing campaign from 2016 as part of the consumer nutrition program aimed at cementing beef and lamb as key pillars of a nutritionally balanced diet, especially with younger Australians and men.

The campaign was called – The Trinity Experiment – as an online ‘mockumentary’ style story about a set of triplets, separated at birth and raised under incredibly similar circumstances, with the only difference being their diets.

One child is raised on a diet of meat only, the second child on green vegetables only and the third on a healthy balanced diet featuring beef and lamb.  The campaign shows the experiment over 30 years and highlights how a healthy balanced diet featuring red meat as an important component helps get the best out of individuals.

Younger Australians and males are important target audiences for future-proofing red meat consumption, especially as research has shown an increase in men shopping and preparing meals.

The purpose of this campaign was to create informative and amusing content that the target audience will engage with and that supports a healthy balanced diet.

Do you think they achieved this?

Western Meat Packers Group are committed to having their staff up to speed with product knowledge and training. Thanks to the MLA, WMPG have been updating their skills with MSA training. This training ensures our staff maintain a solid understanding of the fundamentals of the MSA system. This MSA training program followed the training code of practice and our staff do a mixture of theory and practical application to the learning.

Training modules are being implemented for all participants in the MSA supply chain.

Dame Edna took some time out of her busy schedule to give an important message to Australian women. #BetterOnBeef

Take a look at how a carcase is graded to Meat Standards Australia specifications.

This Meat Standards Australia video takes you through the various steps in the MSA grading procedure for beef carcasses.