NZ Red Meat Outlook 2026: Growth amid trade uncertainty
While things are looking positive for the red meat sector in 2026, volatility in global trade remains a concern, says the Meat Industry Association (MIA).
Meat Industry Association (MIA) chief executive Sirma Karapeeva says traditionally the US has been recognised as NZ's major market for manufacturing beef that goes into hamburgers.
"However, what we are now seeing is that the demand for NZ sheepmeat is increasing quite strongly. It is becoming perceived in the US as a premium product," she told Rural News. "The fact that it overtook the UK as our number one market for chilled sheepmeat exports is quite phenomenal and something we need to celebrate."
Karapeeva says the success of the past year, which saw red meat exports rise to $11 billion dollars, was due to good management by the companies rather than good luck. She says this is due to strong demand and solid global prices and notes that while volumes of product may reduce slightly, prices are likely to remain firm.
Karapeeva believes tha sector's market diversification strateghy is working and bodes well for the future.
"We have got access into such a broad range of markets and our companies have got really good commercial relationships across these markets," she says. "This shows that they are able to anticipate and fill consumers' and customer demands across the globe and shift things around."
Karapeeva believes the other positive sign is that the food service sector/restaurant trade is picking up in the US, UK and Europe. She says in these places people are learning to live with Covid and so more people are eating out. However, she adds that China, which is still pursuing a Covid elimination strategy, is a bit slower but that country still remains a major market for NZ.
