• Poultry is seen as an important component of Australian cuisine, culture and lifestyle (this is equally valid for New Zealand), and in addition to being protein-rich is recognised as providing a wide variety of important nutrients including iodine, iron, zinc, vitamins, esp. B12 and essential fatty acids including long chain omega-3 fatty acids.
  
• The recommended consumption of lean meat for both children and adults is 1-3 serves a day, reducing with age (51 years to 70). A maximum of 455g per week (1 serve or 65g per day) of lean meat is recommended for Australian adults. In order to meet recommended intakes, omnivorous adults in Australia need to consume 40% more poultry, fish, seafood and eggs etc. (N.B. This excludes red meat.) Children need to eat 30-85% more poultry, eggs etc.  
  
• The literature review for the Guidelines found little evidence linking consumption of poultry with cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and excess weight.  

The full texts of the Revised Australian Dietary Guidelines and a Guide to Healthy Eating are available as PDFs at www.eatforhealth.gov.au.  

Leading suppliers to the foodservice sector such as Tegel Foods, Inghams, Brinks and Turks now offer a comprehensive range of fresh and frozen whole chickens and prime cuts, including a range of size-graded options to suit portion control plate requirements. Tegel also supplies frozen whole turkeys and turkey prime cuts.  

For fast and safe catering solutions, for events of all sizes, there’s now a diverse range of fully cooked value-added products, from finger foods to centre of plate items. Free-flow frozen, sliced, roasted and smoked chicken breast fillets make quick work of smallgoods solutions for sandwiches, salads or cooked products.

The influences of foreign travel and immigration are also seeing New Zealanders embrace gourmet poultry meats such as duck, turkey, quail, poussin, goose and pheasant in ever greater numbers.

Lachlan Dick, from Rangiora-based Canter Valley Processors, reports steadily-growing demand from chefs, caterers for his company’s manuka-smoked duck breasts.

“The flavour’s awesome,” he says, “and is particularly good as part of a summer salad.” Canter Valley supplies its smoked duck breast fillets Cryovac-packed in the half-breast direct to restaurants or online.

Increasing recognition of the versatility of duck as a year-round dining choice has also meant steady increases in sales for Cambridge-based supplier, Quack ‘a’ Duck.

“While orders from airlines and Asian customers were the initial catalyst for growth, in the last couple of years we’ve seen Kiwis as a whole take a real liking to duck,” says Quack ‘a’ Duck’s Matthew Houston.

“In the winter months confit duck leg is becoming a very popular dining choice, and duck breast lends itself well as part of a salad in summer. We are also seeing a steady expansion of breast and leg cuts in retail as consumers become more adventurous.” 

Quail eggs, once a rarity, are yet another gourmet item that’s gaining quickly in popularity.

“Quail eggs are well suited for use in salads and are great for canapés as they look dainty and cute,” says Canter Valley’s Lachlan Dick. “They also have a delicate flavor when poached.”

Turkey, once a near-annual dining occasion for New Zealanders, is also getting a new lease of life as a lean, healthy, high-protein alternative to ground beef, he says.

“Turkey mince has a subtle flavour and lends itself well to use in many familiar recipes including patties, stir-fries, meat balls, burgers, chilli, lasagne and casseroles.

“And for chefs catering for health-conscious diners, a 113g serving of turkey offers about 65% of your daily recommended protein while providing you with nearly half the saturated fat found in red meat. A 75g serving of skinless white turkey meat contains 25g of protein, barely 3g of fat, and less than 1g of saturated fat.”

In addition to supplying 400g packs of turkey mince, Canter Valley sells other foodservice turkey cuts including boneless breasts and buffet products.  

www.tegel.co.nz

www.inghams.co.nz

www.brinks.co.nz

www.turkspoultry.com

www.cantervalley.co.nz

www.quackaduck.co.nz

 This article appeared in the September 2011 issue of Restaurant & Catering News, pages 14-16.

It is a status PIANZ and its members continue to seek to protect and it is assisted by the fact that raw poultry products cannot be imported into New Zealand.

As well as protecting our native bird flocks and our farming stocks from disease, this ban also allows us to assure consumers that New Zealand’s fresh poultry products are free from growth hormones – a status we have maintained for more than 30 years – and all poultry sold by our members meets the stringent animal welfare and food safety standards that New Zealand consumers have rightly come to expect.

See FAQs and Industry Myths sections of this site for more information about this topic