• 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.

A recent Colmar Brunton survey of 1017 Kiwis found three of the top four choices at the New Zealand dinner table featured chicken.

“That reflects the ongoing popularity of chicken for New Zealand consumers,” says Mr Brooks, the Executive Director of the New Zealand Poultry Industry Association.

“On average, New Zealanders eat about 31kg of chicken each per year and chicken has been the number one choice for protein for the past ten years at the supermarket. Consumption of chicken meat has more than doubled since accurate records began in 1986 when annual consumption was just 14kgs.”

The survey found the most popular New Zealand meal was roast chicken, with second place going to a mix of chicken meat and vegetables. Steak and vegetables came in third place, with chicken curries rounding out the top four.

Mr Brooks says that reflects the ease of preparation for chicken but also the recognition by shoppers that chicken meat is a value-for-money source of lean protein.

“You can be as simple or as complicated as you like in preparing chicken and cost wise it represents great value for money. The growth in sales of chicken to become the leading source of protein in the Kiwi diet also reflects health and nutritional trends towards leaner meats. No wonder it’s New Zealand’s favourite dinner choice.”

Chicken is great-tasting and a lean source of protein and this makes it an excellent addition to any diet.  Even though its consumption has fallen from the high in 2005-2006, it still remains the highest percentage of meat consumed in New Zealand.  In the year ending December 2009, New Zealanders consumed 136,728 tonnes of poultry meat, which constitute 35.79% of the total meat consumption.

New Zealand Meat Consumption data, sourced from Meat and Wool New Zealand Economic Service paper