Alliance Group launches world-leading AI-driven meat quality insights for farmers
3 December 2024
Alliance farmer-shareholders can now access real-time artificial intelligence-powered insights into the eating quality of their lamb and beef thanks to Meat Eating Quality (MEQ) technology.
Probes installed across Alliance’s plant network use cutting-edge machine learning and AI technology to analyse intramuscular fat (IMF) in lamb and marbling in beef – key indicators of tenderness, juiciness, and flavour.
Insights from the MEQ probes provide farmers with immediate objective feedback about the quality of their animals via a bespoke insights dashboard, supporting them to make more informed decisions about breeding, feeding, and livestock management.
For lamb, the technology identifies a “sweet spot” by combining IMF levels with ViaScan lean meat yield and carcass weight data. This sweet spot represents the ideal balance of tenderness, juiciness, and nutritious fats like omega fatty acids, ensuring a consistently premium eating experience for consumers.
“This new insights dashboard underpins Alliance’s commitment to helping our farmers consistently meet top quality standards and deliver a premium meat-eating experience to consumers,” says Willie Wiese, chief executive of Alliance.
“Our Meat Eating Experience (MEEx) programme independently verifies the quality of each livestock unit to ensure an exceptional eating experience.
“IMF is influenced by genetics, animal health, feed and on farm management systems. By focusing on natural IMF levels, lean meat yield, and the presence of nutritious polyunsaturated
fats, we’re supporting our farmers to produce meat that stands out for its tenderness, juiciness, and flavour.”
Alliance farmer shareholders with Platinum and Gold supplier status can access the MEQ dashboard and receive tailored results via the Alliance farmer portal. Farmers with Platinum
status supply 100 per cent of all stock to Alliance while those farmers with Gold status supply 100 per cent of one species.
“We are thrilled to deepen our partnership with Alliance and play a part in connecting advanced technology with on-farm decision-making,” says MEQ CEO Remo Carbone. “The MEQ dashboard is providing Alliance farmers with unparalleled insights to optimise livestock quality while staying ahead of market demands. “This not only empowers farmers to make data-backed decisions but also underscores Alliance’s forward-thinking approach to delivering quality meat. We’re excited to see how these insights are driving tangible value for Alliance’s farmers and the broader food industry.”
By the end of 2024, Alliance will have regional benchmarking data, which the company’s livestock representatives can share with loyal farmers to further help them seize opportunities to create more value on their farms. Standard quality metrics are also available on processing and chiller assessment sheets, giving all Alliance farmers a clear view of their livestock’s eating quality performance.
“This new dashboard is part of Alliance’s enhanced offering for farmers, alongside a simplified equitable livestock pricing schedule and processing sheets, a reshaped loyalty programme, and refined premium programmes,” says Mr Wiese.
“The data will give farmers the ability to understand which levers they can use to build more value behind the farm gate. We are proud to provide our farmers with these advanced tools to
improve on-farm practices, maximise returns, and meet evolving consumer expectations worldwide.”
Those farmers who meet Alliance’s loyalty criteria and haven’t yet received an email invitation to access the dashboard can contact their livestock representative.
For media enquiries, please contact:
Sam Halstead
027 474 6065
sam@latitudesc.co.nz
