Alliance Farmer Shareholder News

In this edition:

Roadshow Meetings
Unseasonal Icy Blast sweeps county
Shareholder Plant Visits
Mataura Plant to reopen
Alliance Group directors’ election nominations open
Gold and Silver for Alliance at the World Steak Challenge
Beef + Lamb New Zealand Awards
Global market update

We are now almost halfway through our 2022 Roadshow Meetings. It has been a pleasure to meet with shareholders again for the first time in more than two years.

We have had hundreds of shareholders attend across the nine meetings to date and have enjoyed the opportunity to share an update on how the co-operative has performed over the last 12 months, and to hear what’s important to farmers.

Feedback about both the meetings and the support farmers have received from the co-operative over the last year has been very positive. We’re looking forward to heading further south this week, starting in Fairlie tomorrow. If you haven’t already registered, please use this link to do so.

Location	Venue	Date	Time
Fairlie	Fairlie Golf Club	Monday 10 October	1pm – 4pm
Oamaru	Brydone Hotel	Monday 10 October	7pm – 10pm
Ranfurly	Ranfurly Bowling Club	Tuesday 11 October	1pm – 4pm
Cromwell	Heritage Collection Lake Resort	Tuesday 11 October	7pm – 10pm
Balclutha	South Otago Town & Country Club	Wednesday 12 October	1pm – 4pm
Gore	Heartland Hotel Croydon	Wednesday 12 October	7pm – 10pm
Heriot	Heriot Rugby Club	Thursday 13 October	1pm – 4pm
Tuatapere	Waiau Town & Country Club	Monday 17 October	1pm – 4pm
Winton	Midlands Rugby Club	Monday 17 October	7pm – 10pm
Fortrose	Tokanui Golf Club	Tuesday 18 October	1pm – 4pm
Mossburn	Mossburn Community Centre	Tuesday 18 October	7pm – 10pm

Unseasonable icy blast sweeps country

Our thoughts are with farmers impacted by the unseasonal icy blast, which has seen snow sweep through parts of the country over the last 72 hours. It is unfortunate that this comes during lambing for many. Our Livestock Representatives have been proactively contacting farmers in areas affected. We’re aware that in some places it is too soon to know what the impact will be, but want to remind you that as your co-operative, we are here to help you in any way we can.

Beef + Lamb NZ also has some useful guidelines for farmers on its website.

If you need any support, please contact your Livestock Representative. All contact details are available.

Shareholder plant visits: November/December

With COVID-19 restrictions now reduced, we are pleased to invite shareholders to once again visit and tour our plants. You will be able to see the new technology we have installed, learn more about the processing operations, talk with plant and livestock staff, and enjoy the delicious Alliance product our farmers have supplied. Plant visits will be held at Pukeuri, Dannevirke and Lorneville this year with other plants opening up in the New Year. Shareholders interested in attending can register their interest here.
Pukeuri – 17 November
Dannevirke – 22 November
Lorneville – 6 December

Mataura Plant to reopen October

27 The Mataura Plant has been shut for annual maintenance, however will begin processing again on Wednesday, 26 October. This means livestock can be booked in for collection from 25 October. Please speak to your Livestock Representative to book the space you need.

Alliance Group directors’ election nominations open

Nominations have opened to fill two vacancies for the office of Director of Alliance Group Limited. Murray Taggart and Don Morrison are retiring by rotation, and both are standing for re-election.

Nominations must be made on the official form, which can be obtained from the Returning Officer: Warwick Lampp

Returning Officer – Alliance Group Limited
Phone: 0800 666 032
Email: iro@electionz.com
Address: PO Box 3138, Christchurch 8140

Each nomination form must be signed by the nominee. Nominations must be received by the Returning Officer by 3pm on Thursday 27th October 2022. Completed forms can be emailed to nominations@electionz.com.

The election result will be announced in Timaru on Friday 16 December 2022 at our Annual Meeting of shareholders.

Gold and Silver for Alliance at the World Steak Challenge

We’re proud to announce Alliance’s Handpicked 55 Day Aged Beef has been recognised as among the world’s best at the prestigious World Steak Challenge in Ireland.

Our ribeye product processed at Pukeuri won a gold medal while our fillet and rib eye processed at Mataura won two silver medals at the competition, which benchmarks the quality of beef against global competitors.
Handpicked 55 Day Aged Beef is in demand across the globe and we expect this to continue. It is a remarkable product with unprecedented levels of tenderness and a smooth beef flavour profile.

We’re committed to building a differentiated premium portfolio to capture more value for our farmers and meet the expectations of increasingly discerning consumers who are prepared to pay a premium for beef from a brand they trust. If you are interested in joining the Handpicked programme, please speak to your livestock representative or try the beef for yourself at www.puresouthshop.com

Beef + Lamb New Zealand Awards

Alliance was a proud sponsor of the Beef + Lamb New Zealand Awards in Napier last week. The evening was a great celebration of the people, innovation, technologies and farm practices that ensure New Zealand’s red meat sector is world-class. Congratulations to Alliance shareholders Mt Linton Station, which was a finalist in the Innovative Farming category for their IMF sheep genetics programme. The co-operative was also pleased to sponsor the significant contribution award, which was won by AgResearch scientist David Stevens.

Update from our global markets

Lamb

Inflationary pressure — driven by rising interest rates, significant increases in energy costs and the war in Ukraine — is creating unease in a number of our key markets. Households with less discretionary income are seeing some consumers trade down in proteins and reduce out of home spending at restaurants and wider food service. We continue to work with our in market partners to mitigate the challenges associated with these consumer changes. China’s zero COVID-19 policy is continuing to impact consumption, particularly ovine, which is traditionally consumed in the food service sector. A considerable increase in supply from Australia is adding further pressure to markets, particularly North America.

Mutton

Continued China lockdowns and an increasingly unfavourable cross rate with the Chinese renminbi and the US dollar has had a negative impact on buying power. Additional volume out of Australia is also putting pressure on pricing. We remain focused on our diversification strategy for mutton.

Venison

Frozen product has now been shipped and positioned in the market. Chilled demand is a narrow opportunity for the 2022 Game Season with shipments concluding at the end of October. Our programmes in China and North America will still lead our diversification strategy as we look to reduce our reliance on traditional markets and we are well positioned with our programmes to realise further growth for venison over the coming months.

Beef

Whilst the Chinese market continues to face challenges with COVID-19 lockdowns and increasing inflation, demand and price remain strong for now, but the medium term outlook is one where price will come under pressure. The US grinding market remains focused on domestic processing, lessening short term demand from NZ. In Asia, pricing is softening and this is not helped by increased supply from Australia and the US.

Co-products/Specialty Ingredients & Materials

The annual tender for casings is complete with demand steady and price strengthening. The cost of sausage manufacturing is increasing in Europe due to energy costs and meat input costs. This is offset by consumers trading down from meat. Petfood raw material demand is strong across the products offered and we are seeing increased returns as a result of this demand and a weakening New Zealand dollar.