020411 New Zealand Meat Exporter Frozen Food Line

Wellington, New Zealand - New Zealand 's biggest meat exporter Richmond Ltd. has launched a frozen food range, branded "Bite Me", as part of its strategy to diversify beyond commodity processing.

The first two products in the range, Bite Me Big Tasty Beef Burgers and Marvellous Meat Balls, went on sale in supermarkets and other grocery outlets Monday.

Chief Executive John Loughlin said Bite Me is Richmond 's first serious foray into the fast moving consumer goods market. The company exports 95% of the meat it processes.

The Bite Me products use parts of an animal's carcass that aren't marketed as a specialty product, the company said.

"Bite Me is about lifting our returns by extracting the greatest value from the entire carcass beyond the glamour cuts," Loughlin said.

"The paradox is that in producing highly tailored cuisine-ready items you also produce off-cuts and trimmings. The Bite me products are all about generating a higher value from such items," he said.

Richmond plans to introduce a full range of meat products under the Bite Me brand over the next two years.

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