Greenham’s RGN brand is being promoted domestically, and in the US, and is underpinned by the third party audited Greenham Beef Sustainability Standard.
The optional on-farm standard available to Greenham Never Ever accredited suppliers has been aligned to the Australian Beef Sustainability Framework, covering four themes of animal welfare, economic resilience, environmental stewardship, and the people and community.
Cattle from farms accredited to Tier 2 or higher under the GBSS are eligible for an additional 10¢/kg premium.
Launched in 2023, the standard was developed in consultation with suppliers, customers and leading scientists to deliver beef with robust environmental credentials, backed by science.
There are around 200 GPSS-accredited producers across Australia.
The standard is structured into three tiers of achievement for continuous improvement, with the first tier focused on education and compliance; the second on measurement and planning; and the third setting goal posts for best practice.
“There was a lot of time spent going back and forth between producers and customers to find a solid middle ground where we could all work within to access the premium market, but also to make it practical and not add additional cost burdens at the farm gate,” Greenham livestock supply chain manager Jessica Mitchell said.
Mrs Mitchell was a keynote speaker at the Pasture Agronomy Service conference in Wagga Wagga in March.
A primary driver of the market is strong demand for grass fed beef in the United States for snacks, food service, retail, stocks and broths, bones and offal.
The Victorian and Tasmanian-based processor is focusing on increasing connections with downstream customers and consumers by growing a footprint in the US, opening a trading office two years ago at Boulder, Colorado to service the west and east coasts.
In Australia, Greenham’s distribution partners, Flinders & Co, established a premium butchery at the South Melbourne Market, selling Greenham branded beef products and showcasing the story behind the beef.
The company’s pitch into the grass-fed branded market has driven significant investment and expansion plans at its facilities.
Mrs Mitchell said the company aimed to be at the leading edge of meeting consumer desires and changing the narrative to make consumers proud of the product they eat.
“We connect customers with our producers to understand what is needed now and into the future, and how can we achieve that in a practical way while delivering value back to the farms.
“The key driver of redeveloping the Tongala plant was to keep up with the strong growth from our customers, particularly in the grass-fed space where customers were gaining huge momentum with their sales.
“With the redevelopment we pushed sustainability around efficiency with solar panels, co-generation plants, and product utilisation to capture as much value from every carcase as possible.
“Even just having space for a few bone saws allowed us to take what was once a low value rendered product and instead sell bones for premium bone broth, a growing health food.”
Around 70 per cent of Greenham product is sold to the US, with initial growth centred on manufacturing beef, enhanced by a strong growth for grass fed beef.
Greenham’s grain fed brands are also sought after domestically and in Asia.
Mrs Mitchell said one product experiencing high growth in the US market was a grass fed, non-GMO beef snack stick.
“This has led to us releasing a grass-fed, non-GMO program for northern cattle to service customers seeking hormone free, grass fed, antibiotic free and non-GMO.
“Home delivery services for boxed beef is an area we saw enormous growth through COVID – although this has since slowed, they have been able to maintain steady growth.
“We have seen a culture shift of people sourcing high-quality grass-fed products in larger volumes and exploring new ways to cook and prepare those in the home.”
There has been a surge in Greeenham Never Ever accreditations over the past two years driven by increasing production at Tongala, leading to the expansion of Greenham’s sourcing footprint, and the introduction of a lifetime accreditation requirements on the mainland to bolster claims, and the new grass fed on-farm program.
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