Lamb pastrami makes the cut at US superstore

The lamb pastrami was born out a project between Meat & Livestock Australia and Aussie Select, a company specialising in lamb charcuterie products to develop and test a suite of Australian lamb products to capitalise on the deli meats trend.

The lamb deli meats are now being offered up at 73 Costco stores, with food-fluencers deployed to help spruik the products across social media.

MLA's group manager for science and innovation Michael Lee said that American retailers had seen a 154pc increase in weekly ready-to-eat or deli meat purchases, but that there were no lamb products on offer.

"Research indicated that US consumers spent $7.7 billion a year on deli meats, including ready-to-eat or ready-to-heat foods," Mr Lee said.

"Turkey, pork, chicken and to a lesser extent beef dominate the deli.

"Yet, lamb, particularly lamb from Australia, is growing in popularity in the United States."

"American consumers indicated pressures around cooking time and that they have little confidence in cooking lamb.

"As the number one provider of lamb to the US market, the Australian industry has a massive opportunity to break into this market as the first to market ready-to-eat lamb products."

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic Aussie Select developed four charcuterie offerings, including agave rosemary lamb, tikka masala lamb, lamb pastrami and lamb prime rib.

Aussie Select CEO Jaclyn Glatzer said that after multiple rounds of research, Aussie Select met or exceeded market demands for taste, sustainability, innovation, and health and wellness.

"Based on the research, current tonnage projections to meet the demand for Aussie Select show a potential for 3,700,000+ pounds of exclusively Australian raw product over the next five years," she said.

"We're thrilled to see Aussie Lamb products rolled out throughout the Southeast (Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina and Puerto Rico).

"The initial products in the Aussie Select line only scratch the surface; there is exciting growth opportunity for lamb in the ready-to-heat, ready-to-eat and snack-kit categories."

According to latest quarterly report published by the American Lamb Board, the Southeast is the second best-selling region in the US for lamb based on volume and experienced a modest 1.2 per cent increase in sales between 2022 and 2023 to be up 9.5pc from the five year average.