Beef Supply Chain On the Table

1st April 2010

Mornington Peninsula Gourmet is Committed to the Development and Implementation of Food Supply Chains for Regional Produce

• Mornington Peninsula Gourmet (MPG) is a food tourism and food industry body, developed to support the artisan food producers and manufacturers in the MP region

It is driven by an executive comprised of industry volunteers

MPG receives no external funding and so its not for profit operations are funded by member subscriptions, fee for service payments and sponsorships

A prime goal for the organization is to provide tangible, business benefits to its members

• As part of its endeavors to achieve this goal, MPG is committed to promoting the awareness of and availability of, regional produce, to both the restaurant/hospitality industry and allied retail outlets, through a network of regional food, supply chains

• This task involves
• Identification and liaison with groups with whom a collaborative approach may occur
• Identification of the key participants in the supply chain
• Identification of existing processes and their strengths & weaknesses
• Identification and implementation of quality assurance procedures to overlay the selected supply chain
• Development of the supply chain and investigation into the long term viability/sustainability of the process
• Development of a marketing plan to assist each of the supply chains

• The first of these supply chains to be initiated is the Regional Beef Supply Chain, the special characteristics for which include:
• A quality control overlay from Gippsland Natural Meats who will purchase the beef from accredited growers within a 30km radius of Mornington and who are Enviromeat certified
• A quality control overlay by Environmental Meat which is an ISO 14001 certification which guarantees
• Grass-fed, free-range meat
• No use of artificial hormones
• Best practice environmental beef management practices (beef that does not cost the earth)
• A quality control overlay from Meat Standards Australia, a meat classification scheme (ISO 9001/2000) devised by Meat and Livestock Australia, based on eating qualities and guaranteeing
• Tenderness
• Flavour
• Juiciness
• Consistency of product
• Detailed information about each parcel of meat

An important criteria of Meat Standards Australia is a requirement for all the participants in the supply chain from the producer, processor, wholesaler and the end user in the food service industry or retail butcher, to be licensed by MSA

• Endorsement by Mornington Peninsula Gourmet

• Future supply chains include other types of meat and poultry, fruit and vegetables, fish and allied products