Vending machines sell meals in China
New Zealand beef and lamb will sell in vending machines in China for a trial run.
New Zealand Beef + Lamb global manager Michael Wan said two Pure Box vending machines would serve ready-to-eat meals in Shanghai, with grass-fed beef and lamb as main ingredients.
The products were aimed at busy Chinese consumers, Wan said.
The meals were developed by Beef + Lamb and Shanghai chef Jamie Pea, and fused traditional Chinese ingredients and flavours with Western food trends.
The vending machines, which were marketed under Beef + Lamb’s Taste Pure Nature country of origin brand, would be placed in Shanghai’s top business districts, where time-poor consumers were known to seek convenient and healthy food options, Wan said.
Six recipes were available to choose from.
Wan said the pilot was one of the organisation’s strategic marketing initiatives designed to build awareness for New Zealand grass-fed beef and lamb in China.
The Chinese market was strategically important for the red meat sector, he said.
Chinese consumers were looking for a range of eating options that were convenient to access and consume, in addition to supermarkets and dining in restaurants, he said.
The meat was provided by Alliance Group and Silver Fern Farms.
Silver Fern Farms’ growth general manager Nicola Johnston said the trial would promote ready-to-eat red meat as a convenience food.
Johnston said the group had to think about the way products were sold and consumed to suit consumers’ varied lifestyles.
The vending machines trial would provide insights that could be applied to other brands the meat companies sold in China, she said.