Virgin serving up beef and lamb with altitude
Air NZ’s loss has been a group of Taihape farmers’ gain after they forged a deal with Virgin Australia to supply it with meat.
The farmers are now fetching a ‘‘significant’’ premium over the regular market price for their sheep and beef, spokeswoman and director Sarah Wells said.
Last year Hinterland Foods pitched to supply Virgin’s inflight meals business after the airline capitalised on Air NZ’s support for the meatless Impossible Burger, which has been served on flights from Los Angeles to Auckland. Virgin Australia appealed to Kiwi farmers to supply it with meat for flights to Australia. ‘‘Calling all Kiwi meat producers. If you’ve got beef, we want you! It’s not impossible. It’s no bull!’’ the airline said in a cheeky riposte to the meatless burger announcement.
Hinterland Foods was one of 25 farmers or farmer groups who responded to what has proved to be ‘‘a great opportunity’’, Wells said in an address at the Central Districts Field Days in Feilding.
‘‘For many of the smaller farmers the premium is something they’ve never had as they haven’t had the numbers but collectively and being part of the Hinterland programme, it’s now possible.’’
She described the frantic process of putting together the video pitch.
Deadline was a Tuesday, leaving a rushed weekend and a Monday to put their message together. ‘‘I used to be a journalist so arranged for an old work colleague to help us shoot the video. On the Saturday it rained, and then again on Sunday. We had an idea we wanted to film a V out of sheep; we spent all of Sunday afternoon practising a V with sheep – our heading dogs were exhausted and confused by the end.
‘‘But the weather settled on Monday. ‘‘We filmed the video and on Monday night an old friend who was a news editor stayed up all night editing it, and we got it sent across to Virgin Australia late afternoon,’’ Wells said.
The response to the video, which was shown in various media, was ‘‘overwhelming’’, with fellow farmers telling her it made them proud of their profession.
‘‘But it wasn’t the quirky video or the taste test that got us over the line with Virgin Australia, it was the fact we were a community of real New Zealand farmers.’’