Grass-fed lamb meets market for Coles

Coles is extending their Graze program to include grass-fed lamb sourced from Tasmanian producers.

Tasmanian lamb producer Scott Colvin is supplying exclusively to Coles' new GRAZE grass-fed lamb range. February 3, 2020.

COLES is extending its grass-fed range to include lamb from Tasmanian producers as part of its Graze program.

Launched last month, the program will see 40 Tasmanian lamb producers supply the first ever grass-fed branded lamb to 800 Coles supermarkets nationally.

The supermarket giant is expecting to buy about 100,000 lambs in the first year of the program, with sales to determine any increase in supply. Coles sells more than 20 million kilograms of lamb a year.

Coles general manager for meat Charlotte Gilbert said extending the Graze program to supply grass-fed lamb was a natural progression after the success of the Graze beef program, first developed in 2014.

“For consumers, there are so many benefits to grass-fed lamb,” Ms Gilbert said.

“We believe the flavour is superior. It is also higher in omega 3 content and sought after by chefs for its beautiful, natural taste.

“Insights are telling us 80 per cent of our customers want to know the animals they’re consuming are raised and fed naturally, and our model is about buying the whole animal and using it all.”

The decision to source from Tasmania was influenced by the cooler climate and high rainfall in that state, which favours pasture-based production systems.

Tasmanian lamb producer Scott Colvin has been supplying lamb to Coles for four years and will continue to do so under the Graze program.

Last season he produced 13,000 lambs supplied solely to Coles, 6000 of which they bred themselves from 4000 breeding ewes.

They buy the rest from other breeders to finish and turn off as 23kg carcasses.

Mr Colvin said there had been “not a lot of change from the production end” as they had “never finished (their) lambs on grain”.

But the certification from the grass-fed branding has meant their product has added appeal in store.

“I think the consumers possibly don’t always realise what the product is. It’s nice to have that premium product recognised,” he said.

“For me it gives the guarantee that Coles are going to keep buying from Tasmania and it’s providing us with a guaranteed market for our stock.”