World Select Cuts has launched its line of hand-crafted, premium deli meats featuring free-range, pasture-raised Australian lamb: Aussie Select.
Artisan butchers draw on centuries of tradition and expert craftsmanship to produce specialty meats that command attention for being decidedly different and noticeably better. Aussie Select starts by sourcing Australian lamb that is naturally lean and tender and raised with the greatest of care. In fact, care for animals and the environment is at the heart of the Australian farming industry and what makes Aussie lamb so special.
American consumers recognize that the provenance of Australian lamb is a marker of quality, extending from the paddock to the plate. With lamb making a strong showing on menus nationwide and becoming a more familiar protein in American homes, it’s an optimal time to source a premium deli meat featuring all-natural Aussie lamb.
The Aussie Select product line-up offers bold flavors and currently includes:
Agave Rosemary Lamb Ham: 100 percent pure agave syrup and fragrant fresh rosemary with subtle notes of nutmeg, fennel and garlic;
Lamb Pastrami: Seasoned with traditional deli flavors like coarse ground black pepper, coriander and brown sugar, then smoked with hickory and mesquite, yielding a pleasant peppercorn bite with a tender texture; and
Tikka Masala Lamb Ham: Warm toasted flavors of classic Indian Masala spices, balancing cumin, cardamom, coriander, cinnamon, cloves and nutmegs in a robust rub.
Each product is fully cooked, free of artificial ingredients, flavors or colors and Halal-certified. They are available in 3-lb. ready-to-slice portions or pre-sliced packages.
Retail Readiness
When sampled with consumers, the products fulfilled expectations extremely or very well (86 percent). Despite lamb not being part of most consumer meal rotations (27 percent eat it once a month or more), purchase interest of the concept is quite high, with 89 percent saying they “probably would buy” and more than one-third reporting that they “definitely would buy” (39 percent).
Aussie Select lamb products are well-positioned to help retailers drive sales, answering the demands of modern consumers:
- As concerns around health and wellness, sustainability and transparency continue to dominate, shoppers are showing interest in deli products that are clean-label and non-GMO. They are drawn to a brand’s farm-to-fork story. Aussie Select delivers, offering pure products born of their pure environment;
- With the general population skewing younger and more multi-cultural, ethnic cuisine has become a staple, especially among Millennials. The bold, trend-forward flavors of Aussie Select products promise to take taste buds on a global journey;
- Consumers value variety of experience. Innovative curation of the meat case can drive incremental sales. Lamb deli meats from Aussie Select offer the differentiation that attracts discerning consumers; and
- Lives are busier and more hectic than ever and there is no slowing the desire for products that provide maximum convenience, without sacrificing taste or quality. Today’s consumers may be time-constrained, but they are still open to experimentation. To date, lamb has been sold fresh or frozen, with research suggesting that these are barriers to home cooks with little time and little preparation confidence. As a ready-to-eat product line, Aussie Select offers flavorful, exciting choices.
Aussie Select is the only ready-to-eat lamb on the retail market. With a commitment to sustainability, the Aussie Select line tells a compelling story of lamb raised on wide-open pastures, naturally fed and given no artificial additives or hormone growth promotants. Our farmers have been responsibly raising lamb for generations.
Aussie Select, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, is also launching these items in foodservice. As chefs across the country introduce our premium lamb deli products onto their menus— on charcuterie boards, atop flatbreads, in breakfast sandwiches, and more—awareness and excitement will go up, and consumers will seek these products out at their grocery stores.
