澳大利亞有望向中國出口袋鼠肉

Once considered pet food, kangaroo meat could soon be sold to China as a luxury product, to encourage Chinese consumers to do something few Australians will - eat it.

With a booming middle class, China's appetite for meat is expected to rise nearly 17 per cent over the next eight years, the World Trade Organization says.

Exporters do not yet have permission to sell kangaroo meat to China but recent comments by Australian officials have put the industry in a bullish mood.

"This is something that ticks a whole range of boxes," Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

"I'm going to try and look at further discussions with the Chinese because I think there is a big prospect for a market there."

Wang Jun, the owner of a small restaurant in Beijing, said he would be keen to try kangaroo.

"Why not? As long as it is delicious," Wang said.

Beef, pork and chicken are staples in China but some diners also tuck into cat, rat, dog and more exotic animals in the belief that they have medicinal qualities. Still, not everyone may be so adventurous when it comes to kangaroo.

"How could we lay our chopsticks on such cute animals?" said Liu Xinxin, a 21-year-old university student from Beijing.

Liu's comments echo sentiments in Australia that have kept the kangaroo meat industry in a state of suspended development.

A 2008 government survey showed nearly a fifth of Australians would never eat kangaroo on ethical grounds.

Others are reluctant to consume an animal that figures in the national coat of arms. Just 15.5 per cent of people eat kangaroo meat more than four times a year.

Australia is already a large supplier of red meat to China, with shipments worth A$616 million (NZ$691 million) in the 2012/13 season. The kangaroo industry hopes to jump into the action.

"It would be huge if we could get access to the Chinese market and they are certainty very interested," said Ray Borda, founder and managing director of Macro Meats, Australia's largest processor of kangaroo and wild game meat.

CHANGING THE IMAGE

Kangaroos, protected by state and federal law, are caught in the wild, not farmed. Licensed hunters make a cull of a fixed number and specific types every year.

Some of the impetus for exports follows a boom in the population of the animals after good rains last year. Drought this season in the largest cattle-producing state of Queensland has prompted farmers to demand a bigger cull as kangaroos compete with cows for grazing space.

Australian supermarkets sell kangaroo fillets for about A$20 (NZ$22) per kg, or about 30 percent to 50 percent less than beef. The kangaroo industry aims for a different story in China, by promoting it as an exclusive item, touting its health benefits as a high-protein, low-fat food.

Australia's Department of Agriculture did not reply to queries from Reuters about the status of export talks with China but the interest on both sides is clear.

John McVeigh, Queensland's agriculture minister, has just returned from China, where he talked to importers keen to start trade in kangaroo meat.

Borda and his company are readying for an opening.

Macro Meats has partnered with New Hope Group Ltd, one of China's largest agribusiness operators, and the two firms have developed a strategy to woo customers and project exclusivity by limiting supply.

"Our strategy will see us place kangaroo only in high-end butchers, not in supermarkets," Borda said. "If the market was to open tomorrow, we would enter without much fanfare."曾被當做寵物食品的袋鼠肉不久將做爲高檔產品向中國出售，以此鼓勵中國的消費者們做點很少澳大利亞人敢做的事情，那就是吃袋鼠肉。

世貿組織稱，隨着中國中產階級的崛起，今後8年，中國對肉類的需求將增加近17個百分點。

出口商仍未獲得向中國出售袋鼠肉的批准，但近期澳大利亞官員的評論已經將袋鼠肉產業推向了高潮。

澳大利亞農業部長巴娜碧·喬伊斯告訴澳大利亞廣播公司時說：“這是一個能帶動一系列產業的事情。

“我打算嘗試和中國方面對此繼續討論，因爲我想這將會有廣闊的市場前景。”

王軍（音譯）是北京一家小餐館的店主，他稱渴望嘗試袋鼠肉。

他說：“只要味道鮮美，爲什麼不能嘗試呢？”

在中國，牛肉、豬肉和雞肉是主要肉類，但一些食客也會大吃特吃貓肉、老鼠肉、狗肉以及其他一些野味，這些人相信吃這些東西能夠進補。然而，當談到吃袋鼠肉的時候，不是所有的人都敢冒這個險。

劉欣欣（音譯）是來自北京的一位21歲的大學生，她說：“我們怎麼能吃這種可愛的動物呢？”

劉的言論在澳大利亞得到了情感呼應，這種情感導致了袋鼠肉產業處於懸而未決的狀態。

2008年政府的調查顯示，澳大利亞有近五分之一的人表示出於良心的考慮絕不會吃袋鼠肉。

另外一些人則不情願吃在國家徽章上都有圖形的動物，僅有15.5%的澳大利亞人一年吃袋鼠肉的次數超過4次。

澳大利亞已經是中國紅肉的大供應國，2012到2013年間，紅肉貨運量價值達到了6.16億澳元（6.91億新西蘭元），袋鼠肉產業正有待加入紅肉出口這一行列。

Macro Meats是澳大利亞最大的袋鼠肉及其他野味加工企業，它的創始人兼管理總監雷·博德說：“如果我們能走進中國市場，那將是巨大的，中國人當然也會非常感興趣。”

改變形象

受國家及聯邦法律保護的袋鼠生活在野外，而不是被圈養的。持有捕殺執照的狩獵者每年依據一定的數量和類別宰殺一批袋鼠。

澳大利亞去年雨水充沛，袋鼠數量因此驟增，這也是推動出口袋鼠肉到中國的原因之一。昆士蘭是澳大利亞最大的養牛地區，受這個季節的乾旱影響，當地的農民們要求政府增大對袋鼠的宰殺量，因爲過多的袋鼠會和奶牛爭奪牧草。

袋鼠肉排在澳大利亞超市的售價爲每公斤20澳元（22新西蘭元），這比牛肉的價格要低30%到50%。而袋鼠肉產業商們想在中國書寫的卻是另外一個銷售版本，促銷袋鼠肉爲獨一無二的產品，叫賣袋鼠肉是高蛋白、低脂肪的健康食材。

澳大利亞農業部並沒有回答路透社有關袋鼠肉出口中國會談進程的提問，但中澳雙方對此的興趣是明確的。

昆士蘭農業部長約翰·麥克維不久前結束了對中國的訪問，在中國約翰與中方急盼開始袋鼠肉貿易的中方進口商們舉行了會談。

博德與他的公司已經準備好等待貿易的正式開始。

Macro Meat公司已經與中國最大的農業綜合企業新希望集團有限公司建立了夥伴關係，這兩家公司業已設計出了袋鼠肉銷售戰略，通過限量供應確保獨家加工和銷售。

博德說：“我們的戰略就是確保袋鼠肉只出現在高端肉品供應店，而不是在超市裏，如果袋鼠肉市場明天就開放，我們即能順利平靜進入。”