Branded beef embraced at home and away

But they have also proved popular for producers looking for a better price, and feedback on what they can do to improve what they produce.

For food outlets it allows them to provide customers with a product they can enjoy while knowing it's either grassfed, grainfed, from a particular region, ethically produced, chemical and hormone free, and from a particular breed.

For retailers it allows them to charge a price which can be backed with the reputation of that brand.

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For consumers the appeal of a branded product ranges from a sense of well being they get when buying something that's been produced in line with their ethical beliefs or social circles and expectations.

That's led to one of Australia's oldest cattle producers the North Australian Pastoral Company to launch Five Founders Beef, which is marketed as Australia's first carbon neutral beef.

NAPCo chief executive officer Phil Cummins said carbon neutrality was aimed at meeting the desires of the modern consumer.

"We studied the market and quickly realised that people increasingly want produce that not only delivers the highest quality eating experience but respects their affinity for environmental and animal care," Mr Cummins said.

"Consumers are more environmentally conscious than ever and this is especially the case among younger generations such as millennials, who want confidence they are buying sustainable products."

The five founders brand is stocked by Melbourne meat wholesaler Flinders and Co who have started selling all its products as carbon neutral.

The company provides branded beef, lamb, pork and poultry to high end restaurants and food outlets across Melbourne, and last December it started marketing all its products as carbon neutral, using offsets purchased to neutralise emissions.

Chief Executive James Madden Madden said their target market are millennials, and it's a group he understands.

"I am a millennial, so I naturally get it," he said.

"They have a good disposable income, they are young, professional, they have the affluence to be able to buy based on their beliefs and they follow brands and businesses that they believe in."

But Mr Madden said you can't take them lightly.

"You can't make a claim, or make a statement, and not follow it up," he said.

Each week Finders and Co provides up to 13 tonnes of branded meat products to restaurants around Melbourne, sourced from processors around Australia.

In recognition of the efforts of companies like NAPCO, Flinders and Co will start paying a premium for products that are provided to them as carbon neutral.

Australia's meat processors big and small have embraced the branding trend.

Some are tied with a breed like Aberdeen Black and Thousand Guinea Shorthorn.

Others to a particular region like King Island Beef, 36 South and Milly Hill Lamb.

For breeders having your own label can mean a marketing premium, but not without plenty of work to achieve it.

Graham Truscott is the former chief executive of both the Angus and Wagyu associations of Australia, which are both market leaders in the premium end of branded beef.

He told the World Shorthorn Conference this year you have to be honest about what your are trying to achieve.

"A breed is simply a set of genetics with particular attributes," he said.

"A beef breed is no different to any other product looking to enter the market and achieve market buy in. It's just a product."

"To own and dominate a market requires competitive advantage, you have to be able to compete."

Mr Truscott said it was defining exactly what they wanted that helped Angus gain the highest recognition of any breed of cattle in Australia.

"We asked ourselves the questions, what is Angus?" he said.

"So we defined Angus as fine quality beef, and we pushed that mantra like crazy."

For producers being a supplier for a branded product also means you can be paid extra, if you meet the standards demanded.

The specifications for animal type, age, condition, treatments are strict, and with consumers and retailers demanding more information about the product they're paying a premium price for they checks and balances are getting more stringent.

For all parts of the red meat food chain traceability's a requirement, not an option.

In October JBS announced a blockchain based traceability system for its King Island Beef brand.

The chief operating officer for JBS Southern Sam McConnell said the program will follow the journey from paddock to plate.

"It's been 12 months in the making and will be part of a larger blockchain scheme being implemented by JBS, he said.

"The King Island Beef brand is all about where is comes from so there is no more appropriate brand for us to launch this system with than it."

But the information a producer receives as part of a branded beef program can be used to assist in herd and flock improvement.

Shorthorn Beef Australia has begun a collaboration with International Genetic Solutions, and will provide genetic information to be used in multi-breed evaluations.

The aim is to identify the best genetics to produce the best Shorthorns and president Matt Ashby said their contribution is backed by the data and feedback which flows from animals processed as part of the JBS Thousand Guineas Shorthorn brand.

"The data that we're getting out of those animals we can link back to top sires," he said.

"We've got all this information they're giving us out of the kill data, and this is a way to be able to use that and link it back."

Another benefit for Shorthorn producers is that having their own brand has allowed them to show the food industry it has something premium to offer.

"It's really reinvigorated the Shorthorn breed Australia wide," Mr Ashby said.

"The feedback that we're getting from consumers is all positive so we that as a huge benefit."

The link between branded beef products, from producer to consumer is Meat Standards Australia.

Being able to comply with those standards means producers like Linda, Gary and Joe Nankervis from Corryong in northern Victoria are part of the JBS' Pinnacle Beef and farm assurance program.

The Nankervis' run a 300 head self replacing Angus herd, feeding steers and heifers out to 600kg at around two years of age.

This year their efforts meant they were the winners of the 2019 MSA Excellence in Eating Quality Progress Award for Victoria.

"In the end, as with any business, it's about profit margins and we are paid more for animals that comply with buyer requirements," said Gary Nankervis.

"The industry standards are MSA and the processors we supply use MSA as a standard to base their requirements on."

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