eve
Aug 11th, 2005, 08:31 AM
(following from the Moscow Times)
Russia last year imported more kangaroo meat than any other country in the world, but it's not clear whether those who ate it knew the meat on their plate began life skipping around in the Australian outback. Of the $11 million worth of kangaroo meat exported from Australia to Russia in 2004, the majority was sold in Russia's Far East for sausage making, said Nina Mitropolskaya, senior business development manager at the Australian Embassy's trade department in Moscow.
But representatives of the meat industry in the Far East suggested that those eating the sausages might not know that they contain kangaroo meat. The low-grade kangaroo meat used in the sausages is in a different class from the high-quality prime cuts that reach Moscow's pricier restaurants via Europe. The high-grade cuts are served as lean, nutritious red-meat delicacies, typically with less than 2 percent fat and high in protein and iron.
But it seems that supplies from Australia had become harder to obtain, and the savings over beef, once 25 percent, have disappeared in the past year. According to John Kelly, executive officer of the Kangaroo Industry Association of Australia, prices of kangaroo meat have gone up by 30 percent in the past year, due to increased demand for both high- and low-quality cuts. He said that while Russia was the largest importer of kangaroo meat by volume, the country did not import any of the prime cuts directly, as the higher-quality meat is imported from Europe. Low-grade meat is sometimes used in pet food in Australia, currently costs approximately 3 Australian dollars per kilogram, Kelly said. :confused:
Russia last year imported more kangaroo meat than any other country in the world, but it's not clear whether those who ate it knew the meat on their plate began life skipping around in the Australian outback. Of the $11 million worth of kangaroo meat exported from Australia to Russia in 2004, the majority was sold in Russia's Far East for sausage making, said Nina Mitropolskaya, senior business development manager at the Australian Embassy's trade department in Moscow.
But representatives of the meat industry in the Far East suggested that those eating the sausages might not know that they contain kangaroo meat. The low-grade kangaroo meat used in the sausages is in a different class from the high-quality prime cuts that reach Moscow's pricier restaurants via Europe. The high-grade cuts are served as lean, nutritious red-meat delicacies, typically with less than 2 percent fat and high in protein and iron.
But it seems that supplies from Australia had become harder to obtain, and the savings over beef, once 25 percent, have disappeared in the past year. According to John Kelly, executive officer of the Kangaroo Industry Association of Australia, prices of kangaroo meat have gone up by 30 percent in the past year, due to increased demand for both high- and low-quality cuts. He said that while Russia was the largest importer of kangaroo meat by volume, the country did not import any of the prime cuts directly, as the higher-quality meat is imported from Europe. Low-grade meat is sometimes used in pet food in Australia, currently costs approximately 3 Australian dollars per kilogram, Kelly said. :confused: