The launch of NZ-raised carbon zero beef has been marked in New York this week.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was on hand to celebrate Silver Fern Farms’ Net Carbon Zero By Nature 100% Grass-Fed Angus Beef, which has been available in the market since last month.
The function was held at the Kimpton Hotel Eventi rooftop in Chelsea and the Prime Minister was joined by the visiting NZ trade mission, SFF’s US customers and in-market partners and New York and US national media.
SFF chief executive Simon Limmer says partnerships between consumers and farmers through products like net carbon zero beef were essential to address climate and environmental challenges as it incentivised environmentally sensitive food production.
“We see the transition to a low carbon economy as an important opportunity to create new forms of value for NZ and position our farmers as climate innovators.”
Net carbon zero beef was the result of two years working alongside a group of SFF farmer-suppliers to determine their carbon footprints and the opportunities to optimise the carbon stored on their farms.
The product is fully certified as nert carbon zero by NZ environmental verification body Toitū Envirocare and has USDA approval.
“What’s unique about our net carbon zero beef is that the certification is achieved by what our farmers do on their own farms to balance-out emissions, rather than by simply purchasing carbon offsets as is the case for many other carbon zero products,” Limmer says.
