A branded lamb product from Gundagai Meat Processors has landed a spot on the menus of an Australian burger chain.
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Gundagai Lamb has been featured on the newly released summer menu at Grill'd, with two different lamb burgers using premium GLQ5+ patties.
It comes only a year after the company launched its custom GLQ score grading system, and two and a half years after Gundagai Lamb's world-first lamb grid began providing premiums for intramuscular fat, lean meat yield and weight.
Gundagai Lamb CEO Will Barton said it was a landmark moment for the brand and highlighted just how much growth there had been in the space of three years.
"It's a real red letter day for us and it's the culmination of many years of work," he said.
"Essentially it's validation for us of the brand thesis really, about being better, cleaner and fairer.
"This really cements market recognition of those tenets being a valid proposition."
Mr Barton said this opportunity would hopefully raise consumer awareness of the brand.
"I can't think of another Australian lamb brand that has faced such a large audience," he said.
"It's pretty common for lamb brands to end up in high end restaurants and that's certainly been our experience to date but having a high-end burger restaurant like Grill'd take it up really validates that premium quality offering.
"One of the things that excited us about Grill'd is that over their nearly 20 year history they've had some really longstanding partnerships with different suppliers in their restaurant chain and our intention is to become one of those long-term suppliers.
"We think there's a lot of synergies between the two brands and we're fans of their story and want to become part of that story. "
Grill'd head of strategic sourcing Zoran Ristov said the company had always believed in offering the highest provenance and working directly with farmers.
"We're pretty proud to have lamb on our menu, we've had it since our inception in 2004," he said.
"In March we'll be 20 years old and the Baa Baa burger which is still on our menu was one of the first burgers on the menu.
"It's been a long journey and lamb continues to thrive on our menu.
"We're always looking at getting it more consistent because lamb can fluctuate throughout the year in regards to quality... in talking to Will, he was telling us about the technology they use and we were really excited to bring a more consistent product to consumers.
Mr Ristov said they began talking to Mr Barton around 2021 but the COVID-19 pandemic worker shortages put pause on the plans.
"It's all about timing and being patient, but it's now on the menu and getting really good feedback, which is really exciting for all of us," he said.