Cheek meat and Halal co-products reach record prices in Australia

Cheek meat has been one of the co-products that has been consistently hitting records since July. In September, prices jumped another 23% month-on-month to $13.50/kg. This product is mostly exported to South Korea and Japan, but has been gaining popularity on the domestic market as well. In August, beef lips hit their second highest price. This month, prices have softened 7% to $4.60/kg. Most of these products are exported to Indonesia but demand in the USA and Mexico has seen prices hold steady for some time. Noticeable premiums are awarded to Halal co-products on the market. In September, Halal omasum fetched a 20% premium over non-Halal omasum. The Halal omasum prices has also increased 53% year-on-year, while non-Halal omasum has only increased 12%. Evidently, demand for Halal products in Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt are putting pricing pressures on these co-products. Some of the higher value co-products are bringing in significant additional profit ...