Co-products

Co-products comprise a significant - but potentially much larger - proportion of the returns from animal processing.

Co-products account for approximately 11% of the value of a slaughtered animal (with skins and hides making up 6%, offal 4% and other rendered products making up the remaining 1% of the value). The remaining 89% of the value is the meat. Co-products make up approximately 62% of the weight of a slaughtered animal.

With an estimate value of $1.7 billion per annum, co-products deliver valuable returns, but have yet to be fully leveraged by the industry in Australia. In many cases, co-products offer more opportunities for innovation and profit than meat and can provide a valuable competitive edge for processing plants.

MLA Co-products Program

MLA's Co-products Program is focused on assisting industry to dispose of all meat products as high as possible up the 'value chain', to maximise the return on each carcass that is processed and to reduce the disposal costs for unused remains.

The Co-products Program has established a number of objectives. These include:

• Maintaining access to current markets and developing access to new markets through building the perception of Australia as a trusted supplier of high quality co-products.
• Developing access to new markets by exploring innovative value added product applications.
• Undertaking research and development (R&D) to maximise the opportunity to value add to the raw material base.
• Developing a university-based R&D capability for the Australian rendering industry.

Co-products Compendium

MLA's co-products program has conducted many studies relevant to animal co-products processing. The program has looked at major technical, supply chain and commercial issues around co-products and its processing including rendering in detail. This compendium is a compilation of all such research and development undertaken.

The Co-products Compendium is available to download.