Improved Kangaroo meat recovery and value creation from commercial processing

The challenge 

Australia’s commercial kangaroo industry is considered one of the best wild harvest operations in the world (1) (Department of Agriculture, 2023), helping to maintain ecologically sustainable kangaroo populations under strict compliance with an Australian Standard (AS4464-2007) and a National Code of Practice. Annually, around 1.1-1.3 million animals are commercially harvested (2), equating to approximately 30,000 tonnes of kangaroo meat (valued at more than $200 million per annum(3)).  

Primal meat cuts for human consumption provide the highest unit price on the carcass, with the reaming predominantly used in processing/manufacturing of meat for human consumption and in pet foods. After primal cuts are removed, mechanical deboning equipment is used by some commercial kangaroo meat processors to recover around 50% of the remaining protein from the kangaroo bones. Currently, most of this recovered protein is used in pet food, estimated to equate to around  3,000 tonnes per annum nationally. 

To maximise the value from the sustainable commercial harvest of kangaroos there is a need to improve the protein recovery, recovered protein quality, and economic returns through improved deboning practices and valorisation activities.  

Our plan 

South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI), in collaboration with Macro Meats – Gourmet Game Pty Ltd, AgriFutures Australia, and End Food Waste Australia CRC will assess, critically investigate and provide recommendations as to how the waste from existing commercial kangaroo meat processing can be recovered and better utilised for human consumption through transformative activities. 

The key outcomes from this project are: 

1. Increased yields and quality of commercial kangaroo meat-deboning operations
2. Development of new food products from the increased yields realised in outcome 1.
3. Growth of kangaroo meat market and an appetite for a greater percent of existing quotas to be commercially harvested.

This project offers a solution to leverage know-how and technology from red meat and international game industries and adapt technology to the kangaroo meat industry to improve protein quality and recovery in mechanically deboned meat. The new product developments will help realise the value from this increased recovery – there is also an opportunity for a greater percent of allocated quotas to be commercially harvested. 

References 

*See Footnote 

1 https://www.agriculture.gov.au/biosecurity-trade/export/controlled-goods/kangaroo 

2 https://www.dcceew.gov.au/environment/wildlife-trade/natives#sustainable-harvest-of-australian-native-wildlife 

3  https://awgic.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/KIAA_Factsheet_Valuable_0221.pdf