The lamb branding company which aims to source 40,000 head of high quality lamb off Tasmanian producers in its first year – to be sold to high end retailers in North America, Singapore and Hong Kong – got underway just under a year ago when Mark Suttie, former marketing manager of The Merino Company shared coffee with a number of Roberts Limited, Tasmania staff.

And just last week they launched the brand to producers across the state and began signing up members with hopes of getting the branded product to retailers in the next two months.

While Tasmanian lamb ticked all the right boxes in regards to traceability, was hormone and antibiotics free, sustainably produced and sold at a premium rate, Chris Taylor, general manager livestock, Roberts Limited, remembered discussing how they could ensure the premium was passed back to the producer.

With the help of Mr Suttie, who saw the opportunity “to do the same thing we were doing in wool with meat”, SILCO was launched.

“Where I see there’s a commodity style market where producers aren’t necessarily getting the full reward, there’s an opportunity to create a brand and supply chain from producer through to final customer,” Mr Suttie said.

Through targeting a high-end customer – the top 15 per cent in terms of premium retailers, restaurants and food service outlets – SILCO will provide the producer with long-term stability and better pricing for their lamb, Mr Suttie said.

“If we’re able to show the producers involved that they’ll have consistent demand the real benefit for them is they get to pick a price and delivery window and supply against that.

“If they can get consistent pricing when they wish to supply, that will give them all the encouragement they need to boost their lamb production.”

And far from deterred by the current economic slowdown and surge in fast-food sales, Mr Suttie said if anything, “we’ve seen demand increase for good quality lamb rather than decrease”.

In October Mr Suttie took the brand to various retailers and returned with a very positive result.

Combined, the SILCO producer partners will own 40 per cent of the business, making producers as a group the largest shareholders, with Roberts and Ruralco owning 25pc.

Lamb sold under the brand must adhere to a number of quality specifications including consistency and traceability.