Introducing Our UK Aussie Beef Mates and Lambassadors

Introducing Our UK Aussie Beef Mates and Lambassadors

The Aussie Beef Mate and Lambassador initiatives are global projects that identify influential food professionals who are passionate about cooking with Australian beef and lamb. The selected industry leaders partner with Meat & Livestock Australia on a voluntary basis and work together to raise awareness of Australian beef and lamb around the world.

You can learn more about the initiatives and the Aussie Meat Academy here.

Introducing our UK Aussie Beef Mates

Ioannis Grammenos, Roy Ner and Dan Espley are our three Aussie Beef Mates. All are passionate about the quality and consistency of Australian beef.

Ioannis Grammenos Executive Chef & Meatologist™ is a multi-award-winning chef with a long history of teaching classes designed to educate meat enthusiasts on butchery and steak cooking.

Roy Ner is the Executive Chef at Jeru in Mayfair. Having established his career in Sydney, Roy has an exciting flair for creating new and innovate recipes with beef.

Aussie butcher Dan Espley, has spent his entire career selecting the finest beef for his clients. With Provenance Village Butchers, Dan shares his passion for high quality produce with his customers in west London.

Introducing our UK Aussie Lambassadors

Abdul Yaseen is probably the UK’s most decorated Muslim chef, with decades worth of experience in the restaurant industry. He was part of the founding team of the iconic London restaurant, the Cinnamon Club, as well as Cinnamon Kitchen, and Anise.

Since childhood, Kate Walker, has travelled the world gaining a love for global cuisines and flavours. Kate has spent 10 years in FMCG product development, using her passion for global food trends to develop products that deliver exciting new taste sensations.

Fran Martinez a varied, international career, including renowned restaurant, El Bulli and Agua, Best International Restaurant in China. Now at Fazenda he brings the essence of churrasco dining to a UK audience.

To equipe our Aussie Beef Mates and Lambassadors, Aussie Beef and Lamb invited the chefs for an immersion day to learn about Australian beef and lamb. The chefs spent the day at Food Innovations Solutions development kitchen in London. They learnt about Australian beef and lamb, the latest UK food trends and, of course, sampled some exciting new recipes made with Aussie Beef and Lamb.

Australian Beef and Lamb in the UK

A year on from the Australia / UK Free Trade Agreement our Aussie Beef Mates and Lambassadors learnt that total Australian beef exports to the UK from Australia have increased by 415%. Total UK imports of sheep from Australia have increased by 85%. The volume includes Australian halal beef and halal lamb which is proving popular in UK foodservice.

Lamb sustainability and beef sustainability are perfectly matched with Australia’s diverse climate. The chefs learned that the Australian red meat industry has a target to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. The Australian red meat industry is on the way to the CN30 (Carbon Neutral 2030) goal with a 78.6% reduction in net carbon emissions in beef and sheepmeat since 2005.

Australian beef cattle and Australian sheep have wide open spaces to roam on natural pastures and can be grass fed year-round. The natural environment along with world-leading farm assurance standards mean that Aussie Beef and Lamb is consistently high quality.

Which beef steak is the best?

The best beef steak in the world is Australian wagyu - as voted by the judging panel at the 2023 World Steak Challenge. Aussie beef cattle spend most of their lives freely grazing on grasses and pasture. For beef marbling and consistent eating quality, beef cattle are finished on special grain feeding mixes developed by expert animal nutritionists.

Australian beef in the UK also benefits from the wet aging process during the journey from Australia. The special vacuum seal bags used to pack the beef can achieve shelf life up to 140 days, helping the aging process. Beef aging is a natural process that involves storing beef in a temperature-controlled environment that improves flavour and tenderness.

Beef and Lamb Recipe Innovation

Australian BBQ is a popular and delicious way to serve Aussie Beef & Lamb at home and in top restaurants. Its versatility, from tender Angus ribeye steak, very lightly seared in Tataki Beef to a cheaper cut like beef featherblade slowly braised mean Aussie Beef & Lamb is a popular choice for chefs developing new recipes.

Our immersion day included new UK food trends and exciting new dishes featuring Aussie Beef & Lamb.

New Greek restaurants and supermarket ranges signal a reinvention of Greek food. Low and slow cooked lamb has a strong tradition in Greek food. Our chefs sampled grassfed Aussie Slow Roasted Lamb Shoulder, prepared bone-in to deliver a tender and flavoursome dish. Served with spiced potatoes and a Greek butterbean & feta salad, the dish was a mouthwatering blend of traditional Greek flavours like lamb, oregano and feta.

Filipino food is an exciting new flavour trend as people explore new Southeast Asian tastes. Our chefs sampled a Filipino Bistek with tomato and mango salad. This dish matched lightly seared grainfed Aussie beef rump with fresh and zingy calamansi lime.

An Australian meat pie is as traditional as the Aussie BBQ. Our chefs experienced a modern twist with a Smoked Beef, Cheese & Candied Jalapeno Pie. Aussie F1 Wagyu featherblade beef produced flat iron steaks which are very tender and juicy. Candied Jalapeno provided the sweet and spicy twist.

Who said beef wasn’t for dessert? Our chefs ended their gastronomic journey with beef tallow caramel chocolate, demonstrating how versatile Aussie Beef and Lamb can be.

Follow Our Aussie Beef Mates and Lambassadors

Our chefs are eager to share all their knowledge and passion for Aussie Beef and Lamb. You can follow their adventures and keep up to date with all the Aussie Beef and Lamb news on Instagram.

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