Become a Quality Mark Member
The New Zealand Beef and Lamb Quality Mark has been the gold standard for beef and lamb at retail since 1997. It tells your customers that what's in their trolley is New Zealand grown, consistently tender, free of hormone growth promotants, and produced under the highest animal welfare and food safety standards — backed by independent auditing.
If you'd like to become a Quality Mark licence holder and access our exclusive QM labels, here's what's involved and how to get started.
What the Quality Mark stands for
When your customers see the Quality Mark, they know the beef and lamb they're buying meets the highest standards across every aspect of production:
New Zealand grown
Free range
Consistently tender
Free of Hormone Growth Promotants (HGPs)
Processed under the highest animal welfare standards
Meets the highest standards of food safety
As a Quality Mark retailer, you're part of a programme that runs from the farm gate all the way to the meat counter — and your customers can trust every step of that journey.
What's involved in holding the Quality Mark?
Becoming a Quality Mark licence holder means committing to a set of standards that protect the integrity of the mark and the confidence your customers place in it. In practice this means:
Product standards — all beef and lamb bearing the Quality Mark must be sourced from New Zealand animals, processed in licensed and approved plants, and free from growth promotants and TB reactors.
Handling and storage — fresh meat stored and displayed within the correct temperature ranges, frozen meat managed to strict cold chain requirements, and all product trimmed to a maximum of 5mm external fat. Mince must contain less than 10% fat.
Traceability — all Quality Mark product must be clearly identifiable and traceable back to the approved processor, and kept separate from any non-approved product on your premises.
Premises — Quality Mark retailers do not engage in home kills and do not have uninspected meat present on the premises at any time.
Staff training — staff involved in the preparation and presentation of Quality Mark product must hold, at minimum, the Food Safety Certificate (unit 167), with supervisory staff also holding unit 168 or equivalent.
Auditing — as a licence holder you'll be audited up to twice a year to ensure standards are being maintained, with tenderness also checked at point of sale. We ask that you cooperate with any spot audits carried out by BLNZ Inc. or its appointed agents.
How to apply
Getting started is straightforward. Just read the Quality Mark Retailer Manual and then complete our Quality Mark Commitment Form confirming your compliance with the programme standards.
Once your form has been received and reviewed by our team we'll be in touch to get you set up as a licence holder. Then you'll be able to access our exclusive Quality Mark labels right here in the store.
Questions?
If you're not sure whether the Quality Mark is right for your store, or you'd like to talk it through before applying, we'd love to hear from you.
📧 enquiries@beeflambnz.co.nz
📞 09 489 7119