This year, National Lamb Day will be moved to the 15th of February - the date the Dunedin left Port Chalmers for London in 1882. Our hope is to establish National Lamb Day as an annual celebration of all New Zealand food and those who produce it, recognising the symbolic date on which the first export of lamb was the catalyst for the food industry as we know it today. 

 
 
 
 

The history

 
 
 

National Lamb Day celebrates the genesis of our world famous food industry. The 1882 shipment was organised by two entrepreneurs, William Davidson and Thomas Brydone and left New Zealand on February 15th from Port Chalmers, Otago. William Davidson was a British-based general manager of the New Zealand and Australian Land Company, whose landholdings in the two countries exceeded 1 million hectares. Davidson had taken an interest in refrigerated experiments, which had proved the concept, if not yet the economic viability, of shipping frozen meat around the globe. That historic journey of around 5,000 carcasses was the beginning of what is now a multi billion dollar industry. New Zealand farmers produce some of the best lamb and the rest of the world just can’t get enough.

 
 
 
 

LET’S CELEBRATE

 
 

You can find all you need to know about New Zealand lamb below, including delicious recipes, cooking tips, where to buy lamb, and much more! We also don’t eat lamb on its own, so we want to take an opportunity to celebrate the amazing producers across Aotearoa who are putting out world-beating food. Check out the recipes below to see some of our favourite food pairing for lamb!

 
 
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NATIONAL LAMB DAY

FARMER’S COLLECTIVE

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NATIONAL LAMB DAY

LAMB RECIPES

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NATIONAL LAMB DAY

WHERE TO BUY

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NATIONAL LAMB DAY

LAMB CUTS

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NATIONAL LAMB DAY

chef recipes

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the best lamb recipes

 

NATIONAL LAMB DAY STORIES

NATIONAL LAMB DAY BLOGS

 
 
Featured
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Easy lamb recipes from our favourite chefs
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