Wholesale Sheep & Lamb Meat Suppliers
Sheep and lamb meat is a globally traded commodity with a wholesale market exceeding $40.4 billion annually. New Zealand and Australia together supply over 70% of globally traded lamb and mutton — with New Zealand's Silver Fern Farms, AFFCO, and ANZCO underpinning the premium grass-fed lamb export trade, and Australia's MLA SAFEMEAT system providing world-class traceability. Halal certification is commercially critical — the Middle East, North Africa, Southeast Asia, and Muslim communities globally drive strong demand for halal-certified lamb.
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Find wholesale lamb and sheep meat suppliers on Towobo →Lamb versus hogget versus mutton: age and weight definitions
Lamb, hogget, and mutton are distinct commercial categories with significant price and quality differences. Lamb: young sheep under 12 months of age; no permanent teeth (milk dentition = 0 teeth); typical carcass weight 16–24 kg; most tender, mild flavour, pale pink meat; highest value. Spring lamb (new season or milk-fed) carries additional premium in EU and UK markets. Hogget (also called yearling lamb): sheep with 2 permanent teeth (one tooth on each side), typically 12–24 months; intermediate in tenderness and flavour; some markets (Middle East, Australia domestic) trade hogget; EU labelling uses the term 'young mutton' or 'yearling'. Mutton: older sheep with more than 2 permanent teeth; darker meat, stronger flavour, more developed fat; lower commercial value but valued in South Asian cooking (biryani, curries) and some Middle Eastern preparations; major export destinations for mutton are Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia. Dentition grading (0, 2, 4, 6, 8 teeth) is the standard age verification method in the Southern Hemisphere trade — buyers should specify maximum tooth class in their purchase specifications.