Frans Poels, Frigo NV, Antwerpen, Belgium, has been a valued client of WAMMCO for 30 years.

Frigo is a family-owned company that has been involved in the meat industry for seven generations.

It buys premium WAMMCO cuts from WA and distributes them exclusively throughout Belgium, Holland, Luxemburg, Germany, France, Spain, England and Denmark.

On a flying trip to New Zealand and Australia, Frans travelled to Katanning to meet with lamb producers and also widen his perspective of the WA lamb industry.

He also took to the floor in an impromptu bid to answer some WAMMCO shareholder questions at the forum.

"WA has the best quality lamb," said Mr Poels.

"Our largest customer who belongs to the top three retailers in Belgium does blind tastings and eight or nine people out of 10 will pick WAMMCO lamb as the best, but at the moment we just can't fill the quota."

Mr Poels said WA lamb was now in strong competition with New Zealand lamb to supply the European market.

"Unfortunately Australia just doesn't have enough of the European quota otherwise we could potentially buy more," he said.

"Sadly you have to compete with the Kiwis and in the end the European consumer has to decide where they buy and who they buy from.

"At the moment their prices are cheaper than Australian product."

Mr Poels explained that lamb consumption had decreased in Belgium because of its high price and the European population now ate more beef, pork and poultry than ever before.

"Lamb is the most expensive protein and because of the global recession and poor economy, consumers in Belgium can't afford to eat lamb as regularly as they would like.

"It becomes an exclusivity."

Mr Poels explained that the slowing demand for lamb in Europe meant that steady supplies have dropped and produced a flow-on effect right back to the farmgate.