Criticism of the loss of hundreds of small abattoirs and their replacement by giant slaughterhouses in the UK is put into perspective by record throughput at New Zealand exporter Alliance Group's flagship plant at Lorneville. Lorneville, (where The Grocer's present meat editor once worked), has killed more than three million sheep and lambs since October. This single season tally has been reached only once before by a NZ plant ­ Lorneville did it last time back in the '80s. The entire UK's sheepmeat kill was only slightly over three million in January-March. Yet economies of scale do not guarantee fat margins for NZ processors. Affco, which serves UK sheepmeat and beef customers through New Zealand Farmers, owned jointly with Alliance, announced half-year profit down 90% to £220,000 on sales of £160m. {{M/E MEAT }}