Our traditional export products are winning a new generation of fans on Facebook.

Social media is playing an increasingly important role in Beef + Lamb New Zealand's international marketing programmes, as more and more tech-savvy shoppers turn online for the scoop on consumer products.

In Germany, the UK, and now Taiwan too, social networking website Facebook is enabling communities of fans to come together and tell their friends about how much they love New Zealand beef and lamb.

Crucially, the site provides a forum for consumers to share information and inspiration, as well as seek it. Fans can post recipes and pictures of dishes that they've cooked, ask questions - and answer them.

"Word of mouth has always been the best form of advertising," says Craig Finch, B+LNZ General Manager Market Development. "Facebook is just a modern way of doing that, with a growing number of champions for New Zealand beef and lamb in our key export markets."

Beef + Lamb New Zealand has consumer websites in the UK, Germany, Korea and Japan, as well as one for China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and jointly hosts another in the US.

"They're a valuable way of providing easily accessible product information that helps to boost people's preference for buying Kiwi," Finch says. "Adding Facebook to the mix only increases our reach even further."