The date is the anniversary of when the first shipment of frozen lamb, prepared using pioneering technology at North Otago's Totara Estate, landed in London on the ship Dunedin in 1882.
That was the beginning of the export trade that forged New Zealand's reputation for growing some of the world's finest primary produce.
Totara Estate's role was filmed on May 6 for Beef + Lamb New Zealand's ''Lamb and 3 Veg'' tour to promote the succulent meat treat.
A crew from Auckland arrived with a giant lamb chop, which was filmed with several of the Totara Estate volunteers in their historic character costumes.
The original slaughterhouse was shown in the background. It and other colonial farm buildings are opened to the public by Heritage New Zealand, which now owns the site just south of Oamaru alongside State Highway 1.
