New Zealander here: Mutton has a very strong flavour (much much stronger than lamb) and can often be very fatty, and few people eat it here: although I do have

New Zealander here: Mutton has a very strong flavour (much much stronger than lamb) and can often be very fatty, and few people eat it here: although I do have friends between 50 and 70 that like it, but they don't get it easily and maybe wouldn't buy it. I remember eating mutton last century as a child - because it was a very cheap meat. Now it isn't sold in supermarkets in NZ - and I don't recall seeing it in any butchers lately. It is very uncommon. I absolutely loved mutton ham - but that is a very uncommon specialty item. I have a mutton roast and mutton chops in the freezer - but they were from a local farmer. The only regular mutton I can think of you might see is in the South Island - Jimmy's mutton pies (Roxburgh). Or maybe at a Hangi. I saw a 20kg bucket of some very fatty meat at pak'n'save aimed at polynesians a year ago - but search came up with nothing so might not have been mutton. A quick search of mad butcher showed zero results for mutton. My guess is that the processing costs are higher than what people would buy it for so it is uneconomical. Lamb is often reasonably cheap here in NZ.