Meat firm adds value for success

By ELLEN READ

Add value and create jobs - that's the Government's economic development mantra.

A small Hamilton company is practising what the Beehive preaches and it's definitely paying off.

Aria Farm, owned by Anna and Erik Arndt, is a meat producer with a difference. The firm takes the basic primary product and adds know-how to create a premium product for sale in supermarkets.

The process has helped Aria grow into a profitable small business and has provided a dozen jobs for the local community.

The company was started in 1997 by the couple, who wanted to produce a healthy, convenience food using beef and lamb.

The Arndts sold their farm at Aria, south of Te Kuiti, and moved to Hamilton, where Erik rented space at the Ruakura Research Centre.

Two years of hard work produced beef and lamb chips, formed using a seaweed extract but containing over 97 per cent meat. They were launched in 1999.

Pork, chicken and vege chips followed.

"We have three children so we're busy but we still wanted to be able to cook quick, convenient healthy food. That's what drove us to do this," Anna Arndt said.

Surveys show New Zealanders have less time for cooking the evening meal, so it is also a case of catering to what the customers want, she said.

Aria products have no added salt, colour or preservatives and are dairy and gluten free.

The company has recently launched another new product, Ezy Mince, a free-flow frozen mince, with the help of research funding from Technology New Zealand.

The mince, which can be poured straight from the freezer, has earned the company a place at the prestigious SIAL food fair, the world's largest food exhibition, to be held in France in October.

The product has been created by deactivating amino acids, allowing the flakes of meat to remain separate while frozen and during cooking.

"[Technology New Zealand] is just wonderful. It just gives you a real boost getting money to fund R&D because that's really hard to fund out of cashflow," Anna said.

Aria plans to continue its R&D work as the Arndts firmly believe this is where the future lies.

"The Dairy Board have added value to all their products and have become very successful. The meat companies haven't and look at them, but that is what we are trying to do," Anna said.

Aria Farms is working with an Australian company to set up an export contract. Trade restrictions mean only the lamb and beef products can cross the Tasman so Aria plans to develop a processing facility in Australia to produce the pork and chicken products.

The SIAL trade fair will also lift their profile in Europe although she is wary of trying to expand too far, too fast.

The best, but hardest, thing about being in business is never knowing what's going to happen next, according to Anna.

"There is always a challenge around the corner and you never know what it's going to be. But just don't accept no for an answer."