Butchery sets standard

STRESS-FREE: Livestock, including cattle and sheep, can now be processed at a Marua Rd abattoir near Hikurangi.

Neil Anderson and Leah Stone have set up a boutique abattoir and butchery on their Hikurangi farm, killing and processing sheep and goats for sale at farmers' markets at Whangarei, Paihia and Kerikeri.

The couple believe they could be the first farmers in New Zealand to hire a meat inspector to supervise slaughtering in the abattoir, which has the capacity to handle up to 60 sheep and goats daily, with room for expansion into cattle later.

Meat from their Oxville Farms business began being sold from a refrigerated trailer at Northland markets about three weeks ago. A second trailer will now target Auckland markets and Mr Anderson and Ms Stone also aim to supply meat to city restaurants and hotels.

Neil Anderson, 43, bought the 160ha farm in Marua Rd in 1999 when he was working as captain of a super yacht. His father Dave Anderson, formerly a engineer, dairy farmer and sawmiller in Fiji, moved to live near the farm and Neil joined him in 2013.

Ms Stone shifted to New Zealand two years ago from Fiji, where she had managed her family's fish processing business.

She said Oxville Farms was at first intended as a butchery processing lambs grown there and killed at Affco Moerewa, but the meat works wouldn't accept the low hook numbers they wanted slaughtered.

As a result, they decided to construct their own small abattoir, which was accomplished at reasonable cost through doing a lot of the building themselves.

Retired meat inspector Bruce Bartell was contracted to work alongside two butchers and three packaging staff when the facility was launched last month, killing 30 lambs and 10 goats. Another qualified meat inspector is expected to replace Mr Bartell soon.

Dave Anderson said he had expected the goat meat to be sold to customers of Indian extraction and was surprised most of it was bought by pakeha.

"It's a very non-fat healthy meat," he said, commenting on the universal popularity of goat curry.

Neil Anderson said the meat was selling well, with customers appreciating it being fresh rather than frozen, and locally grown not imported.

"Also, the animals we kill are not stressed from spending hours on a truck or in meat works' yards and that factor improves its taste," he said.

- People wanting to process animal products need to develop a risk management programme (RMP) which they must register with the Ministry for Primary Industries. Once the RMP has been verified by the ministry, the meat produced enters the regulated marketing chain and is no longer classified as home kill.