Marlborough Farmers' Market

Laura Goldfinch (Prem Game)
5778200 ,

Without doubt the best-flavoured game-meat is from wild animals. New Zealand has a wide range of introduced game animals which can be hunted, and which are processed by Premium Game for the New Zealand domestic market

Wild game meats tend to be darker in colour than farmed meats. Animals are of course not drenched or sprayed making it a truly natural product free from residual chemicals.

Premium Game supply a variety of high quality wild game meats, including wild venison, pork, goat, tahr, hare, rabbit and wallaby.

By controlling introduced game species, New Zealand's high country environment is improved. Premium Game's operation has no negative effect on the environment.

Premium Game supply their game meat to a wide range of customers. These include some of the finest restaurants, and the most discerning supermarkets right throughout New Zealand.

All meat is sourced from areas guaranteed poison-free. We maintain a small base of hunters who must have NZFSA licenses renewed annually. Landowners and hunters alike are part of the team that keeps our quality high.

Processing is carried out to strict standards. We are a small business and enjoy working with our customers to provide the products and services they require.  This includes all manner of home kill processing from skinning and cutting requirements to smallgoods making, of which the range is extensive and made on-site using traditional butchering methods.
Currently in the pipe line, the team are working on producing a Premium Petfood Roll.  There is nothing like this on the market and the quality will be exceptional - watch this space!
 
Premium Game can send any size order directly to clients anywhere within New Zealand.

Sales of gourmet game products are soaring showing that wild meats have come of age in New Zealand.

In the latest issue, Cuisine's senior features writer, David Burton, reports that this newly acquired Kiwi taste for wild meats has seen sales double over the past year at the leading processor for the domestic market, Premium Game in Marlborough.

"We found that this growth in wild meats is not limited to wild pork, venison and duck," says Cuisine editor, Sarah Nicholson. "There is also a big demand for rabbit, hare and goat, once all considered exotic."

Encouraged by popular television cooking shows such as Hunger for the Wild and the snowballing grow-your-own craze, the trend towards hunting your own food is gathering momentum, she says. And where could be more perfect than New Zealand, the hunter-gatherer's dream.

Says Nicholson, "With the advent of quality wild-food suppliers, it's not just top chefs who are pushing the boundaries with interesting meats. Home cooks are actively expanding their culinary horizons at home. Game suppliers are also playing their part in dispelling myths, such as game always having a strong flavour."

The profile of game has also been lifted through the annual Monteith's challenge in which restaurants aim to create the perfect wild food match with beer. From 12 participants in 1997, the competition has grown to 120 last year.

"There is so much interest in the provenance of food, whether sustainable, organic or free-range," Nicholson says, "and wild food satisfies all those criteria".

The wild venison industry has focused mainly on export, but the sophistication of the Kiwi palate is now supporting the domestic game market.

"Whether you venture into the bush to hunt, or visit your local butcher, farmers' market or gourmet food outlet, you can still enjoy wild game," Nicholson says.

The new issue of Cuisine (on sale 26 April) includes David Burton's feature, as well as delicious game recipes from Cuisine's senior food writer and chef Al Brown.

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