Riverina pig farm launches home delivery

THE closure of local cafes and butcher shops due to coronavirus pushed this Riverina pig farm to launch home deliveries of their pork products.

• Read Farm magazine, exactly as it was printed

• Why it pays to subscribe to The Weekly Times+

GRUNT Pork’s John Dowling and Mitch Carter have long dreamed of offering home deliveries of their pork products, but, owing to coronavirus and the shuttering of local cafes and butcher shops, that ambition has been rushed into fruition.

“We did plan to launch home delivery of pork packs later on, but we didn’t expect to have to rush it in,” Mitch says.

The Riverina smokehouse and farm is now offering home deliveries of fresh pork packs, made up of a range of cuts including chops, a roast, large pork belly, mince, sausages and a piece of crackle for $150.

“Customers will need a fair bit of freezer space, it’s quite a lot of pig,” Mitch says.

The packs are delivered straight to residents’ homes each Saturday across the Riverina region, servicing Griffith, Narrandera, Leeton, Junee, Coolamon, Ganmain, Grong Grong, The Rock,

Riverina pig farm Grunt Pork offers home delivery of its pork products during the coronavirus pandemic.

Collingullie and some 50km surrounding these locations. So far they have been a hit.

“They have been selling out each week since the start of COVID,” Mitch says.

One-quarter of their business is devoted to the sale of pork direct to consumers and local businesses, which, prior to the pandemic, was largely half and whole pigs.

Mitch was in charge of launching Grunt Pork Smokehouse late last year, to expand into premium pork products, such as mince, pork chops, chorizo, bacon and hams.

The remaining three-quarters of the business is devoted to the piggery, with John running 100 Landrace Large White Duroc cross pigs on 32 hectares, which he sells wholesale.

“The wholesale price for the pigs has dropped in recent months by 90 cents a kilo,” John says. “As butcher shops have closed, there is an oversupply of pigs.”

Still, the pair are not complaining, as they know they are among the lucky ones.

“It’s not like we are producing something different like hand sanitiser, we are still butchering pigs, we are just offering different products and delivering it in a different way,” Mitch says.

GOODS IN STOCK

A new social media campaign using the hashtag #wevegotthegoods is highlighting businesses and small-scale food producers in NSW’s Riverina Murray region that are innovating to survive the coronavirus crisis.

Tourism agency Destination Riverina Murray is behind the campaign, and general manager Richie Robinson says social media exposure can help the region bounce back after the crisis.

“As we’ve seen through campaigns like Buy from the Bush, there’s huge capacity to create positive change on social media,” he says.

wevegotthegoods.com.au

MORE FARM MAGAZINE

HIGHFIELD FARM OFFERS DOORSTEP DELIVERIES TO VULNERABLE

OPTIMIST SALLIE JONES LEADS GIPPSLAND JERSEY EXPANSION

GUIDE TO ORDERING DIRECT FROM VICTORIA’S LOCAL PRODUCERS