Jillamatong Lamb: Waldron family’s brand partnership with Corowa IGA

The Waldron family has strong confidence in their Corowa supermarket’s meat supply. And so they should — they started it.

Quality choice: Damian O’Keefe is the lamb producer now supplying Jillamatong lamb to the IGA supermarket in Corowa NSW. Picture: Fiona Myers

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WHEN consumers put Jillamatong-brand lamb in their trolleys they are buying into a more complex story than they realise.

The Waldron family own both the IGA supermarket in Corowa, NSW, as well as the local historic Jillamatong property. But a unique partnership has seen them lease their property out, allowing them to maintain a secure lamb supply but freeing up time to concentrate on building their supermarket business.

Jillamatong Lamb came about when Craig Waldron had what he considers a light bulb moment.

“We were producing lambs ourselves, which we sold, and then we were buying any old lambs back from the processor to sell in our store,” Craig said.

“I just thought, why don’t we sell our own lamb bodies in our supermarket and under the brand of our property.”

So began the Jillamatong Lamb story with a range of cuts now stocked in the Waldrons IGA meat cabinet.

The Waldrons moved to the Corowa district in 1999 after 25 years of running a supermarket at Stawell in central Victoria.

They bought the 1000ha Jillamatong with the goal of growing lambs and crops. But the pull of returning to the supermarket business was strong, especially given the local Corowa supermarket was no longer in business, and 15 years ago they decided to buy it.

“We have always had a philosophy to offer locally produced products if we can in terms of meat and fruit and vegetables,” Craig’s father, Brian said.

CHOICE CUTS

WHEN it became clear they had too many irons in the fire and wanted to concentrate on the supermarket, they leased the property to Damian O’Keefe and his family.

There was no contract signed that required Damian to supply lamb to the Jillamatong brand but he was encouraged to do so.

“The property was leased to me with a few stipulations, but the Waldrons said to farm it as I saw fit,” Damian said.

“They asked if I would like to continue to supply lamb and we have continued to do so.”

Initially the Waldrons used to supply eight to 10 lambs to the abattoir at Wangaratta to stock the shelves in their Corowa supermarket.

That number has now more than doubled, with Damian taking a trailer load of lambs each Monday to an abattoir in Wangaratta, with the carcasses then supplied back to the supermarket in Corowa to be cut up by staff there.

Damian runs a mob of predominantly first-cross ewes on Jillamatong, with rams sourced locally from Kismet at nearby Howlong.

Rams are selected for the length but also narrow shoulders — with a number of properties to run, Damian said he needed lambing to be effortless for the ewes to ensure the highest number of live lambs.

To fit the supermarket’s specifications, lambs must weigh about 22-24kg carcass weight, and Damian must have enough numbers ready each week for consistent supply.

“That’s sometimes a juggling act, especially at the end of winter when we have finished the old lambs and the suckers are not quite heavy enough,” Damian said.

“We will buy in lambs to keep supply consistent, but all lambs that are sold under the Jillamatong brand run on the property.”

QUALITY CONTROL

MUCH of the supply of lambs is grass fed, especially in good seasons like this year, but Damian has established a feedlot where he can finish lambs on pellets to get them to the correct carcass weight if the feed runs short.

And there is also the capacity to run lambs on irrigated pasture or brassicas thanks to Waldrons installing two new centre pivots.

Damian has additional land in Victoria, which he also farms, and only a portion of the lambs he produces goes into the Jillamatong brand, but he said the experience was worth it for a number of reasons.

“We get direct feedback from the butchers in the supermarket about whether our lambs are too heavy, too fat or too lean, which can help with our breeding decisions,” he said.

“We do work hard to pick out the best lambs in the mob to go under the brand so they are uniform and the correct weight.”

Negotiating price has been relatively simple too, with Craig and Damian deciding on a rate weekly based on the current market prices.

“We look at what is happening in the saleyards and also the over the hooks prices, and we come to a fair rate where everyone makes some money,” Damian said.

“When lambs were making very high rates of more than $10/kilogram, we won’t go to those levels.

“It’s important to have a really good relationship with the people you are selling to, and the Waldrons are great people to deal with.”

PRIDE IN PRODUCE

THERE is also the sense of pride Damian feels when people talk to him about eating the lamb he has produced.

“Before COVID, Waldrons were supplying a number of restaurants too and it’s great to see the name of the lamb you produce on a menu,” he said.

“It shows that even a relatively small supermarket can build a brand name.”

Damian said the relationship was a win-win for both parties.

“I’m happy to supply the lamb and do the farming, and let someone else do the marketing of that lamb,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Waldrons are also proud of the quality of lamb they are selling in their supermarket.

“We have three butchers, packers and a meat manager in our store,” Brian said.

“We like the ability to have portion control with consistent carcasses, and we’ve won three meat awards for best meat department in Victoria and Southern NSW in 2018, 2019 and 2020 (for IGA stores).

“We know people come to the store for many reasons and we’d like to think the quality of our lamb is one of them.”

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