Christmas Meats

As we edge closer to mid-November, the talk around festive celebrations continues to grow. Here at Haverick Meats, we’re happy to offer some of the highest quality meats to grace the tables at your Christmas lunches.

We take great care in acquiring some of the best quality hams and turkeys in Australia, producing finished products in-house with our master chefs and butchers.

Rare Breed Black Berkshire Ham

It’s a careful craft, raising a Berkshire Pig. The breed gained popularity in Australia in the early 2000s, when pig farmers noticed a demand for better eating quality from their pork. That said, originally hailing from the Berkshire region of the United Kingdom, they’ve been around for over 300 years.

Known for its intense marbling, the high-fat content keeps the meat moist during the cooking process and produces a juicy, tender finished dish. Berkshire pork gained popularity in Japanese cooking and is often referred to as the Kobe of the pork world.

Perhaps the reason these particular animals produce a better flavour has a little bit to do with their diet, but more likely, it’s the climate of the region where they’re raised. There is a selection of farms specialising in the breed, all located in the Byron Bay Hinterland and the Tenterfield Tablelands, where the temperate climate seems to sit at a happy medium for the health of the animals.

Thanks to the humid nature of northern NSW, the temperature doesn’t get too hot or too cold, meaning the animals can properly grow and develop in a comfortable, lush, stress-free environment. And happy animals make for the best quality meat.

At Haverick Meats, we acquire a special, carefully graded Rare Breed Black Berkshire pork from a boutique Byron Bay producer for our signature Christmas hams. Once they arrive at the factory, they’re smoked and cured with the bone in to retain moisture, and packaged up ready for your Christmas lunch.

Almond Grove Free-Range Turkeys

Farmer, John Holland, started Almond Grove Turkey Farm in 2002, after 27 years working in a corporate office. The family had owned their property on Murray River in South Australia for 10 years by that time, but Holland admits that farming started as more of a hobby for him.

Thankfully, he decided to move into full-time farming and raising birds, and in 2004 Almond Grove became the first Australian turkey farm to become certified by Humane Choice. They’ve always followed organic farming practices, but there was a specific demand in the market for free-range birds, and knowing there was a bit of a grey area around the definition of free-range and organic in the market, Holland decided to make it official and formalise it with Humane Choice. This means there are no more than 400 birds per hectare at the Almond Grove farm, giving them proper room to grow and develop as naturally as possible.

It’s a funny business, turkey farming, as customers want a specific sized animal on one day of the year, then nothing after. And a turkey’s growth can be very temperamental to the heat, making Christmas production particularly difficult.

They make it work at Almond Grove, and the demand for their product has continually increased over the years, even outside the holiday period. The animals they produce are moist and tender, thanks to being raised in such a natural environment.

At Haverick Meats, we take great pride in sourcing not only the best quality meats but the most naturally-raised wherever possible, to ensure not only that our customers get the best possible flavour from our products but can take comfort in knowing where and how the animals are produced.