Provenir – A Meat Sustainability Story
By Provenir
While the industrial meat processing industry in Australia leaves plenty of room for improvement when it comes to sustainability, Provenir are committed to doing things differently. Resource maximisation and positive environmental impact are central to Provenir’s ethical standards. Key to both of these is whole carcass utilisation – something which an integral part of Provenir’s business model, ethos and commitment to environmental sustainability. For the consumer these transparent processes mean peace of mind in choosing ethical, best quality beef products.
On the 19th of June 2019, on a very frosty morning at John Doyle’s farm “Claredale” in Berrigan NSW, Provenir became Australia’s first licensed mobile abattoir, achieving an A-License from the NSW Food Authority. After years of work building up to this point, this occasion marked the real, tangible beginning of Provenir’s mission to produce Australia’s best beef. These lofty aspirations can’t be achieved by shortcut or compromise – in order for Provenir to produce the best beef, it had to ensure only the best animal welfare, the best environmental sustainability outcomes as well as the best quality product.
Cascase utilisation & waste minimisation
Central to Provenir’s ethos and core values is to ‘honour the animal’. This involves a focus on utilising every part of the animal – both edible and inedible – to carefully ensure that nothing is wasted. Through Provenir’s practices as an on farm butcher, less often utilised parts of the carcase including offal, fat and bones are also utilised for human consumption (see offal products listed below). The final beef cuts are then assigned to our pet food partners – including our own Gully Road for Dogs, a business that shares the Provenir highest welfare meat ethos. These complex but highly rewarding processes mean that the whole animal is valued and every part is utilised to its fullest.
As you may have gathered from reading this article thus far, ‘nothing to waste’ is our mantra. By processing grass fed meat on-farm, Provenir actually achieves a consistently higher yield (up to 10% greater) in edible meat product. This 10% difference is from the very same animal when compared with meat processed at a fixed commercial abattoir. Improved animal welfare also creates superior tasting meat by retaining the glycogen and hydration in the muscle, meaning that lesser known (or less popular) cuts are also of exceptional eating quality. These cuts are highly sought after for the health benefits associated with grass fed offal, which is known to be very nutrient dense, especially when compared to feedlot finished cattle.
Regeneration, not just meat sustainability
Through transparent relationships with farmers, Provenirs ensures that all of the livestock processed through its mobile abattoir are raised in ways that support the regeneration of the land’s ecosystems and biodiversity. Provenir actively seeks out and supports farmers who are practicing regenerative farming techniques to restore the land on which they farm and return carbon to the soils. Regenerative agriculture means to use farming practices that can start to reverse the impacts of climate change. Provenir is committed to partnering with farmers that uphold the same vision – learn more in our article ‘Why Provenir supports Regenerative Farming’.
A regenerative approach to beef production ensures the most efficient and environmentally conscious way to produce the highest quality meat. Beef is often misrepresented as being an inefficient way to deliver protein for human consumption, however through both natural grass feeding and careful utilisation of complete beef product the opposite is in fact true. New CSIRO research has proven that Australian grass-fed beef production is highly efficient at converting low quality proteins – in grains that humans can and can’t eat – into high quality protein for human nutrition at a rate of 1600 times the human edible protein that it consumes. Read the full article at ‘CSIRO research overturns myths about beef’s impact on human protein supply’.
Transparency & the ethical meat consumer
By processing cattle at the point of production Provenir are in a unique position to capture not only the quality but also the true provenance of our meat. We know this holds great value for conscientious consumers, who want to know where their food comes from, how it was raised and also have a desire to connect with the people that grew it.
Provenir’s digital provenance platform, accessed by a unique QR code on every single cut, can be scanned with a mobile phone to provide the consumer with the details on the cut of beef, the cattle and the farm on which it was grown. This process provides full transparency, from farm practices to the cattle breeds processed and connects the consumer with each individual farmer and the story of how they raise their cattle.
Through sharing our partnering farmers’ stories, we are committed to connecting and growing a community of consumers who are driving demand for regeneratively farmed beef. Provenir values the sharing and celebration of personal farming stories via our website and packaging, connecting each farmer with the people that enjoy the meat they have worked so hard to raise. For the consumer, this means a greater confidence in supporting the farming systems and ethical processes in which they believe.
We believe that fostering a community that nurtures the connection between consumers and farmers can drive positive changes in the farming sector, consumer awareness and ethical values relating to consumption.
Community – Good Health for Cattle, Farmers & Consumers
Provenir not only produces nutrient dense protein from healthy free-range grass-fed cattle, it also contributes to the wellbeing of our farmers. Delivering a previously unavailable route to market for on farm-processed beef, Provenir farmers feel an increased connectedness and purpose in their work. On farm processing is the holy grail of true paddock to plate meat production to which many ethically conscious farmers aspire.
The best beef (and the awards to prove it)
In its first year of operation Provenir was recognised in the 2019 Australian Food Awards, in which Provenir not only won a Gold Medal but took out Best in Class Beef. In 2020 Provenir won the delicious. Harvey Norman Produce Award for Outstanding Innovation, Sustainability & Community.
Provenir Grass-Fed Beef Products
The following products are offered as a part of our grass fed beef range;
The Good Fat (Beef Tallow, coming soon)
Innovation & the Future
Provenir future growth will be in partnership with our regenerative farmers, creating a truly sustainable beef option for Australia. Provenir sees a time when on farm processed meat is not a niche market but a highly accessible alternative for consumers, which will support a transition for the meat industry to entirely sustainable production systems.
Innovation is at the heart of Provenir, from mobile on-farm processing, to state of the art digital provenance platform, to the vertical integrated business model. The founder team, who includes a farmer, a vet, a chef, a marketer and a lawyer, always shared a vision for a better way of doing things. Their sheer hard work, determination and blissful ignorance of ‘the way things are done’ in the industry have seen them make a fundamental shift in an industry which has remained set in its ways for generations.
The Provenir Six Star Promise
Provenir allows consumers to buy beef direct from the farmer and delivers a six star promise;
Highest welfare
Provenir farmers utilise low stress handling techniques and raise their livestock on open pastures within a familiar herd structure; allowing the animals to express their natural character.
On-farm processed
Instead of the livestock being transported, the abattoir comes to the farm. Eliminates unnecessary stress on animals associated with live transport. Less stress means less adrenalin produced, and thus more retained glycogen stores in the meat, leading to exceptional eating quality, taste and tenderness.
Full traceability & true provenance
Provenir oversees the whole operation from purchasing livestock on farm direct from our partnering farmers, to the on-farm processing, into our butchery and on to you. By processing on-farm and utilising the latest in digital traceability technology we are able provide full transparency and guaranteed provenance.
Grass-fed & free range
Provenir partners with farmers who raise their livestock free range and grass-fed. For cattle and lamb this means they are fed on natural grasses, pasture, hay or silage.
Exceptional eating quality
Our on-farm process and artisan butchery techniques ensures that the quality of the meat is retained and maximised throughout the whole process.
No and hormones, herd antibiotics or intensive feedlots
Provenir farmers raise their livestock naturally: they do not feedlot, nor do they add hormones or antibiotics to the feed as growth promotants.
How to Purchase Provenir
If you do care about animal welfare, and of course great tasting, high quality meat, visit the Provenir online butcher shop now and find out for yourself why people are trusting Provenir. Provenir enables a connection between you and the farmer, via a unique QR code on each meat pack, that tells you the entire paddock to plate story behind each cut of meat.
You can also keep up to date with Provenir news by signing up to the Provenir newsletter.
Sign up for our Newsletter
Our Provenir newsletter is packed full of beefy farm goodness like recipes, new products, specials and more! Don’t miss out, sign up now.
Where to buy
You can have Provenir home delivered, purchase in-store, or experience it first hand at select restaurants.
Home delivered
Order online and receive Provenir beef delivered to your door.
Retail outlets
Find Provenir beef in grocery stores and butchers.
Restaurants
Experience Provenir beef cooked to perfection.
