Tuesday morning of this week found me in one of my favourite places in Adelaide – our terrific Adelaide Central Market – sipping a cup of tea and getting to know some of the story behind another example of the South Australian drive for gastronomic excellence – producer Richard Gunner. Richard is the brains and energy behind the Feast Fine Foods stores, the home of Coorong Angus Beef and Pure Suffolk Lamb – the very same meat that is served in over 100 of the very best Australian restaurants, both here in Adelaide and in the Eastern states.
Adelaide-born, Richard moved about Australia with his family quite a bit before his parents settled back in South Australia and bought a farming property in Meningie in the late 1980′s. He studied Economics at the University of Adelaide, spent some time working for Elders and eventually found himself on the family farm and developing an interest in breeding cattle. More than 10 years ago, in what could have been a significant financial crisis for the Gunners, a retailer reneged on a hand-shake deal to purchase 600 of their steers. Another buyer was eventually found, but the incident set Richard thinking- he was keen to maintain control over his product and this was a situation he wanted to avoid in the future.
For some years Richard had been quietly hatching a plan to build a consistent range of premium meat brands and with this goal in view, in 2001, he took a plunge. Actually he took several, as in that one year he bought a property in the Adelaide Hills, married and opened The Chop Shop in Mt. Barker – not necessarily in that order! He is not the first beef producer to open his own butcher shop and he saw it as the best way to learn the trade, guarantee a permanent market for his meat and ensure the quality control of his product and, most importantly, over what was to become his brand. Richard is utterly zealous in his pursuit of and demands for quality control of his meat. He is continually searching and researching for ways to ensure that his product is consistently at the top of it’s field. Most of his meat is locally killed to reduce stress, which is known to impact on meat quality, on the beasts and any deliberate substitution of meat that is not what it is labelled, by any of his staff, is an instantly sackable offense.
Within the first year of opening The Chop Shop, Richard had begun marketing his Coorong Angus branded beef and has followed it up with several others including the simply divine Pure Suffolk Lamb. The beef and lamb are bred by the Gunners on their own properties and have developed a national reputation for quality. Their Dry Aged beef line has earned two Gold medals in the Sydney Fine Food Branded Beef competition since 2006 and the Pure Suffolk Lamb has been derived from a 100% meat sheep with no wool breeds at all in the line.
Richard’s first restaurant customer was The Lion in North Adelaide who put it on their menu after he cold-called them. The Manse and Jolleys Boathouse Restaurant were quick to do the same. Word-of-mouth has worked it’s magic and the Gunner’s premium products are currently on the menu of over 100 restaurants around Australia. These include some of the very best and most reputable dining establishments that Australian cuisine has to offer – places like Neil Perry’s Rockpool in both Sydney and Melbourne and Spice Temple in Sydney, The Botanic in Melbourne and the much loved Royal Mail Hotel in Dunkeld, Victoria.
Richard apparently does not confine himself to meat. I didn’t know this, because I am just about the only food writer in the world who didn’t watch it, but he made it to the the Top 50 in last years Masterchef television show! Entering on a whim, after watching the previous series, Richard found himself thrown into one of the most intense and successful television events in Australian history and loved it. Back now on the other side of the camera, he sees and caters for the demand the show generates for particular cuts of meat and the change it makes in cooking and eating patterns.
Feast Fine Foods now has five stores in and around Adelaide, with the Chop Shop still running in Mt. Barker. The Feast stores are marketing to fine dining restaurant customers who wish to enjoy the same quality of meat at home and the quality of the meat in the stores is exactly the same as that which is served in those restaurants. Richard sees a growing market for the same service to the eastern states restaurant customers and with this in mind is about to launch an online store for retail meat sales. Richard can maintain far more control over the quality of his product this way, rather than opening shopfronts in cities out of his reach and he intends to really show the eastern states just how good our South Australian meat is!
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Having tried his suffolk lamb, I’m a big fan of it!
Amanda as usual you’ve given us another fascinating and human look behind the scenes of a well known and top quality producer (and retailer). Thanks for the story, I’ll enjoy shopping at Feast even more now that I know some of their story
Good stuff. I really enjoy finding out more about the people behind the goodies. I like the name, “The Chop Shop” is not one you are going to forget about in a hurry.
I am not a meat eater but I do wish this man and his ventures well.
Amanda, thank you for this interesting read! Will look out for Richard’s meats in the future!
What a great read. Always good to hear the journey & ambitions of great producers like this. Will look out for his other brands, I’ve definatly tried the lamb & it was wonderful.
Very nice writing Amanda. Feast is where I buy all my meat, duck included. Its not like it is out of the way.
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