Wild Game is a smallgoods maker and farm-kill butcher at 411 Orchard Road, Aramoana, in Central Hawke's Bay. Its bacon and sliced pressed ham have won gold and supreme awards, and its salamis and sausages are made from free-range wild venison and New Zealand meat.
The shop sells smallgoods and fresh cuts, including cheese kransky sausages, a boudin recipe adapted to free-range venison, and a New Caledonia salami. It also sells beef patties made from Hawke's Bay Angus beef, and it has a range of salamis, bacon and sausages made to traditional recipes.
Wild Game also does on-farm kill for people who bring in their own animals. Its team kills the animal humanely on the farm, dresses it, and brings it back to the workshop to age before cutting. Beef, sheep, pigs, venison, alpacas and goats can all be processed, and the team covers the Tūtira district down to the Tararua district. Customers can choose the cuts, and the meat is weighed back to them. Travel fees apply to each job, worked out separately for each one.
Customers who have written reviews praise the salamis, sausages, and jalapeño and cheese sticks, and the staff's help with a whole pig. One said the saveloys never made it home.
Our pick in Central Hawke's Bay for anyone who wants smallgoods made from wild game or a farm animal processed on the farm.