Boutique premium lamb brand Homebush Park Paddock-to-Plate continues to go from strength to strength as more consumers are exposed to the unique taste and texture of Australian White sheep meat.
Homebush Park has established a closed vertical supply chain from the farm to householders, and aims to launch its lamb in a high-end Sydney restaurant this spring - when the dust settles from the city's COVID-19 winter lockdowns.
The brand was developed by Bernie Brennan and his partner Trish , who run a small flock of commercial and purebred Australian White sheep at Binalong, near Yass, which is north west of Canberra on the NSW southern Tablelands.
The pair have a small holding of 90 hectares and started producing Australian Whites in 2014 after closely following the breed's development and watching the big physical improvement of the sheep year-on-year.
Its unique meat eating quality was a bonus.
Most lamb meat has a melting point of intramuscular and subcutaneous fat starting at 40°C.
But research has found that in meat from Australian Whites, these fats melt at about 30-35°C.
"This gives the meat a far superior texture and taste for consumers" Mr Brennan said.
"It is like the lamb equivalent to Wagyu.
"Australian White lamb also has a fatty acid profile with outstanding omega 3 qualities for added health benefits."
Mr Brennan grew up around livestock on "Lake Marimley" - an 11,000ha property north of Balranald in NSW and close to the iconic "Homebush Hotel".
It was from here that he drew inspiration for the Homebush Park Paddock-to-Plate brand name in 2010, and then proceeded to develop a direct supply meat distribution business to deliver the product to customers.
Mr Brennan has a keen eye for quality sheep.
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When establishing his flock with Trish, he decided they would use only the best genetics.
They got to know the leading Australian White stud, Tattykeel, which is based at Oberon, NSW, and has its own international paddock-to-plate lamb brand called Margra.
Mr Brennan is using Tattykeel rams to breed-up ewe numbers and flock rams and is moving towards becoming "verified" as part of the stud's new quality standards system.
The Australian White Sheep Breeders Association has developed a blue tag verification program that identifies purebred Australian White flock rams when they are sold off-farm.
Tattykeel is also in the process of introducing a red tag system for sheep that are exclusively bred from its genetics across several generations - and that meet other quality parameters.
Mr Brennan said these developments were essential, as consumers increasingly sought "provenance" stories about their food and fibre, and the lamb industry continued to work on assuring the quality and integrity of its products and processes from farm to table.
He said quality assurance was particularly vital for Homebush Park as a paddock-to-plate supplier that had close relationships with its customers.
"We need to verify to our clients we are providing them with products that are grown sustainably and ethically, and processed and distributed through quality-assured systems," he said.
"That is the key to maintaining our reputation as a reliable and consistent supplier of premium lamb in the market."
For Homebush Park branded meat, Mr Brennan selects the best lambs on-farm for processing at Breakout River Meats, in Cowra.
The processor checks and weighs each individual lamb and prints a carcase weight and label that accompanies the lamb product through to the end customer.
The lamb carcase is hung for up to a week and then butchered at Gary's Gourmet Meats, in Young, into a traditional line of cuts and a gourmet line of cuts.
The gourmet range, which includes boned-out shoulders and legs, racks and rumps, was started in 2018 and is growing rapidly in popularity.
Mr Brennan delivers Homebush Park lamb - in a refrigerated coolroom approved by the NSW Food Authority - direct from the butcher to his customer base that is spread across the southern Tablelands, into Canberra and up the NSW coast.
Prior to COVID-19 lockdowns in Victoria and NSW, he had developed potential outlets for his boutique lamb in Melbourne.
He is also in discussions with a chef at one of Sydney's top fine dining restaurants - the Blue Door in Surry Hills - to showcase the product. They plan to release it in September.
"Lockdowns in Sydney and Melbourne this winter have really hindered that opportunity for now," Mr Brennan said.
"But it is something I will continue working on post-pandemic.
"Chefs are increasingly realising the enormous potential of Australian White lamb product."
About 150-200 Australian White lambs are sold paddock-to-plate through the Homebush Park brand.
These are grass-fed and typically reach 26 kilograms (dressed) by seven or eight-months-old.
Future plans are to boost ewe numbers through a share-farming arrangement in the Narrabri district of NSW
Mr Brennan said the high prices being paid for Australian White ewes made this an attractive sideline to the branded lamb business.
"Our ewes are in such strong demand that we recently sold a line of six-month-old females for $260 per head," he said.