When driving on the N2 in the Western Cape a large sign immediately catches the eye. This sign shares the wonderful news that you are 400 m from Hooikraal farm Butchery.
Entering the the butchery you are met by a very large variety of meat and meat products,various other homemade eateries and 3 friendly faces.
Johan, Bt and their son Geoff owners of Hooikraal farm and farm Butchery share the story of what first started as a hobby 10 years ago and is today a successful story of adding value to your farm’s production by expanding from farm to fork.
From Boerewors to Business
Bt is a business orientated person who is always looking for work for her hands. So when they moved from their dairy farm to Hooikraal farm near Heidelberg, she was looking for a new adventure. Not being too fond of the Boerewors available on retail shelves, Bt decided to take up Boerewors-making.
The hobby quickly evolved from making Boerewors only for home use to making a variety other processed meat products. Today Hooikraal farm butchery offers a great variety of meat and processed meat products.
But how did she learn to make all of these meat products? We tried various sources of information, but the final answer was the internet and trail and error, says Bt.
They started looking for recipes and advice on the internet. this meant that they could find and use traditional recipes and started making traditional Italian salami, traditional Spanish Chorizo and many more. For all the German meats they offer, Bt got the recipe from a German friend who asked her family in Germany for the traditional recepes. Bt gave the various international recipes a subtle South African flare and all of her customers loved it.
Approximately five years ago, Bt started delivering and processing in bulk for various local businesses. As the business grow and evolved, the Zietsmans quickly realised that their infrastructure had to evolve as well and that the business needed an upgrade to their trade platform. In 2012 the business, which was just a small area equipped for meat processing, had a face-lift and Hooikraal Farm Butchery was born.