Provenir’s on-farm processed beef has also received praise from top chefs in the restaurant industry, including chef Mark LaBrooy of Three Blue Ducks restaurant group and chef Neil Perry of Rockpool Bar and Grill.
Provenir has been granted a licence by the Victorian Food Safety Authority, PrimeSafe, to operate in Victoria, the first, and currently, only mobile abattoir.
Developed to improve animal welfare and produce the best quality meat, Provenir’s mobile abattoir eliminates the stress to animals associated with live transport prior processing. By processing livestock on farm, at the point of production, where they were raised, Provenir ensures the most sustainable production system possible.
Provenir launched in June 2019 following licensure by the NSW Food Authority to operate, an Australian first, mobile on-farm abattoir. The Company has since been restricted to processing on farms in NSW until this week when the Company was granted a “Licence to Operate a Vehicle Based Abattoir” in Victoria.
Provenir’s original founder team included a farmer, a vet, a chef, a marketer, an educator and a lawyer, the group came together with a shared vision to improve animal welfare and produce the best quality beef.
The consolidation of abattoirs in recent times has required livestock to be transported, often over long distances to the processors. The effect of live transport on cattle can increase stress and consequently have a negative effect on meat quality. Accordingly, Provenir believes that eliminating the stress associated with live transport to a fixed abattoir produces improved meat quality for the consumer and a better outcome for livestock.
In August 2019, just two months into operations, Provenir beef was awarded Best in Class Beef at the prestigious Australian Food Awards. Judged by a panel of industry experts on a number of qualities including taste and tenderness, the Awards confirmed what the founders had always believed: Provenir’s unique on-farm process is not only good for animal welfare, it also produces exceptional quality beef – juicy, tender and tasty.
It’s been a long road to licensure for the current Provenir founding team, four of whom live in Victoria, who were determined to gain a licence to operate in their home state. Since setting out on the journey in April 2014 the team have participated in a novel meat supply study, consulted with industry experts, liaised with all levels of Government, worked Agriculture Victoria to change the law, to include the word “vehicle” to the definition of abattoir in the Meat Industries Act 1993 (Victoria), and consulted with PrimeSafe (the Victorian Food Safety Authority) to develop a new Vehicle Based Abattoir licence category.
Provenir co-founder and farmer, Chris Balazs will be the first farmer in Victoria to have his cattle processed on his property SageFarm at Bannockburn, located in the Golden Plains Shire of Victoria.
Consumer support for the on-farm processed meat has been strong since day one and this was clearly demonstrated through a pre-launch crowdfunding campaign in which the Company raised over $68,000, securing more than 220 pre-sales of the Company’s highest welfare Meat Packs, and many of these supporters are still loyal customers today.
Provenir’s on-farm processed beef has also received praise from top chefs in the restaurant industry, including chef Mark LaBrooy of Three Blue Ducks restaurant group and chef Neil Perry of Rockpool Bar and Grill.
Provenir is now seeking expressions of interest from Victorian grass-fed cattle farmers, particularly those practicing regenerative farming and turning off 100+ head per year, as the Company prepares to commence on-farm processing in Victoria.