Aaron Pohatu: Homekill specialist discusses rise in demand for butchers

The demand for homekill meat in New Zealand is rising as the cost of living crisis continues.

The price of beef steak has risen 25% in a year, and even cheaper cuts of meat are seeing a big jumps in price.

Homeskill specialist Aaron Pohatu told Matt and Tyler than having homekill meat butchered is cheaper than buying it off the shelf in a supermarket – and he says it tastes far better.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
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Speaker 2 (00:16):
The story that we read today, it mentioned a gentleman
called Aaron Pohatu. So he's been in the game for
about twenty years and runs his own home kill business.
And Aaron joins us on the line. Now, Aaron, very
good afternoon to you.

Speaker 3 (00:30):
Oh, good afternoon, Thank you for having me on board.

Speaker 4 (00:32):
Hey, how much is demand for homekill gone up? And
why are people getting so into it?

Speaker 3 (00:38):
Yeah, there's a massive demand for it, and it's quite
simple really, it's off the living and the price of
meat that's in the butcher shops and supermarkets.

Speaker 4 (00:47):
So roughly, how much do you save compared to supermarket
meat prices?

Speaker 3 (00:51):
Erin, Oh, looking furious. It's hard to sort of put
a number on that, but it's a lot cheaper, you know,
it could be a third or two dudes cheaper than
what's in the retail world. But they obviously have to
provide their own meat.

Speaker 4 (01:07):
Yeah, what's the sort of difference in taste quality that
people notice from from their own stock or wild game
that that that comes through you?

Speaker 3 (01:17):
Erin? Yeah, Oh, that Look, there's a huge there's a
huge difference. So home kill, you know, I put my
heart on that, it's the way to go. For example
of them speaking a lot about their venison, those animals
are growing in the most perfect organic conditions out in
the world, and you know, you shoot those and bring
them in and get things made. It's it's one of

(01:38):
the best meat you can possibly get your hands on.

Speaker 2 (01:40):
And what is the what what is mainly asked for
in terms of the meat product. A lot of people
want saucy salami, steak, the whole she bang.

Speaker 3 (01:49):
Yeah, So an average day they would come in, they
want these steaks on the back legs and the back
steaks and then what they're trimmed. They've they've got options
of sausages, meat, petties, saveloys, mint balami, bears, sticks, krankskies,
you venison, corn venus. You can also do venison, bacon, hams. Yeah,

(02:13):
there's heats that you can do with them now.

Speaker 4 (02:15):
And and of course, like homekill works for those with
farms or if you're if you're out hunting, but what
can urban families do? What options do they have around
home kill?

Speaker 3 (02:25):
Yeah, they don't have much, you know, Like I say,
MPI have quite strict rules on there. So you know,
if you if you don't have an area or don't
have an animal in your own backup for twenty eight
days minimum, you you don't officially own it. So you
can buy an animal so and then they have it
for twenty eight days and then you can get a
flauded and then put through a homekill butchery. But you know,

(02:47):
for guys like myself, it's more about the lifestyle. You know,
the people that have gone on the land and they're
running their own deep in their own peak. Of course,
you know, it's not just the hunting world. So you
know there's farmers that are bringing in beef. You know,
there's still penny of that going on.

Speaker 4 (03:03):
What's some of the more interesting things that you've butchered, Aaron, Yeah.

Speaker 3 (03:09):
I've done ostaches, and I've do a lot of ducks
to be honest, and peasants and want so. Yeah, it's
a lot of boots and things there. They're coming in.
But it's like I say, a lot of guys are
out they do hunting of like venison and pigs, but
they also do a lot of duck shooting and that
sort of thing as well. So they shoot a lot.
They want things made with them, and you can do

(03:30):
it exactly the same stuff like sausages and petties, which
I mean you earlier.

Speaker 4 (03:34):
Yeah, but if I came in with some possums that
I peeled off the road, I wouldn't be able to
get you to cut those up and turn the midd
of sausages what I.

Speaker 3 (03:40):
Aren Well, well I could, but you wouldn't get much
off it, and.

Speaker 4 (03:48):
That's a good possom stew in the time.

Speaker 3 (03:50):
Yeah, so we can still do that sort of thing,
you know, Like, look, those options are out there for people.
You know that it's stuffy out there. I recommend go hunting,
you know, get out there, and if you don't, if
you don't know hunters, like put it out there because
there are hunters out there there to do get a
lot of animals and are willing to give it a
you know, so just let people know that you might

(04:13):
be struggling out there and has anybody got things, because
it is out there and there's a good bartering system
that's going on there to help people as well, you know,
So there are options out there to supplemental you know,
your weekly income for buying meat and going to the supermarket.

Speaker 2 (04:28):
Yeah, that's really cool to hear. So just break it
down for us, Aaron. So I'm just reading some of
your rough prices here. So it's about forty bucks to
bone out a beer? How much a kilogram to make
some saucy's? Roughly?

Speaker 3 (04:39):
Are there seven fifty a kilo? And yeah, petties are
seven fifty, Minster's four dollars fifty and yeah, so you
know there's a massive, big changes, you know, and the
quality of the meat, and you know, like butcher's the
mice of my caliber. You know that we're we're quite rare.
We're a bit of a dying breed, you know, butchers

(04:59):
that can do the whole shooting box, you know. So
what I mean by that is sausage, petties, bacon hands,
you know, the whole thing. Yeah, supermarkets, they've got big
companies that make all that for them.

Speaker 2 (05:10):
And how can people get a hold of you? I'm
sure you're not sure of business at the moment, Aaron,
But do you want to give a week plug?

Speaker 3 (05:17):
Yeah? No, no, you can. You can definitely just look
me up and punch in my name and you can
probably find me. I can give you my phone number.
That sort of thing. But just everyone just needs to
look up Aaron for to and google me and you'll
you'll you'll come across im and Hastings Clive. There's lots
of other home called butchers around these heaps of us
that are out there. I just want to stay from

(05:37):
myself and that I'm only a homekill guy. I'm not
a retail butcher. So you know, MPI registered and I
provide a service for hunters and hope lifestyles, you know,
and that sort of thing. But I don't tell me
the only process.

Speaker 4 (05:53):
Thank you so much, erin so great to check to you.
So that's Aaron p o h a tu google him
if you want his services yep.

Speaker 2 (06:01):
And his company is a plus Meat Processing. If you
google that, it will pop up with his number.

Speaker 1 (06:06):
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