Page 52 - NZ Hereford Magazine 2023

Family-owned

Magills Butchery

commissions gold standard factory

Mike van der Hoeven, right, with his sons John and Edward, on their recently purchased Te Awamutu finishing property.

Words and photos: Taria Given it’s soft, it is easily digestible and nutritious.
With the increase in factory capacity and efficiency, Magills
agills Butchery has opened a new has already seen a huge reduction in the time it takes to cook
multimillion-dollar sous vide plant, home the product. Multi-tonne orders previously needing weeks to
of their award winning, slow-cooked, pulled prepare, now take a few days.
Hereford Prime beef. The Slow-cooked Pulled Hereford beef, which only uses
M The company needed a new facility to keep Hereford Prime beef, continues to be a hero product in
up with demand for their slow-cooked products, to increase the Magills range and is most popular among the bigger
capacity, and continue to expand the business. corporate clients and their customers, with an average of three
The new building officially opened last year and will lift tonnes going out a week since the factory was commissioned.
the total output of slow-cooked meats from 500 kilograms a With the new factory meaning a higher output, Magills now
day to about four tonnes, once the addition of night shifts has the capacity to take on more clients, and this has seen the
are introduced. other lines of sous vide Hereford Prime beef become more
As the new plant is only being used for the production of popular too, such as brisket, beef cheek, bolar roasts, corned
sous vide meat, this means Magills can cater to customers who beef, and beef ribs. Other slow-cooked meat products include
require export grade products. This was something they could pork, lamb, duck and chicken.
not do in the previous factory, due to the layout and the beef The quality and taste of the Hereford Prime beef, paired with
being processed under the same roof. the convenience of a product that has already been cooked
Magills owner Mike van der Hoeven says the pulled meats to perfection with a 10-plus-week shelf life is a no-brainer
range has been developed to provide customers with a for busy chefs in hospitals, restaurants, schools, and meal-kit
convenient, flavoursome and versatile product that provides companies, as well as busy households.
a healthy meal. The product is 95% meat and nothing is Mike says the pandemic caused havoc with staffing in the
added except a dash of seasoning, to keep the product as hospitality industry and the sector needed to look to other
natural as possible. catering avenues.
It is portioned, vacuum-packed and cooked for up to 12 “The sous vide meats are a great option.”
hours in a low temperature water bath before being ‘pulled’. The Slow-cooked Pulled Hereford beef is a multi-award-
The pulling is done in a specially designed and patented meat- winning product, which is great backing for its popularity
pulling machine designed and engineered by Mike’s brother- with Magills’ corporate clients. Soon after its launch in 2015 it
in-law Stuart Cooke, before being cooled, labelled and shipped. won both the Chilled/Long Life and the Supreme Award at the
Because of the way the pulled meats are prepared and New Zealand Food Awards. In October 2022, it took silver at
cooked, nothing nutritional is lost in the process, and because the New Zealand Artisan Awards, and the Magills Pulled Meat

50 HEREFORD MAGAZINE Year 2023