Mountain River Community

Fortune Fish & Gourmet, the prominent U.S. seafood and gourmet specialist and parent company of D'Artagnan, recently unveiled its 'Holiday Catalog 2024'. This exclusive collection is meticulously crafted to elevate holiday gatherings with a handpicked assortment of artisanal delicacies and gourme

At our recent Community Catch-up, we heard from speakers across our value chain and got to chat and enjoy hospitality from Asado.  It was wonderful to meet up together. Here is a recap of the speakers, along with a video and photos of the day: • Welcome & overview - John Sadler  • North Americ

On Sunday, September 17th, Angus from Terra Pacific traveled to Orlando, Florida, to present Mountain River Venison at Southeastern USA distributor partner Halperns' Steak & Seafood Show. The event was held at the Omni Orlando Resort at ChampionsGate – a large property in an area well known for Flor

James Petrie says he wants to make people aware of farmed venison and help them understand the difference with our unique product. One of the things you hear is that they can’t find venison or have issues with consistency. James says, “We can fix that.”  Who is coming to visit the show? It is ma

Mountain River Venison organised a tasting event for the New Zealand Embassy in Sweden for the visit of our Prime Minister, Chris Hipkins, and Minister of Trade and Agriculture, Damien O'Connor. Last week's event was highly notable as they met with their trade counterparts just a day after offic

The huge National Restaurant Association Show 2023 in North America was the perfect opportunity to reach our foodservice market. Mountain River Venison was back at the National Restaurant Association Show for 2023, being represented on four different stands. Held again at McCormick Place, Chicago

Head chef Mike (Michael Halpin) allowed us to head out into the kitchen and see the Elk cooking process on their Hearthstone menu.  On the menu: Blackberry Elk - Garlic granola crust; marion blackberry demi-glace; housemade ricotta and spinach pierogi; housemade hickory smoked bacon and brussels

Gustaf Kugelberg, Henning Kvick, and John Sadler delivered a new presentation for Mountain River Venison on a recent sales trip to the Hasselbacken Restaurant in Stockholm, one of the city's most iconic restaurants. Hasselbacken Restaurant is a famous Swedish institution located in the Cirkus are

Following his recent visit to Sweden, John Sadler was pleased with the customer and market feedback. Gustaf Kugelberg played host along with Shannon Campbell and Mikael Granberg. The Mountain River team was in Gothenburg with Martin & Servera, Sweden's leading restaurant and catering specialists.

DINZ Venison Marketing Manager Nick Taylor said he was impressed with what he saw on his recent Scandinavian trip. DINZ have been hard at work supporting venison companies in Scandinavia, Taylor noted: "It was great to meet with the importers, to see some of the fantastic new products hitting th

When I was in North America, the Chefs and restaurant managers were genuinely excited about the "Cervena" label once I explained the quality standards it stood for. The kitchen wants quality, consistency, and reliability to maintain their high standards for all meals. As a farmer producer, I want

Andy Keating of Wakaepa Farm, located in Whitecliffs, Central Canterbury foothills, is well versed with the American market. He traveled to the USA to spend time with D'Artagnan sales reps, chefs, and others, in pre-covid times. Andy says that people there haven't always had good experiences with v

Show update from Angus Cleland, Terra Pacific Marketing, USA From May 21st through May 24th this year, I attended the National Restaurant Association (NRA) show at the McCormick Place convention center in Chicago. The show returned to 'in-person' format this year after a two-year pandemic-related

DINZ Article With Market Update Toward the end of 2021, we experienced a rebound in demand for venison from food service. Combined with a good supply of deer and the challenges of a dysfunctional freight sector, the 4th quarter of 2021 was one of the busiest times we have experienced. The result wa

By Gustaf Kugelberg With support from the DINZ Marketing Innovation Fund, our team in Scandinavia is ploughing ahead with retail marketing activity in Sweden. Our task is to inform consumers that NZ farm-raised venison is a premium game meat, different from long-held perceptions

Cuisine360 Ltd, a Nelson-based exporter of premium NZ food, is actively promoting Mountain River Venison. Andrew Cardiff is the Head of Sourcing for New Zealand and the Pacific Islands at Cuisine360 Ltd, which is active in the Thai market. Mountain River Venison A trim is being sold in Makro via Cui

You saw the Asado team at work at our last community meeting at the Dunsandel Community Centre on 29 November. It was so delicious there was a constant queue!  Following on from the speakers, everyone enjoyed the conversation, refreshments, and menu. This celebrated Mountain River venison dishes co

The trip was an amazing opportunity to connect with the chefs using our product. They were very excited to meet one of the producers of the venison they use, hear Northbank Station's story, and see pictures of the farm. They said it helped, as they can tell their customers that they have met the far

Jacques Beyeler at CASIC, our importer in Switzerland, created this fast-paced video to share the exciting customer presentations. You may recognise some cuts, dishes, and faces - put your headphones on! For two days, the team, including Shannon Campbell, gave customers presentations showing th

Three Mountain River Venison New Zealand team members recently joined Angus Cleland on North American customer visits. John Sadler, Rob Millar, and Donald Whyte visited foodservice outlets and restaurants with Angus to share the Mountain River Venison story and learn from customers.  These included

Donald Whyte and the Mountain River Venison team enjoyed receiving an impromptu customer compliment at Hearthstone Restaurant. The couple were dining upstairs and heard that the people who supplied the elk on the menu were downstairs. They wanted to thank the group for what we do as venison produce

This video was taken at Hearthstone Restaurant in Breckenridge, a ski town in one of the Colorado's popular ski areas. It is the end of April and the ski season is coming to a close. The restaurant was perfect for sharing the Mountain River Venison story, meeting the team, and celebrating with va

Shannon Campbell gathers the Martin & Servera Sales Team around the kitchen. It is time to prepare the meal they will eat together. When Shannon lets the team know they can sit down and eat after his demonstration, everyone is quickly on board. Then, he talks the Martin & Servera sale team through

The New Zealand Embassy in Sweden hosted a delightful event where the guests sampled the best wine and venison. In February, the event was held at the official residence in Stockholm. The Embassy, NZ Winegrowers, and NZTE organized it, and there was the opportunity to sample Mountain River veniso

Angus Cleland of Terra Pacific Marketing is immersed in the American market and loves to remind customers that they offer the best venison in the world. He has vast on-the-ground experience, be it exhibiting such as at the National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago, or presenting, in venues lik

David Morgan learned a lot about the value of Cervena from his face-to-face conversations with Chefs, front-of-house, and other customers in the United States. David recalls that when in the States, there were some clear lessons for us. One was the importance of Cervena and the need to retain and ke

Isn't it great when you get a nice surprise when on holiday? Our USA-based team set off for a well-earned holiday earlier this month. Angus & Anna Marie of Terra Pacific Marketing and family set off on a two-week road trip on the coast. They were excited to find some of Force of Nature's finest

This week Mountain River Venison launched on www.thefatcow.se, the premium online store in Sweden. The Fat Cow provides quality and unique meat cuts at attractive prices to customers' front door. The Fat Cow featured Mountain River Venison in their "The Butcher's Talk" one-hour video. Shannon Campb

April/May/June edition of the Deer Industry News. Article by Ali Spencer, Deer Industry News writer. In the article, Ali Spencer writes that the Covid-19 disruption and, most recently, the conflict in Ukraine are presenting hurdles all the way along the cold chain for exporters. She notes they are

By Angus Cleland, North America The 'Covid hangover' looms large over all aspects of the food and hospitality industry at present. Though pressures are easing and there are solid inquiries Of primary concern to most front-line restaurants, hotels and retailers are staffing issues. The "Great Resi