Nearly ten months have passed since Magills Butchery won the supreme award at last year’s New Zealand Food Awards for its slow-cooked pulled hereford beef, battling it out against 150 entries from 79 food and beverage manufacturers of all sizes.
In the run-up to another NZ Food Awards event, it is safe to say it has been a double victory for the Waikato-based company.
“The win has raised awareness for our product, business and brand on a whole,” said Mike Van Der Hoeven, owner of Magills. “Our Pulled Meats range is now available through selected retail stockists nationwide, and the range has also really struck a chord with the wholesale market, as a convenient and healthy ready-made meat options.”
More recently, Wendy’s has featured their winning Pulled Hereford Beef in the BBQ Pulled Beef Range, which will run for the next few weeks. So far, it has been well-received.
According to Van Der Hoeven, the demand for Magills’ award-winning products is increasing, to the point that the company is about to launch an online ordering service that will deliver nationwide. “On a more practical level, we have had to restructure the way we order and process our meats so that we can operate a more sustainable and efficient system, with less waste.”
Even though Magills will not be entering this time, they look forward to doing it again in 2017.
“We were first-time entrants last year and had no idea what to expect. The experience alone was worth the entry; it was a well-planned and enjoyable event, and there are great networking opportunities to be had with other industry leaders,” said Van Der Hoeven, before adding a good piece of advice for those vying for the top prize.
“Tell your story. We knew we were onto a winner, but it was the whole story of product, brand and history combined that helped us take out the supreme award.”
