Business has come a long way
Electra Business and Innovation Awards finalist profile: Woody’s Free Range
Levin businessman Daniel Todd used to call out to his pigs by name and they would come running up to him.
“Gordon . . . Delia . . . Hugh . . . Martha . . . Maggy . . . Ruth* . . .”
They were all named after famous celebrity chefs.
But that was when there were just seven of them roaming around. In less than 10 years, Woody’s Free Range meat wholesalers had expanded to the point where to name each pig would be a logistical impossibility.
Being a finalist in the 2022 Electa Business and Innovation Awards has given Todd an opportunity to reflect on just how far the free-range meat producing business had come a short time.
Todd initially started farming freerange pigs because he was horrified by intensive pig farming. So he bought a small farm near Manakau with the idea of raising animals naturally.
“The fact that we keep sentient animals confined in concrete sheds seemed completely wrong to me, at the same time it allowed me to have a niche market and point of difference where I could promote the fact that they were free range . . . outdoors . . . as opposed to the majority of pork and bacon that you buy that is intensive,” he said.
It wasn’t just about ethical farming practice. If an animal was allowed to roam naturally, it grew naturally and built up natural muscle, which translated to a better tasting and less gelatinous product on the plate. The pigs breed outdoors and stayed outdoors where they were able to socialise, and were fed two square meals a day.
“They’re outdoors all their life. The most important thing is they are happy and healthy and at the end of the day you get good quality pork.”
And at the risk of sounding oxymoronic, he actually reckoned consumers should be eating less meat, but believed what meat they did eat should be of good quality.
“In the end the commodity-made market is not sustainable,” he said.
As the business grew Todd was forced to source his pigs from other farms that adhered to his standards of animal husbandry, one in the Wairarapa and the other in Canterbury, allowing him to focus more on marketing the product, and in 2020 he stopped farming pigs entirely.
Woody’s Free Range processes all its product at a factory in Levin with a fulltime staff of nine — including five butchers and two apprentices.
While the business still primarily deals in pigs, it now processes local highland beef, lamb and goat meat, and makes all its own range of salami, bacon, ham and charcuterie on site.
Woody’s supplies high-end restaurants as well as retailers across the country, while products are also available to order online.
Todd is on the lookout for more staff as the business continues to grow and is desperately looking for a new building site as the operation outgrows its Cambridge St warehouse and they look to expand overseas. Ideally a new premise would be at least 1000 square metres.
In the early days Woodys Free Range featured on television show Country Calendar and the 2014 episode remains one of its mostviewed ever. Todd was also one of the inaugural members of the Horowhenua Taste Trial, showcasing locally produced food.
*New Zealand chef Ruth Pretty visited the farm and met her namesake.