Two Smoked Okes in Wilderness

A quaint little butchery in Palms Garden Square, Wilderness, opened its doors on the very first day of the nationwide lockdown. Now, more than three months later, with Level 3 regulations in place, The Two Smoked Okes could finally celebrate its launch event last Saturday.

Two of the owners ("okes") of Two

Smoked Okes, Coenraad van den Berg (operations and quality manager) and Conrad van Wermeskerken (butcher), share a passion for quality meat. "It all started with a casual chat about how to smoke meat, when the idea of starting a business sprang to mind," said Coenraad. With 20 years of experience in the meat industry, Conrad van Wermeskerken, a former protein specialist in the hospitality industry including the Mount Nelson Hotel, was equally enthusiastic about putting Wilderness firmly on the meat map.

The Two Smoked Okes stocks pastured meat and free-range chicken from local suppliers, including smoked, cured and dry aged products. Word of their specialities has already spread among locals, who ask for it by name when they enter the shop

- dry aged meats, smoked maple bacon, lamb cheese grillers and boerewors made to Conrad's own recipe. The product labels are hand-written and everything is vacuumpacked. "It is like in the olden days, we do everything ourselves and cut the meat by hand," says Marike, Coenraad's wife and business partner. Two local trainees from Kleinkrantz, Charl van Beulen and Jason Futshane, are learning the ropes from meat master Conrad, who teaches them everything from deboning meat to making boerewors. "They share our enthusiasm and have so much potential," says Coenraad. The butchery will soon launch a budget product line for the local communities.

Contact Two Smoked Okes for orders and deliveries on 072 358 0463 or find them on Facebook @TheTwosmokedOkes Wilderness. Address: No 1 Palms Garden Square, Owen Grant Street, Wilderness (opposite the Wilderness Hotel).