About Lenah Game Meats

The Company

Lenah Game Meats is a small privately owned Tasmanian company. The business was established in 1992.

Our Vision

Lenah is a company with a deep ethical position. It is based on a vision of Australian farmers producing indigenous animals, rather than relying solely on 'exotic' sheep and cattle. Lenah was founded by John Kelly in 1992. Prior to Lenah John was an Agricultural Advisor with the Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries. In response to the environmental damage caused by European style grazing agriculture he observed first hand from the Northern Territory to Tasmania, he decided there must be a better way. Lenah was established to create markets for wallaby and possum meat from the belief it makes sense to produce food from the animals perfectly adapted to the environment. From a climate change perspective, the development of these markets is extremely important. Wallabies are low carbon emitters. They do not produce methane, a very harmful greenhouse gas, whereas ruminates do. Thus wallaby meat can be eaten with a carbon free conscience. Native animals are considered pests by the Tasmanian rural community and their control a wasteful cost. Lenah is attempting to turn this situation around so that with time and market development it is hoped the rural community will come to see the animals adapted to the Australian landscape as 'friends' rather than foe.

Lenah’s Products

Lenah is a specialist producer of indigenous meat products, specifically wallaby and possum.

Lenah Wallaby, Lenah likes to think they invented wallaby

Lenah were the first people to harvest and process wallaby and market it to the restaurant trade. ‘Lenah is actually an Aboriginal name for the wallaby we process. Lenah wallaby has gained a reputation amongst Australia's finest chefs as the 'veal of kangaroo'. It has a light colour, a sweet flavour and fine texture. Stringent quality control ensures that Lenah Wallaby truly earns its reputation as one of nature’s finest meats. Lenah harvests its wallaby from some of Tasmania's best grazing land, thus the meat has a consistent and mild flavour. In addition Lenah has developed systems to ensure that only product from animals younger than three years old is used for restaurant grade cuts; the rest being made into smallgoods. This helps guarantee a consistently high quality, tender product. Lenah is the only company in the kangaroo industry that does this. Lenah Wallaby is sold in every state and territory in Australia. It has featured on many of Australia’s famous menus from Paramount and MG Garage in Sydney to multi award winning Tasmanian restaurants Fee and Me and Stillwater in Launceston and recently won the Delicious magazine gong for the best meat product out of Tasmania for 2010. It is also available in supermarkets throughout Tasmania. John is fond of claiming that wallaby has been the red meat of choice amongst the discerning Tasmanian dining public for 40,000 years. It’s only the last 100 years or so that there’s been a bit of a hiccup in its marketing program and he reckons Lenah is well on the way to turning that around.

Possum

When prepared in Anglo style dishes possum has a flavour not dissimilar to rabbit. Several of Australia's top chefs including Cheong Liew, Adelaide Hilton and Andrew Fielke, Red Ochre, have used this interesting meat in their restaurants with great success.

Other Products

Lenah processes wild harvest venison, rabbits and hare. A strong focus on quality of products and service has seen Lenah mature into a significant player and multi award winning business.

Management

Lenah is managed by its principal shareholders John Kelly and Katrina McKay. John has over 20 years experience in the game meat industry. Prior to establishing Lenah he was employed by the Tasmanian Department of Primary Industry as a District Agricultural Adviser and the States Specialist Deer Farming Adviser. Whilst employed with the DPI John conducted significant meat science research into the factors affecting venison eating quality. Katrina has over 20 years experience working in the agricultural and environmental areas and is a dedicated foodie.

Awards

Lenah Game Meats was awarded the Telstra Tasmanian Agribusiness Exporter of the Year award for 2001 in recognition of its achievements. In particular the judges were impressed by Lenah’s thorough understanding and close cultural ties with its export markets. In 2003 Lenah was the overall winner of the Webster’s Tasmanian Business Growth Award recognising the quality of its management system and dedication to innovation. In 2000, a customer satisfaction survey conducted by the Victorian University Australian Food Marketing Centre identified that Lenah had the highest customer satisfaction index of all similar sized businesses ever surveyed by the Centre. In 2010 Lenah Wallaby was awarded the ‘Paddock’ gong for Tasmania in the Delicious Magazines ‘Produce Awards’. Effectively say Delicious thought it was the best meat product to come out of Tas in 2010.