UK goat guru wows Aussie audiences

MLA, under the Australian Good Meat brand, supported the 2019 Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. As part of the partnership, MLA supported the attendance of guest chef James Whetlor (UK) at the Festival.

James participated in several events across the festival, featuring goat across all the menus, and demonstrating its versatility and accessibility to the curious audience.

The Festival is an annual celebration with over 250 events across Victoria. Each March, food and wine lovers in their thousands flock to events across Melbourne's network of restaurants, laneways, basements, rooftops and regional Victoria.

The partnership introduced ‘curious consumers’ and ‘foodies’ to the Australian red meat industry, its producers, sustainability and animal welfare practices, and the nutritional benefits of beef, lamb and goat.

Based in the UK, James founded Cabrito Meat Ltd after keeping a few goats to solve a land management problem. He was cooking at River Cottage at the time and a few of the goats ended up on the menu. After seeing how well they sold, James thought perhaps there was a market for kid goat meat. Turns out there was.

Drawing on experience of the London restaurant industry, Cabrito (Spanish for ‘young goat’) has created and has continued to grow a market for kid goat meat. They sold their first kids to Jeremy Lee at Quo Vadis in March 2012 and have never looked back.

All Cabrito kids are a by-product of the dairy industry. In a world of dwindling resources and rising food prices Cabrito believes this cannot be justified. The enterprise  now has a network of farms producing high quality meat from a previously wasted resource.

James spent time with producers learning more about Australian conditions, goat genetics, supply chain constraints and opportunities, including farm visits between his event commitments.

James’ busy schedule included hosting a masterclass on the Festival’s opening weekend at the House of Food and Wine, where he prepared three goat dishes in front of a live audience, using goat from Taylan Atar at Seven Hills. Taylan participated in a Q&A on-stage with James throughout the MasterClass, and the audience left with a better understanding of how and where to buy goat, how to prepare it, and how it is produced in Australia.

James was also  on a Theatre of Ideas' panel at the House of Food and Wine, in conversation with Alla Wolf-Tasker (The Lake House) and Sam Sifton (NY Times). The panel discussed the future of farming and sustainable practices to ensure the future of our food system, with James referencing the issues faced by Australian red meat producers, and the impacts felt through the supply chain given current conditions.

Beef, goat and lamb from producers Warialda Beef, Seven Hills and Plains Paddock respectively were integrated across event menus including the Global Dining Series dinner featuring James and Jesse Gerner. Jesse is the owner and head chef at Bomba, where the event was hosted to a sell-out audience of 65 diners.

Australian Good Meat also hosted a private lunch for 40 guests at Bomba, with a menu again curated by James and Jesse. Guests included Victorian red meat producers and supply chain representatives, and MLA Directors Michele Allan (Chair) and Alan Beckett. The casual lunch was dominated by interesting discussion amongst James and the group around production methods in the goat industry, and challenges the Australian industry faces in featuring goat in more mainstream retail outlets and foodservice.

The final event James hosted was for 20 selected guests, representing the food media industry from across Melbourne. Hosted by the Festival’s Creative Director Pat Nourse, the lunch again demonstrated goat across the menu, and provided a platform for discussions on the Australian red meat industries, production practices, sustainability and the key issues facing producers. By introducing media representatives to the Australian Good Meat platform, the brand was launched as the ‘go-to’ place for media and key industry leaders when they want transparent, accurate and reliable information on beef, lamb and goat production in Australia.

About Australian Good Meat

Australian Good Meat is an online platform created by MLA on behalf of the red meat and livestock industry. It provides important information about cattle, sheep and goat production in Australia, primarily on:

• animal welfare
• protecting the environment, and
• health and nutrition of red meat.

It gives insight in to the entire supply chain, focusing on five key stages:

• on-farm
• feedlots
• transport
• processing, and
• livestock exports.

Through a transparent approach, Good Meat informs consumers about the great work of Australian red meat producers and the high quality product they produce.

Good Meat also provides a platform for red meat producers to share their story and demonstrate their commitment to best practice and continual improvement.

Ultimately, Good Meat is about showing how Australian red meat is produced sustainably, in high welfare systems and is an important part of a healthy balanced diet.