Venison larder finally operational

[pazmino]

I now produce more venison than I can eat or give away, so last year I decided to turn half my office at home (a converted garage) into a venison larder, and register as a food business. The Environmental Health Officer here (West Oxon) was very helpful, and @wytonpjs, @willie_gunn and @VSS all gave really valuable advice on various aspects, as well as HACCP templates. Pleased to say I've been approved as a small-scale producer, to process 1-2 deer a month. Total cost of the project was about £2.5K, which I hope to earn back in a year or so.
I vacuum-pack the meat once butchered, and freeze it immediately - it's stored in the two chest freezers underneath the butchery table, which are on rollers. I'm selling through a local veg box scheme - the people who run it have been very supportive, and customers can pick up my venison with their veg once a month - and through worth of mouth. A friend helped with designing and welding the ceiling winch frame, which allows me to move a carcass out of my car and into the fridge, and also over to the butchery table. I just about bodged together the rest of it. Considering how much talk there is of encouraging venison sales, I was surprised how little advice there is out there from the powers that be for people like me, who are just aiming to produce on a small scale.

 

[Devon Stalker]

Nice job!

 

[75]

Nice work. I'm similar to you and have been registered as a food business for a few years. More ground, more reds over the last couple of years means I'm currently going through the process of upgrading my chiller - which is painful to say the least! Been trying since April to get a quote from one well known company!! Everyone is too busy with big jobs to deal with small producers like us!

 

[willie_gunn]

Excellent job!

It is great to see stalkers taking the initiative to increase venison sales and market the product to regular consumers.

That looks a really impressive set-up, and you can be rightly proud of what you've achieved.

 

[Woodenbeam]

Well done that man hats off to ya.
As for the helping small scale producers I think these days red tape is more interested in closing things down than opening them up. It’s all cost so unless money is / can be made where’s the incentive………..
Anyway sticking to the positive as said, looks a cracking job - enjoy your stalking, shooting & butchery

 

[VSS]

Well done that man hats off to ya.
As for the helping small scale producers I think these days red tape is more interested in closing things down than opening them up. It’s all cost so unless money is / can be made where’s the incentive………..
Anyway sticking to the positive as said, looks a cracking job - enjoy your stalking, shooting & butchery

There's refreshingly little red tape involved in setting up to process and retail venison.

 

[Woodenbeam]

There's refreshingly little red tape involved in setting up to process and retail venison.

Shush………don’t advertise that fact otherwise the bureaucrats will want to get involved.

My point (albeit not well made) was the lack of advice comment made by the Pazmino.

 

[paulbshooting]

Nice facility. Into my third year as a small producer. You get a fair price and all customers repeat buy. Sell via farm shops, direct to consumer and hospitality clients locally. Lots of hours and not really a money maker but keeps me hunting and no game dealer BS / hassle

 

[Ruby Tuesday 2]

Great set up , keep thinking of doing the same myself most of my deer are shot within three miles of my home but my dealer is nearly an hour away. When you say approved for one or two a month is that a normal stipulation or something locally recommended . I might shoot two one month then ten the next.

 

[VSS]

Great set up , keep thinking of doing the same myself most of my deer are shot within three miles of my home but my dealer is nearly an hour away. When you say approved for one or two a month is that a normal stipulation or something locally recommended . I might shoot two one month then ten the next.

There's plenty of small-scale producers processing several hundred deer per year. You're only really limited by what your facility can cope with. For example, it's no good having a chiller big enough for 2 deer and then expecting to be able to process 10 at a time.

 

[Ruby Tuesday 2]

I've got a chiller that holds ten at the time but didn't want to have to get another to hold the skinned carcases , I hadn't thought about just getting a chest freezer to keep the processed meat in. I have spoken to the local eho but they were zbit vague in recommendations as to what I would need to do.

 

[VSS]

I've got a chiller that holds ten at the time but didn't want to have to get another to hold the skinned carcases , I hadn't thought about just getting a chest freezer to keep the processed meat in. I have spoken to the local eho but they were zbit vague in recommendations as to what I would need to do.

You don't need two chillers unless you're planning on hanging both skin on and skin off carcasses at the same time, or other types of game (pheasants etc).
My chiller holds 7 deer. I hang in skin. To process a deer I take it out of the chiller, skin it, cut it up, vac pack it, and then repeat for the next deer and so on. I don't return skinned carcasses to the chiller.

 

[pazmino]

Great set up , keep thinking of doing the same myself most of my deer are shot within three miles of my home but my dealer is nearly an hour away. When you say approved for one or two a month is that a normal stipulation or something locally recommended . I might shoot two one month then ten the next.

My EHO said that normally they'd want separate areas for skinning and butchering - because I do both in the same room, a) my HACCP had to address ensuring that the butchery area was sterilised before working on the carcass, and b) it was fine as I'm operating on a small scale - if at some point in the future I started processing more, they may insist on separate areas.

 

[VSS]

My EHO said that normally they'd want separate areas for skinning and butchering - because I do both in the same room, a) my HACCP had to address ensuring that the butchery area was sterilised before working on the carcass, and b) it was fine as I'm operating on a small scale - if at some point in the future I started processing more, they may insist on separate areas.

Similar concept here. Although I don't skin deer in my butchery area, unskinned carcases do have to pass through the butchery area on their way to and from the chiller, by means of an overhead rail. I had to demonstrate that I was aware of the potential risks, and show what steps I took to minimise that risk (for example, the butchery area is laid out in such a way that carcasses passing through on the rail have a clear run without coming into contact with any of the surfaces).

 

[LarryLightFoot]

Thanks for sharing and great set up , reading all the comments as there is a pool of knowledge regarding setting up.
Still not there yet but will do when I can and I’m looking to build a small two room set up, chiller skinning room and a separate butchering room then register as FBO, most carcasses will be sold out skin whole to Butchers and some butchered to cuts and mince .

 

[sauer]

Similar to yourself I set up via local authority / EHO ….
Basically they didn’t k ow what to do with me and she would go down a road and I had to show her relevant sections of wild game guidance…. Didn’t believe me and still went to FSA on few different bits ……. Eventually they told her to listen to me as I seemed to have an idea what I was talking about …. Only because I’d spoken to folk who had done it and I read said guidance ….
Eventually we got there and she apologized and said she was in uncharted grounds for her and she wanted to cover her ar5e basically …
Guess she was only doing her job !
Well done nice set up

Paul

 

[Klenchblaize]

If you can avoid the 'involvement' of Local Planning, Building Control, Listed Building and Conservation Area Consents in such setups that's great but not always possible. Drainage tends to be one of the elements that gets BC very exercised!


Well done to the Op. Very impressive.

K

 

[gelert]

There are a few Council grants available for start up one off business here on Anglesey.
I myself am in the process of upgrading my facilities and going through the proces.
The requirements aren't that onerous,a small business plan to their template,a brief breakdown of itemized costs and a little about the business.
They were very helpful to be honest and you have to sit a one day seminar foc.

 

[K_h]

There are a few Council grants available for start up one off business here on Anglesey.
I myself am in the process of upgrading my facilities and going through the proces.
The requirements aren't that onerous,a small business plan to their template,a brief breakdown of itemized costs and a little about the business.
They were very helpful to be honest and you have to sit a one day seminar foc.

Have you got a link to any information for this ?

 

[VSS]

There are a few Council grants available for start up one off business here on Anglesey.
I myself am in the process of upgrading my facilities and going through the proces.
The requirements aren't that onerous,a small business plan to their template,a brief breakdown of itemized costs and a little about the business.
They were very helpful to be honest and you have to sit a one day seminar foc.

I'm also in North Wales, and I got a significant amount of grant funding towards buying and equipping my larder, and continuing business support including butchery training and product development.