ADELAIDE Hills farmers Ben and Bob Heath, Najobe, Wistow, achieved an impressive hat-trick recently, receiving medals in the Australian Food Awards in the three main meat categories – beef, lamb and pork.
The Heaths received a gold medal for their Najobe beef and bronze medals for their Zara Grace lamb and Rascal Jack pork.
“We were the only ones in Australia to win medals across all of the three categories,” Ben said.
The Australian Food Awards are the nation’s leading national food awards program, and are conducted by The Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria.
“There’s a range of different categories in the awards, it’s not just meat,” Ben said.
“With the meat, you don’t have to grow it yourself to enter, so we were up against some major wholesalers in the awards.”
The family’s business began with the Najobe Park Red Angus stud, but it has evolved to become a wide-ranging enterprise.
“With the beef, we wanted to find a niche market about 10 years ago,” Ben said.
“We could see the demand for ethically raised meat.
“People wanted to know where their meat came from and how it was raised.”
The family still run the Red Angus stud, but are also selling their branded products through farmers’ markets.
They have also opened a butcher shop called NAJOBE@Strath in Strathalbyn, with four butchers working in the store.
“The butcher shop makes it a real paddock-to-plate business,” Ben said.
“We spend a lot of time on breeding and growing out the animals, so we want to make sure they’re also processed right.”
Eight years ago, Najobe started running sheep on their Wistow property, originally with Border Leicester/Merino ewes mated to Suffolk rams.
But for the past three years the Heaths have been using Suffolk rams across Dorper ewes.
“We’re keeping the Suffolk breed for its eating quality, and added the Dorper for growth,” Ben said.
“The Dorpers are also low-maintenance. They are run to the same standards as the beef, only pasture-raised and grassfed.”
The Heaths also run the heritage pork breed Berkshires and buy in goats and grow them out.
Farmers’ markets provide ideal opportunity to share business ethos
SELLING through farmers’ markets has been a way for the Heath family to grow their Najobe business.
On Saturdays, Bob Heath attends the Farm Fresh Market at Parafield Airport and Ben Heath goes to the Willunga Farmers Market.
Both attend the Adelaide Showgrounds Farmers Market on Sundays, selling their Najobe-branded beef from their Red Angus cattle, as well as a range of other products including pork.
“The pork came about because of consumer demand,” Ben said.
“People know the standard we have with beef, and wanted the same with their pork.”
Ben said the markets were a great way to chat to consumers about their farming philosophy.
“All our animals are grassfed, we never grain-feed,” he said.
“The main questions we get asked are about how we treat the animals and what they are fed.
“We’re big on ethical standards, animal welfare and sustainability.”
The family’s stocking rate reflects this, with one animal run for every 1.6 hectares.
“The animals always have plenty of room and we run them in a very low stress environment,” Ben said.
Animals are taken to the Strathalbyn abattoirs on the morning of processing, to minimise stress.
Nutrition is important, with the Heaths reseeding perennial pastures every couple of years using a mixture of different clovers and three to four grass species.
Restaurant trade is another important part of the business, with Najobe supplying venues including the Novotel Barossa Valley Resort Restaurant.
