MEET YOUR {OUTSTANDING} MAKER - HIGH COUNTRY SALMON
High Country Salmon has received two Outstanding New Zealand Food Producer awards, earning a 2021 Gold Medal for Salmon Gravadlax and a 2022 Silver Medal for their Beetroot Cold Smoked Salmon with the judges noting the nice texture and lovely deep colour of their salmon.
Nestled amongst the vast mountain vistas of New Zealand’s Mackenzie Country lies High Country Salmon, a family-owned business that has been farming and producing high-quality, delicious, fresh salmon for more than two decades.
High Country Salmon and its outstanding team serve as a perfect example of how community, collaboration and people contribute to a successful, award-winning sustainable business.
Reflecting on its origin; Business Operations Manager, Tracey Gunn says, “High Country Salmon was established in 2000 by Richard and Margaret Logan. Richard – who is no longer with us - was a pioneer of freshwater salmon farming in the Mackenzie region and his family continues to lend a hand in all aspects of the business. “We’ve had children and grandchildren work for us and Richard and Margaret’s daughter Jeni is part of the Admin Team - it’s very much a family-owned and operated business.”
Tracey believes the success of High Country Salmon is thanks to three core philosophies: people, community and environment. “Our people are key, we are conscious that without an awesome team, we don’t have a business. We invest in keeping staff happy and retaining them,” she says.
Alongside this Tracey notes sustainability is incredibly important and the key to that is the welfare of the salmon. “Our salmon are taken care of and grown at a low density to ensure they have the best life. We have divers check the farm to ensure it’s a healthy environment and test the water quality monthly.” Living and working in the Mackenzie Country, famous for its natural landscapes and crystal-clear lakes, further reinforces the importance of taking care of the environment and operating sustainably, she explains. “Living here, you wouldn’t want to do anything detrimental to the environment.”
Business isn’t all plain sailing. While their remote Twizel location means pristine water and quality salmon, it can be a challenge getting their fish to market fresh. “We farm glacial mountain salmon (chinook), processing it and dispatching it to fish shops and consumers across the country. We do everything on-site ensuring the shortest supply chain possible resulting in the freshest salmon available.”
Over recent years High Country Salmon has launched a series of new initiatives. “We have a ‘Catch-A-Fish’ experience, we’ve built a new fish shop that also sells kitchenware, merchandise and fishing gear, and we are undergoing a café makeover. We’re a bit of an octopus business - because we’ve got so many arms!” Tracey laughs.
High Country Salmon intends to invest more in the business over the next couple of years. “We want to build a new processing unit and implement a new farm structure to continue to ensure the salmon are in healthy and sustainable environments,” she says.
High Country Salmon’s win at the Outstanding New Zealand Food Producer awards was fantastic. Tracey says their success is partly thanks to their collaboration with another Mackenzie Country business. “We’ve had a great relationship with The Wee Smokehouse for a long time and the team there is great at bringing our product ideas to life. Anything we think of – even if it's whacky or crazy – they have achieved and they are responsible for creating our award-winning smoked and cured range,” Tracey says. The Wee Smokehouse entered this year’s awards and received another gold for the Gravadlax and a silver for the Cold Smoked Salmon
So, next time you’re visiting the Mackenzie Country or you want fresh NZ delivered to your door check out www.highcountrysalmon.co.nz