South Australia's Macro Meats world's largest processor of wild meat: kangaroos, rabbit, venison, pig

Some of the Macro Meats kangaroo products.
Image courtesy WOW Creative.

Macro Meats Gourmet Game is the world’s largest processor of meat from wild game including kangaroo, rabbit, hare, venison, goat and wild pig.

Started by kangaroo meat processor Ray Borda in 1987, Macro Meats has become a national success, employing 300 of its 1700 staff at Athol Park headquarters. It has around 90% of the Australian kangaroo meat industry.

Kangaroo eating has grown recently, although it still less than 1% of Australia’s total consumption of meat.

Macro has about 1500 shooters employed around the country. In response to increased regulation, it imposes  high standards of modern food hygiene.

Dew’s Meats, a 40-year-old business in Orroroo, is turning kangaroo meat offcuts into a premium value-added ingredient for pet food. From a plant being upgraded with a state government grant, Dews also supplies premium kangaroo cuts to restaurants and shops, as well as being used in smallgoods.

Camels are another potential meat supply.

Thomas Elder, who, with Robert Barr Smith, built a pastoral empire bigger than Scotland in northern South Australia, brought out the 120 camels with their “Afghan” attendants to convey supplies from Port Augusta in1869. The camels became important in developing northern Australia, especially with the buildings of the Overland Telegraph. But they were set free into the bush when railways and cars arrived.

There are now about 350,00 feral camels, and ways to profit from their meat, is still being considered by the South Australian and Northern Territory governments.
A feasibility study, commissioned by the two governments, found that harvesting wild camels was “both profitable and viable for a few years”. After that, profit would only be possible from boosting camel farming, as well as setting up an Alice Springs abattoir to include culled horses and donkeys.