Hammerhead dives into world of flavour

Darcy Schack, of Hammerhead Foods, with a spice blend created in his Mosgiel garage. Photos by...
Darcy Schack, of Hammerhead Foods, with a spice blend created in his Mosgiel garage. Photos by Stephen Jaquiery.
A selection of Hammerhead Foods products.
A selection of Hammerhead Foods products.

Darcy Schack has added some spice to his life, writes Sally Rae.

After years spent working as a photographer, Darcy Schack was looking to spice up his career.

So he traded lenses for lemons and launched Hammerhead Foods with business partner Carl Hatfield.

"The way I look at it, I'm just a fat guy with a beard ... just making stuff and I really like making stuff. You can't get much more simple than that,'' he said.

Working from a commercial kitchen housed in an unobtrusive garage in a quiet residential street in Mosgiel, Canadian-born Mr Schack hand-blends and produces a range of gourmet seasonings and recipe bases.

Salt and spice blends could be used for everything from sprinkling on roast vegetables and dusting on seafood or rubbing into meat to blending into dips, dressings and sauces.

Flavour bases were made for use in slow cookers.

It all began when Mr Schack and Mr Hatfield, a chef, were looking for seasoning to put on steak.

Checking out the market and unable to find anything without fillers or preservatives, they decided to create their own, made with real ingredients and no artificial colours, flavours or fillers.

They knew the flavours they wanted and what they wanted to achieve - so it was a matter of getting into the kitchen.

Discovering other people liked what they cooked up led to the launch of Hammerhead Foods.

There are nine core products, including a recently introduced Mexican-inspired blend, available from Raeward Fresh, Farro Fresh, Nosh Food Market, Neat Meat and selected New World supermarkets.

The pair were always looking at developing products.

Mr Schack described Mr Hatfield as "the best business partner a guy could ever have'' and said the pair worked fluidly and dynamically together.

"He is a brilliant chef . . . and a dear friend,'' he said.

Mr Schack moved to New Zealand in 2007, wanting to "get out of the rat race''.

He was now happily ensconced in Otago with his wife Jennifer and their young family, with doughnuts and ice hockey being the only things he missed about Canada.

Food had always interested him.

"I've always used food as a way of . . . I don't know if you call it ‘medication','' he said.

It was not unusual for him to be working in the kitchen until 2am and his weeks could entail some massive hours. But that did not bother him.

"It's fun, I love it . . . I don't want to do anything else in the world, I love what I'm doing,'' he said.

The business was gaining momentum and Mr Schack was working on products for other companies to put in their products.

The aim was to eventually have four or five different ranges of products.

Hammerhead Foods was named after Mr Schack's long-time fascination with sharks, which he preferred to view from the safety of a boat or television.

It was a strong name and that was something that he was looking for, as he wanted men to feel comfortable buying the products.

"Men are a funny breed ... if it looks too feminine or not manly enough, they tend not to buy it,'' he said.

The main demographic of customers was women, aged between about 25 and 55.

Women tended to do the bulk of grocery shopping, but men did "spot buy'' and they endeavoured to make the brand appeal to both, he said.

One thing they tried to do was make things easy when it came to cooking.

So many things were complicated, he said, citing cooking shows that showed "75 steps'' to create a dish.

In New Zealand, he believed people were getting much more adventurous and savvy with their palates.

That was a far cry to when he first moved to New Zealand nine years ago and found it was "standard fare'' that was available, which he struggled with.

Foreigners coming to New Zealand were bringing their experiences and food with them.

The number of ethnic restaurants had grown considerably in that time and he believed New Zealand was "catching up with the rest of the world''.

And it was not just all about food. He is also making alcohol, under the Thunderhorse Spirits label.

His coffee moonshine and apple pie moonshine - "it's moonshine the same way they do it in Kentucky'' - is stocked in a few bars and restaurants throughout the country, and other drinks were being developed.

Mr Schack sourced ingredients through Dunedin-based Alexanders Marketing, a company that was great to deal with, he said.

Being based in the south was no barrier to doing business, other than having to ship to the North Island, while lemons were far expensive than in the north.

He usually went through about 100kg of lemons each week and the dehydrators in the kitchen were filled with lemons 24 hours a day.

Mr Schack was grateful for the opportunities he had been given in Otago, which he believed were greater than what there would have been in the likes of a bigger centre such as Wellington or Auckland.

"Here, if you're willing to do something, people are more willing to have a go with you,'' he said.

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