New pork outlet a step a head for Havoc

Ian and Linda McCallum-Jackson, with Claire Dickie (right) at the opening of the Havoc Farm Pork...
Ian and Linda McCallum-Jackson, with Claire Dickie (right) at the opening of the Havoc Farm Pork store in Dunedin. Photo by Jane Dawber.
Havoc has hit High St. Ian and Linda McCallum-Jackson, from free-range pig farm Havoc, at Hunter, near Waimate, have opened a store in Dunedin, opposite the Southern Cross Hotel.

A crowd gathered outside the shop on Friday to celebrate the opening and sample meat from a pig cooked on a spit, served up in buns.

Havoc has been a regular stall-holder at the Otago Farmers Market since just after the market was established and customers kept asking where they could get meat during the week, Mrs McCallum-Jackson said.

The market had been a "big part" of their business - "I can't imagine my life without it" - and it was something that they would never want to give up because it brought them so close to their customers.

Opening the shop was taking that a step further but they would also maintain their presence at the market, she said.

The couple, who also have the Havoc Farm Factory Shop in Waimate, have been working on opening a Dunedin store and looking for premises for about four years.

It will be managed by Mrs McCallum-Jackson's son Cain Lindegreen, assisted by two staff members. The store is next to organic shop Taste Nature and is open seven days a week.

It has been a big year for Havoc, which was named supreme winner at the South Canterbury Chamber of Commerce hospitality and tourism awards in August and also supreme winner of Cuisine magazine's Artisan Awards with its Havoc Yorkshire Black Bacon.

Mrs McCallum-Jackson attributed their success to "hard bloody work" and business was brisk. They had not noticed any effects of the recession, she said.

She put that down to people knowing what they stood for, which was "just good wholesome food that is traceable".

There was a growing awareness of health and nutrition and people wanted to know where their food came from.

The couple have about 100 pigs on their property.

Mrs McCallum-Jackson used to be a human resources consultant in Auckland and the only contact she had with pigs was when she bought pork chops at the supermarket. That changed when she met her future husband, Ian, who had worked with pigs around the world.

 

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