Owner Pascal Arrou was born and grew up in the South of France and moved to New Zealand in 2003. He now produces traditional French style pork pate in a 160g glass jar and chatted with the team about the lack of good quality meat pate available in New Zealand prompting him to make his own.
What is your company background, how did you start the business?
By 2007, inspired by his craving for his grandmother’s traditional preserve porc pate, Pascal managed to glean the secret recipe from ‘Grand-mere’ and started making it at home for his own consumption.
Sharing his pate with friends and acquaintances over the following years, Pascal received such positive feedback he was encouraged to think about starting a small business to produce and sell commercially.
In 2013 the opportunity arose for Pascal to work full time on making this business a reality, which was easier said than done!
Following the preserve method and tradition of his grandmother who still lives in a tiny village in the Pyrenees Mountains, flavours are kept to their original taste without using preservatives or additives.
What are the current product range and variants and how do these products stand out in the market?
All our ingredients are sourced in New Zealand, except the wild mushroom; they do not grow in New Zealand.
It is much coarser and tastier than what Kiwis have come to know as pate, which is considered by the French as Mousse or Parfait, and does not contain any butter, cream or dairy product. It is gluten and dairy-free.
We do have a range of three flavours; Traditional; original Porc Pate recipe made for true meat lovers with a hint of cracked pepper. Smoked Paprika; Porc Pate enhanced with Smoked Paprika giving a sweet to mild intensity with a deep red colour and smoky aroma, and Wild Mushroom; Porc Pate intensified with strong woody flavours of Wild Forest Mushroom.
This is a first in New Zealand; no similar New Zealand-made meat product is available for purchase.
A lot of imported Pate is obtainable on the market but nowhere near comparable in taste.
Following his Grandma’s recipe, he only uses New Zealand sourced ingredients and New Zealand grown pork.
Preserving food in a vessel using heat treatment only is a very old and common method that generations of people in France have used on a daily basis to preserve their food prior to fridges and deep freezers being available or invented.
A lot of customers sampling our pate comment on what a natural true meat product it is from the first smell when you open the jar to the real pork taste and coarse texture.
It is literally meat in a jar!
Has there been any recent company news?
We are a small company and promote our products at different fairs and venues across New Zealand; Food shows and local markets.
Nothing has changed regarding staffing and company structure since the day we started; we are the same team with the same passion for great food.
What are the plans for the business moving forward, is there any expansion on the horizon?
We have primarily concentrated our distribution with boutiques and delicatessen across New Zealand in order to achieve credibility in the marketplace as an artisan product and to gain product recognition.
We now are stocking our product range across the major New Worlds in the North alongside Nosh Group.
Further, we have obtained sign off from Foodstuffs South Island so we will be looking at stocking our range in the near future.
