Northern Tablelands mobile-abattoir Red Eight Produce processing meat on farm by end of year

They knew meat processed on the farm was a product entirely better than what lines the supermarket shelves.

When an animal is sent to an abattoir, it goes through sale yards or to a feedlot to replenish weight lost during transportation, Ms Kauffmann said.

The idea behind Red Eight Produce came in the form of a question the business partners asked themselves. "Why can't we bring the abattoir to them, rather than having to send them to the abattoir?"

But a micro-abattoir fixed on a property comes with challenges, and the average mobile-abattoir requires heavy vehicles, but if the system was lightweight with an expert team, they decided it could work, Ms Kauffmann said.

While there are mobile-abattoirs attached to heavy vehicles in Australia and Europe, Red Eight owns the patent for the lightweight system. During the interviewing and customer discovery process, it became clear many other producers were similarly frustrated with the supply chain, Ms Kauffmann said. And there is a wave of consumers that want to be more connected with their meat, she said.

"They want to know that the ethics are taken care of, that they know the farm has been looked after, and they want to consume food that aligns with their own value set," she said.

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A full scale model was built out of cardboard, complete with cardboard animals, allowing them to check the system with the Food Authority, meat scientists, and local butchers. Building the units overseas was an option, Ms Kauffmann said, but they turned that down, deciding instead to keep Australian businesses as much a part of the fabrication as possible.

"We want our communities to be thriving hubs and have successful businesses," she said.

Ms Kauffmann hopes to have Red Eight on the road and on the farm producing meat by the end of the year, but facing numerous hurdles during COVID has her aware of potential setbacks.

The business partners made a commitment to the community that a Red Eight abattoir would operate in the region, and they've had a lot of interest from producers across the eastern seaboard.

"We want to make this available to as many producers who think that it's appropriate for their business as possible," she said.

"An abattoir has really strict regulations for very good reason. And Australian standards are known across the world for the quality of our meat and the reliability of our meat. We want to be way above that line."

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