A food supplier is investing more than £1 million in its Dundee facilities after launching a new line of exotic meats for supermarkets.
Highland Game, based at Dryburgh Industrial Estate, is importing specialty meats from around the globe as part of its new Outlanddish range.
The brand originally launched in October and has already gained significant traction with a series of major orders.
Tesco, Morrisons and Aldi Scotland are all now stocking the range – which includes ostrich burgers and steaks sourced in South Africa, Iberico pork products from southern Spain and Wagyu beef from award-winning herds in Jack’s Creek, Australia – and a number of international supermarket operators have also signed up.
However, the launch of the brand placed further pressure on the company’s Dundee facilities and led to group chief executive Christian Nissen signing off on a seven-figure investment to increase capacity.
The cash is being used to increase butchery and processing space and comes in addition to previous investment to improve office and administration facilities.
Mr Nissen said when he bought the Highland Game business it processed a few thousand animals a year.
The growth in the group’s specialty venison business has seen that figure rise to more than 50,000 animals per year today and the Outlanddish business is adding further strain on the system.
Mr Nissen said it was the “right time” to invest.
“Outlanddish has come at a time when we are marking a milestone in our business,” he said.
“It is our 20th anniversary as I actually bought the business on December 27 1997.
“We have since developed the venison business successfully and we wanted to build on that success by offering our customers something different.
“Naturally when we were looking to expand we looked to develop the specialist category.”
Mr Nissen said provenance and quality was key to his business so he set off on a globe-trotting mission to find produce for the new range.
The meat is then imported and processed and finished in Dundee.
“I hand-picked and personally visited every supplier in order to ensure that they met our exacting standards,” Mr Nissen said.
“When we launched venison into supermarkets under the Highland Game brand 20 years ago, it was unfamiliar to most consumers. Now it’s one of the UK’s favourite meats.
“The launch of Outlanddish has the potential to create a new specialty meat category in the UK and, with high protein diets continuing to prove popular, we see a huge opportunity for this range.”
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