Stock arriving at Medallion Pet Foods' Waipukurau plant.
Stock arriving at Medallion Pet Foods' Waipukurau plant.
Medallion Pet Foods is one of the country’s oldest pet food plants and has been resolutely Central Hawke’s Bay-based for nearly 50 years... although long-standing locals will remember it as Total Pet Foods.
The business began in 1975 as a farmer group co-operative to deal with a farming inevitability -ailing livestock. Traditionally, livestock suffering ill health were destined to become “dog tucker” and were used to fuel the farm’s hardest workers, the farm dogs. But sheep and cattle don’t become ill exactly when the dogs need them, so Total Pet Foods was established to even out the flow. Sick or injured livestock could be booked in for processing, turned into dog rolls or frozen dog food and collected from the factory when needed by the farmer.
This system has been a core part of the Coughlan Road-based business ever since and was the forebearer of Medallion Pet Foods’ Farmer Exchange Programme. While a large part of Medallion’s business is producing everyday quality pet dog nutrition under the brands Stamina, Perfect and High Country, they also offer chilled, frozen and ambient pet dog food products, always with a focus on high meat content to provide a good-quality natural diet.
Medallion managing director Alastair Haliburton says: “Our point of difference is we are a meat company for dogs. The vast majority of pet dog foods sold are dry, made with starches and rendered meat meals. If you read the packaging, there are a lot of additives needed to make these foods nutritious. If you want to feed your dog a fresh meat diet, that’s harder to source. We exist to provide that option, and the only way to do that is by using local, New Zealand suppliers.”
Farm dogs have a range of nutritional needs. Dogs who are not working need a lower-energy “maintenance” product, while working dogs need a higher-energy product to keep their fuel tanks full. These needs can change seasonally, so Alastair says it’s appropriate for farmers to have a choice.
Under the Farmer Exchange Programme, farmers can book stock in to be processed, receive ‘Farmer Exchange Credits’ and “spend” those credits on whatever dog food product they require at the time. Alastair says this is a cost-effective way of taking a non-core job off-farm.
“Turning unwell stock into dog food is time-consuming and requires equipment and a large amount of storage space. It is not always a productive use of farmers’ time and energy. Using the Farmer Exchange Programme, all they have to do is book the stock in and book a truck. We do the rest, and they can collect the resulting dog food when it is convenient for them. It’s a quick and easy solution to an animal welfare issue. We also do ambulance calls for cattle that can’t be loaded on a truck. It’s a big job and not all pet food companies can do it.”
To create a Farmer Exchange account with Medallion Pet Foods, go to https://farmerexchange.co.nz/ or phone (06) 858 9899 or 0800 364 882 (dog tucker). You can also fax them on (06) 858 7291 or email admin@medallionpetfoods.com.
