Meat producer and retirees serve up tasty partnership

Friday, 23 September 2022

Aura Holdings and a Queensland family farming business have formed a unique partnership bringing the country to the city to provide retirement village residents with high quality meat products and delicious ready-made meals.

Brisbane Valley Protein is supplying weekly delivered farm direct meat and produce to residents and has set up its food operations in the commercial kitchen of Kingsford Terrace Corinda, an independent-living community operated by Aura Holdings.

Aura Holdings’ director Tim Russell said the collaboration with Brisbane Valley Protein was unique in the retirement living sector and he foresaw huge benefits for the Kingsford Terrace residents and the meat-producing company based in the Somerset region.

“We hope this partnership will excite our residents when they discover just what is being produced so close to Brisbane. There is a real interest among them for meat that is ethically produced,’’ Mr Russell says.

“This collaboration has only recently launched but our residents are already enjoying the convenience of having high quality meats delivered to them at affordable prices. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and they say they can really taste the difference of fresh, farm direct meat compared to the supermarket offerings.’’

Mr Russell says he hopes the venture is just the start of a long and successful journey.

is the vision of fourth generation farming siblings Duncan Brown and Selena Gomersall who produce beef, chicken and quail on a 1100 hectare farm at Coominya, 80km west of Brisbane. They also access locally grown lamb and pork.

“This is a really exciting opportunity for us to provide our meat direct from our farm to the Kingsford Terrace residents and to base our award-winning chef Jason Peppler in their kitchen,’’ Mr Brown says.

Aura Holdings director Tim Russell, chef Jason Peppler and Brisbane Valley Protein’s Duncan Brown. 

“Our mission is to feed and grow communities through sustainable, innovative agriculture. We are slowly turning our property into a diverse agriculture and food production hub capable of growing, processing and exporting poultry, beef and quail.’’

The company proudly produces and breeds the largest quails for consumption in the world. “When I first tried quail it was love at first bite. But I’ve always found it fiddly and difficult to eat,’’ Mr Brown says. “The original breeding stock came from the Hunter Valley and we’ve been selecting the biggest birds to continue breeding. Instead of the typical 180 to 200 grams our quails are 300 to 450 grams.’’

Kingsford Terrace residents will be able to order meat weekly that will arrive in Cryovac packaging. They will also have an option to order a box of seasonal, locally grown fresh fruit and vegetables.

“It’s a collaboration that is something unique yet really makes sense,’’ Mr Brown says.

The Kingsford Terrace retirees are enjoying the heat and eat meals that Mr Peppler produces from the village’s kitchen. Every week there are two meal options, catering to the palettes of the residents, such as cottage pie, Spanish chicken, roasts and nasi goreng. They sell for $12 or $13 a serve.

Mr Peppler can also cater for residents’ private celebrations such as birthdays or anniversaries held with family and friends. A monthly two-course dinner for residents showcasing BVP produce will be held in the village function room. There are also plans for regular barbecue events and farm tours to see how and where the meat is produced.

Aura Holdings was established in 2016 by directors Tim Russell and Mark Taylor, who have more than 35 years’ combined experience in the retirement sector. Aura has six ‘vertical villages’ in Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast and the Darling Downs.

For more information about this unique project, email info@auraholdings.com.au or call (07) 3397 2930.