Our Story

Lake Farm is, first and foremost, a cattle breeder, breeding pure Angus cattle with the emphasis on high marbling.  The meat in our pies, and in the meat we sell online showcases the beef we breed.

Lake Farm has won Beef and Lamb’s prestigious “Steak of Origin” competition (to find the best steak in New Zealand) twice – and got to the grand finals (the last 20 steaks) 7 times in 9 years.  We are very proud of this achievement.

We have just 75 acres on the shores of Lake Karapiro. We can finish 50 animals per year only - and carry a little over 100 head of cattle, at any one time.  Ours is very much a provenance story - we only process beef born and raised on Lake Farm.  Accordingly, our volume is always limited, so it's very seldom that we aren't sold out at the end of each cycle.  Sorry!! We breed to the "Ahurei Beef" standard for marbling so that the cattle we process have a minimum  AU marbling score of 3 and often a 5+ score. Ahurei is a Maori word, meaning "special and unique"

But beyond all our breeding program, what drives us most is to raise quiet cattle in an idyllic and stress-free environment. We have no dogs, we almost always send off our animals in twos, and don't wean our calves from their mums. The very least we can do is make their brief lives here happy and contented ones. This is very important to us.

From a cattle beast, there is only a small amount of "prime cuts" available - Tenderloin (Eye Fillet); Rib Eye (Scotch) and Porterhouse (Sirloin). By processing only two beasts per fortnight, we simply will never have enough prime cuts to fulfill demand (sorry). But the idea to convert our slower cooked cuts into gourmet pies has given us the ability to supply more product, and better showcase our breeding program. This excites us! Whilst pies are, pretty much, a staple diet item for New Zealanders, we believe that we have a unique product, from a traceability perspective. Not only do you know where the beef comes from, but know it's ethically raised, and specially bred, award-winning beef. Now adding special craft beer (our recipes) to our lineup, is special for us. We have created the beer to accompany food, and to celebrate people of the land!

FEATURED ON

Country Calendar

Lake Farm were thrilled to be featured on Country Calendar - New Zealand's iconic farming and rural lifestyle television show

WATCH EPISODE