Heck German Smallgoods and summer drinks

A few weeks ago I mentioned Heck German Smallgoods factory shop is open to the public every Thursday and Friday and that we have been buying his outstanding smallgoods regularly.

Heck German Smallgoods is a German gourmet butchery that produces and sells authentic German and European quality smallgoods, sausages, salamis, beer sticks and specially cooked and smoked meats.

Ulrich, or ‘Heck’ as he is often called and traces his family heritage as traditional butchers back to the 1500’s in Germany. The photos on the wall in his factory shop show his heritage from his great grandparents to today.

Heck says being successful in producing and selling smallgoods “is a matter of trust, customers need to be able to trust the products I make and be able to rely on the quality and flavour so they want to come back and buy the products again. It also means they trust me when I introduce a new product and my loyal customers are prepared to try these new things. If you don’t have trust you don’t have a business.”

One product that is about to take prominence is his hams. Made from New Zealand raised pork and with the bone removed from every ham these are perfect for Christmas.

He told me he removes the bone for a couple of reasons, “it makes them easier to carve but the main reason is food safety. Having the bone in can increase the risk of bacteria growing in the ham if consumers don’t look after it properly at home.”

When it comes to quality there is no compromise at Heck’s, he uses free-farmed pork and beef products and the high-quality equipment he has imported from Germany means all of the products he makes are consistent in quality and taste, “Germans love machinery and we use it to make life easier and to make sure everything we make is the same every time”.

There are a few other things that make Heck’s products special for me; firstly, everything is hand crafted using beautiful New Zealand raised fresh meats, then his recipes mean things like his beer sticks and salamis are fermented rather than being heat treated. This means they have a lovely soft texture rather than being hard and chewy unless you leave them in the fridge, out of the packaging for a couple of days.

Being slightly softer the flavours are fantastic. Another thing that makes his products special is that he doesn’t use fillers or anything artificial. “Just meat and seasonings, no artificial flavours. Everything is just meat and natural flavour.”

Home kill processing is another specialty of Heck’s, he can do everything for you. He will visit your farm or lifestyle block and process the animal into cuts of meat or sausages to your specifications. He can even process your recreational catch, deer or whatever, into products and cuts of meat you want.

This service has grown to the stage he is investing in a truck he can bring to you to uplift the animal from you.

It is worth noting Heck is fully MPI compliant to do everything he does. From processing and selling meat from the freezing works to processing your home kill, but something he can’t do is sell your home kill meat for you. He can only sell meat and meat products that are processed through a compliant freezing works.

When it comes to special cuts of meat Heck can produce them for you; for example if you want a boned shoulder of lamb just order it a week or so in advance and he will make sure he gets fresh lamb delivered and prepare it for you to collect from his shop.

And as summer BBQ time is upon us make sure you stock up on his beautifully hand-crafted pure meat sausages too.

But most importantly, order Christmas hams now to make sure you don’t miss out, I already have my order in!

Heck’s factory shop in Kotua Place at the Whakatu Industrial Estate is open every Thursday and Friday from 9am to 4pm. www.heck.co.nz

Add something to drink

When it comes to finding the perfect drinks to enjoy this summer you don’t need to look past Nelson made wines, beers and soft drinks. Pete’s Natural Sodas has once again won a number of awards during the year and their lower natural cane sugar (no refined white stuff) with natural flavourings makes them just right for the non-alcohol drinkers at your social event this summer.

Published in the Nelson Mail 26-10-2024