The story behind our local suppliers for the best animal produce and veggies

At The Peninsula Tribe, we are proud to say that we source all our animal produce from Ryan Boon Meats, a specialty butcher in the Western Cape. The following passages are from our animal produce supplier to effectively convey their practices and the reasons behind our decision to collaborate with them.

Free-range Beef sourced by Ryan Boon Meats

Greenfields Beef protocol was started in the Midlands of KZN where the company still resides, and the 1400 hectare farm still produces amazing quality, free-range beef to this day. We have partnered up with one of their farmers in the Western Cape, Valerian van der Byl from Fairfields Farm out in Napier, where we source most of our product from. The product enjoys full traceability, as well as being slaughtered in Bredasdorp very near to the Farm. The product is aged with us, value is added, and butchery is done here in our factory in Paarl. We age some cuts up to 12 weeks on request. We do occasionally source from other farmers and protocol holders. We are very particular about sourcing the most ethically farmed, natural product we can.

What is the Greenfields Protocol?

As there is no branding for grass-fed meat in South Africa, Greenfields down in KZN wrote their own protocol against which they and Fairfield farm are audited.

Under the Greenfield’s protocol, 5% of the cow’s bodyweight is permitted to be supplemented by grasses such as hay and grass seed grown by the farmer on his own land during times of winter or drought. There is one cow per hectare of land and calves are kept with their mothers as long as possible.

“We do not feed our cattle and feed grade antibiotics, or given them any growth promoting hormones. Although our farm is not ‘certified’ organic, we make our own compost to feed the lands and soil health and grass production are as important to us as the cattle that graze the lands.

We produce only as much beef as our farmland can sustain, in the hope that our quality and service make up for the smaller production.

Producing the best quality grass-fed beef is our mission and passion. We trust you will appreciate and enjoy all of these good things when you prepare and taste our beef”

Greenfields protocol 

In order for beef to be sold as Greenfields Free Range Beef the following protocol is followed:

• The animals must be able to range freely over large camps/pastures with unlimited access to grass and fresh water at all times.

• The animals are grass-fed. In harsh circumstances supplementation is necessary but this supplementation is naturally conserved hay or silage. Grain may not exceed 5% of the total dry matter intake over the lifetime of the animal.

• No animal by-products are allowed

• No growth hormones, steroids, or stimulants are allowed

• Greenfield’s beef adheres to the four pillars of free-range ethics:

• Free access to food and fresh water in large camps/pastures.

• Freedom from sickness and disease

• Freedom from pain and suffering

• Freedom to express natural behaviour.

Free-range chicken sourced by Ryan Boon Meats

We do our best to source poultry from the most ethical, honest and free range sources available to us. Currently our birds come from Hillside Farm in Laingsburg farmed by Peter Lottering. He is very passionate about his birds and we share his commitment to working hard to improving the level of quality in the poultry industry. We do source from various suppliers and farmers occasionally so feel free to enquire. We also ensure that the same level of care is taken to present the best product we can to you for your use.

Locally sourced vegetables

At The Peninsula Tribe we source our farm fresh vegetables locally and organic wherever possible. Our suppliers include local farms in the Cape Peninsula from Simon's town to Noordhoek.

We take pride in the high-quality ingredients we use in our tribe kitchen and we believe this reflects in the excellence of our frozen meals.