Meet Dr Logan Wait, founder of Earth First Food, one of 22 ventures in the Sprout Accelerator Spring26 cohort. We caught up with Logan for five quick questions about Earth First Food and what he hopes to get from his time with Sprout.
1. Tell us about Earth First Food. What are you building?
Earth First started as a way to sell meat from our family farm. We now make other farmers’ dreams come true: selling their own meat direct to market and keeping the margin on the farm, where it belongs. We’ve built an integrated processing service that ethically takes an animal from field to freezer, so customers can finally buy meat straight from the farmer who raised it. It means the farmer, the animal, and the land they look after, are better off.
2. What problem are you working to solve?
Farmers have few options for selling meat to the local market. Home kill tastes better - everyone knows it - but it’s illegal to sell. The big abattoirs are built for export, not for a farmer who wants to sell a quarter beast to their local community. Customers want it, farmers have it, but there is a lack of processing options in between.
3. How does your solution work?
We built a MPI registered Mobile Abattoir service we call On-Farm Harvest. It processes the animal on the farm, then delivers the carcass to a local butcher who fills the customer’s order. The animal isn’t trucked across the country, and the value stays local. Customers make a booking, pay the farmer directly for the meat, and pay the butcher directly for the butchery. Easy.
4. What is the next important milestone for your venture?
Making On-Farm Harvest available to more farmers, to serve more customers. We’ve completed the trial phase across Waikato, Auckland and Northland: 36 farms, 21 local butchers and over 200 tonnes processed. We’re now establishing new regions, with farmers and butchers working together to set up regional food hubs.
5. What are you hoping to get out of your time with Sprout?
We make it easy for any farmer to establish a channel to market. Now we’re looking for regional partners to join the network: farmers, butchers and food service operators. If you’re interested in developing a regional food hub to serve your community, get in touch.
Support your farmers and serve nature.
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