A new game larder by Fisher UK has transformed the way venison is processed and finished at Curtis Pitts Deer Services.

Curtis Pitts discovered that his deer services business would have to change when the amount of venison he was planning to handle out-stripped the capacity of his game larder.

Curtis Pitts is based at Uffculme in Devon and harvests venison carcasses from across the South West. The problems started to mount up when restrictions in harvesting started to occur because the existing game larder couldn’t handle the numbers.

At the same time chefs and restaurants were clamouring for more of the speciality venison cuts that Curtis was creating in his butchery. Cuts like the rack of venison which was created to be a play on the rack of lamb.

It was time for something new and Curtis Pitts went back to his existing larder supplier, Fisher UK, and asked for something bigger that could handle the increase in carcasses. This was music to Jon Fisher’s ears.

“We sold Curtis Pitts Deer Services their first larder in 2018,” he told The Great Game Guide. “They soon outgrew that and we offered to take their original larder back in a part exchange – This benefitted both parties. The new double module facility has nearly tripled their original floor space, which is a great outcome for Curtis because of greatly-increased production potential.”

Curtis Pitts explained:

“Our old larder had a capacity of twenty-five carcasses which meant we had to be careful with how many we harvested and sold every week because we had to guard against overselling ourselves. 

“This often led us to be very inefficient in terms of stalking because we were restricted by what we could handle not by how much we could harvest.  The newly-enhanced facility means we can ‘block structure’ our week and handle everything that comes in.”

“The new larder was designed around weekly throughput,” Fisher continued. “We had to ensure that the movement of carcasses around the larder on a weekly basis could never exceed the capacity of each section. The intake, or in-fur chiller, now has a capacity of fifty deer.

“This extra capacity allows Curtis to grow the business as demand from top chefs for his wild venison continues to increase.”

“The design phase of the installation took into consideration where potential ‘bottle necks’ around the facility could happen. We analysed the daily and weekly throughput to ensure pre-chill inspection, storage and processing can all take place efficiently and in accordance with current regulations. 

“Curtis Pitts now have an on-site facility to ‘dry-age’ whole carcasses and prime cuts to individual chefs’ specification. This allows chefs and restaurants to be much more precise with the types of venison they order and receive.”

Curtis Pitts continued

“The inline track scale is integrated into the seamless rail system and is incredibly efficient.  This massively
reduces the amount of lifting of a carcass and hence increases output. From a carcass point of view, it has
made carcass-handling far more efficient and ensures each and every body of venison is looked after in the best possible way. This is great for our business and gives confidence to the chefs that they are receiving the best possible venison in the best possible condition.”

For more information on Fisher UK game larders, please visit: https://fisheruk.co.uk/game-larders/