Episode 627 - Hunters 4 Hope || 116,672 Meals

Summary

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The Origins Foundation Podcast

Episode 627 - Hunters 4 Hope || 116,672 Meals

Release Date: March 5, 2026
Host: Robbie, The Origins Foundation
Guests: Adam and Steve Hill, Hunters for Hope (New Zealand)

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Episode Overview

This episode revisits the inspiring journey of Adam and Steve Hill, founders of Hunters for Hope—a New Zealand-based charity channeling surplus venison from hunters to food banks and community groups. The conversation charts their exponential impact, overcoming complex legal and practical obstacles, mobilizing local “Dad’s Army” volunteers, and strengthening community ties. The highlight: a surprise funding announcement enables their next leap in capacity.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Evolution of Hunters for Hope (00:00–09:30)

• From Idea to Impact:
  Hunters for Hope began as a small-scale solution to the issue of surplus game meat, turning an abundance of venison into a community resource. Adam and Steve hunted regularly, and soon discovered they brought back more than their families could use.
  Adam (08:32):
  “We started mincing up a little bit and a little bit turned into a little bit more into a little bit more and now we've got this beast that we...”

• Growth and Influence:
  The program’s success has inspired queries from other regions in New Zealand and across Australia, where regulations present barriers.

• Legal Hurdles:
  In New Zealand, as long as the venison is donated (not sold) and all parties acknowledge it’s unregulated, donations are legal, unlike complex Australian protocols.

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2. Conservation Meets Food Security (13:56–18:19)

• Why Keep Hunting?
  New Zealand’s deer populations (particularly red and fallow) are surging, causing ecological and agricultural strain. Hunters are actively encouraged by landowners to cull as many as possible. Adam (14:23):
  “There is, there is simply too many of them. And quite a lot of the farms that we hunt on...the farmers say...please shoot as many as you can. And now we've got a reason to take as many as we can with us and bring them back and give them all the way.”

• No Tag Limits:
  Unlike many US states, there are no hunting seasons or bag limits; the focus is on pest control and maximizing use—not leaving animals in the field.

• Operational Limitations:
  The group focuses on venison due to limitations in processing capacity, despite the prevalence of other pest species like pigs.

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3. The Mechanics: How It Works (18:19–23:06)

• The Processing Flow:
  Donated deer (already gutted, often skinned and frozen) are delivered by hunters. “Dad’s Army”—a volunteer group mostly of retiree men—helps with skinning, boning, mincing, and logistics.

• Community, Not Just Calories:
  Dad’s Army finds renewed purpose in volunteering, and their work extends beyond food—fostering camaraderie and connection.

  Steve Hill (19:58):
  “We’ve got this group of 12 or 15...67 year old men...they actually get enjoyment and satisfaction out of knowing that one, what they are doing to help us is genuinely making a difference.”

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4. Building Ripple Effects in the Community (23:06–27:19)

• Wider Impact:
  Participating in meal services and visiting distribution sites, volunteers witness the tangible benefits of their efforts—fueling mutual aid among community organizations.

  Steve Hill (24:32):
  “Community groups are sharing with community groups to make sure that more people are fed. So a simple thing like that is really cool...our efforts to have open doors in other areas...that’s pretty cool.”

• Reach:
  Over 35 groups now receive venison monthly, sometimes even disaster-affected communities (e.g. the Nelson area after floods).

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5. Scale of Achievement (27:19–30:56)

• Year-on-Year Growth:

  • Year 1: 2,100 kg
  • Year 2: 6,938 kg
  • Year 3 (2025): 14,084 kg
  • Equivalent: 112,672 meals and approximately 650–700 deer removed from the wild herd.

  Steve Hill (29:50):
  “112,672”

  Robbie (30:07):
  “That’s what we will title this podcast, right? 112,672 meals.”

• Expanding Partnerships:
  Working with 9 commercial safari parks, aiming for 13 in the next season.

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6. Challenges & Limitations: What's Next? (32:05–37:47)

• Facility Bottlenecks:
  Space—the chiller and processing rooms—are now the main bottlenecks. While capacity could theoretically reach the “high teens” (thousands of kg), further growth hinges on infrastructure.

  Steve Hill (33:29):
  “…we are limited in production just purely by facilities and processing and a little bit by time as well.”

• Estimated Expansion Cost:
  To double the processing space and increase freezer capacity: about NZ$20,000.

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7. The Surprise: Funding Secured for Expansion (38:33–40:13)

• Major Announcement:
  Robbie reveals that a combination of donations from Venator and Quail Cubby Coffee will provide nearly NZ$17,000–20,000 for facility upgrades.

  Robbie (38:57):
  “Venator down in Wanaka said...these guys are doing great stuff...10,000 US translate to 17,000 New Zealand. So it gets bloody close. Plus, I don't know how much quail cubby coffee is going to...we need to get to 20 and so you guys better get to work.”

  Adam (39:29):
  “That's amazing news. Thank you very much. Venator.”

  Steve Hill (39:32):
  “For a company at the level of Venator to recognize our efforts and to actually put their money where their mouth is, we're extremely grateful.”

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8. Looking Ahead: The Power of Storytelling (40:13–41:10)

• Documenting the Journey:
  Plans to film and share the Hunters for Hope story, highlighting every step from field to table and deepening the movement’s visibility.

  Robbie (40:24):
  “We want to film your story...I want to follow a dad's army to go pick up...process deer...serving at that community lunch...”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [01:26] Adam:
  “It's like snakes and ladders. You guys are climbing the ladder and then somebody does something stupid and you just slide down.”
• [19:58] Steve Hill:
  “It's...a group of 12 or 15 sixty-seven year old men…they actually get enjoyment and satisfaction out of knowing that...what they are doing to help us is genuinely making a difference.”
• [24:32] Steve Hill:
  “Community groups are sharing with community groups to make sure that more people are fed.”
• [29:50–30:00] Steve Hill & Robbie:
  “112,672...That’s what we will title this podcast, right? 112,672 meals.”
• [38:57] Robbie:
  “Venator down in Wanaka said...these guys are doing great stuff...10,000 US translate to 17,000 New Zealand. So it gets bloody close...you guys better get to work.”

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Timestamps of Key Segments

• Intro to Hunters for Hope origins (00:00–09:30)
• Legal & social barriers in NZ and Australia (09:30–13:56)
• Why large-scale culling is necessary (13:56–16:19)
• Processing flow & Dad’s Army volunteers (18:19–22:02)
• Community effects and meal distribution (22:02–27:19)
• Production numbers and scaling up (27:19–32:05)
• Challenges for Year 4 expansion (32:05–37:47)
• Surprise funding announcement (38:33–40:13)
• Documentary plans and conclusion (40:13–end)

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Tone and Language

The conversation is warm, candid, and infused with New Zealand vernacular—mateship, understated humor (“Dad’s Army,” “jeepers creepers”), and genuine passion for both conservation and community welfare. Robbie’s excitement in delivering good news and the gratitude from Adam and Steve create an uplifting, communal tone.

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Summary

Episode 627 chronicles the remarkable evolution of Hunters for Hope from a backyard project to a regional force against food insecurity and environmental degradation. By leveraging hunters’ surplus, building a network of community groups, and engaging retired men (Dad's Army), Adam and Steve have created a virtuous cycle—one that not only feeds thousands but connects and strengthens communities. The surprise funding announcement is a testament to the broader support and impact their story continues to inspire.

Episode Title:
“112,672 Meals: Hunters for Hope’s Surplus Turning Point”

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Transcript

[Robbie]

Adam and Steve run Hunters for Hope in New Zealand. You've probably heard their podcast if you're a regular listener to this podcast. If you didn't listen to their first podcast, no problems. We cover everything about the program again in this podcast. But they're just doing an incredible job. And so that's why I wanted them to be back on the podcast. I want them to tell us how they're progressing in their goals. And you're going to be blown away by the. The progression in the amount of venison that they are actually processing and distributing in Canterbury on the south island of New Zealand. And then I have a special surprise for them, and it's a surprise that they weren't expecting. And I just love being able to do this. So listen to this podcast, hear the surprise, get to know Adam and Steve from Hunters for Hope, and enjoy. So five years ago, there was a reason why I started this movement. And the truth then is the truth now that we need to champion our narrative. We need to champion the truth around what we do and who we are. There's a sweet spot with a gun, you know, too heavy and it's a burden to.

[Steve Hill]

To walk with.

[Robbie]

Too light and you whipping it. Why is the project so important to the hunting community? It's. It's a. I think it's not only important, I think it's. I think it's vital. I think it's. It's just in time.

[Adam]

It's like snakes and ladders. You guys are climbing the ladder and then somebody does something stupid and you just slide down.

[Robbie]

That is such an amazing analogy. Snakes and ladders.

[Adam]

Yeah.

[Robbie]

You know, ivory, in my opinion, was the plastic of its age. Okay.

[Steve Hill]

The expensive going up, it goes a

[Robbie]

long way with families.

[Steve Hill]

We are families that do need it.

[Robbie]

Let me close this door because I have a little wiener dog. What? You are. You're laughing because I said wiener.

[Steve Hill]

I'm really glad you finished the sentence out.

[Robbie]

I'm sorry. The first happen.

[Steve Hill]

What are we doing here today?

[Robbie]

You're telling the whole world. What's the time there now? 9 o' clock in the morning, Correct?

[Adam]

Yep.

[Robbie]

So it's not beer o' clock yet in New Zealand, right?

[Steve Hill]

It can be.

[Robbie]

Could be. Right? Could be. It is 2 o' clock on a Friday. This is Friday, December 19th. We're recording this. Kids are out of school. I have promised my team that starting next week, I've got no meetings on my calendar. I'm going to focus on things that I like to do. So your question of am I Drinking a beer is an appropriate one because I should, but I'm not. I'm drinking a San Pellegrino peach chow, which don't hold that against me either.

[Adam]

Much healthier option.

[Steve Hill]

But we can't see what's in there.

[Robbie]

I'll have a. Yeah, you can't see what's in it. It's a fake can. Yep. I just load it up for podcasts. We'll try to delete you on that one. Hunters for Hope, boys. Welcome back, boys. Jeepers creepers.

[Steve Hill]

It's good to be there.

[Robbie]

You put a dead silence there for a second in that side. What did we say to that? I said jeepers creepers. Because the last time we had you on here, you were this like, fledgling idea of, hey, we think we should do some good for our community. We've got this abundant resource, we've got this abundant venison. And now you're just like taking, you know, what's the phrase? Kicking down. Kicking down doors, taking names, kicking down doors, whatever you want to do, right?

[Steve Hill]

Pretty much.

[Robbie]

You've got swag now. You both are. You're dressed the same way. Like both coordinated. Like, we should put Hunters for Hope shirts on for this thing.

[Steve Hill]

Especially for you, Robin.

[Adam]

We've got some great supporters who are following us and they're looking after us with our cat. That's bloody great.

[Robbie]

Well, for those who and I can't remember, I should have done my homework for the podcast that set this up for us to have this follow on podcast. Let's assume nobody has heard about who you guys are. So why don't you boys introduce yourselves and introduce your organization.

[Steve Hill]

So my name's Steve Hill. I'm a stock agent based in North Canterbury, New Zealand, which is what I do Monday to Friday, 9 to 5. In a spare time, Adam and myself run a charity he calls Hunters for Hope. And what we do is we try to harness hunters surplus venison, turn that into mints, or as you call, ground venison, and donate that to help local food banks and community groups close to where we are.

[Robbie]

Okay, we'll start again. Adam, tell me why you wanted to do this. Like, what was the whole impetus? You guys aren't. This isn't your full time job. This something you're like, hey, I feel like we need to do this. Look, guys, I'm a hunter, right? And when I go hunting, I like to figure out how to get my trophies back home as expeditiously as possible. Well, you don't have to look much further than safari Specialty Importers we know that trophy importation can be quite a headache. That's why Safari Specialty Importers strives to make it as easy and hassle free as possible. They have access to a bonded warehouse, you won't be charged storage fees and you get a dedicated team that's readily available and will update you at every step in the process. They'll even go one step further. Safari Specialty Importers is working with us and they are going to donate a hundred dollars from every shipment that they work with to conservation projects that include anti poaching, community development and wildlife conservation. At the end of the day, choose to spend your money with a team that's dedicated to you and is dedicated to helping show how hunting is a great conservation model. Hassle free logistics, fuel and conservation go with Safari Specialty importers. It is 2026 and my friends, big changes have happened in the world of firearm suppressors. The $200 tax stamp fee is now gone. Huge win for hunters, huge win for shooters, and a huge win for your wallets. If you're thinking about elevating your shooting experience and adding a suppressor, Silence Essential is the best way to shop. And you don't even have to get off your couch to do it. Go to silenceessential.com, browse hundreds of suppressor options. They literally have all of the popular makes and models. Then their experts will walk you through setting up your account, creating a free NFA trust, and then submitting your application to the atf. Once approved, Silence Essential ships your new suppressor directly to your door. That's when you're going to have to essentially get off the couch. It's a game changer guys. You haven't done it yet. Do it. The old days of waiting eight to 10 months on a suppressor are gone. It's more like two weeks. Some have even gotten their suppressors in shorter time frames. It's never been easier to start shooting suppressed. Get started today by visiting silencer central.com it's really the simplest way to get your suppressors. Bushnell is eager to help you get set up for conservation success. That's right, they want to help you. The conservation and research community is dominated by good people doing good things and investing significant time and effort for the benefit of habitat and the species. So what do you need to do? Pretty simple. Send us your conservation story and or your conservation wish could be managing whitetails. Could be understanding your environment or species or something else related to conservation. What would you be able to do if you had a great Trail camera setup. We will select the best story every other month and send you a camera bundle. Cell camera, normal SD camera, SD cards as well as optics. Everything you need to get set up for success. I can't wait to see what you submit. You can email us, DM us, message us, whatever you want. We are not hard to find. Good luck.

[Adam]

We were, Steve and I were hunting nearly every weekend. We were being very successful. We were getting too much meat for what we could, we could eat ourselves and what we could give just to our families. And so Steve has sort of come up with a, with an idea and said hey let's, let's see if we can start giving this away. So we went down the I suppose the legal, legal processes and found out that we could as long as no money is changing hands and all the other, the other rules and regulations. And so we just started, we started mincing it up here three, three years ago now. Three and a bit years ago we started mincing up a little bit and a little bit turned into a little bit more into a little bit more and now we've got this, we've got this beast that we.

[Robbie]

The beast that you've created. Demon like people, people are calling you from Tasmania saying how do we start this in Tasmania?

[Steve Hill]

Yeah, we've had a few calls from different states across Australia and obviously with the recent situation over there at Bondi there's is looking to be law changes in the wind as well. So they've got a few challenges to try and overcome over in Australia to get to the point that we are being able to harness what is effectively a pest animal really well, a non native species and harness that into combating food poverty. There is a real need and a real wanting by the hunting community to be able to make it happen over there. So we've been talking with guys in Western Australia, Victoria, Tasmania and New South Wales all trying to get ideas and understand how we've got through the legislation legally over here and what changes they need to make to legislation and make it happen over there. So it's been a pretty interesting last six or 12 months having those conversations.

[Robbie]

Yeah, I had a conversation with Tara Medina. Tara Medina is the co founder of Discovered Wild Foods. It's one of the, one of three I believe wild sourced venison companies for human consumption. Joe Barrett and Wild Pie is a part of Discovered Wild Foods. And I asked her the same question. I said why is there not a Hunters for the Hungry program in Australia? And the be all and end all of it comes down to the fact that it's a nanny state and there's so many rules and regulations tied to the meat. I said, tara, here in the United States, if I shoot a deer, I don't have the ethics tied to shooting the deer in the head like they have in Australia. Like you have to shoot in the head, you have to have all these bits and pieces and processes in place. I said, but I can still shoot the deer on the shoulder, know it was an ethical kill and choose to donate that meat. And it goes to the local butcher which is down the road, which is then the second hurdle in Australia that there's no regular butcheries that are. Again, third hurdle needed to be wild game certified processors can't be in, in the garage like you guys are doing and they have to have be inspected and do all the things. And I was like, well that's going to, it's, that's never going to help. That's never going to allow us to get over these three major hurdles to get venison into a food bank. And she was like, well, would you want to relax the standards just because you're giving it away to the homeless? And I was like, no, that's not the point. But I think the standards that because everyone's so worried about getting sick, it's uber cumbersome, right, to get food, venison into the human consumption food chain here in the States. It happens every, every day, all day long. And it's not like, do people get sick? I don't know. I've never heard of anybody getting sick. I've never heard of a, a homeless shelter or something going, this meat's done, you know, kind of thing.

[Adam]

So we haven't had, we haven't had any issues the amount of kilograms with pounds that we, we've donated, we've had, we've had no issues with, with anyone getting sick or any, or any come backs to us. So

[Steve Hill]

the other thing too is I think we're similar in New Zealand compared to you guys in the US Is that one part of the legislation that allows us to donate to food banks and charities is that every step along the supply chain, whether it be the organization or the end consumer, every step along the supply chain is aware that the meat is unregulated and theoretically they eat it at their own risk. So it's got to take, if we can get the team in Australia to look at it from that point of view so that the end consumer can take some of the liability away from the food service industry or the legislation, legislative body, at least then it should open up avenues that that meat could get utilized. It just seems there's red tape for the red tape for the red tape in Australia.

[Robbie]

Yep, yep. No, totally, totally. You know, one of the things that somebody listening to this podcast here in America would, would maybe ask the question is why, why shoot an animal if you've got enough meat already? Like why do you have to go shoot another animal if you've got enough meat already? Give this scenario to the American public that may not understand what you guys are dealing with.

[Adam]

In New Zealand, our rear deer numbers or fallow deer numbers are going through the roof. And our government managed land is quite full of deer. So they are a pest. There is, there is simply too many of them. And quite a lot of the farms that we, that we hunt on and our friends hunt on, the farmers say we want, if you're going to go in there and have a hunt, please shoot as many as you can. And now we've got a reason to take as many as we can with us and bring them back and give them all the way. But the, the deer numbers here are very high.

[Steve Hill]

I suppose the other thing too is we don't have a tag system over here, so there's no hunting season, so to speak. There's no limit on how many deer we could shoot. So when we have farmers or as you call ranchers that contact us and so look, I've genuinely got a really bad deer problem. Can you come and help us? We can, without breaking any rules or regulations, shoot as many deer as we can. Help the farmer by stopping the feral deer or wild deer eating his crops that he's got in for farm stock. And also we can use that venison through hunters to hope, put it through our system and donate it. So we are starting to get more and more calls from farmers wanting us to come on and take as many deer as we can. Knowing that the venison is being utilized. You're not just being shot and left. There are situations where that happens outside of our control and sometimes that has a time and a place. But if we come on farm to have a bit of a tidy up, we'll take what we can and we will take out, I'd say 99% of the deer we shoot.

[Robbie]

And it's an additional incentive what you guys have built, right? Because a lot of farmers and hunters specifically, we're like, man, I'll shoot another four or five, but I'm not taking them out. I'm just, I'm Just going to leave them. Yep.

[Steve Hill]

And for some farmers, they're happy with that. Just to get the numbers down. They would. In general, the farmers would prefer to have the deer utilized, but it's more important that they've got feed there for their stock through the winter that the wild deer aren't eating.

[Adam]

So Adam, we've had the same calls in regards to pigs as well, but we can't. We can't deal with both well whenever we see quite with a lot of times. So there's a lot of pigs here as well. A lot.

[Robbie]

What do you mean you can't deal with both?

[Steve Hill]

We don't have the. The capacity at the moment. We've. We've utilizing the deer and. And making venison mints. Realistically, our processing and our storage and everything we don't have the capacity to do is we've got more work than we can. We know what to do with.

[Robbie]

Created this piece. Exactly.

[Steve Hill]

It's a lot simpler for us to just stick with venison. We could do pork, but it's a lot more labor intensive. So from a very basic standpoint, I could skin four deer at a time. It takes me to skin one pig. The amount of meat that I'd get off a pig compared to a deer. We can make a bigger difference by sticking to our netting and doing what we started out doing if we tried. Or we could look at doing wallabies and possums and ravix and all sorts, but we don't have the capacity to do it and we're better off to stick to what we know and doing it well.

[Robbie]

So how long does it take for somebody who again has no idea what's happening? Somebody shoots a red stag, red deer, fallow deer, they bring it to you. How long is it taking you guys to. Are they bringing it to you whole or. You'd require them to have been gutted before. What's the situation here?

[Adam]

Yeah, definitely, definitely gutted. And we don't mind whether the skins are on or the skins are off. Some guys will bring it to us in a bucket and it might be already frozen. We would then use our. Use our helpers, our dad's army guys. We'll let them know there's three or four deer that have been dropped off in the weekend and they will turn up the week after and they'll skin them out and bone them out and simply put them in our tubs and we'll freeze them. And on our next. On our next mince run, we'll. We'll defrost them all and get it minced and given away.

[Robbie]

You just mentioned something. Your dad's army. What's that?

[Steve Hill]

So we've got.

[Adam]

So my dad and there's pretty much a group of his mates from the. From the pub.

[Steve Hill]

From the pub, yeah.

[Adam]

We've got about 15.

[Steve Hill]

Nice.

[Adam]

Yeah we've got about 15 of them on board. They're all very retired in different stages of ailments and everything like that but they're a real good bunch of buggers and they, they'll come here and do the skinning, cleaning up. They're doing a lot of mincing there and they'll do from our safari parts they'll do quite a few of our pickups around the south island as well which takes a lot of pressure off. Off Steve and I but we're trying to still do our nine to five

[Steve Hill]

so it's actually pretty.

[Robbie]

Thank you.

[Steve Hill]

We've got this group of 12 or 1567 year old men that have now they come on board to help us out but I think to a lot of. And I don't know if it's, if it's a bloke thing, if it's a man thing or if it's just a population as you get older that we've actually asked these guys to give us a hand and what they do genuinely makes a difference. So with their help we're able to retrieve more of this venison that's donated from the high fence hunting estates and also process more meat and donate more mints. We couldn't do this volume and pick up this amount of meat if it was just Adam himself. It's. We just don't have enough hours in the day. We'd both end up single men with no jobs and I, I genuinely believe that the guys that we now call Dad's army to their face and they love it. They actually get enjoyment and satisfaction out of knowing that one. What they are doing to help us is genuinely making a difference.

[Adam]

We sort of feel as though it's a bit of, it's bit like a bit of a men's shed here. They'll, they'll turn up in the morning, they might sit down, they'll let it. Sit down and have a coffee first and they'll do a few hours and then they might stop for an hour for lunch. That doesn't bother us. The job still gets done as long as we keep the. Keep their seats dry in the coffee machine full for them.

[Steve Hill]

Be a beautiful.

[Adam]

Are more than happy, they're More than happy and they're, they're a real good bunch of guys. We definitely couldn't do it without them.

[Robbie]

Let me ask this, has any of the Dad's armies, have any of the Dad's armies gone with the min delivery or even seen where the min goes, like who it ends up with?

[Adam]

Yes, they do. Yep. They'll come into, they'll come into the, into the HOPE Community Trust into, into Rangura with us sometimes and they'll have a chat with the people and see where it disappears, see where it goes to and they, I think nearly all of them have come and had a go. They do enjoy it.

[Steve Hill]

Well we always invite them to come along because I think it's, it's really good for these guys and for all of our supporters to see to full circle. So they, they Dad's army had gone and picked up the venison and they know where that venison meat comes from. They've helped us process deer that have been donated. They've actually done the mincing and they've taken it to the drop off where the community groups come and pick it up. So they've had a good chance to actually see my efforts and what I'm doing and the time that I'm able to put in, I'm making a difference. So earlier this year we actually asked the Dad's army to come along. The HOPE Community Trust do a meal once a week that's a gold coin donation to the community and everybody's invited and we organise for the hunters for Hope Dad's army crew to cook the meal and help serve the meal. And some of the community that come into those meals are obviously disadvantaged and some of them are not doing too well financially. But there's also the older segment of the community that obviously are lonely and this is their social outfit. It's something they can afford to do. So I genuinely think that taking Dad's army along to the community crime meal that the HOPE Trust do on a weekly basis was a real eye opener for them to meet the people that are the end users or end consumers of this medicine.

[Robbie]

I bet you that little did you know that when you got into this Hunters for Hope program that was merely know serving food to people of that have need. And maybe you've had this conversation with the guys from the Dad's army or maybe you guys have witnessed it yourselves but you're actually doing much more than just feeding people.

[Steve Hill]

Yeah, you know your dad's army, your

[Robbie]

dad's army that's sitting there feeding the community. There's a greater responsibility there. Right. There's a greater understanding, there's a sense of community that's born from it. Yes, you are the corridor, the conduit through delivery of meat. But there's so much more of a ripple effect through the community that comes from that.

[Steve Hill]

Well, I suppose one thing that comes into bear of talking to the ladies at the Hope Community Trust and obviously they, we, we deliver the venison mints to them and they use their network of, of other food banks and food assistance pantries to, to distribute it on our behalf. And a simple thing that I was told by, by the ladies there is that because of the volume of venison mints that's coming through hunters Perhope, but they're able to share it with other community groups and other food banks locally, which was unbeknownst to us and we never thought it, would never even considered it. What it's created is a reciprocal arrangement with those community groups so if they get a surplus of something else that they can't fully utilize, they ring the community trust and other community groups. So community groups are sharing with community groups to make sure that more people are fed. So a simple thing like that is really cool. And we never, we just thought we're just going to do this because we've got a surplus and let's make it happen. But when we hear things like that, that our efforts to have open doors in other areas is. That's pretty cool.

[Adam]

I think we've got about, got about 35 different groups that get a share of our venison every month. So they'll, they'll put a, I suppose a bit of an order in and it'll disappear to 35 different groups nearly all over the South Island.

[Steve Hill]

Yeah, well, primarily Canterbury but we've, we've sent venison mints up to Kaikoura, which is sort of still Canterbury, but not quite. And this year we, we sent some venison mints up to an area up in Nelson area called Mapua that suffered quite catastrophic damage from floods and they wanted to do some community meals up there to, to support their people in recovering from that. So from memory I think we sent about 300 kilos up there and that made quite a big difference to them. Is. Yeah, it's, it's. We're now starting to get feedback from the community groups and from the people that they're sharing it with and the end consumers on their end. We got given a letter just recently from one of those community groups and there was half a dozen quotes from end consumers that had got it and just saying their appreciation. So we don't get to see a lot of that. So when it does come in, it's actually really cool and it's a good, positive feedback for us.

[Robbie]

No, it's incredible. It's incredible. All right, so talk to me. This is end of year two or end of year three? 3. How many kilos of meat did you mince in year one?

[Steve Hill]

2,100.

[Robbie]

2,100. How many kilos of meat did you mince in year two?

[Steve Hill]

6,000, 938.

[Robbie]

He's ready, Adam. See, got us now.

[Adam]

He's got an humble sou.

[Robbie]

Okay, now, before we talk about year three, what was your goal? Our goal that you wanted to achieve in year three?

[Adam]

Our goal is 12,000 kilos.

[Steve Hill]

12 and a half. You had to overnight or 12,500 kilos.

[Robbie]

The reason we can is a hundred thousand meals. Right?

[Steve Hill]

You've got it.

[Robbie]

You're a member. Oh, some of us. Some of us keep our brains checked, Adam. Like, we're just like 12,000. No, Adam's 12,500.

[Steve Hill]

That's right. When we set that target was actually when we reported an earlier podcast with yourself. We'd spoken between ourselves of, okay, we did. Our target for year two was 5,000 kilos, and we did not quite 7,000. So we'd sort of agreed amongst ourselves, okay, year three, we'll set a target for 10,000 kilos. That's probably achievable. And when we recorded the previous podcast with yourself, I was sitting down, I was doing some numbers in my head while we're talking. Adam didn't know I was going to say 12 and a half thousand kilos. He thought it was going to be 10. So I opened my mouth, and then we sort of had to deliver on it. So I won't say what we've done yet. Obviously, you're going somewhere with this.

[Robbie]

Well, that's. You had a goal. 12,500 kilos. Year three, you've been doubling the entire time we are sitting. December 19th, season's over. You've, you know, had a big year in year three. Like, what did you end up with?

[Adam]

You know, the exact keyboard. It's the whole top of your head.

[Steve Hill]

The Exact weight is 14,084 kilos.

[Robbie]

14,084 kilos, which equals how many meals

[Steve Hill]

113,000 or thereabouts cost. Jank. Sorry, Robbie, I don't have that number.

[Robbie]

How do you not have the exact number of meals Come on, you have every other number. Come on.

[Steve Hill]

I can get it for you.

[Robbie]

Give it to me.

[Steve Hill]

112,672.

[Robbie]

112,632. 72.

[Steve Hill]

Yes.

[Robbie]

1,100 12,672 meals.

[Steve Hill]

Correct.

[Robbie]

That's what we will title this podcast, right? 112,600. 672 meals.

[Adam]

Correct.

[Steve Hill]

So the other way of looking at that as well is from a, from a conservation standpoint and knowing that wild deer are bottle problem in New Zealand in general, as they are in Australia and I presume certain states of the U.S. if, if you look at the amount of venison that we donated and the amount of venison that we'd normally harvest off the average deer we. With, with that volume. Excuse me. We've. We've probably reduced the, the wild deer herd by an equivalent of about 650 to 700 deer for the year.

[Robbie]

Okay. Wow. And you. And you've taken a lot of this venison from, from what do you guys call them? Safari. You said safaris, right? Safari areas.

[Steve Hill]

Yep.

[Robbie]

So commercial hunting areas.

[Steve Hill]

Correct. High fence operations mostly. Yeah.

[Robbie]

And do you have still commercial operations that you haven't touched yet? Yeah.

[Steve Hill]

Yes, we do. We've got to catch up with a

[Adam]

few commercial operators before the season starts next year. They want to get on board and start donating. Donating to us as well. So Steve and I just trying to work out logistically how we can do those, how we can do more pickups next season with the, with the volunteers we've got and the funding we've are still hoping to acquire. Yeah, but we can go and catch up with these guys and they can get on board with us and it'll give us a total of about 13 safari parks, I think for next season.

[Robbie]

And how many do you have right now?

[Steve Hill]

9.

[Robbie]

Okay, now let's, let's be, think about year four. Be a little realistic now because from six and a half to 14 and some change is crazy. Fourteen thousand and eighty four kilos to be exact. If we were all keeping track of numbers in our brains.

[Steve Hill]

Yes. Well, we, from our first year to second, we basically triple. Basically a little bit more. Second year to third, we basically doubled and a little bit more people. No, no, no, he's gonna. Careful. Yeah, the, the. We're getting to the point now that we are limited in production just purely by facilities and processing and a little bit by time as well. So we haven't really set a target for, for 2026. I, I think that we're somewhere in the high tanks with our current facilities. Unless we do a few improvements and increase capacity on. In, in processing area, I, I can't see that we could viably get above 20,

[Robbie]

but. Yeah, I know. And yeah, yeah, you're absolutely right. And. And here's the other thing. I don't know. Obviously the conversation needs to happen on the other side right there. Maybe you may get to a point with Hope Trust and they're like, whoa, whoa, like we can't handle anymore. Like. Or we can't consume it fast enough as you're delivering it.

[Steve Hill]

We've sort of combated that a wee bit. This year we started donating into the Crosschurch City Mission. So they do. Obviously they've got their homeless shelters and whatnot, and they've been using that to prepare some of the meals there. I would suggest that there's probably the capacity that they could increase their requirement.

[Robbie]

So you still have capacity downstream. There's still multiple.

[Steve Hill]

It's still, it's still hungry people in Canterbury.

[Robbie]

Okay. And so if you were to get into the high teens, like what do you, what do you need?

[Steve Hill]

We really need to increase the, the, the footprint of our processing area. Okay. Basically, when we started out, we just sort of moved in on the hunting chill at Adam's property. Made no replay this. And we put a couple of extra meat rails in the chiller and just used it as it was. And it was probably quite large for a normal household hunting chiller. But we're getting to the point now that we don't really like the idea of having to go to all commercial premises. I think the idea of that and then going down that avenue, it really takes away from the story of what

[Robbie]

hunt and, and, and the dad's army showing up and drinking coffee and doing all the things that you just talked about. Yeah.

[Steve Hill]

So that we probably need to near double our. Our chiller processing room. Processing.

[Adam]

Our processing room s. And our freezer space.

[Steve Hill]

Yeah.

[Adam]

Because we still need to have plenty of freezer space in order to. To, to freeze and then defrost when we need to.

[Steve Hill]

Yeah. We, I think going forward this year with some of our drop offs, we'll probably try and utilize some of the venison that we pick up if it is. If it is still not. Not yet frozen. So that would reduce the amount of freezer space we potentially need. But there comes a time that the, the hunting operations.

[Robbie]

Because how long could you. If you had a, if you had your chiller room doubled, I'm assuming you would hang animals and not have to freeze them.

[Steve Hill]

Well, we'd still need to process those deer and take the skins off and bind them out. And it doesn't always work out that when deer are donated, it's within a few days of needing to do the minsing because obviously food safety, we want to do the right thing.

[Adam]

So our mincing only really happens once a month. Yeah, as well. We do it, we do our, do our mincing and our drop off following day once a month.

[Steve Hill]

With that, it, it's easier for us to keep product moving and rotate products so that nothing's in the freezer for too long. And we take it out of the freezer, put it in the chiller and two or three days later that is, I suppose, tempered down or thawed to the degree that we can separate it, go through it, make sure there's nothing in there that we don't want to run through the mincer. And then we do the run of mints and donate it the following day. So,

[Robbie]

so what do you think the expansion of the chiller processing area would cost?

[Steve Hill]

Without getting quotes, I would suggest about $20,000. New Zealand. That would be concrete chiller panel. It may involve getting a larger chiller unit on that, on that area because the one that we've got may not be big enough. And that would involve, we may not be able to increase the freezer capacity as well under, under that budget. But we'd, we'd, we'd go close.

[Adam]

We've been, we've been gifted three or four loads of concrete, which is going to be great for us because we're sort of dealing with a, with a shingle area at the moment, gravel. So we've been given, given three or four truckloads of concrete, which has been great. So January or February, me and my guys will, we'll get this dug out and we'll have a nice, cleaner, cleaner area we can deal with, which will make things a lot easier for dad's armor to clean up.

[Robbie]

So you, you would, if, if you, if you had what you needed, you would pour the concrete, expand the chiller, be ready for season starting April, May, right? Yeah.

[Steve Hill]

Yes. Yep.

[Robbie]

Okay, so go do it.

[Steve Hill]

What are you telling them? Are you telling us we've got the budget?

[Robbie]

So Venator came to me two months ago and they said, hey, you got this hunters for hope program, right? And then we've also got the quail cubby coffee company money. And they said, how much are you looking for? I said, well, I'm looking for about 10,000 US and they're like, done.

[Steve Hill]

Thank you.

[Adam]

This is awesome.

[Steve Hill]

This.

[Robbie]

So Venator down in Wanaka said, look, man, these guys are doing great stuff in New Zealand. And so 10,000 US translate to 17,000 New Zealand. So it gets bloody close. Plus, I don't know how much quail cubby coffee is going to. I think quail cubby will tell them, hey, we need to get to 20 and so you guys better get to work.

[Adam]

Well, we need to hit their target of. Are we gonna Honeywell it?

[Steve Hill]

We have to.

[Adam]

That's amazing news. Thank you very much. Venator.

[Steve Hill]

It's. Yeah, that's. It's really encouraging for us when companies of the. Or what. How do you say that? As well known as Venator and as progressive as Venator are to recognize hunters for hope. We started out as two guys with a 40 year old Mensa and a good idea and we've grown to this. So for a company at the level of Venator to recognize our efforts and to actually put their money where their mouth is, we're extremely grateful.

[Robbie]

They love what you do. We love what you do. As I said, the last time we did this podcast, somebody randomly from South Carolina reached out and says, I want to build a coffee to help these guys halfway around the world. Okay.

[Steve Hill]

Yeah.

[Robbie]

It's the kind of impact that happens. It shows the heart of our community. It shows everything tied to who we are and what we do and what you guys are doing. And I will add one more thing to it is that we will figure out in. In a time frame. I don't know if I will come. I hope I can. But we want to film your story. We want to tell your story. I want to see. I want to follow a dad's army to go pick up. I want to follow a dad's army to process deer. I want to follow the dad's army to serving at that community lunch that you do every. Every week. And we want to show the world like this. This thing that's happening there and this thing that's organically growing and serving. So we will tell your story in 26 as well and let the world know.

[Steve Hill]

That'd be pretty cool. We would love to have you here, Rolly.

[Robbie]

I will definitely try. Like, my schedule is absolutely bonkers, but if I can get there, I will try and get there.

[Steve Hill]

If you're going to see a couple of days with Dejama, you might need to bring some earplugs, but that's all right.

[Robbie]

Or I'll start drinking beer at nine in the morning.

[Steve Hill]

Well, you don't have to, but it helps.

[Robbie]

Well, Steve, Adam, again, you're doing amazing job. I'm glad I could deliver. I love delivering great news. It's one of the best parts of my job. And again, big shout out thanks to Venator and them just saying you deserve it, man. You guys are doing great stuff.

[Steve Hill]

Thank you.

[Robbie]

You have needs we need. People need to support you and that's what we're going to keep doing.

[Adam]

Awesome. Thank you very much, Rolly. And thank you very much, Venator. It's amazing.

[Steve Hill]

Ditto.

[Robbie]

All right, boys, well, we'll catch up. You keep doing a great job and we'll stay in touch. Right, well, that's it for today. I appreciate you listening as always, leave a review, share it with your friends and most importantly, do what's right to convey the truth around hunting.