A new Fisher UK larder has enabled a Devon deer management business to cope with its increased throughput.
Central to the processing of deer carcasses, whether for sale in-fur to an AGHE or for local sale as cut venison, is a well designed modular larder which allows for quick and efficient handling and chilled storage.
Curtis Pitts set up his deer management business in 2016 while studying for a degree in Land Management. Today he personally harvests venison and game from across the south west of England and operates an online venison business while also supplying chefs and restaurants at a national level.
For a first deer larder Curtis developed an existing brick building on a site belonging to his grandfather in The South Hams, Devon, but when he moved the business to his family farm in Uffculme, he decided that the best larder option would be a purpose-built modular one. “Our old larder had a capacity of twenty five carcasses which meant we had to be careful with how many we harvested and sold a week to guard against overselling ourselves,” commented Curtis. “This often led us to be very inefficient in terms of stalking more often and harvesting fewer carcasses.”
He approached us with a new design brief to meet his current requirement. The new larder was designed around weekly throughput, ensuring that the movement of carcasses around the larder would never exceed the capacity of each section. The 60m2 modular structure is capable of an 800-carcass annual throughput between August and April.
Four species of deer are processed: Red, Fallow, Sika and Roe, including both wild and park deer, and the chiller has a capacity of fifty deer, providing extra capacity to allow Curtis to grow the business. “Our newly enhanced facility means we can ‘block structure’ our week in order to allow adequate proportions of time for each aspect of the business,” says Curtis.
Jon Fisher, Technical Director of Fisher UK, is pleased with the finished installation and has enjoyed working with Curtis on the project since 2017. “We sold Curtis Pitts Deer Services their first larder in 2018, which they soon outgrew,” says Jon. “We offered to take their original larder back in a part exchange, and this benefitted both parties. The new double-module facility has nearly tripled their original floor space, which is a great outcome for Curtis with greatly increased production potential.”
The design process took around two weeks, and we were on-site with the prefabricated modules, transported on an articulated lorry, complete with crane, in just over five weeks from confirmation of order, the groundworks and drainage being completed while the manufacturing of the larder took place off-site in our East Yorkshire factory.
The design took into consideration those points where potential bottlenecks around the facility may happen. The daily and weekly throughput was then analysed to ensure pre-chill inspection, storage and processing could all take place efficiently and in accordance with regulations.
Curtis Pitts now has the on-site facility to dry-age whole carcasses and prime cuts to individual chefs’ specification. The new larder also has a state-of-the-art Tonon rail system which is the first of its kind in the UK. The rail extends to a beam outside of the larder under a weatherproof canopy which allows carcasses to be loaded on to the rail outside prior to entering the preparation room. Two integrated transfer hoists make light work of lifting carcasses on to the rail. “The inline track scale is integrated into the seamless rail system and is incredibly efficient,” says Curtis. “This massively reduces the amount of lifting of a carcass and hence increases output. From a carcass point of view, it has made handling far more efficient and ensures each and every body of venison is looked after in the best possible way.”
Curtis Pitts is now working with distributors to broaden his reach in supplying top chefs with wild venison on a national level.
This article was originally featured in http://www.bds.org.uk Deer journal, winter 2020 – 2021 issue.