Spicing up the Kiwi sausage with some South American sizzle - Zamora
When a couple of passionate, meat loving South Americans got chatting while working at Sofitel Queenstown in 2007, little did they know they’d soon be preaching meat to Kiwis and leading the charge.
Nicolas Karlsson, from Argentina, and Matias Mautone, from Uruguay, launched their business, Zamora, in Queenstown in 2010, after noticing a gap in the market for specialised cured and smoked meats.
While they’d landed in a country renowned for its meat exports, Nic and Matias believed it was time to spice up the good old Kiwi meat offering with some South American flavour.
“I was 25 when I arrived here in 2005. We’d both worked in hospitality in Argentina. It surprised me that all we saw in a meat-eating nation like New Zealand were Hellers sausages at the supermarket,” says Nic. “That in such a great barbecuing nation they’d put a lot of tomato sauce on a sausage to make it good and add flavour. There was nothing homemade and we thought we could do it better.”
In 2018 Zamora Meats won the Great Sausage Competition of NZ’s ‘Best Traditional Sausage in NZ’ – a gold medal, for its mild, tasty breakfast sausage – pork and sage, now iconic on many local café breakfast menus. Then in 2019 their amazing cured meats took out gold for ‘Best Spicy Salami’.
However, accolades are not what they’re seeking, says Matias. “That’s not why we do it. It’s because we’re passionate about our product.” It was that passion that kept them pursuing their dream, despite the economic tide raging around them.
There were plenty of naysayers trying to put them off when they decided to launch a new Queenstown business in the thick of the global financial crisis, but they pushed through. However, the lockdowns and restrictions, and losing staff during Covid, was far more difficult than those early years, says Matias. “That was more like an adventure for us back then. We had part-time jobs but we weren’t drawing any money out of the business those first three years. Everything we earned was re-invested.”
Starting out in a small deli-style meat and salad sandwich bar in Industrial Place, the business quickly expanded into a butchery, as well. It’s now the site of their butchery house.
By 2017 their homemade sausages had become so popular that they were being invited to do catering in people’s homes, cooking South American barbecues.
In 2018, they opened their Meat Preachers licensed restaurant at Five Mile’s Queenstown Central. With seating for 27 indoors and 25 outdoors, the offering combines classic South American charcoal barbecued, slow grilled meats cooked and smoked on embers, with quicker, on the go sandwich options.
“We reckon we do the best slow cooked, smoked brisket in town,” says Nic, proudly.
They’re now selling their sausages in supermarkets all over the South Island and Auckland, with Criollo – a classic South American beef and pork option, most popular, followed closely by the Chilli Chorizo.
The Milan-style venison salami, and Coppa – a dried, cured pork ribeye sausage, have tastebuds drooling, with Zamora’s cured streaky bacon popular on local breakfast café menus.
Hardly surprising then that Nic and Matias, with what is now just a team of six, turn out 4000 sausage packs a week to supermarkets around the country. Probably another 300 to 400 kilos head to local hotels, restaurants, bars and cafés, and the likes of Real Journeys. They value those long-standing relationships and say residents’ support has kept them afloat these past three years. One of the greatest challenges was transporting and distributing their product around the country.
Qualified Kiwi butchers, producing consistent, quality product has been paramount to their success.
“Queenstown grew exponentially so we used that to our advantage,” says Nic.
They’ve been a colourful and tasty attraction at local Farmer’s Markets for 12 years, letting their quality product speak for itself.
It’s paid off. Nic and Matias have just clocked a record December and are enjoying a summer boom. “We had an absolutely crazy December with about 20 percent more in sales than last year, it’s been the best summer ever.” says Matias. They sold some 10,000 packs of sausages.
Next in their sights are Tauranga and Wellington.
Nic and Matias advise any new business owner to stick with it. “If your numbers are firm and sustainable, and you have a passion, then go for it. Believe in your product and yourself as well.”
