Stories
Sika programmes for smaller lodge tables.
On a misty morning at Karoo Edge, I watched a small group of sika deer graze quietly along a poplar windbreak, their coats dark against the spring veld. Those sika supply the Sika Quiet Pasture packs we send to boutique lodge tables that ask for provenance and a gentle flavour. Smaller, selective packs are a carefully managed part of our work.
Many of our clients in the Overberg and beyond run boutique kitchens, where a handful of covers at a time is the norm. These kitchens look for provenance they can trust and portions that make sense for a shorter menu. Our sika venison is portioned with these chefs in mind, from smaller haunches to neatly trimmed medallions, always clearly labelled by named lot and cold chain date.
Our team works closely with each lodge to match pack sizes and cuts to their menu style. One chef might want sika loin in two-kilogram vacuum bags, another may prefer single-rack packs for a weekend lunch. Because the sika lots are small, we can change pack sizes from one order to the next without taking extra animals.
Sika are attentive, light-footed animals, so we move them quietly and in small groups from their resting camps onwards. I work with our herd husbandry manager and our veterinary liaison officer to check each animal’s record before any move, making sure we only select from groups in strong condition and with a good stand of late winter forage left. We keep records of every animal and every pack: where it was raised, who handled it, and the abattoir where it was harvested.
Mistakes in the past have taught us the cost of poor record keeping. Years ago, a batch of packs for a coastal lodge arrived with only generic lot details, and the chef sent them back. Since then, we double-check every label and keep the provenance records on hand for each order.
The Karoo Edge sika camps can swing from green to sunburnt ochre in a matter of weeks, and El Niño years make us more watchful still. This season, we have kept the sika in smaller camps with a mix of old pasture and irrigated clover, rotating them every few days. Our pasture and forage manager monitors the veld markers for stress signs, such as patchy regrowth and thirsty shrubs, and we adjust our selection schedule so we never take from a group under nutritional pressure.
This drought-aware management means our packs for boutique lodges reflect only healthy, well-conditioned animals. We also coordinate with the partner abattoir to keep harvest dates on time and the cold chain unbroken. Packed lots wait in the Karoo Edge cold room, which runs on solar and battery backup, so power cuts do not break the chain.
Every boutique order travels from the Karoo Edge cold room in a chilled vehicle with a temperature logger. Each pack is labelled with the animal’s tag, camp, and harvest date, and the chef receives a digital summary showing provenance. Chefs know exactly which veld and which team members were part of the pack’s route.
We welcome questions about provenance or animal welfare at any stage. If you’d like to book a visit or talk through a bespoke order, send the team a message through our contact form. Chefs who reorder can ask for the same camp and pack size as last time.
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Boutique Overberg packs come from the sika of the Sika Quiet Pasture.
