Arcadian Organic is the parent company of Cleaver’s, which this week launched Australia’s first-ever organic beef hot dog.
Ferguson told this site that the business wants to take the lead in Australia by producing hot dogs with ingredients people are not “afraid” of.
Trust in meat
“We could see that people love hot dogs, but in Australia they just can’t trust what’s in them,” Ferguson told GlobalMeatNews.
“In other similar markets, like the US, there are very successful products to fill that niche. We were inspired to take the lead in Australia and produce a delicious traditional-style hot dog based on that simple idea: what if you weren’t afraid to read the ingredients label?”
The American-style hot dog launched by Cleaver’s Organic is made from grass-fed Australian cattle, a secret recipe of spices, as well as organic vegetable extracts, onion and garlic.
As the meat is certified organic, the hot dogs are free from synthetic chemicals, antibiotics, genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and have no added hormones. They are also gluten-free and are available at retailer Woolworths.
In a statement published this week, Ferguson said Australian families could trust his company to provide “high-quality organic food”.
Australia has one of the largest areas of organic farmland in the world, and demand for organic food appears to rising too. A study published in 2016 by market research firm IBIS World suggested Australia’s organic farming industry would grow by around 17% between 2012 and 2017.
This year alone, organic farming revenue in Australia is expected to increase by over 7% year-on-year to AU$919 million ($677m).