About us

Gamekeepers is owned and operated by Jerome and Annabelle Hoban. Together they created a customised full-service butchery that allows restaurants and chefs to source all their needs under one roof. When COVID began, they offered their wholesale services to home cooks with a large catalogue of restaurant-quality products, which has proven to be another successful step forward in the evolution of the business.

 

Jerome began his career as a professional chef and has cooked in many leading restaurants in Melbourne and London. In 2008, they decided to trade in their successful restaurant in Albert Park, L’Oustal; they bought a game farm business in Cardinia, an hours drive south-east of Melbourne. Trading nights for early mornings, kitchen for paddock, city bustle for squawking birds, the farm changed pace and scenery, but still in keeping with their passion for food.

In 2013, they left the farm but not their passion for great products and customer service to give their growing number of customers the best possible service; Gamekeepers moved to Moorabbin in a purpose-built factory. For the past 8 years, they have built strong relationships with local farmers and producers, dedicated to the highest animal husbandry standards and ethical and sustainable farming practices, which has given Gamekeepers a great reputation for the best quality meat.

Gamekeepers offers a market-leading range of meats, with catalogues of premium Japanese and Australian Wagyu, A-Grade grass and grain fed beef, free-range pork, grass fed lamb, free-range poultry and unique cuts of game. Jerome’s recipes are used to smoke award winning hams, pastrami, Kaiserfleisch, black pudding, smoked duck and so much more. And only the very best cuts of grass fed beef, free-range pork, grass-fed lamb and corn-fed duck are selected to hang in our state-of-the-art dry ageing room.

Product excellence needs a parallel service delivery model; therefore, all their logistics are managed internally, responding quickly to their customers. Having such a streamlined end-to-end service has built Gamekeepers an impressive market advantage, confidently supporting the pace and changing demands of Food Service.

Together, Jerome and Annabelle have spent the last 13 years building and transforming Gamekeepers into a success story in Melbourne's Meat Food Service sector. Simply put, the biggest reward for them is knowing that what they sell will be a memorable and delicious experience, served on the diner's plate.