A ground-breaking first in the region, CarniStore is now the exclusive supplier of a premium range of grass-fed angus from New Zealand that is superior in terms of taste, quality and absorbs more carbon from the atmosphere than it produces.
Speaking about why it’s the right time to introduce CarniStore 365 to the UAE, CarniStore co-founder Fikry Boutros said: "It’s important for us to be aligned with the UAE’s 2021 sustainable development goals and the growing movement of conscious consumption. This is an opportunity for us to provide our customers with more options when it comes to sustainable meat consumption and a chance to show them that, contrary to popular belief, beef can actually have a positive impact on the environment."
TASTE THE DIFFERENCE
Available on the homegrown specialist butcher’s website as CarniStore 365, the name for the new range of grass-fed and grass finished angus beef comes from the fact that the cows gain 1kg for every day of their lives. The cows are fed for 700 days instead of the industry norm of
100 to 250 days and strictly no growth hormones or antibiotics are administered during this period.
The meticulous care that goes into raising the cattle that produce this small batch beef is apparent in the flavour. After several blind tastings that compared the new range to USDA Prime and Argentinean Premium grass-fed, CarniStore 365 was favoured every time. This breeding programme creates larger, more marbled steaks than traditional grass-fed with a deep saturated red colour to boot. In addition, the fact that the cows are allowed to graze freely and use their muscles, leads to a more intense and well-rounded flavour profile.
The CarniStore 365 range also leads the way in terms of health benefits as grass-fed beef contains more than five times the amount of Omega-3, fewer calories per gram and less monounsaturated fat when compared to its grain-fed counterparts.
IT’S HOW, NOT THE COW
Scientific studies (and Netflix documentaries) have painted the cow as the destroyer of the planet but the reality is that they aren’t the problem, it’s the way that they’re managed. Hailing from the green pastures of Taranaki on New Zealand’s North Island, the cattle used to produce CarniStore 365 are raised using a method called regenerative farming. This means that they aren’t fed in industrial feeding lots but instead are left to graze all day in paddocks that are systematically rotated. This allows the cattle to graze in an area and naturally fertilise the soil with their manure before moving on to an area where the grass is longer.
Using cows in their historic role and replicating migratory patterns allows the animals to vacate an area for long enough for the grass to go through a 70-day lifecycle. During this period, excess CO² in the atmosphere is absorbed by the grass and stored in the soil as carbon. This method is being used by a growing community of farmers and pastoralists to regenerate ecosystems while producing sustainable and carbon negative beef.
In fact, studies have shown that this holistic approach to farming actually produces less CO² than the highly processed plant-based alternatives that have gained popularity in recent years. A detail that plant-based campaigners usually overlook.