Wild Heart

INNOVATION

We’re chipping away at our mission to lessen our impact on the environment and as part of that journey, we’ve got our sights set on reducing food waste through rescuing and repurposing local food ingredients and incorporating them into delicious limited-edition specials and long-term menu development projects.

Introducing Wild Heart, a special edition burger that's built with purpose and consciously crafted in partnership with conservationist crusaders; Citizen Collective, the Fiordland Wapiti Foundation and WITHWILD. Wild Heart is designed to challenge the way we look at food consumption in New Zealand.

Wild Heart is 100% locally sourced and consciously crafted with rescued and repurposed ingredients.

WITHWILD Fiordland Wapiti Venison Patty
Comes from the heart of the Fiordland National Park where, every year, wild introduced Wapiti deer are culled to help protect precious native flora and fauna through WITHWILD and the Fiordland Wapiti Foundation deer management programme.

Rescued Central Otago Cherry Sauce
‍Made from (otherwise export quality) blemished cherries grown in the Central Otago.

Rescued Wonky Carrots
Locally grow, shredded from split, wonky carrots that would otherwise go to waste.

Put together with melted truffle mascarpone, crisp mesclun salad, grated beetroot with chia seeds and BurgerFuel Aioli.

In 1993, a group of hunters formed the Fiordland Wapiti Foundation (FWF) to address the potential threat to the flora and fauna of the Fiordland National Park caused by Wapiti deer, an introduced species, while maintaining a quality herd for future trophy hunting opportunities. In combination with a DOC reforestation project, the FWF selective culling programme aims to maintain the deer population at a sustainable environmental level. The FWF has created a world-leading approach to conservation, looking after 175,000 hectares as the only private organisation to which DOC has relinquished majority control. The aim is to cull around 1,000 -1,400 animals from the area through helicopter-based hunting.

These activities help meet key FWF objectives supporting the Fiordland National Park as a World Heritage area while encouraging conservation and appreciation of the Wapiti herd as a manageable resource. The management programme consists of a combination of a controlled Wapiti hunting ballot system and Heli-hunting, which sees huge international demand for a fifty-day management window. Hunters can apply online to be allocated a 10-day hunt permit for one of the 25 Fiordland blocks.

The leading man providing the passion behind the organisation is Roy Sloan. A man on a mission to protect his backyard, ensuring future generations can enjoy the Fiordland National Park. Sloan is the global gold standard in deer management and conservation | Follow Roy and his work @fiordland_wapiti_foundation.

Citizen’s mission is to stop needless food waste, rescuing foods that would otherwise go to waste and upcycling them into tasty, low-impact, high-quality food and beverages. Their vision is to become New Zealand’s leading ‘food upcycle’ organisation and work as a collective, partnering with like-minded, passionate organisations, like BurgerFuel.

Citizen’s first focus was New Zealand's most wasted product, bread. Citizen’s other focus is the country’s second most wasted items, fruit and vegetables. Rescuing export quality wonky Central Otago cherries to create a Rescued Cherry Sauce, they have also teamed up with growers in Ohakune to provide rescued grated carrots for Wild Heart.

Those same rescued cherries have also been repurposed in the BurgerFuel Midnight Forest Thickshake, using 40,000 cherries and turning them into a rescued Cherry syrup | Follow them @heycitizens

**WITHWILD** brings premium products from nature, sourced from a place of raw purity at the edge of the world, Te Waipounamu/South Island, New Zealand.Every year, wild animals are culled to help protect precious native flora and fauna in our national parks. WITHWILD chooses to honour and respect free-roaming animals by acknowledging them as a valuable food resource. A treasured slice from the natural world, bringing our people and communities one step closer to the taste of wild Aotearoa.WITHWILD believes that the purest food is found in the wild. And we believe that when we work together to maintain the balance of nature, we can protect our wild environments for generations to come. These things are not only possible, but necessary. That’s why there’s a ‘give back’ to the organisations that maintain and preserve New Zealand’s national parks with every WITHWILD product. Their philosophy is simple. We can’t tame nature. Let’s work with her, instead | Follow them @withwild_

We aim to raise a $30,000 donation for the Fiordland Wapiti Foundation to complete essential work in the famous Nitz Valley, Fiordland. The protective work benefiting native flora and fauna such as Whio, Kiwi, Weka, Kea and Kaka.

The giveback enables FWF to continue their essential work within the Fiordland National Park. The funds will support the ongoing management of the Wapiti Herd, plus supports the upkeep of essential predator trapping lines within the Wapiti Area (over five traps in five valleys within the Wapiti Area - which is 175,000 hectares within the Fiordland National Park), plus supports monitoring equipment like cameras in the park, which help protect precious fauna, flora & ecosystems for our native birds, including Kiwi, Kea, Kaka, Weka and Whio.

Watch WITHWILD and the work Fiordland Wapiti Foundation do in action on Country Calendar