Wellington butchers since 1904
Preston Foods is a New Zealand family owned and operated business.
Our story started in Wellington 120 years ago with our retail butchery, Preston’s Master Butchers, which was founded by an English butcher, Arthur Edward Preston.
Mr Preston came to New Zealand from Liverpool in the 1890s, and was on a mission to provide export quality product direct to his Wellington community. Arthur worked for a local meat exporter called the Gear Meat Company before opening his own shop in Wellington in 1904, and he enjoyed phenomenal success. He had seven shops, a smallgoods and pickle factory, a bacon factory in Blenheim, and a fleet of horse-drawn carts which sold fresh meat to residents in the Wellington suburbs.
Arthur’s grandsons went on to open a purpose-built, specialist meat processing operation in Hopper Street in 1978 to supply meat to the trade as well as to the general public.
Proudly Family Owned
Today, the business is still proudly New Zealand owned and based. The fifth generation of the Preston family shares the same commitment and passion as those who came before them, and many of them still work in the business. Being around for more than a century doesn’t mean we’re behind the times. We’ve invested a significant amount in our Preston Foods production facility: 1,000m² fitted out with modern machinery, built to keep up with the demands of the business while reducing our environmental impact.
We do all this while supplying customers across New Zealand in hospitality, catering, and care facilities. If you’ve dined at a café, restaurant or bakery in Wellington, the chances are you’ve tasted our high-quality, grass fed New Zealand meat.