Our Story
Old School's story begins with a long struggle with health problems. Eye, lung, heart, bone, and ligament issues cover most of it, but that doesn't make me special.
We all face our own health challenges. My struggle has been trying to pursue all the things that interest me while dealing with those issues at the same time.
Hunting, diving, trail running, swimming, road cycling, mountain biking, jiu-jitsu, kickboxing, yoga, and the gym are just some of the hobbies I've tried to juggle concurrently. The problem is that living life at full speed requires a lot of energy—and a body held together by more than medical tape.
Eventually, I realised that if I wanted to keep doing the things I loved, I needed to take a closer look at the choices I was making every day, starting with what I was putting into my body.
As useful as medical tape has been over the years, I eventually came to a conclusion I couldn't ignore.
If I wanted to keep doing everything I loved, I needed to look after my body. Yoga, mobility work, stretching, and foam rolling all helped, but I became convinced that what I ate mattered even more.
That realization led me down a rabbit hole.
What else could be affecting my health? What else could be influencing my hormones, my recovery, my energy levels, and my ability to perform at my best?
The deeper I looked, the more I began questioning many of the foods and products that had become a normal part of modern life.
How good can these additives and preservatives?
How bad are artificial colours and flavours?
Are synthetic materials, and sunscreen being absorbed into our skin?
Teflon is a forever non stick chemical does what to pregnant woman?
Harsh cleaning chemicals damage our lungs?
Many holes to dive down.
One real conclusion. Though I take a plastic bottle of kiwi blue with me on hunts, I use sunscreen over been burnt to a crisp
What toxins can we heavily reduce from entering our bodies
Let's start with seed oils and microplastics
I don't need to cook every meal in seed oils
Like getting a cast iron pan. In one move we can heavily reduce or minimise our seed oil or teflon consumption
Now I still enjoy the odd French fry, but I use tallow in every meal
but if the major concern is heated plastic, and beef tallow melts at 40-45 degrees...
Beyond the ordinary
Many manufacturers can't allow rendered fat to cool too much before packaging, as it naturally begins to solidify around 40–45°C. As a result, warm fat is often poured directly into plastic containers during production.
At Old School Beef Tallow, we wanted something better.
From grass to glass, every jar is crafted with quality and simplicity in mind. Using premium Wairarapa-sourced beef suet, we carefully render our tallow and package it in glass to preserve the purity of the final product.
Once we perfected our original beef tallow, the experimentation began. Garlic, paprika, different combinations, different quantities—batch after batch until we landed on a recipe we loved.
The result is a rich, savoury blend that adds depth and flavour without overpowering your food. Whether you choose our Garlic & Paprika Beef Tallow or stick with the original one-ingredient liquid gold, you're getting a traditional cooking fat made the old-school way.
And if you're interested in learning more about beef tallow, saturated fat, and why we believe traditional fats deserve a place in the modern kitchen, be sure to check out our blog (Coming soon)