Adam Digby has swapped media for the meat room, establishing himself as one of Australia’s boldest new food entrepreneurs in the heart of the Snowy Mountains. Photo: Adam Digby.
Adam Digby never imagined his television career would eventually segue to a meat processing facility in Jindabyne.
After years working in Sydney and Melbourne’s media industry, he found himself trading scripts for carcasses, establishing himself as one of Australia’s boldest new food entrepreneurs in the heart of the Snowy Mountains.
“I basically fell out of love with media,” Adam told Region. “It had changed so much and so rapidly with digitalisation and streaming services — I didn’t recognise it anymore.
“Around the same time, I also realised the city just wasn’t for me anymore,” he said. “I just didn’t feel comfortable there anymore.”
That realisation took Adam back to the Snowy Mountains — a region he first fell for at 18, when he jumped on a train south chasing snow.
“I came for the skiing,” he said, “but it was the environment, the people and the history that kept pulling me back; I just found I had a real affinity for the place.”
Jindabyne became his second home, so once the decision to ditch the city was made, Adam, determined to put down roots, returned with a grand plan.
“I wanted to set myself up permanently in the Snowy Mountains and was looking for a business that didn’t depend solely on tourism or the winter season,” he said.
That thinking led to Kosciuszko Wild Venison — a boutique meat venture which turns wild deer into premium, ethically-sourced food.
The idea came during a visit from an Austrian butcher who served him traditional “jägerwurst,” a smoked venison salami.
“I thought, this is fantastic. Why isn’t this everywhere?” Adam said.
“It was in that moment — watching a master at work, understanding his deep respect for his craft — that I realised we had something extraordinary right at our doorstep,” he said. “The wild deer of the Kosciuszko region presented a world-class resource.”
Adam would then spend two years immersed in an export-registered abattoir undertaking rigorous training to meet Australian and New Zealand standards with a view to establishing a licensed processing facility focused entirely on high-end cuts for human consumption.
Now a reality at Leesville, an industrial estate south of Jindabyne, the small shed that houses the state-of-the-art facility that is Kosciuszko Wild Venison is set to open in June.
A recent open day drew strong interest and support — and a strong sampling of venison and fennel sausages — with popular Jindabyne residents Tom Barry and Ian “Doc” Pendergast officiating the event.
At the heart of Kosciuszko Wild Venison is a growing network of licensed field harvesters who humanely cull wild deer from private properties across the region.
“The key is a quick, ethical kill and immediate field dressing,” Adam said.
This method not only ensures meat quality but also supports full traceability, giving consumers confidence in where their food comes from.
For Adam, the venture is also as much about land management as it is food.
By turning a growing feral deer population into a premium product, he’s tackling an environmental problem and creating economic opportunities in a region traditionally tied to seasonal tourism.
Already employing three locals, Adam expects to double his workforce as the operation grows.
“This isn’t just a business for myself,” he said. “This is a sustainable industry for the area.”
Sales are run primarily online, with nationwide cold-chain delivery – a digital-first approach that allows the small regional business to reach urban consumers looking for sustainable, ethical alternatives to traditional meat.
Adam is also tackling one of the industry’s biggest challenges — perception — by creating educational content that highlights venison’s low fat, high protein health benefits, and restauranteurs who showcase its versatility in the kitchen.
Looking ahead, he plans to expand into secondary production — venison sausages, charcuterie and specialty cuts inspired by alpine cuisine.
He’s also exploring partnerships with hunting lodges and potential markets for deer pelts, aiming for whole-animal use.
For Adam Digby, Kosciuszko Wild Venison is both a homecoming and a reinvention.
His journey from media to meat reflects the creative thinking reshaping rural Australia — where innovation, sustainability and a sense of place are driving a new kind of growth.
From broadcast to butchery, his story is proof the future of regional Australia may lie in unexpected places — even in a meat room at the foot of the mountains.
Keep up with Kosciuszko Wild Venison via their website.
