Skip to content

Frequently Asked Questions

How We Farm

Regenerative Agriculture

Regenerative Agriculture is a combination of farming principles and practices that increase biodiversity, enrich soils, restore watersheds, and enhance ecosystem services. Regenerative agriculture helps reverse current global trends of atmospheric accumulation of carbon by drawing carbon back down into the soil, offers increased yields, reduced reliance on artificial inputs, resilience to climate instability, and higher health and vitality for farming communities.

Regenerative farming draws practices and inspiration from organic, biodynamic, biological and holistic farming systems, providing a bigger picture or whole ecosystem view of farming. Over time, farmers who adopt these practices will reduce their input costs, and a farm with a strong and healthy ecosystem becomes more resilient to extreme weather and a changing climate.

We are leading the movement for regenerative farming – partnering with local family farms who are responsible stewards of the land. Each of our farmers are on their own regenerative journey, from new farmers in their first few years of farming, to farming families that have been farming this way for over 20 years.
 

Dirty Clean Food Production Protocols

The Dirty Clean Food Production Protocols are a set of non-negotiable rules for how a particular product is produced, processed, and delivered to DCF receival points. These protocols are specific to individual product lines (crops and livestock) and are aligned to consumer demands and expectations. They are required in order to demonstrate our comparative advantages to other products with the hope to achieve a market premium.

These protocols tend to focus on quality control, animal welfare, health, food safety or other consumer driven requirements. Examples include MSA scores, protein %, no-hormone, grass-fed, no-antibiotic, no-GMO, high animal welfare, HACCP and nil chemical residue.

The market for each of our product lines is highly competitive and specialised, and each product may have a unique target market and range of competitors. To respond to this and ensure we can achieve a market-edge for our products, we need to create custom standards to deliver on our promises to our customers. We currently have Production Protocols in place for all DCF branded products – beef, lamb, chicken, pork, oats and lupins.

Are your animals grass-fed AND finished? 

 Yes! Our lamb and beef are 100% grass fed.

Farmer Selection Process

Our farmers must commit to four key outcomes – carbon storage in soil, enhance water cycle, improve biodiversity and engage in a learning journey. The methods used to achieve this will vary from farm to farm. If you are a farmer interested in being a part of our Regenerative Farming Program, please use our Contact Us form, select the 'Regen Ag and Farmer info' subject and send us your details.

Regenerative Farming Practices

All our farmers fill out a Regenerative Farm Plan when they sign up to supply Dirty Clean Food. Our Regenerative Farm Plan lists 10 regenerative principles under the headings of soil health, biodiversity, water and nutrient cycles, and committing to a learning journey. Under those 10 principles there are 50 regenerative practices that are recognized as best practice. Our farmers then list what they are doing on farm under each of these 4 key areas to show where they are now on their regenerative journey, and what they are doing to improve their practices year on year. Change takes time, and we work closely with our farmers to support them on their regenerative journey. Christie, our Regenerative Farmer Coordinator manages this process and provides ongoing support to our farmers.

Farmer Relationship and Premium Pricing Structure

Yes, we believe this is out of balance and farmers deserve a greater share of the retail value of their products. We agree this with each farmer and it is confidential.

Ethical Treatment of Animals

Treating our animals with utmost care is central to our mission. All of our farmers follow the highest standards of animal welfare, complying with the five freedoms framework. We know that happier, less stressed animals produce better meat. It’s simply the right thing to do.

Hormones and Antibiotics

Definitely not! All our products are locally sourced and have no nasties.

Livestock Vaccinations and mRNA vaccine

We understand and applaud consumers' interest in how their food is produced and commit to transparency in our supply chains. Currently, much misinformation is being circulated about cattle vaccinations. Farmers use vaccinations to protect their animals from various diseases and zoonoses. However, contrary to rumour, there are no mandatory vaccine requirements for livestock in Australia, and it is unlikely there will be. Currently, none of our livestock producers are vaccinating their stock with mRNA vaccines. 

The increased interest in cattle vaccines stems from Meat and Livestock Australia's recent commitments to developing an mRNA vaccine against Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD) and Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD). These exotic diseases, which are on our doorstep in South East Asia, will have devastating animal welfare and trade implications if they enter Australia. Should this occur, mRNA vaccinations will be one of the key options for protecting the health and welfare of our livestock. Vaccines that use live virus material cannot be stored in Australia due to biosecurity risks, therefore, mRNA vaccines can offer a safer alternative. mRNA vaccines also have the potential for rapid development in the face of an outbreak and allow differentiation of animals that have been vaccinated from those that have been exposed to the virus. 

Additionally, beef producers for Dirty Clean Foods have a low risk of exposure to LSD as the disease is unlikely to survive the environmental conditions in the south of Western Australia. 

For further information on mRNA vaccines and LSD:

- https://www.mla.com.au/news-and-events/industry-news/mla-funds-mrna-technology-project-to-rapidly-produce-emergency-animal-disease-vaccines/

- https://apnews.com/ap-fact-check/australia-hasnt-announced-mass-injections-of-mrna-vaccines-for-livestock-00000188e8ffd582afdeffffc0520000

- https://www.porkbusiness.com/news/education/livestock-and-mrna-vaccines-what-you-need-know

For more information on common non mRNA vaccines used in beef cattle and sheep to protect animal welfare and human health: 

https://www.mla.com.au/research-and-development/animal-health-welfare-and-biosecurity/husbandry/vaccinating/

Animal and Plant Based Offering

Consumers today are choosing a range of different diets to suit their lifestyle and belief systems, with many choosing a more flexitarian or vegetarian diet. We respect alternative views and believe that the key is not what you eat but how it is produced that matters. Within our network our farmers grow a range of both plant-based foods and animals. Regenerative farming systems carefully manage their relationship between plants and animals, where animals mimic the traditional patterns of wild herds by moving across grasslands, tilling and fertilizing the earth, aerating soils and helping grass flourish. We believe that animal protein is an important source of nutrition and if you do choose to eat meat you should eat meat that saves the world. Wide Open Agriculture is currently developing plant-based protein with lupins. You can read more about it here

Fruit and Veg Growers

Learn more about our supplier Southern Forest Produce and the fruit and vegetable growers that they work with here

About our Products

Frozen Products 

On the day we process any DCF product, we freeze it on the same day. This helps to ensure the freshest quality product when you receive it, unaffected by the transport and delivery time that may shorten your shelf life on your product. To find out more about frozen vs fresh meat, click here.  

Shelf Life 

The shelf life varies depending on the specific product and packaging format. The best before date is shown on all packaging and indicates when you should consume the product to ensure premium quality – changes start to occur to flavour and texture after this date.

Package Weights

We're working with real meat, we do our best to get as close as possible to the declared weight, but there will be some variation - mostly in your favour!

Availability

We are available in several retailers and restaurants across Perth and WA. Ask your local grocer for Dirty Clean Food! 

Suggest a New Product Line

We always welcome new products and ideas. If you'd like to make a suggestion, please use our Contact Us form and let us know your thoughts.

WA Stockists 

We have a retail ready range available in several independent grocery stores across Perth. Please see here for the full list of stockists.

Grass Fed Beef

The way animals are fed can have a major effect on the nutrient composition of the meat. Grass-fed meat are nutrient-dense and offers a quality source of protein. It has less total fat with more of the healthy fatty acids including omega-3 and Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA). Grass Fed meat is also a good source of iron and has an abundance of vitamins and minerals. Read more about the benefits of grass fed meat here

Thawing Meat 

To ensure the juiciest, most flavoursome result it’s best to fully thaw meat before cooking. We recommend that whole cuts are thawed in the fridge for 36-48h prior to cooking. Individual cuts are best thawed for 12-24h depending on the product.
Check out our blog post on how to thaw meat and learn more.

About Pasture Raised Eggs 

Pasture raised eggs come from hens that have access to green grass year round. Runnymede Farmers Blythe and Greg’s philosophy is to allow their hens to experience the best quality of life for a chicken. This means that their hens can express their natural behaviours, which include preening, dust bathing, foraging for insects, eating green grass, and sunbathing. To achieve this, their hens are housed in mobile chicken tractors that are moved weekly onto fresh pasture. A tractor houses 400 chickens within a 50m x 50m netting fence, or 2,500 square metres, which is the equivalent of 1,600 hens per hectare. To protect them from foxes and birds of prey, each tractor is accompanied by a maremma guardian dog.
Free range is the commercial standard for managing hens - under free range classification, there can be up to 10,000 hens per hectare, although some producers may run as low as 1,500 hens per hectare. Free range hens are permanently housed in fixed sheds and must have access to outdoors. There are doors from the shed that are opened during daylight hours to an outdoor area. The outdoor area they are occupying is not usually managed on a rotational basis. As the hens are continually scratching around in the same area, it becomes a bare patch of dirt.

Yellow Chicken Fat 

This is how nature intended chicken meat and fat to look! For too long we have been fed grain or free range chicken with little access to grasses and bugs in the soil. When the chickens are allowed to graze on natural pastures, they eat what the land has to offer such as the grasses, bugs and worms. These lucky chickens also get a protein boost with a special fermented feed designed to optimise their gut health. Caged birds have pale flesh and fat that is very white. The darker meat and yellow fat is the result of a grass-based diet which is high in chlorophyll. The cartenoid, beta carotene in the grass is the same as the orange colour found in carrots. This is what produces the yellow fat in chickens as well as the bright yellow yolks in pastured eggs. The difference in the health benefits, including cardiovascular benefits of eating grass-fed chickens and eggs is simple - more nutrients. Pasture raised poultry is higher in Vitamin E, monounsaturated fat, Omega-3 and lower in the ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3 than grain fed chickens.

Bread Thawing Instructions

Check out our blog post on how to thaw bread.

About Raw Honey

Our honey is Raw honey, which means it has undergone minimal processing and no heat treating to maintain the highest natural antibacterial, antifungal and antioxidant properties. It has just been spun out of the frames and strained once before it has been poured into jars.

Crystallization is a natural process that all raw honey undergoes over time. When glucose crystallizes, it separates from water and turns into small crystals, hence crystallization. Different types of honey crystallize at different rates (from 1-2 months to more than 2 years). Some types of honey crystallize completely, while others do not undergo such a steady process.

The only way to prevent crystallization is to heat honey to above 70 degrees, which kills the enzymes in the raw honey, reducing its antibacterial, antifungal and antioxidant properties. Honey that you buy in the supermarket has undergone this heating process, and will always remain liquid.

Most people who purchase raw honey eat it as it is, in various stages of crystallization. If you want to melt the crystals you can put the glass jar in a saucepan of warm water (keep it below 60 degrees) and stir until it liquidises again, or place in the microwave on low and stir every 30 seconds until it liquidises.

Gluten Free Burgers and Sausages

Yes, all of our burgers and sausages are gluten free! 

Orders

Adding Additional Items After Placing an Order

Please let us know by 4pm the day before your delivery (For Monday deliveries, let us know by 4pm, Friday). Use our Contact Us form, select 'Make changes to my order' subject, and let us know what you'd like to add, your existing order number and shipping name. We will try our best to add this to your delivery if the item is in stock but it is not guaranteed. Please note that we will not accept card payment over the phone. 

Changing delivery dates
This is possible if your order is not out for delivery yet. Use our Contact Us form, select 'Make changes to my order' subject, and let us know your name, order number and preferred date.
Packaging 

Packaging plays a critical role in protecting our food throughout its journey. We are aiming to minimise our packaging and use either recycled/recyclable or compostable materials. We strongly encourage you to leave out your packaging for our delivery drivers to collect when dropping off your next order. This helps to reduce waste and lengthen the product's life.

We can accept your Dirty Clean Food cardboard boxes, thermal liners, bubble wrap, egg cartons and ice packs.

Please place your Fruit and Veggie cardboard boxes in your council bin for recycling.

 

Redeeming Gift Cards 

Lucky you! Gift Cards have a code attached to them, which can be added at Checkout.

Once you have selected the goods that you’d like to purchase and added to your cart – head to checkout where you can enter your Gift Card code. On the payment page, enter the Gift Card code and tap ‘Apply’.

Any remaining value on the Gift Card can be used next time you shop with us.

 

Digital Credits

Make sure you’re logged in to your account to redeem your Digital Credit.

Next time you shop with us, Log In to your account and a pop-up window will appear indicating how much credit you have. Use the slider to choose how much credit you wish to use, click ‘Apply’ and it will automatically be applied at Checkout.

Your remaining credit can be used next time you shop with us (remember to Log In to your account). 

Deliveries

Delivery Areas

Click here to see if we deliver to your suburb in the Perth Metro area and surrounds. Click here to see where we deliver in the South West. Use our Contact Us form, select 'General Feedback' subject, and let us know your postcode. We regularly assess the delivery zones, and if enough interest, we may be able to reach you!

Delivery Areas Outside WA

We are pleased to now stock our Dirty Clean Food oat milk in supermarkets across the country. Woolworths, Harris Farm, Oasis and Romeo's to name a few. If your local independent retailer does not stock Dirty Clean Food, please ask them to contact us, as we have distributors across the country.

Order Storage Once Delivered

We know this is not possible for most people to be at home when their order arrives, so our packing solution will help keep your products food-safe for a few hours. We also place extra ice-packs in your order when it is forecasted to be a hotter day. If you are living in an apartment complex, please note your security gate code in the "Apartment" field at checkout, so that our delivery team can leave your order in a safe spot. 

Order Delivery Time

We deliver between 10am to 6pm, your delivery comes in packaging that will keep your products food-safe for a few hours if you are not home. We are unable to accommodate to special requests for orders to arrive at a certain time. You will also receive a tracking link on the day. 

 

Delivery Didn't Arrive

Oh no, that was not supposed to happen! Check the Track My Order link to see where it is. If no luck, please use our Contact Us form, select 'What's the status of my delivery?' subject, and let us know your order number and name and we will get back to you as soon as possible. 

Something incorrect with my order: eg. Damaged / Missing Product 

We aim to always deliver your products food-safe and your order in full. Please use our Contact Us form, select 'There's something incorrect with my order' subject, let us know your order number, name and what the issue is and we'll sort it for you as soon as possible.

Dirty Clean Food Oat Milk

About our Oat Milk

Our Oat Milk is the world's first regeneratively-grown AND carbon neutral oat milk. We are in the process of building the first purpose-built oat milk manufacturing plant in WA, helping to create jobs and provide a sustainable high value outlet for regeneratively grown oats in our home state. If you are interested in stocking or purchasing oat milk for your store, please contact sales@dirtycleanfood.com.au. 

You can also read more about our product here

Potential Supplier & Stockists

Contact Us

Thank you for being interested in our Regenerative Farming Program. Please use our Contact Us form, select the 'Regen Ag and Farmer info' subject, and send us a message with your name, contact details and the type of agricultural system you have. We will get back to you as soon as we can.

Wholesaler, Retailer and Food Service

Thank you for your interest in stocking our products! Please use our Contact Us form, select the 'Food Service and Retail queries' subject, and send a message with your name, contact details and business name. Our Sales Manager will be in touch with you as soon as possible.

Interstate / International Queries

We are always keen to expand. Please use our Contact Us form, select the 'Food Service and Retail queries' subject, and send a message with your name, contact details and business name. Our Sales Manager will be in touch with you as soon as possible.

Your Cart