Emu Jerky
Emu is the most underrated meat in Australia, and it isn’t close.
People assume it’s poultry — big bird, must be chicken-adjacent. It isn’t. Emu eats and behaves like a lean red meat, it’s higher in iron than beef, and once you’ve had it properly smoked you’ll wonder why the rest of the country hasn’t caught on.
We give ours a salty-sweet marinade and smoke it slowly over real wood. Made by a family that’s been curing meat since 2005.
$19 — Buy emu jerky
What emu jerky tastes like
Deep, savoury, faintly sweet — closer to a lean beef than to anything with feathers. It’s less gamey than kangaroo and richer than crocodile, which puts it comfortably in the middle of our range and makes it the one we hand to people who say they don’t like game meat.
The salty-sweet marinade is doing deliberate work here. Emu has a distinctive flavour that a heavy spice blend would flatten, so we went the other way — enough sweetness to lift it, enough salt to carry it, and real woodsmoke to hold it together.
Why emu
Higher in iron than beef. That’s the headline, and it surprises people every time.
Very low in saturated fat and cholesterol. Emu is a genuinely lean protein — not “lean for a red meat”, just lean.
Rich in B vitamins and omega-3s. Unusual in a red meat, and the reason emu keeps turning up in conversations about clean protein.
Sustainably farmed here. Australian emu, farmed in low-impact, free-range conditions. It’s a low-input animal on marginal country — one of the few livestock species that genuinely suits this continent.
What’s in it
Australian emu, naturally woodsmoked, marinated with our salty-sweet blend.
- High protein
- Low fat
- Low cholesterol
- No additives
- No nitrites
- No MSG
- No phosphates
- No artificial flavours or preservatives
That’s the Artisan Game standard across the whole range.
The rest of the range
- Kangaroo jerky — $19. Wild-harvested, under 2% fat, and the most gamey of the three.
- Bush plum crocodile jerky — $19. Mild, clean, with native Davidson plum.
- Emu pâté — $9.95. Same bird, very different proposition.
See the whole Artisan Game range →
Questions
Is emu red meat or white meat?
Red. Despite being a bird, emu is a lean red meat by every measure that matters — colour, iron content, and how it eats.
Does emu taste gamey?
Less than kangaroo, more than beef. It’s savoury and slightly sweet rather than sharp. It’s the game meat we give to people who are unsure about game meat.
Is emu jerky healthy?
It’s high in protein, low in saturated fat and cholesterol, higher in iron than beef, and rich in B vitamins and omega-3s. Ours has no nitrites, no MSG and no preservatives.
Where does your emu come from?
Sustainably farmed in Australia, in low-impact free-range conditions.
Do you ship?
Australia-wide, 1–3 days. Free over $150. Or find us at the Fremantle Markets, Friday to Sunday and public holidays, 8am–6pm.