There are many health benefits of alpaca meat in comparison to the traditional livestock meats. It is the meat of the Andes and one of the healthiest and oldest food sources of the Incan's and pre-Incas, and remains a South American delicacy as well as important daily food source. Alpaca meat is not only rich in proteins, but also low in fat. It has the lowest level of cholesterol of any meat. It is a mild red meat which is tender, extremely lean and described by some as almost sweet. We find its flavor closest to beef without the fatty aftertaste. Alpaca takes on the flavor of what it's mixed with making it a chef's favorite!More »

Think-tanks all over the world have called for the need to diversify protein to ensure a more sustainable food economy, but is eating alpaca meat a step too far?More »

Kristen Schmitt wrote in Modern Farmer (May 2014): Alpaca meat is the byproduct of culling the herd – but it’s a tasty byproduct. Each mature alpaca harvested equates to about 60 pounds of meat – roughly the same amount of meat you can get from a deer. Lean, tender and almost sweet, alpaca meat is nutritionally superior to many of its red meat counterparts. Lower in calories, fat,and cholesterol, this high-protein, exotic meat is beginning to appeal to those seeking out alternatives to domesticated meat like beef or pork, and even wild meat, like venison. Ground alpaca is versatile enough to be substituted in place of ground turkey or beef in most recipes.More »

“Alpacas will always be a fiber-first industry. Nobody can raise alpacas just for meat. Cost wise, you just can’t grow them out to a full-size animal only for meat and harvest them like that,” says Roger Welck, owner and farmer of Twisted Suri Alpaca Ranch in Princeton, Minnesota. Twisted Suri Alpaca Ranch is one of the first operations to create a true livestock model by utilizing all aspects of the alpaca – from fiber to meat to leather to compost. “I believe that it’s not right to put an animal down for just one product. It’s disrespectful to throw waste away,” says Welck. “The hides are turned into leather, the organs are freeze-dried for pet treats and I mix the alpaca manure with coffee grounds and make my own vermicompost. I really use everything, from one end of this animal to the other.”More »

Alpaca are primarily bred for their fleecy fiber—the meat from the llama-like animal is a byproduct of culling herds—and they’re relatively new to American farms, having come to the country only in 1984. They’re also an anomaly within the livestock market: the USDA doesn’t think alpaca falls under its regulatory purview, according to Modern Farmer, which means meat sales fall under the jurisdiction of the FDA and local state authorities.More »

In their native Peru, alpacas are culled and used for their meat and pelt in addition to their fiber. “That’s why the alpacas from Peru are so incredible; they’ve been culling their herds from the beginning,” said Marc Worrell with Eastcoast Alpacas in Biddeford, Maine. “Even though I love my animals, I know that if I want to keep improving my genetics, I need to cull my herd.”More »

I’ve gotten my share of scrunched and turned up noses. I have chuckled at the handful of highly dramatic and/or ignorant comments on my Facebook page (my favorite: “I would rather eat my children!” Yup. No joke. She must have real jackass kids…) But thankfully most folks have been simply surprised, saying “I didn’t know you could eat alpacas.”More »

They’re one of the cutest, cuddliest livestock you’ll find, and their numbers are rising, reaching over 25,000 in the last few years, which is why this dedicated alpaca breeder believes we need to eat them.More »

Alpaca is a delicious, tender, mild-flavoured meat with half the saturated fat of beef (around 3%) and a third less cholesterol, a low total fat content (6-7%), with the lowest calories of any land-based meat (150 calories per 100g) and only about a third of those calories come from fat.More »