Woolies pre-pack moves

Last September, Woolworths began operation of its centralised pre-packed meat processing facility at Laverton, Vic, which will service 325 stores in SA, Vic and the ACT.

It will pre-pack portion-sized and value-added meat to be distributed to SA stores from 2018.

Nineteen stores will retain qualified butchers to offer “great service and advice”.

Coles – the other major retailer – says it has no similar plans, but Australasian Meat Industry Employees Union national secretary Graham Smith said butcher losses had already occurred.

He said both supermarkets had been “removing staff by stealth” the past few years since removing their band saws and mincers.

“The fact is when the supermarkets put in their butcher spaces they needed tradespeople to prepare their meat to get it out to their customers,” he said. 

“But now they have softened the customer up to be able to sell them pre-packed meat.”

Mr Smith said the major retailers had “spun” that they were redeploying their butchers, but it was not providing meaningful employment.

“These butcher tradespeople are not like most of Woolworths’ other employees,” he said.

“They have done a four- or five-year trade, depending on their qualification, so they don’t want to stack shelves or work on checkouts – they want to utilise their skills.”

Bruce’s Meats owner Trevor Hill, who owns four independent butcher shops across Adelaide, said their cost-saving measures had created an opportunity, hoping consumers would turn to butchers for guaranteed freshness, tenderness and flavour.

The Australian Meat Industry Council SA chairman has grown his workforce, employing another five apprentices and two qualified butchers since Woolworth’s announcement in anticipation of the “wave of backlash from consumers”.

“Woolworths call themselves the Fresh Food People, but this may come under scrutiny in the future from the ACCC,” he said.  

Mr Hill said the modified atmospheric packaging stopped natural aging of the meat so consumers may find their meat was less tender.

“If a consumer takes home a piece of red meat and they don’t have an enjoyable eating experience, they might change where they buy it or become vegetarian,” he said.

In contrast, Mr Hill said their butchers at Pasadena, Mitcham, Fairview Park and St Peters stores would continue to break 80 per cent of their meat from whole carcases into individual portions on-site.

 “We need to make sure they have a fantastic experience at the butcher shop and we offer them what they want consistently or they will go back to the supermarket,” he said.

“In the end supermarkets may take a lot of the gain back because of the convenience of the consumer only using their credit card once, but we can try.”

A Woolworths spokesperson said the company was making changes to its meat departments in SA to deliver more consistent, better quality meat to its customers with better service in its stores.

“We’ll be working with affected staff to ensure they have opportunities with our new butcheries, in other parts of the store or in the wider Woolworths Limited business,” they said.

The company is investing $150 million in SA during the next 18 months, delivering 3000 new retail and construction jobs across the state.

The spokesperson said Woolworths would not be making any changes to where it sourced its meat, with a large proportion of SA beef and lamb continuing to come from farms within the state.

A Coles spokesperson said it had no plans for widespread changes to its “valuable” store meat teams.

“In-store meat preparation remains a crucial element of the quality and service we offer to our customers and we have invested a significant amount in training for our meat team members,” he said.

CLARE butcher Jason Mathie is hoping to continue his success in the Australian Meat Industry Council’s National Sausage King awards next month. 

The Hall of Fame inductee will be among 26 finalists, with his Blazin’ Texan Chilli sausages contesting the gourmet category.

“People want something exciting in their sausages and the chilli beef ones definitely have a serious kick,” he said.

Mathie’s Meat Shoppe is also in the running for the Butcher’s Best Burger competition with their Bush Burger – a saltbush hogget burger with carrot and seasoning.

Mr Mathie said the Sausage King competition was a great way to promote the business he had owned for the past eight years with wife Delvene, and the local area.

“We are only a small country butcher shop but we are trying to prove country butcher shops can be just as good as a big shop anywhere in the city,” he said. 

He puts their success down to the top quality meat sourced from local farmers and their staff of five qualified butchers and one apprentice striving to produce consistent premium products. 

Monash butcher Mullers Meat Store and Adelaide butchers Bruce’s Meat, Barossa Fine Foods, Standom Smallgoods and Hahndorf Gourmet will also represent SA.

Australian Meat Industry Council executive director Paul Sandercock said the competition attracted huge interest from the nation’s 3200 independent butchers and was widely regarded as the retail meat industry’s premier competition.

“It’s an event that gets bigger and better and shows that butchers still play an important role in the community,” he said.

 “Sausages are one of the two biggest sellers in independent butchers, along with beef mince."