Animal welfare, lower food miles and support for your local economy are all reasons to back independent craft butchers, yet many people only pay a visit once a year, for Christmas.
Butchers around the country often see many members of their community for their turkey and ham orders in the week ahead of Christmas, but where are they for the other 51 weeks of the year asks Dave Lang, head of development with the Association of Craft Butchers Ireland (ACBI).
At a time for indulging in good-quality food, Dave is calling on people to remember that “your local butcher is your neighbour” over the Christmas period, and that they buy, spend and employ locally.
They are grateful to their loyal customers who keep them afloat Dave said, but the reality is that the world of supermarkets and the convenience they can offer has impacted independent butcher shops, a disappointing trend as there is a difference in the meat available between the two, he added.
“In the supermarket, somebody who is probably ordering the cornflakes and the bottles of whiskey from a general supplier are also ordering the pallets of sirloin,” said Dave.
In comparison, he said, “the craft butcher knows the whole story”.
“A craft butcher is someone who’s trained to kill and break up full carcasses of beef, lamb, pork, poultry and prepare every cut from each animal,” he explained, adding that most undertake a multi-year apprenticeship, and a diploma in Animal Welfare in Abattoirs.
“You have to know every muscle in every animal, what they’re good for, what’s the best way to cook them and not only that, you need to know what to charge for them.
“There’s so many factors in that because you’ve got whatever you paid for the meat and other costs involved in the preparation of it,” Dave said.
Quality is one of the biggest differences between supermarket-bought and butcher-bought meat according to Dave, who said it comes hand in hand with animal welfare and sustainability.
Craft butchers and the locality
Craft butchers often travel to marts to buy animals before having them killed in a local slaughterhouse, or doing it themselves in their own abattoir, he said.
He added that stressed animals will yield lower-quality meat and thus, lower prices, which butchers cannot afford, so they make sure to meet the highest animal welfare standards in the slaughtering process.
Aside from the costs involved with all of this, relationships with suppliers are another reason butchers like to keep it local.
“We encourage our members to buy locally for lots of different reaons, lower food miles and a lower carbon footprint is one of them but a secure supply as well.
“If you buy locally, you’re nearby, you don’t have to wait for deliveries and you can approach them [the supplier] and say you need more or less stock this week,” he said.
Deriving meat from animals can be a waste-intensive process, with Dave explaining that the equivalent of six cattle in weight out of every ten live animals, gets thrown out. According to him, once the carcasses have been skinned, bled, boned and the innanrds, head and fat have been removed, only 40% of a cow is sellable.
This is why keeping a strong relationship with suppliers that allows you to adjust orders based on demand can help to minimise waste and keep food miles low.
As well as all of that, there is another reason to go to the independent butcher said Dave.
“It’s a very simple equation really, for every €10 that you spend locally, you’re creating €14 in value for the local economy,” he said.
It’s now more important than ever to be aware of this, he added, as electricity costs continue to soar for butchers, who have no choice but to keep their fridges on 24/7, year round.
“Many people with a business open up and turn the lights on at nine o’clock and at six o’clock turn them off and go home. We have to run the fridge for 365 days a year, the electricity costs are astronomical,” he said.
“They [electricity costs] have more than trebled for some of our members. So, maybe think about that this Christmas.
“If you want to keep your town in business, do your business in your town.”