Watch: Meet the Limerick sisters marking 30 years of family butcher business
Based in Castletroy, Co. Limerick, sisters Ciara and Claire Flavin are running a beef farm as well as a de-boning premises and butcher shop in Co. Limerick.
Agriland recently paid a visit to 'Jim Flavin Butchers' to meet the Flavin sisters who are managing the day-to-day running of the operation.
The butcher shop is set to mark 30 years in business with an open day and barbeque next month on Saturday, September 5.
A fundraiser will take place on the day also with all proceeds going to Milford Care Centre in Castletroy.
Ciara Flavin explained to Agriland that the business comprises the farm where beef cattle are raised; the de-boning premises in Annacotty, Co. Limerick, where meat is prepared for the shop; and of course, the butcher shop in Castletroy where a selection of fresh beef, lamb, pork and poultry is sold to customers.
Ciara said: "We're offering a farm fork system with our business."
Ciara and Claire's father Jim first opened the butcher shop in 1996, so this year marks the 30th anniversary of the family business.
"It's a big milestone," Ciara acknowledged.
"Our unique selling point would be that we finish all the cattle on our farm and all the beef goes directly to the shop."
Ciara successfully completed a butchering apprenticeship in Dublin and also received her 'Green Certificate' - which is an official educational qualification for young and trained farmers in Ireland - from Salesian Agricultural College, Pallaskenry, Co. Limerick.
Ciara's role is predominantly focused around the butcher side of the business while her sister Claire, who also completed the Green Cert at Pallaskenry Ag College, is involved in the farm work but also helps out in the butcher shop.
Both sisters have been involved in the business from a young age and both maintain a keen interest in all aspects of the family business.
Consumer demands
Working in the butcher shop gives the sisters a unique insight into what the end consumer is looking for and what types of products are popular and how this is changing over time.
Ciara explained: "People are looking for more quick-cook foods nowadays.
"People have busier lifestyles nowadays. They want something quick and easy to cook that'll only take 20 minutes max or so."
She said that products such as stir fries which can be prepared for eating quick and easy are becoming more popular currently.
Ciara also said that customers are also more conscious of the health and nutritional benefits of the products they are choosing.
"People are moving towards more higher protein diets, lower fat content and they're more health conscious too.
"I find a lot of people are going to the gym now and making sure they're fuelling properly. So that's quite important."
Air fryers and slow cookers
She said that one of the major trends in the past 5-6 years has been the huge rise in popularity of the 'air-fryer' as a cooking vessel.
"The air fryers are very popular in kitchens nowadays. Like I said, people want something that'll cook quickly, the likes of kebabs and things like that, they can bang into an air fryer that will only take a few minutes when they come home from work."
She also said that slow cookers "are coming back into fashion too" and there are a cohort of customers using these for preparing their meals.
She said that popular ingredients for slow cookers include boneless brisket beef.
"That would have been slow there for the last 10 years, but that's becoming more popular now again and also, the likes of pulled pork, people are doing a lot of that."
She said that it is important the shop is "moving with the trends" in relation to the types of meat cuts the shop is offering its customers.
The de-boning operation
After being fattened on the farm, cattle are slaughtered and arrive at the Flavins' de-boning premises in Annacotty, Co. Limerick.
Here, the beef is cut-up from carcase format into the various different cuts of beef that are more familiar with consumers.
Beef is kept left to mature for approximately 28 days in carcass format which she explained helps to naturally tenderise and mature the beef before being cut up for the shop.
She explained that the carcasses are all labelled and are divided into forequarters and hindquarters.
Once, deboned, meat is then vacuum-packed, batch numbered for traceability, and packaged up for transport to the shop in Castletroy.
"Everything is prepared and ready for us to go in the shop. All we have to do is cut up the stakes and tie up the roasts."
The Flavin beef farm
The next stop on the tour of the family business was to the Flavin beef farm where Claire Flavin explained the system here.
According to Claire, the core business on the farm in buying in reared calves and taking these through to beef for sale in the shop.
She said that depending on the breed, the slaughter age on the farm generally varies from 18-24 months with the early-maturing breeds naturally enough slaughtered earliest.
The target carcass weights for the heifers on the farm is 250-300kg.
Claire said that the soil-type on the farm is dry with grazing generally running from April to November or December.
Some store cattle are also bought in from local farmers if required.
Claire said that she works both in the shop and on the farm but would be busier on the farm in the summer months and more-so in the shop during busier times there, such as in the lead-up to Christmas.
Ciara said: "Our customers like the full traceability. You can stand over your quality from from start to finish. You're fully confident what you're giving them.
"That's that's the draw for for people and why they come to us, they know they're guaranteed that quality."
Support local businesses
Ciara emphasised the message to support local businesses.
"If you don't use it, you'll lose it at the end of the day. Be it a butcher shop or a fishmonger or your fruit and veg shop, they're all dying trades.
"Unfortunately, the the bigger supermarket chains are are taking over. Local shops will support the local jobs. That's important. It's a circular economy like that," she said.
30 years in business
Ciara highlighted that the butcher shop is set to host a celebration to mark 30 years in business and a fundraiser will also take place on the day with all proceeds going to Milford Care Centre.
She said that the celebration event will include an open day and a barbeque and will take place on Saturday, September 5.
"We look forward to meeting all our loyal customer base that have been supporting us through the years, and we're very grateful for that."
"We're also very fortunate to have a good team of staff working with us through the years. Some have been with us over 20 years."
Ciara is optimistic for the business looking to the future.
She said: "The future's looking bright. We look forward to expanding the businesses and look forward to doing another 30 years, please God."
