meat: The best in town and country Business Development | Ellesmere Butchery
Bacon has long been a mealtime favourite, as a meal in itself or in partnership with eggs. And then there is the part it plays as a crisp accompaniment to a salad, adding impact to a burger or even dipped in chocolate…
And last, but far from least, one of Ellesmere Butchery’s apprentice butchers, Steve Watts, won apprentice of the year through the Retail Meat Industry Training Organisation (RMITO).
Good bacon takes time, says Ellesmere Butchery co-director Chris Brown. “The most important aspect in good bacon is patience, taking the time to dry it properly.”
Quality products
It’s a qualified perspective; Ellesmere Butchery took out two of the five gold awards available at the 100 percent New Zealand Bacon Competition run through New Zealand Pork.
This includes not hurrying with the basics. “With beef, for example, good steak has to be aged, so dry hung for about three weeks — that’s butchery 101, back to the basics.
Twenty-four judges tasted 184 different bacons. The panel included the president of the National Chefs’ Association and renowned chef Anita Sarginson, Dish magazine food editor Claire Aldous, TV3 political editor Duncan Garner, well known chef and food writer Simon Holst and bacon expert Jason Cunningham. The bacon is judged uncooked and cooked on taste, aroma, texture and appearance. Taste is the key element with saltiness, sweetness, aftertaste and overall good taste evaluated by the 24 judges. Ellesmere Butchery took out the gold medals for its middle bacon and streaky bacon, two prime categories. “It was just such a shock to win two out of five golds,” Brown says. “I remember getting a call on the Monday after the competition. I was sure they were calling to disqualify me for not filling out one of the forms correctly or something,” he laughs. “I was told ‘you’re going to get much busier,’ and then told how we had done.”
Tradition aspirations It’s been more than three years in the making since Chris and his wife Sue purchased the popular Leeston butchery. “We really wanted to create a traditional old country butcher shop,” he says.
Ellesmere Butchery co-director Chris Brown says “we’re not going to start resting on our laurels because perfection isn’t possible, but we can keep striving to get as close to it as we can.”
Zealand Beef and Lamb. The company’s sirloin steak placed first in the South Island and second overall.
“We’re all about supplying good quality products in the traditional way; butchery as it’s meant to be,” Chris says.
“We stay true to that rather than trying to pump out the amounts — quality not quantity — and it’s paying dividends. “People want good quality meats,” he says. While the business is where they had planned to be when they got involved, it’s not time to rest for the team. “We’ve been working hard for three and a half years to get the business to where we are now. We’re not going to start resting on our laurels because perfection isn’t possible, but we can keep striving to get as close to it as we can. “At the end of the day, our customers are the real judges and if they’re still coming back, we must be doing something right.”
Ellesmere Butchery 79 High Street Leeston T (03) 324 3419 www.ellesmerebutchery.com — Advertising Feature
“It had the reputation and we’ve got a good catchment out here — we’re all country folk, so it’s a hub of Leeston life, a bit of a meeting place for the area.” The company is a dual operator, with retail premises as well as processing homekill from local farms. “Processing homekill has traditionally been the hub of the business. “I have focused on growing the retail side of the business and this has had a flow-on effect to the wholesale business. Now we’re supplying restaurants, chefs and caterers.”
Steak success And it’s not just the company’s bacon which is attracting attention with Ellesmere Butchery taking out second place in the New Zealand Steak of Origin competition run through New
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