ASHBURTON MEATS TAKES OUT BEST RETAIL BUTCHER SHOP IN VICTORIA
The Best Butcher in Victoria is in Melbourne’s Ashburton. Melbourne’s Ashburton Meats Butcher shop, in the south-eastern suburb of Ashburton, has been awarded the Victorian Retail Butcher Shop of the Year Award 2017 by The Australian Meat Industry Council (AMIC). The announcement was made at the AMIC Awards on Saturday, October 14, held in Melbourne at Aerial, South Wharf.
The AMIC states, the award recognises ‘the Independent Local Butcher Shop that demonstrates a highly professional, innovative, aspirational and sustainable business enterprise’ and Ashburton Meats was one of six finalists in the running for the top prize.
Owners and butchers of Ashburton Meats, Colin McMicking and Paul Klooster, are thrilled with the acknowledgement from the industry. The pair have been partners in the business since 2012 with Klooster starting in the shop in 1989 when he would wash dishes out-theback after school. On winning the award, Klooster says, “It hasn’t really sunk in yet. You sacrifice a lot to make a business work and I’ve dedicated so much of my life to this business.”
A keen Collingwood supporter, Klooster added, “it’s better than Collingwood winning a Premiership, and so reassuring that your work makes everyone so happy.”
A key point of difference for Ashburton Meats is the fact that Klooster and McMicking own their own beef and lamb farm in Gippsland and source their meats from the Victorian region. All their meat is butchered in-house and all ready-to-cook meals prepared by the Ashburton staff. Qualityand provenance are everything to Ashburton Meats and it has paid off.