Post by corrie on Feb 4, 2018 21:57:25 GMT -5
Our dream to raise our own meat had a hitch - we had neither the skills nor the equipment to do it ourselves and mobile butchers with a good reputation are difficult to find in our area.
However, we discovered that a short half-hour drive from our farm is a processor/butcher that uses all the right words when describing their business - 'boutique abattoir', 'sustainability', and 'minimalist intervention'. They offer 'customised slaughter and boning solutions' and call themselves 'a fully integrated paddock to plate operation'. They own 900 acres and give the impression that all meat sold through their butcher business is from their own farm and raised according to their strict pasture-fed, weaned and slaughtered at 10 months protocol. I have a friend who is a beef farmer and supplies them with her beef, but that is beside the point.
They also say they are 'focused on service delivery' and they 'welcome and enjoy working with all farmers who want to have their own animals processed, either for home or business'.
In July last year, we booked in and delivered two lambs for processing. They told us they would call when our meat was ready for pick-up. Their website stated that the hanging time would be 'a minimum of three days'. On the fifth day, we'd heard nothing, so we called them. They said our meat wasn't ready, and they didn't know when it would be ready, but it wouldn't be that day. An hour later, we received a call saying our meat was ready for pickup.
The meat was packed as we'd ordered. There seemed to be less than we were expecting - hanging weights of 16kg became 11kg of meat, even though we'd always chosen the bone-in options - but we know that is common and doesn't necessarily mean we didn't get all of our meat.
In November last year, our steer was ready for processing. Their website says beef will 'hang a minimum of 7 days'. Our son, who lives 2 hours away had bought some of the steer, so we needed to know a delivery date from the processor to then organise to get the meat to him. We called after 11 days, and were told our steer was on the boning schedule for later that day and would definitely be ready by midday the following day. We told our son, who rearranged his schedule so he could meet us half way during the late afternoon. The next morning, we didn't receive a call from the processor, so we called them late morning. They said it hadn't been done, wouldn't be done that day, and would probably be ready in 2-3 days. We called our son and apologised for the inconvenience. At three o'clock that day, the processor called and said our meat was ready to be picked up. By then, it was too late - we were already 50km away, having decided to use the almost-wasted day to get another task done.
We believed then that our meat was continually being pushed back on the boning schedule as orders for their meat came in and needed to be fulfilled. They operate an online delivery service, and I assume that when people order, they need to have that meat available for the delivery days.
There were some anomalies with our meat. I had ordered skirt steak and there was none. There was a small cut of scotch fillet, which I hadn't ordered. The cut sheet we submitted is reasonably simple, but the amounts we got back from each section didn't seem to line up with what research had led me to expect. From a hanging weight of 176kg, we received 94kg of meat plus 28kg of bones for the dogs.
Before the saga with the steer, I had already booked in three lambs to be processed in January. We delivered them on Tuesday 23rd Jan for slaughter the following day. The processors' website had been changed to state 'all lamb carcasses will be boned and packed within 1-5 business days'. When we dropped on the lambs, we asked when they would be ready and were told 'late next week'. There was a public holiday in there, so Thursday would have been within the 5 business days. Again, we heard nothing from them, so called on Friday and were told our meat wouldn't be ready until after the weekend. We called again this morning (Monday) and were told it would be ready on Friday - that's 11 business days or 16 days days after the slaughter. We asked for a reason for the delay, and were told 'We're busy'.
These lambs were booked in for processing in November. It is poor business practice to over-commit without also arranging for more workers or overtime from current workers. It is poor business practice to not communicate when you aren't going to deliver within the times expected. If the unexpected happens, you call and inform your customers there will be a delay. And 'unexpected' doesn't hold any water when it has happened three times out of three.
Another thought has occurred to us. What if our lambs were hanging there, and the processors received a big order of lamb - an order they weren't able to fulfill? What if our lambs were, in fact, 'boned and packed within 1-5 business days' and have been delivered to the processors' customers? What if the continual delays have more to do with availability of meat than availability of labour?
They don't seem to realise that integrity means doing what you said you'd do when you said you'd do it. If they can't be trusted in one area (timing) and don't have the organisation skills to put together a boning schedule, I really don't have much faith that the meat we receive back will be our meat and all of our meat.
I went on their fb page to leave a review and found they had been repeatedly attacked by a rabid vegan. I refuse to give him more ammunition so I can't say anything there. There is no way to contact the actual owners because all phone numbers and email addresses lead to the two women in the office. We have realised they are skilled in evading questions and ducking criticism. They have probably had a lot of practice.
We have another steer due to be processed in May/June. I will not be taking him to this processor, so I guess I'm looking for other options.
If you've got the end of this, thanks for reading. Even if no one does actually read it, at least I feel a little better at having been able to vent my frustration.
Corrie.
However, we discovered that a short half-hour drive from our farm is a processor/butcher that uses all the right words when describing their business - 'boutique abattoir', 'sustainability', and 'minimalist intervention'. They offer 'customised slaughter and boning solutions' and call themselves 'a fully integrated paddock to plate operation'. They own 900 acres and give the impression that all meat sold through their butcher business is from their own farm and raised according to their strict pasture-fed, weaned and slaughtered at 10 months protocol. I have a friend who is a beef farmer and supplies them with her beef, but that is beside the point.
They also say they are 'focused on service delivery' and they 'welcome and enjoy working with all farmers who want to have their own animals processed, either for home or business'.
In July last year, we booked in and delivered two lambs for processing. They told us they would call when our meat was ready for pick-up. Their website stated that the hanging time would be 'a minimum of three days'. On the fifth day, we'd heard nothing, so we called them. They said our meat wasn't ready, and they didn't know when it would be ready, but it wouldn't be that day. An hour later, we received a call saying our meat was ready for pickup.
The meat was packed as we'd ordered. There seemed to be less than we were expecting - hanging weights of 16kg became 11kg of meat, even though we'd always chosen the bone-in options - but we know that is common and doesn't necessarily mean we didn't get all of our meat.
In November last year, our steer was ready for processing. Their website says beef will 'hang a minimum of 7 days'. Our son, who lives 2 hours away had bought some of the steer, so we needed to know a delivery date from the processor to then organise to get the meat to him. We called after 11 days, and were told our steer was on the boning schedule for later that day and would definitely be ready by midday the following day. We told our son, who rearranged his schedule so he could meet us half way during the late afternoon. The next morning, we didn't receive a call from the processor, so we called them late morning. They said it hadn't been done, wouldn't be done that day, and would probably be ready in 2-3 days. We called our son and apologised for the inconvenience. At three o'clock that day, the processor called and said our meat was ready to be picked up. By then, it was too late - we were already 50km away, having decided to use the almost-wasted day to get another task done.
We believed then that our meat was continually being pushed back on the boning schedule as orders for their meat came in and needed to be fulfilled. They operate an online delivery service, and I assume that when people order, they need to have that meat available for the delivery days.
There were some anomalies with our meat. I had ordered skirt steak and there was none. There was a small cut of scotch fillet, which I hadn't ordered. The cut sheet we submitted is reasonably simple, but the amounts we got back from each section didn't seem to line up with what research had led me to expect. From a hanging weight of 176kg, we received 94kg of meat plus 28kg of bones for the dogs.
Before the saga with the steer, I had already booked in three lambs to be processed in January. We delivered them on Tuesday 23rd Jan for slaughter the following day. The processors' website had been changed to state 'all lamb carcasses will be boned and packed within 1-5 business days'. When we dropped on the lambs, we asked when they would be ready and were told 'late next week'. There was a public holiday in there, so Thursday would have been within the 5 business days. Again, we heard nothing from them, so called on Friday and were told our meat wouldn't be ready until after the weekend. We called again this morning (Monday) and were told it would be ready on Friday - that's 11 business days or 16 days days after the slaughter. We asked for a reason for the delay, and were told 'We're busy'.
These lambs were booked in for processing in November. It is poor business practice to over-commit without also arranging for more workers or overtime from current workers. It is poor business practice to not communicate when you aren't going to deliver within the times expected. If the unexpected happens, you call and inform your customers there will be a delay. And 'unexpected' doesn't hold any water when it has happened three times out of three.
Another thought has occurred to us. What if our lambs were hanging there, and the processors received a big order of lamb - an order they weren't able to fulfill? What if our lambs were, in fact, 'boned and packed within 1-5 business days' and have been delivered to the processors' customers? What if the continual delays have more to do with availability of meat than availability of labour?
They don't seem to realise that integrity means doing what you said you'd do when you said you'd do it. If they can't be trusted in one area (timing) and don't have the organisation skills to put together a boning schedule, I really don't have much faith that the meat we receive back will be our meat and all of our meat.
I went on their fb page to leave a review and found they had been repeatedly attacked by a rabid vegan. I refuse to give him more ammunition so I can't say anything there. There is no way to contact the actual owners because all phone numbers and email addresses lead to the two women in the office. We have realised they are skilled in evading questions and ducking criticism. They have probably had a lot of practice.
We have another steer due to be processed in May/June. I will not be taking him to this processor, so I guess I'm looking for other options.
If you've got the end of this, thanks for reading. Even if no one does actually read it, at least I feel a little better at having been able to vent my frustration.
Corrie.