THE success of Wylie Community Meats, Wyalkatchem, is starting to show with the store now operating with a full-time butcher.
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The appointment of young Beacon butcher Matthew Munns comes after months of uncertainty about whether Wyalkatchem could retain a butcher in town.
The store has been open since May 24 due to the efforts of farmer and Shire president Quentin Davies, Landmark merchandise manager and butcher Simon Pontifex, farmer Campbell Jones and local farmhand and butcher Brad Phillips, but with harvest fast approaching and the extra demand associated with the Christmas festivities, it wasn’t clear how things would pan out.
With the assistance of volunteers and a few part-timers, the store has managed to meet its targets – providing for the local community as well as for a range of products for the Beacon Co-operative.
Having a full-time butcher was always the direction they wanted to go, especially to keep it open when the others would be busy on farms in the next few months.
Mr Munns has a passion for “providing top quality cuts” to customers and is already making his mark – with discussions over extending the opening hours to include Mondays having begun.
The store is open Tuesday to Friday and on Saturday mornings.
Mr Munns said he enjoyed working with meat and making it look presentable.
“I love working with sharp knives,” Mr Munns said.
“It is important to me to do a good job.”
Mr Munns attended Wesley College as a boarding student and decided against going back to the farm – instead he found a position at Reids Meats and Delicatessen in Applecross, Perth, where he completed his butchery trade.
While he enjoys sharpening his knife – he also delights in lifting weights and tried out for the weightlifting competition for the Commonwealth Games in 2014.
“I went to the trials but I didn’t get selected,” Mr Munns said.
“I’ve been weightlifting for about seven years.”
Mr Munns also has a desire to expand his skills base by learning shearing.
“I’m really interested in doing some shearing,” he said.
“I hope to be able to do a bit, as well as butchering.”
Mr Munns works under the direction of Brad Phillips – who also works in store once a week, as well as when needed.
The team has been given a huge amount of support by the wider community to keep the local butchers open and has seen people purchasing from the store from as far afield as Dowerin and Trayning – mainly when people are passing through town.
Wylie Community Meats sources its product from Goodchild Meats, its chicken meat from Crown Valley WA and its pork from Linley Valley Pork.
Mr Phillips said they tried to provide the best quality selection of meat they could and in the lead up to Christmas, they will stock hams as well as value-added products.
