Build a chain to be proud of: Vince Garreffa

The high profile, straight talking, one of a kind butcher gave a group of Gascoyne pastoralists some business advice and a history lesson on the WA meat processing industry at the Bullseye Supply Chain Tour dinner at the Pagoda Resort and Spa in Como, Perth, recently.

Mr Garreffa said the past two years had been some of the worst of his career and the industry still had a fight on its hands.

“We have to fight to stop the government opening the door to cheap meats coming in from Brazil and Argentina,” Mr Garreffa said.

He said WA “used to be riddled with abattoirs, now they are few and far between”, with overseas buyers coming in and purchasing previously locally-owned operations.

Mr Garreffa blamed “useless politicians” for the situation the agricultural and processing industries were in with regards to overseas ownership and imports.

“International buyers are able to come in and buy up, when in Indonesia the government forces a 50:50 ownership,” he said.

Mr Garreffa started his career in 1979 and said it was “not about making money, it was about making a living”, although the money and the accolades followed.

“We’ve won every award in the country – no one can compete,” he said.

Mr Garreffa summed up his career in the industry as “not an easy business” to be in, but a rewarding experience.

“I can’t tell you how good my life has been from the old days to working in China, Mauritius and Hong Kong,” he said.

Next year his “flagship” Mondo Meats celebrates its 40th year in operation.

He said cattle producers should “belong to something that has a banner” that they “can be proud of” and not be “blinkered” against joining someone else to form a business partnership or supply chain.

“That’ll be a mistake,” Mr Garreffa said.

“Build it together and never give up because there is glory for people who work together.

“On a personal note – only put 50 per cent into something like that.

“I was a little butcher but never closed my eyes to others in the industry.

“People noted I was doing a good job and they would send me customers.”

Mr Garreffa said he would rather have “100 small customers and lose one once in a while, than have one big customer and the day he leaves me I’m destroyed”.

Mr Garreffa said he was old school in his business contracts, sealing them with his word and a handshake.

“I’ve met some amazing people over the years,” he said.

“We’ve created our own little supply chain and slowly other customers came along.

“Problems were solved by farmers and clients sitting down and talking.

“People treat you differently when you are face-to-face.

“It’s nice to be able to grow something and promote it and share it with others.

“Beef and lamb are without doubt, the two best meats in the world.”

Mr Garreffa said working with meat was “fantastic” but there had been issues within the industry that had complicated things, including the lamb/hogget differences and the way they were marketed.

The Australian definition of lamb has been changed to bring it in line with New Zealand, which is expected to help improve the marketing opportunity for producers.

Mr Garreffa said meat “can’t afford to lose its identity in the marketplace”.

“If people have a good experience then they will chase the real thing,” he said.

“The meat industry has been asleep when it came to labels and marketing.”

Mr Garreffa “grew up on a farm” with “everything you could grow” and at the age of nine began selling newspapers as his first paid job.

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During the “spud wars” at the age of 10 he “picked illegal spuds” before working in a butcher shop for two days a week doing odd jobs until he was offered an apprenticeship.

After having a teacher at school tell him his decision to become a butcher was beneath him and that she thought he could do “so much better than that”, he had a lot to prove.

“I wanted her (his teacher) to be proud of me and to be the best that there was,” Mr Garreffa said.

He won the best apprentice award and that boosted his confidence and changed the course of his life.

Mr Garreffa said the meat industry had been “so desperate to make a quid” over the years that it had lost its way in building supply chain relationships that benefited all involved.

But things were changing with “people being recognised for what they were producing”.

Mr Garreffa said MSA (Meat Standards Authority) caused him to panic when it first came out “but I’ve been proved wrong”.

“It is an extra tool for the business,” he said.

“It has helped the industry learn to work with and supply to specifications, providing reliability, consistency and stability – not price”.

The Bullseye Supply Chain Tour was funded by the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development’s Agricultural Sciences Research and Development Fund and was hosted by the Gascoyne Catchments Group.

About 30 pastoralists attended the tour last week which saw them visit a backgrounding operation, Akaushi/Red Wagyu beef genetics enterprise, processors and Murdoch University to learn more about the supply chain and opportunities that may arise through new technologies and improved practices.