IF you're looking for the best sausages in the country, Barbaro Brothers Butchers, Greenwood, is the place to go, having been crowned Sausage Kings earlier this year.
Although this is not the first time they have won the award, winning the Sausage King title is no easy feat.
"You've got to go through your regions, Perth north and south, then if you win that you go to the State competition, if you win that you go onto the national competition, which is the best from each State and if you win that you are crowned the Sausage King," Stefan Barbaro said.
"Our most recent award was for the 2019 Best Aussie Beef Barbecue and Chicken Sausage in Australia, we are very proud of this one."
In the Barbaro family, butchery is in the blood with Raff Barbaro and his brother Domenic establishing the business back in 1987.
Raff eventually took over the business on his own and now continues to run the enterprise with his two sons Stefan and Jayden.
"I was born into it, I grew up spending my school holidays here and developed a passion for it," Stefan said.
Stefan grew up experiencing the trade first-hand, so it was only natural he went on to complete a three-year apprenticeship and has now been working within the business for nine years.
"We do our own meat and try to have the highest quality, that's the main thing, if something's not at an acceptable level we won't pass it on to our customer," he said.
With meat quality being such an important factor, the Barbaro family has a paddock to plate system.
"We have our own farm in Mogumber, so we grow our own cattle and lamb, we're all self-sufficient," Stefan said.
While local butchers have to compete with big supermarket chains, the Barbaro family doesn't let competition get in the way of providing good quality meat.
"There is always competition, but I feel like we don't really worry too much about what other people are doing and just make sure we are at our best and don't drop the ball," Stefan said.
With a steady number of customers visiting the store each day, Barbaro Brothers understand the importance of meeting customer needs.
"We have a good relationship with our customers, I guess that's why we're still around," Stefan said.
In line with keeping the customer happy, Barbaro Brothers offers a selection of value-added meats, which are popular due to peoples' increasingly busy lifestyles.
"We do a lot of gourmet lines such as stirfrys, kebabs, a variety of different things, because it's just easier for the consumer to come past on their way home and it's all pre-prepared, ready to cook, so takes a lot of time out of the kitchen," Stefan said.
With lamb prices soaring and breaking records you have to wonder how it impacts the supply chain, in particular butchers and the trickle down effect it has on the everyday consumer.
As a result of these high lamb prices, Barbaro Brothers has been forced to gradually up their lamb prices.
"I guess you're left with no option, there's only so much you can absorb, so it does have an effect," Stefan said.
Despite the cost, customers continue to purchase their lamb.
"They are probably buying a bit less than what they usually would and they might buy forequarter chops instead of French cutlets to take that cost out a bit" Stefan said.
"From a customer point of view, to come in and buy lamb it's getting pretty expensive."
Lamb used to be essential for Australia Day celebrations, according to Stefan who said "Australia Day is big, but not as big as it used to be five to six years ago.''
"They've really slowed down the marketing side of things, so it hasn't had the hit it used to" he said.
"Barbecue lines still ramp up, but not so much lamb, it's still busy but lamb isn't the focus," he said.
Stefan said the best cut of lamb was the French cutlet.
"It is the dearest, but there's something about them, you can't go past them," he said.
Most businesses experience ups and downs in sales throughout the year and while Christmas is crazy, due to their Italian descent, the Barbaros Brothers have a variety of meats which they bring out at different times of the year to remain busy all year round.
"Winter is usually a quiet period, but we actually get busier in a way because a lot of Italians make their own pork sausage and dried sausages in the winter," Stefan said.
Staying relevant and getting the word out is an important part of every business and with modern day advertising being relatively easy with social media readily available, Barbaro Brothers has utilised this to market its business.
"We use Facebook, Instagram and we have our own website," Stefan said.
This allows them to keep their finger on the pulse of what customers need and want.
Barbaro Brothers has a rating of 4.9 stars out of 5 on Facebook.
"You might get two bad reviews out of 200 or 300, so that brings it straight down," Stefan said.
Barbaro Brothers understands that while the good reviews clearly outweigh the bad, it all comes down to individual personal opinion and it only helps to improve their products.
Believing you shouldn't mess with a working formula, the possibility of Barbaro Brothers expanding is not a likely prospect.
"We are happy with our size, the idea of having multiple shops is great, but it's just too hard to sustain," Stefan said.
While being devoted to producing quality meats, part of that is ensuring their resources are not spread too thinly, so Barbaro Brothers will remain local and continue to perfect their trade.
"I think we can always improve, we are not perfect, but we strive to be the best we can," Stefan said.
Barbaro Brothers will continue to listen to their customers.
"It's important that we evolve with the times, like pre-prepared meals,'' Stefan said.
"All these cooking shows bring out new ideas, so it's just about keeping your eyes open."
Barbaro Brothers will continue working to adapt and change with the times in order to keep their customers happy and smiling.
