Hailing from a long line of talented butchers, third-generation butcher and meat connoisseur Brenton Bain is creating his own success with his newfound butcher shop, The Goose & Goat Craft butcher at Bunbury's Parks Shopping Centre.
Named after Mr Bain 'goose' and his wife Yasmin's 'goat' nicknames, it seemed only fitting the business and its clientele were able to experience this same authenticity and passion.
It was a family butcher shop on Kangaroo Island, opened in 1946 by Mr Bain's grandfather Charlie Connell, as well as his mother Ruth, his uncle Peter and their eight siblings, who all took up the butcher trade that played a part in fuelling Mr Bain's initial passion for the food service industry.
When Mr Bain's mother migrated from South Australia to WA when she married Mr Bain's father Graham, a standalone butcher shop was opened by his mother in Wickepin in 1970, which is where Mr Bain was born and raised, spending hours in the shop from as early as hours old, watching and learning the trades' basics.
After completing his schooling in Bunbury, Mr Bain started his career as an apprentice with Dardanup Butchering Company (DBC) and has developed his career in more ways than one over the years.
Combining his passion for the food service industry with multiple business qualifications, which he is equally passionate about, has led to numerous industry related manager's roles and a broad range of skills.
After a hiatus that lasted more than 10 years, and a bit of travel under his butcher's belt, there was no doubt in Mr Bain's mind that the food and meat industry was where his passion truly lied.
Fast forward to December 2022, he had the opportunity to take his business and food service dreams to the next level and open his own butcher shop, The Goose & Goat Craft butcher, which he runs alongside his meat protein consultancy business, Epeius Marketing.
A team of 12 meat enthusiasts, including Mr Bain, play a vital role in the daily duties at the butcher shop, including Mr Bain's uncle Peter, who acts as a business adviser and mentor and the butcher shop's second-in-charge, James Rowe, as well as the rest of the team.
On top of the team living by Mr Bain's famous motto, 'passion drives our purpose', is a long list of mouth-watering traditional family recipes which are heavily influenced by German and Polish family heritage, various South American, Indonesian and European cuisines, as well as Hahndorf-style cooking.
"I have always loved food, cooking and exploring different cuisines," Mr Bain said.
"Constantly learning kept feeding my passion for food and the meat industry.
"My family originally gave me the confidence to get into the industry, but once I had my foot in the door, my passion naturally progressed on its own."
According to Mr Bain, what separates The Goose & Goat from fellow butchers is their service and attention to detail.
"Our attention to detail and service is our point of difference, as well as quality and price," he said.
Assembling and maintaining relationships with local suppliers is also something that Mr Bain and The Goose & Goat team takes pride in.
"Having good relationships with our suppliers is very important to us and we are lucky to have exactly that," he said.
The business sources its beef from Ryan's Quality Meats (RQM), which uses Stirling Ranges Beef, V & V Walsh, DBC, Thomas Foods and JBS Foods.
Each week, Mr Bain will have up to five bodies of beef delivered to the butcher shop, which will range from beef that are 18 to 24 months old and weigh from 280 kilograms to 340kg.
"We are aiming to produce consistent quality meats," he said.
"Local is my first preference when selecting meat, followed by grainfed beef."
Sitting on both the Royal Australian Agriculture Society cattle committee and Australian Meat Industry Council boards is not only enjoyable for Mr Bain but allows him to broaden his knowledge within the livestock industry.
This has helped him identify certain breeds that come through the butcher shop and what performs the best on the meat front.
"Although I don't have a specific breed preference, I have noticed British breeds always have good quality carcases, as well as Limousins, Simmentals and Murray Greys and crossbred Angus," Mr Bain said.
"We don't have a personal preference on grain or grassfed beef, but we have noticed that the grainfed beef is always very consistent and that our customers love it."
He has noticed the butcher industry has changed from traditional style food to 'heat and eat' type food to meet customer convenience.
"We are in a very convenient location, and our biggest demographic in our location is meeting the requirements of what our customers want," Mr Bain said.
The Goose & Goat's client base is very diverse and has changed significantly since it opened in December, 2022.
"We are getting roughly 20-30 new customers a week on top of our existing base, and we are noticing a huge Polish, Eastern European and South African following, probably due to our foods that are influenced by these cultures," he said.
"Our customers will range from double income couples with no children to families with more than four kids."
From a beef selling point of view, the team has noticed all the sweet cuts, rib eye steaks and quality on the bone grainfed products sell the best.
"We have also noticed that stuff we have recommended to customers they are beginning to buy more of, they enjoy getting cooking advice and always ask what we would use and how we would cook something," Mr Bain said.
When asked what his favourite cut of beef and the best way to cook it was, he didn't hesitate, saying a reverse seared oyster blade was his all time favourite.
"Cooking it on a flat iron and medium rare is the way to go," he said.
Although The Goose & Goat never misses when it comes to producing top-quality, mouth watering beef, it also has a broad range of tasty meats and treats in its cabinets to choose from, including goose and goat.
Its lamb is sourced through V & V Walsh from Amelia Park, while pork is from Frankland River Pork and chicken is from Lilydale Free Range Chicken both through RQM, as well as homemade smallgoods that are made on site using traditional Bain family recipes.
When purchasing meat from the butcher shop you also have the option to pair it with condiments from the Malaga-based store, Barbaco, sauces from Jibbas Hot Sauce, Busselton and eggs from Busselton Egg Company.
Going forward, although the butcher shop opened in Bunbury, the original Goose & Goat butcher business plans were for a store that was meant to open in Bridgetown, which is still set to open in the near future.
