Can you believe it? It’s that time of year again… ALREADY! Christmas preparations are in full swing for both consumers and food businesses. Butcher shops are putting plans in place to step it up this year to stand out from the crowd. As an industry leader in providing the latest food packaging supplies, Viking Food Solutions are hard at work making sure butchers from all over Australia are ready for the mad rush.
What does this mean for butchers?
In all areas of retail – the food industry included – the consumer is constantly changing.
Trends are forever shifting.
The consumer’s needs, demands, purchase behaviours, and reasons for purchase are becoming harder to track. There are now endless consumer categories making it more difficult for businesses to pinpoint a target audience. Not to mention the rise of digital media, giving the modern consumer more avenues than ever before to make decisions and purchases.
Owners, managers, and staff of food businesses are acutely aware of their loyal customers. For butcher shops, it may be the elderly couple picking up their weekly selection of meat. For restaurants, it may be the regular monthly double daters. For burger shops, it may be the nearby office workers satisfying their cravings.
Butcher shops are traditional, trustworthy staples of society. They are tried, tested, and embody many iconic facets of Australian culture. The growing threat of being made redundant by larger grocery chains is real, but there is still significant opportunity for butchers to thrive as a contemporary food provider. Although we live in a digital age, old-school customer service, product quality and the sense of community that butchers uniquely provide still resonates with modern consumers.
Time is running out for businesses unprepared for strict new food labelling laws, with an industry expert warning many are at risk of being slapped with fines of more than $1 million for non-compliance.
“Any recall or disposal of non-compliant goods may run from the thousands to the millions of dollars, so it’s important to get it right,” Task by Kirk design firm General Manager, John Kapiniaris said.
The modern food phenomenon has been ignited by television shows like MasterChef and My Kitchen Rules, bearing a heavy influence on the contemporary consumer. Combined with social media, the public is fast becoming more culinary adventurous and aware. The desire for an overall higher eating experience has driven a demand for quality ingredients to complement quality dishes, both at home and eating out. This positive exposure has been invaluable to butcher shops and restaurants going the extra mile to provide customers with superior products.
It’s not the most glamourous food industry term, but one that mustn’t be understated.
In fact, a solid, well-documented maintenance program can not only soundproof a food business’s health and safety standards, but also provide significant future cost savings.
All machinery and processors in an operation are required to have specific programs in place. It can be hard to maintain high standards when running business day-to-day – we get it – so, how can you get on top of it all?
Viking Food Solutions is well established in the perishables industry and has represented the most important international manufacturers of meat processing machinery throughout Australia and the region. The Viking team has 40 years of experience assisting the meat industry with the latest technology in cutting, processing and packing.
Most food businesses have multiple operations or processes, ranging from; manufacturing, processing, packaging, sale, cleaning etc. All areas of a business can be optimised with the right plan and implementation. Even businesses with the best equipment and high tech machinery can improve their operational efficiency. Small changes to optimise procedures can benefit the business by reducing product wastage, improve quality, save time, reducing costs, and increase profits.
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