Butchers Advocate, 21 May 2021
In this month’s member spotlight, we meet Ian Fox, owner of The Dublin Butcher in Sydney’s northern suburb of Forestville.
Known for their passion, high quality and locally sourced products, The Dublin Butcher is renowned within the local community.
Since Ian bought the business a little over a year ago, he has endeavored to make it a staple store of the local area.
“We really want to appeal to local families and everyday shoppers to maintain a loyal customer base.”
Ian previously worked at Millins Butchery for 7 years where he gained majority of his skills and knowledge. His time here crafted his love for the trade and shaped his vision for where he wanted to go next.
“I gained a lot of experience at Millins Butchery and now I’m excited to bring that into The Dublin Butcher.”
Ian believes the diversity of range in products, the value-added items, international cheeses, and Irish products make the store highly unique and popular.
“As the name gives away, we are an Irish themed butcher, these products are very popular with shoppers. Unfortunately, we do not have the main Irish icon yet-Guinness!”
They also offer an extensive range of ready-made meals, perfect for mid-week dinners. These are some of their best-selling products, popular among busy families.
The store has recently undergone a complete refurb with brand new equipment, fridges, and finishes. This modernisation has allowed the diverse range of products to be better displayed to customers.
“The refit of the shop really shows our broad range of products better. These include schnitzels, burgers, dairy range, fish, homemade pies, homemade bacon, ice cream and even gourmet peanut butter!”
The passion Ian and his team have for the trade is evident the minute you step into the store. With a small team of four, they are all equally involved in the business and take pride in their contributions.
In line with the importance The Dublin Butcher puts on serving the local community with high quality produce and service, the team strive to build and maintain interpersonal relationships with customers.
“It’s really important to us to have a strong relationship with our customer base, we even know their dogs’ names!”
The high-quality produce is visible through multiple awards won at this years regional Sausage King, Best Butchers Burger and Smallgoods competition.
The Dublin Butcher placed first in the traditional pork sausage category, placed third in the continental sausage category and beef burger category as well as placing second in the bacon category.
“We are pretty happy with these results, especially considering its our first year entering since I bought the store.”
The Dublin Butcher are involved in sponsoring the local soccer club- Forest Killarney, another example of their community involvement.
When asked where Ian sees himself and the store in the future, he expressed the desire to continue serving the local community with the best produce and maintaining a return customer base.
“I want to continue serving high quality produce as well as helping the local independent butcher industry wherever possible.”
Ian follows the motto that fresh is always best, placing the quality of products at the heart of all he does.
When asked what advice he has for someone considering a career in the meat industry, Ian said: “hang in there, it will be worth the effort. You get out what you put in.”
Visit their Facebook www.facebook.com/kochandcobutcher
