Charcuterie News, August 2020
A self-proclaimed home-grown butcher shop, Perry’s Quality Meats is located in the small town of Smithton, on the far north-west coast of Tasmania – population 3,800. Owner Josh Perry says “everyone knows everyone around here”, and supporting local community is very important.
Formally “Johnston Gourmet Meats”, Josh and his wife Jen took over the shop in 2015, renaming it “Perry’s Quality Meats”. Having previously been a livestock agent before opening his shop five years ago, Josh is now a successful business owner selling only high quality, fresh local produce, family farmed beef and made-in-house Smallgoods.
Perry’s Quality Meats pride themselves on being a true paddock to plate shop. Producing their own beef on the family farm, processing through to butchering, they create the products you see in their shop window from start to finish. They also wholesale to local supermarkets, restaurants and cafes, and have plans to expand in the future to build a smallgoods factory on site and broaden their range of smallgoods as well as RTE products.
Having gained widespread recognition in just five years since the shop opened, Perry’s Quality Meats has won numerous awards including four categories in the 2019 AMIC State Sausage King, and Smallgoods competitions in Tasmania. Most recently, their famous bacon came in second at the AMIC National Competitions in February.
When asked what advice he would give to someone starting in the industry, Josh says “don’t be afraid to do something different to the rest, and quality wins every time”.
We can’t wait to see what they do next!
