Victorian Edition

December 2014 MEAT INDUSTRY NEWS

Suite 301, Level 3, 88 Albert Road, South Melbourne VIC 3205 • Telephone 03 9699 2760 • Facsimile 03 9699 2708 • Web www.amic.org.au

AMIC Working For YouMy name is Oliver Stankovski and I am the new AMIC Victoria Member Services Manager. To introduce myself properly, I believe it is important that I provide a short bio on my experiences.

I have completed a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management with majors in Human Resource Management and Marketing.

I previously worked as the Member Services Manager at VANA (Victorian Newsagent Association) and even though the newsagency industry is different in many ways to the meat industry, there are many commonalities. One commonality that I believe is parallel to both the butcher industry and the newsagency industry is RETAIL.

In my last role, I supported over 500 small & medium business Retail Owners and it was my role to ensure the growth and financial viability of these businesses. This was through evaluating industry trends, analysing and identifying new opportunities to drive business growth within the channel and above all, providing support on a range of member services. These included: Advocacy, Training & Development, HR & IR advice. However, supporting members with the development of ideas and industry initiatives to help foster better customer interaction at retail outlets I believe has been and is my strongest strength.

SUPPORTING MEMBERSOver the last three months, I have been out and about learning and listening to members’ feedback on all things meat. I believe it is important to clarify that I am not here to “tell you how to be a better butcher”! I am here to guide and share with you information/tips on how to become a better retailer. I believe this in turn will provide you with the opportunities for becoming a better butcher outlet.

The Victorian Office has been involved in food safety for many years now and I still hold the view that this is a very important component to the services we offer our membership base. However, this is only one element of what we offer to our members.

It is important to understand that AMIC is in the business of supporting and guiding its members in food safety. AMIC employees will not provide training in specialised areas of food safety and it should always be noted that the current Food Safety Plan offered to members is a generic plan and is not tailored to every butcher shop.

As your Member Services Manager, I have a strong desire and commitment to service delivery and I am open to members’ feedback to improve business processes. I will listen to your needs and determine the best possible solutions for you.

ENGAGEMENT WITH MEMBERSDuring the last three months, I have been analysing how we at AMIC communicate and interact with you the member. I can report that a number of new events and activities have been planned in 2015 to help AMIC engage with you. This has been designed to help promote member interaction and communication while providing the opportunity to discuss with members, topics that relate to you.

I believe the most important aspect of a member-based organisation is to listen to its members and then provide feedback/advice. This is what helps direct AMIC in how it supports you and this can only happen with better member engagement.

The following are a number of events and activities that are being planned to support this in 2015:

2015 AMIC GOLF DAY The AMIC Industry Golf Day is intended to help promote interaction between industry suppliers and members of AMIC. The purpose of the event is to provide a relaxed social networking event.

It will be staged at the Keysborough Golf Club on Tuesday 24th March 2015, which is nestled amongst a refreshing sanctuary of lakes, magnificent trees and abundant bird life.

Keysborough offers an 18 hole, Par 73 championship golf course that will test both the experienced and novice golfer. The event is an Ambrose Tournament and a shotgun start. AMIC will group players into fours, preferably with two Members teaming up with two Industry Partners. SO PLEASE SAVE THE DATE!

MEMBER NETWORK MEETINGSWe will be holding a series of Member Network Meetings throughout Victoria. These meetings will offer members the opportunity to liaise with industry guest speakers and AMIC representatives. The meetings will also give members the opportunity to present feedback on member initiatives and industry topics while being informed/updated by AMIC on relevant industry issues.

ALL MEMBERS WILL BE VISITED TWICE ANNUALLYThe current plan to visit AMIC members twice yearly will be maintained. However, with the adoption of a number of new initiatives we anticipate a better level of engagement through regular contact with members.

INDUSTRY AWARDS DINNER 2015 The Industry Awards Dinner is an event to celebrate the top achievers of the Victorian Meat Industry. It draws together the industry’s leading players, including Butchers, Suppliers, and Sponsors and features the announcement of finalists and winners of the Sausage King, Smallgoods and Best Butcher’s Burger competitions.

In 2015, I will bring back the prestigious award of Top Shop, re-branding it “The Victorian Retail Butcher Shop of the Year 2015.”

Further information on the above events will be communicated to members shortly with additional announcements on other member engagement activates planned for 2015.

I hope that I have outlined who I am and what I have planned for AMIC members going forward. We are all excited with what the year ahead will offer.

If you have any questions, whether you are an industry supplier or a butcher, please don’t hesitate to call me on 0437 757 005 to discuss them.

The Team at AMIC would like to wish all members and their staff a Happy, Safe and Prosperous Christmas trading period. We look forward to seeing you all actively engaged at one of our events in 2015.

RegardsOliver StankovskiMember Services ManagerAMIC Victoria

2 VIC

Welcome to New Members

• Alamin Halal Meat & Chicken M Khan & S Merchant Werribee

• Karve It Up Nicola Baaini Greensborough

• Wayne’s Cut Price Meats Wayne Flower St Arnaud

• The Fresh Chook Shed Bradley MacGregor-Skinner Ringwood

• Homestyle Gourmet Butchers Jarryd Wilkins Bairnsdale

• PD Butchers Dwayne Taylor Golden Square

• Kaz Wagyu Kazuo Takemura Black Rock

• Casey Gourmet Robert Myers Berwick

• Webb’s Butchery Robert Webb Research

• Pauls Butchery Lostia Paul Mill Park

• T & D’s Meat Bar Tim Mulcahy Cranbourne West

• Perfect Choice Meats Joseph Butterfield Moonee Ponds

• Yarra Valley Custom Meats Melissa Mancs Dixons Creek

• Energetics P/L Phuong Tang Melbourne

Member ProfileSalvatore Fusca

Salvatore Regional ButcherSalvatore Regional Butcher is located in the small rural town of Ballan. Ballan is one of several regional towns that has been designated by the state government as a major population and employment town for growth.

Salvatore started out in the industry at the age of 12 as a clean-up boy and developed a love for the business. He worked in the south Melbourne market for nine years and has owned this shop for 3½ years.

“I have made some slight adjustments to the shop but do wish to extend it and my range of products in the near future,” said Salvatore. He sees the business expanding in the future to include wholesaling. His advice for anyone joining the industry is “Be prepared to work very hard with long hours and make sure you love the industry in order to be successful.”

“Our clientele is made up mainly of locals as there are no other butcher shops within a 20 kilometre range. We also have some regular customers who travel through the town every few weeks.”

The shop has an extensive product range with bone out meat, specialty cuts and excellent service. “Some of our services include cooking tips, vacuum sealing and delivery for customers who cannot come in to the shop,” said Salvatore. “Out of our products the most popular are the schnitzels, kebabs and sausages.”

“We have two cashiers as well as our son working for us. The staff is very loyal, hardworking and have great customer communication skills,” said Salvatore.

Salvatore has entered the Sausage King Competition a few times over the years. “I have won first, second and third in a few categories. This year I took out the gold award for my duck sausages.” Salvatore will represent Victoria in the Poultry category at the upcoming National Final in February and AMIC Victoria is backing him to bring home the national title! Salvatore supports the Ballan football and cricket clubs and sponsors a young boy in soccer. “We donate vouchers and meat trays and have a collection tin in our shop.”

During his free time Salvatore spends a lot of time on his farm caring for the animals and building dams and fencing for the future.

Salvatore and his wife Trish with some of his awards