What does a butcher do?

A butcher is a professional who works with red and white meat in various forms. Butchers’ duties vary depending on the place of employment, but typically include cutting meat off the bone, mincing and further processing meat, curing or smoking meat and turning meat into sausages and cold cuts.

Butchers need to work with machinery in a fast-paced environment on a daily basis and be comfortable handling carcasses and meat. In processing plants, butchers can work on production lines to perform routine cutting work. In a retail environment, butchers also need to manage their stocks and budget to reduce costs, and engage with their customers to provide excellent customer service. This includes weighing and packing meat and cold cuts and creating attractive in-store displays.

Detailed knowledge of and adherence to hygiene practices and food safety standards is a must, especially when it comes to safe meat storage in chiller rooms, and butcheries can be subject to random government food hygiene inspections.

Butcher skills and qualifications

A successful butcher needs to have certain skills and aptitudes. These include the following:

• Knowledge of animal anatomy
  
• Awareness of hygiene and food safety standards
• Good hand-eye coordination
• Ability to physically handle meat and machinery for long hours as required
• Ability to work both independently and as part of a team
• Good customer service skills

Butcher experience requirements

In Australia, budding butchers typically start their career with an internship. This enables them to get first hands-on experience and acquire skills like precise cutting and trimming of meat, as well as the ins and outs of running a butchery and dealing with customers in-store.

Depending on their preference, initial trainee experience can also be gathered at large meat works or commercial meat-processing plants, where the focus of their training will differ and be more on food safety standards, meat processing and packaging, and dealing with suppliers.

Butcher education and training requirements

Entry requirements for the occupation of butcher vary in Australia. Generally, however, a butcher should have completed at least Year 10 schooling and worked as an apprentice at a butchery, processing plant or meat wholesale company.

In addition, qualifying as a butcher typically involves acquiring a Certificate III in Meat Processing (Retail Butcher) and undergoing additional specialised training as required.

Butcher salary expectations

According to Indeed Salaries, the average salary for a butcher is $63,105 per year. Butcher salaries may vary depending on each applicant’s level of experience and on your geographical location, with some significant differences between different cities. Visit the Indeed salary page to look for the average butcher salary in your location.

Butcher job description FAQs

What makes a great butcher?

When choosing the right butcher, it’s worth knowing what to look out for to identify the strongest candidate. A great butcher will take pride in their work and deploy ethical practices. Strict adherence to food hygiene measures and knowledge of applicable industry standards and regulations is a must to avoid legal issues down the track.

If the role is customer-facing, good communication skills and a friendly personality go a long way when it comes to building relationships with customers and keeping them coming back.

Does a butcher kill the animals they process?

In Australia, animals are usually killed in an abattoir by slaughterers, which is a different occupation to butcher. The carcasses are then transported to various butcheries and meat works for further processing.

The butcher therefore does not typically kill any animals, but works with the carcasses and meat supplied from the slaughterhouse.

What are the job prospects for butchers?

In most companies, especially large retail or wholesale businesses, there are opportunities for butchers to advance into more senior or even managerial roles. Some butchers go on to open their own butchery or delicatessen down the line.

Meat workers in processing plants might opt to undergo further training and pursue a career in meat inspection or quality assurance.

Can I hire a vegan or vegetarian butcher?

As long as the individual is comfortable handling and processing meat, it’s no problem to hire someone who is vegan or vegetarian and prefers not to consume meat products themselves. Eating meat is not a prerequisite for being able to produce high-quality meat-based products for your customers.