STOP THE PRESSES! Tablelands Premier Meats is still going strong...

As one door closes for the popular local butchery shop, another one has remained open.

Recently shuttering their retail outlet in the old Summer Centre due to its imminent redevelopment, they’ve relocated back to their original base at Canowindra.

The good news is that consistent cost-savings are now available on their prime cuts as overheads have now been given the proverbial chop, owner Stephen Tamplin explained.

“Tablelands Premier Meats isn’t in the Summer Centre anymore, but we’re still in business,” he enthused.

“We’d been there four years, but we got asked to move-on because they didn’t need a butcher shop in the new development, but we’ve always had our own farm and abattoir at Canowindra where we grow and process our own stock.

“We’ve been selling our meat for years from our abattoir, so we’re just going to continue doing that,” Stephen said from his Pride of Oak Road property.

Customers are, however (initially at least), encouraged to call through beforehand to pick their order up at the property, with plans underway for a retail outlet on-site in the near future.

“While they don’t have to, it’s best if they ring and place orders, so that we can get the order ready; we don’t have an actual retail outlet at the moment, but we’re in the process of having a retail point here,” he said excitedly.

“Remember also that all the normal COVID-19 and bio-safety rules apply.”

In more good news, Stephen points out that cost-savings from the lack of wastage and retail overheads are being passed onto customers.

“Because we’re no longer paying rental space at the shopping centre, and because nothing is wasted or thrown away, many cuts will be $3-5 a kilogram consistently cheaper. That is week-in and week-out.

“This is abattoir-direct meat that puts true meat value on your table.”

As an extra bonus, he said that these savings will still mostly be available once the retail outlet is up and running on the farm.

“We’ll have a few bits and pieces on display, but we’ll not be having to pre-cut a lot of meat.

“When you’ve got a major retail outlet, you’ve got to pre-cut a lot of meat and, if you don’t sell it by certain time, it’s wastage, you simply have to throw it away,” he explained.

Not letting the grass grow under his feet, Stephen expects the new retail outlet to be up and running with the next month.

“We’ll have a limited range of pre-cuts, it will be very much based on what people want – the advantage will be that much of what you want will be cut fresh.”

The abattoir will also continue its current specialty contract processing of stock for third parties.

“About 80 per cent of our work now is contract livestock processing for local producers and buyers.

“This means when they bring farm-raised produce to us, we then kill and process for their own buyers,” Stephen said.

The closure of the popular Orange outlet has simply meant a return to their traditional market.

“We’ve been operating here for close to 10 years. We process everything – cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, chickens, turkeys, deer, alpaca, buffalo... we also do private kills as well.”

• Tablelands Premier Meats, Abattoir and Meat Processing, 433 Pride of Oak Rd, Canowindra. Mobile 0447 712 370.