Meat Crew the new meat boning option for livestock producers

A new boning room at Colac will offer a bespoke butchery service in a bid to simplify processing for paddock-to-plate producers.

A new meat boning room at Colac aims to simplify processing for paddock-to-plate livestock producers by offering a bespoke butchery, packaging and delivery service.

Meat Crew founder and pig farmer Xavier Meade knows exactly how hard it can be to find a processor that is happy to deal with small jobs and meet specific cut requests.

“The challenges we had in getting butchers and processors to do what we wanted, and how we wanted, to a high standard; that is how the business came along,” said Xavier, who runs Barongarook Pork with wife Laura.

Meat Crew Boning Room Pig farmer Xavier Meade has launched a new boning room and meat delivery service called Meat Crew. Picture: Zoe Phillips

Demand for the couple’s pork has gone from strength to strength since their launch in 2015, and they hope the same will be true for their new Meat Crew service, which gained PrimeSafe’s tick of approval in November.

The Meades’ successful free-range pork operation runs 75 sows on 20 hectares near Colac, producing 1000 pigs a year.

Barongarook Pork uses Castle Estate abattoir at Koallah for slaughter services. Before launching Meat Crew, they relied on Castle for butchery and packaging as well.

Xavier said there were a few “tricky” conversations with the abattoir to reassure that Meat Crew was not a competitor and wanted to collaborate.

“Once they came and had a look and saw that we were dead serious, they got on board,” he said.

Xavier and butcher Clint O'Brien. Picture: Zoe Phillips

Castle agreed to offer service kill services for Meat Crew clients, and Xavier collects carcasses from the abattoir.

Operating out of a newly fitted-out shed, Xavier employs an experienced butcher to break down beef, lamb, pork, goat and soon venison sides, meeting producers’ exact specifications.

“Our business model is that we will provide the service the customer wants,” Xavier said. “Some might look for a premium style packaging, or they develop their own sausage recipe and we will use it, or they want biodegradable packaging, meat boxes or vacuum packs.

“If you are going to supply to a retail outlet and want the customer to have the knowledge that the animal is grown the right way, they also want it to be packaged the right way.”

Delivery is available across Melbourne and the southwest.

Xavier said the first four weeks of trading in November and December were intense.

“It was the busiest two weeks of my life,” Xavier said. “I think I underestimated how busy it was going to be.”