The story of Sylvia Collett and The Farmer’s Butcher

Driven to tears by “rock bottom” cattle prices a decade ago, a Gippsland farmer took matters into her own hands.

Sylvia Collett, founder Farmer's Butcher, Brighton, with master butcher Oliver Bristowe, from Queenstown, New Zealand. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin

In the spirit of ‘paddock to plate’, Gippsland farmer Sylvia Collett has founded her own butcher shop in an affluent Melbourne suburb.

Sylvia founded Bass Coast Farm more than a decade ago, rearing Angus cattle and Australian White lambs using low-stress stock handling techniques to preserve the flavour profiles of her animals as much as possible.

“I started farming in 2013, when cattle prices were really at rock bottom. I went to the Pakenham saleyards and I just cried,” Sylvia said.

“I thought, I’m going to try and be a price setter.”

Seeking out cattle with good genetics and growing them out was one part of the journey.

Now by establishing her own butcher store, The Farmer’s Butcher in Brighton, Sylvia is extending the same care and control she exerts over her livestock to her end product.

She has also created a vast network of suppliers who hold the same values and ethics as she, including chickens from Chooks at the Rooke, and free-range pork from Ravens Creek farm.

Sylvia Collett, founder Farmer's Butcher, Brighton, with master butcher Oliver Bristowe, from Queenstown, New Zealand. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin

And it’s a move that’s paid dividends, she says, in the quality of the produce and the relationships she’s fostered with her customers. 


“You can taste it in the meat,” Sylvia said.

The decision to open her own butcher shop is an extension of the farm, as far as Sylvia is concerned, extending the same care for quality at the shop as she does on farm.

“We pay our farmers a fair price that’s not linked to the ups and downs of saleyards and

supermarkets so they can make a sustainable living.

“And we’re committed to real traceability for our customers: if it’s not my meat, it’s from a farmer I know. And you can get to know them too.”