Pigs fly out door of busy butcher
Every morning at about 6am John Clunie arrives at his butchery in a quiet street in Waimate.
Earlier this year, Rural Meats Waimate was based on the main street – Queen St – but things were so good, he needed bigger premises.
Ham sales were on the up this year, Clunie says. Just two were left when Stuff visited four days before Christmas.
Clunie’s morning consists of him and two others getting on the early morning grind, particularly in the lead up to Christmas.
‘‘We get all the meat prepped, bone it out and slice it all for the meat packs,’’ he said.
All of his meat is sourced from farms in North Otago and South Canterbury.
‘‘All the way from Timaru to North Otago – like Omarama and those sort of places.’’
Clunie started his butchery trade as soon as he left school.
‘‘When I was about 22 or 23 I did my apprenticeship.’’
The retail side of butchery began to fall away with the rise of supermarket butchers, he said.
‘‘The boss at that stage got into the home kill side of things, so we purchased the business off him probably about 10 years ago.
‘‘We just built it up from there. The main reason we had to move was because we outgrew our Queen St premises.’’
Clunie moved to a new location in Belt St about five months ago.
‘‘It’s a lot more accessible. There’s more chiller space and that sort of thing.’’ His favourite meat is pork chop. ‘‘The pork’s all free range and the customer knows where the meat’s coming from.’’
Clunie recommends sausages and smaller meats as the most costeffective, and calls pork a best-buy.