Courtney Fewster is the manager of Gingin Premium Meats, the new local butcher in Gingin. You might see her dad Wayne in the background but the real driving force behind this new venture is Courtney. She is assisted by the talented butchers Dick and Phil, who do the boning work behind the scenes. David (Fitzy) Fitzpatrick also offers a hand when he’s not working at the local meatworks.
Having grown up in Beermullah, Courtney has always loved being at home on the farm and spending time with her dad in the cattle yards. She recalls that when she was at boarding school she just couldn’t wait to get home to the farm on weekends. After finishing school, Courtney completed an Animal Science degree at Murdoch university, where she did her honours in Ewe Nutrition.
On graduation she found it difficult to find a job in the field and took on administrative work for a kitchen company, living and working in
Perth. However, her desire to return home to the country was too great. She had presented ideas to her father about selling their beef direct to the public but she couldn’t make the numbers work. And then opportunity knocked. The butcher shop in town came up for lease and Courtney jumped at the chance, pitching to her dad for them to take up the lease.
Courtney says that it was a manic beginning, “We were two weeks to opening and were still to secure our butcher. But it all worked out great.” The business employs two butchers who travel from local areas and Courtney says they have provided a wonderful injection of ideas as
well as helping her understand more about boning.
Courtney doesn’t see the “butcher work” as something she will focus her attention on personally; not only is the work quite physically demanding, she also sees her time will be best spent on developing meat options for those looking for ready meals. “I am always looking when I go to other places what butchers are preparing for ready meals”. She is also looking to marketing and branding premium meats beyond the retail shop in the future.
Courtney offers Amelia Park as a good example of the sort of premium marketing they hope to achieve. Her father Wayne and boyfriend James
are currently building a trailer to allow the business to expand into a delivery service with the ambition of providing restaurants with premium local beef.
Much of the beef and lamb they sell in the shop is from their own farm, with about 1 to 2 bodies a week, or sourced from other local farmers. She also calls on old school mates the Borrello Bros. from time to time to help with local beef cuts for spikes in premium meat requirements. In summer, for example, there is a seasonably high demand for premium cuts like porterhouse and fillets.
How fortunate we are to have another fantastic local butcher in the area.
