We all like to see a friendly face when we're doing our weekly shop, so it's great to have an in-store butcher like Peter Hill offering you the service you'd expect from your local butchers, but in your local Morrisons supermarket.
With over 40 years of experience – 20 of those in Morrisons stores – Peter certainly knows a thing or two about meat. And, as he admits himself, he even "looks like your typical butcher", with rosy cheeks and a friendly face.
Working at the Morrisons store in Heckmondwike, Leeds, he's a popular character behind the butcher counter, and many regular customers know him by name.
Peter's Pride
Starting his career in a small butcher's shop at the age of just 14 years old, Peter is exceptionally proud of the fact that he can offer small-shop customer service but at great value supermarket prices. "When you work in a shop, people love to talk to you", says Peter. "I get a lot of customers asking me for advice on how to cook different cuts of meat or simply stopping for a chat. I love sharing tips and advice, and it's great when I get a regular customer popping back in to tell me 'that sirloin steak was beautiful'."
Morrisons in-store butchers are not only there to offer expert advice, but they're fully trained to give you the greatest possible choice. From a rack of lamb to the finest fillet steak, all you have to do is ask.
Your choice
“We’re the only supermarket where a customer can request exactly what they want,” says Peter, “and I’ll happily prepare it for them, just like in your traditional butcher’s shop.
“So if a customer wants just one chop for their tea, I’ll get it for them – I often get my elderly customers asking for that. If they have a bigger family and want something more, I’ll do that especially too. Large or small, it’s all the same to me.”
Roy Craven, Morrisons meat specialist, adds: “Morrisons is the only supermarket that runs a butcher’s operation exactly as your local butcher would. So we could probably be described as your local family butcher.
“From buying all our own meat, to cutting it and preparing it ourselves, we work in exactly the same way as a traditional butcher, only on a much larger scale. Because of that, we maintain the integrity of our product. We’re very proud that we’ve been able to hold on to these values.”
From the field to the shop
As customers, we all want to eat fresher and healthier food, and we’re also increasingly interested in knowing exactly where it comes from.
Roy Craven describes the process involved in sourcing and buying meat from farmers Morrisons knows and trusts: “We know all about our livestock and where it comes from. We speak to farmers directly, we know their farms and we know the environment and even the fields the animals come from.
“Not only that, we have total control over how your meat gets to your shopping basket. That’s very reassuring for us and for our customers. More than 90 per cent of the meat we cut and prepare in store comes from our own team of livestock buyers who scour the UK for the best possible product. We use our own abattoirs, and then in-store butchers like Peter cut and prepare our meat every day. It’s even packaged in store so that we have total control at every step of the way.
“Take fresh lamb, for example. Our buyers travel up and down the country to source the best quality products. The lambing season kicks off first in Devon and Cornwall, so they’ll start there. They’ll then go up to south and mid-Wales, followed by the Midlands and then the Lake District and eventually Scotland. This is because the natural lambing season follows the weather, so it starts a bit later the further north you go.
“Nature decides when the spring lamb season begins. And it really depends on when the fresh new grass grows in each area of the country. The warmer it is, the earlier the season starts.”
Firm favourites
The type of meat customers buy depends very much on the weather. “People tend to go for big joints and stewing meat in the winter,” reveals Peter. In the summer, however, sirloin steaks and barbecue products fly off the shelves, and Peter will often fill up the barbecue section three or four times a day.
There’s also an emphasis on healthy eating with a huge range of lean meat options that are packed with protein but low on fat. Popular choices this summer include steak burgers made with lean meat and pork fillet and pineapple kebabs – both perfect for the barbecue.
The process involved in getting Morrisons meat products to your table also ensures you’re getting the leanest cuts possible. “Take beef as an example,” says Roy. “We remove most of the fat at the first stage so that it’s already well trimmed when it goes in store. But the in-store butchers will also trim off more fat before it gets displayed.”
Looking ahead
Peter thinks the way he works is the way forward for customers. “I think customers want to know where their meat comes from and they want an expert to answer their questions. They also want to be able to ask for the exact cuts they want and the service they want.”
If you’d like advice on cooking meat or want something special you can’t see at the counter, simply ask our in store butchers and they’ll be happy to help.