A BUTCHER in Avoca is about more than just having a good cut of meat on hand, it is an important part of town culture. Avoca residents rallied behind couple Hayley and James Collicoat and helped them clear a couple of council hurdles to renovate the butchery and be operational within six weeks.
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Avoca had been without a butcher for too long. The next option for choice, was to travel to Maryborough – and that was taking more business completely out of town.
Pyrenees Premium Cuts, which opened this month, chooses its cattle from a nearby farmer, its lambs from down the road and rotates wine selections from neighbourhood vineyards. It is working with close hotels, restaurants and the supermarket as a supplier.
“Working together with local producers and business is really important to us, especially in a small community,” Hayley said. “Locals really pushed for this to happen, the community got behind us 110 per cent. We understand how important this is for the town and tourism to have quality meat available. If we can help hotels with quality meat closer to home, that helps keep their dishes high quality and so on.”
The Collicoats have already put their Avoca butchery on the map with first place for their pork sausage in last week’s regional Sausage King awards – less than a fortnight after opening.
Their lamb sausage was second on count-back and their chicken sausage was also runner-up. This will take them to states an Crown Palladium and the chance to represent Avoca at the Royal Melbourne Show.
A key feature in shop renovations is an open window to watch James work. A butcher of 10 years’ experience, he breaks down his own meat and is happy to make any cut on request, catering particularly to discerning city visitors.
They hope to soon stock basic produce boxes, working with local growers, to help customers piece together a quick meal.
Anything to make life a little easier. Hayley and James juggle four children under six years old and Hayley says she knows too well the struggles of loading and unloading children with shopping.
Moving to Avoca was a lifestyle change for the Collicoats’ young family. James had been working 12-hour days as a butcher in Maryborough and wanted to spend more quality time with his children.
They visited Avoca on a whim to see the vacant butchery on a whim and took the plunge.
“The hardest thing for us was family time,” Hayley said.
“It’s nice to spend some time with him during the day and the kids can see him in the shop and tell him about their day. Our son is getting into school activities and talking Auskick with his dad. We love it.”
Hayley said they hoped to give back and do the town proud, the same way residents had so quickly embraced them.