#SheLooksLikeMe: Amber - The Kiwi Butcher Shop
What does your job entail?
Marketing – (Images/Proofing/Content for FB, Instagram, Website, Print Ads, Radio), Sponsorship Arrangements, Community Engagements, Responding to customer queries, developing new business strategies, refining current business strategies to save money, time and to meet current standards with ongoing changes in our industry relating to labelling, food safety etc. Discovering more about our changing customer market and their wants and needs and figuring out how we can provide solutions for them. Finding new product lines to stock especially NZ-made ones. Accounting, HR, Payroll and I muck in on the floor when someone is away and in the retail shop most days. No two days are the same which is great if you thrive on challenges and change!
What attracted you to this industry?
When I met my fiancé I kind of fell into it. My Grandfather was a butcher and had his own shops in Okato, New Plymouth and Hamilton, so it felt kind of right that I ended up in this industry. My Gran always mentions how chuffed he would be if he could see me now!
What have been some of the challenges you’ve faced and overcome in your career?
Probably the biggest challenge we faced being a retail shop was how we were going to cope with the Covid lockdowns. I’m happy to say we jumped in the deep end with an online shop and we haven’t looked back. Others have been how do we get creative as a small to medium business and market like we are a big player but without the big player budget! There was a lot of creativity involved, a lot of learning done and I have now developed three new skill sets!
Why are women in the meat sector so important?
As with any industry, it is always important to have a mix of both genders. There are your general biases as to gender strengths, but being able to see things from both a male and female perspective gives you the best of both worlds in regards to ideas, facilitating and executing them.
What is your advice to the industry to encourage more women?
It is a proud industry with a lot of history. There is a beautiful mix of nostalgia, history, absolutely ludicrous stories from back in the day and a wealth of knowledge from those who have been in the industry for the past 50-60years. And yet there is new blood, new ideas, flexitarianism, online shopping and all the mod cons and developments to keep the industry going forward. There are different sectors within the meat industry to get involved in from retail sales, butchering, manufacturing, marketing, supermarkets, consumer studies, nutrition studies, events, animal breeding, raising cattle/sheep etc. The meat industry is diverse.
What is your advice to any young women considering a similar career?
Find your niche, find something you are passionate about. If you get in with the right people, it’s not just about your corner of the meat industry, you have the ability to be at the forefront of new developments and to have an influence on what happens within the industry. When I started working with The Kiwi Butcher Shop I had no idea that I would be exposed to Retail Meat New Zealand and be able to go to conferences where the entire industry gets together to see what the World market has been doing, what influences that might have on the NZ market, what challenges may be coming our way and how to overcome them. While simultaneously meeting and chatting with others who have new developments and are happy to share their knowledge and experiences. There is so much to be learned. Now there is Meat Business Women and within this forum you can reach out and make connections internationally with other ladies working in the industry too.
#SheLooksLikeMe
#SheLooksLikeMe is a campaign that challenges the perceptions of careers in the meat industry. Its purpose is to highlight female role models and encourage more people to join the sector. For more information about Aotearoa New Zealand’s meat industry and the varied roles within, visit www.meatyourcareer.co.nz