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Butcher/Butcher Assistant

Vessel Meats is a dedicated whole animal craft butchery that focuses on showcasing the best meat that Nova Scotia has to offer. As we enter into our 10th year of business this year, we are inviting food service leaders to bring their skills to the table and work beside us to continue to pave pathways for local food in Nova Scotia. Our business started in 2014 at the Alderney Landing Farmer’s Market and we are still grounded on a solid community foundation in Dartmouth as well as two farm markets in Halifax. Our business values it’s strong roots in customer service and the community we serve and we are looking for strong leaders with similar values to help is take our business to the next level.

Butcher or Butcher Assistant

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Our shop is dedicated to whole animal breakdown, capitalizing on each individual muscle and learning the best application for each part. We have a strong focus on minimizing waste and the successful candidate will have a strong understanding of waste management and working efficiently. We focus on education and maintaining a positive work environment for both clients and staff. We are looking for people who have fresh perspectives and want to learn new techniques and implement new ideas.

People who excel in this business bring to the table a professional attitude, thrive in customer service, and enjoy talking to people about the products they craft. We thrive on transformation and encourage creativity and diversity in the products we create and sell. With a lot of moving parts, attention to detail and organizational skills are a must. We are looking for people who can showcase their strong communication skills and have skills that can contribute to a growing organization.

The goal for this role is to bring in someone with basic meat cutting experience who wants to build on their meat foundation and develop into a leading industry professional.

Ideal candidates will bring to this position.

  • 1 – 2 years of meat retail or butcher shop experience

  • Solid understanding of basic food handling

  • Understanding of food waste management

  • Capability and interest in customer service

  • Attention to detail and pride in one’s work, and ability to work clean.

  • Problem solving and organization skills.

  • Creativity and interest in food and cooking

About this role:

Working in this role, successful applicants will learn true whole carcass breakdown, as all the meat we sell comes in on the rail direct from the abattoir every week. Butchers work quickly and efficiently to transform swinging carcasses into cuts that are retailed, distributed, and transformed into a diverse line of raw and ready-to-eat products we sell at our shop and three farm market locations.

The beginning of the week is spent breaking down meat and preparing it to be sold in the retail capacity working with waste management in mind.

Butchers are responsible for;

  • Preparing all retail and wholesale orders,

  • Customer service, greeting clients and helping direct them to the cuts that will best suit their needs.

  • FIFO and ensuring that all products get cycled and used in a timely manner.

  • Preparing raw meats for brining or transformation including making sausage, smoking, and other deli meats.

  • Creating value added products such as kabobs, burgers, and other seasonal products.

  • Taking orders, answering the phone and advising clients

  • Preparing and recording information for wholesale accounts

  • Packaging, labelling, and ensuring information is correct when showcasing products.

Butcher Assistants will be coming in without meat retail experience and will work to assist the head butcher while they are growing their skill set. They will receive hands on learning of the above requirements and they will start off learning the case, doing customer service, packaging, labelling, organizing, and assisting members of the team as they grow their understanding of core competencies. We are excited to read your resume that outlines what skills you will bring to this position.

We are looking for people who have a basic meat retail background who want to grow into industry leaders. At our company you will experience:

  • Full carcass breakdown and receive a full “meat” education; including steak cuts, differences in carcass, transformation, and all the small details as well as how to showcase them to clients.

  • You will learn HACCP food safety principals and how to implement food traceability programs.

  • You will learn waste management and how to minimize waste in a whole animal facility.

  • You will experience various work locations including farmer’s markets and becoming a member of a regular retail community.

  • Opportunity to grow your education as far as you are interested in taking it.

Offerings and Perks

  • The pay level for this position will depend on the applicants competencies they apply to the above with a range from ($17 hourly to $22 hourly) depending on applicable skill sets.

  • Benefit program including dental (50% employer/employee contribution)

  • Free sandwich on Friday.

  • Staff discount

  • Set two day weekend every week (Sunday and Monday)

No evening shifts

If interested please submit a resume to vesselrecruits@gmail.com

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