Sleeping with the enemy?

Their ample car parks and one-stop offer have irreversably changed the country and the way we shop. As a result many butchers have had to fight to keep their shop open. Some have lost. Others, who offer a real alternative, have survived and even thrived in many cases.

But there is another breed of butcher. A breed of butcher who chooses not to compete with the supermarket, but to go into partnership with them. Sainsbury's latched onto the trend for local meat in the 1990s and began a search for butchers to put their name to branded serve-over counters in its stores. Deals were done and so began Sainsbury's two partnerships; first with Simon Howie in 2002 and then with Steve Turton in 2003. Every store in Scotland now has a Simon Howie branded meat counter and stores in the West Country have Turton's Westaways serve-overs. So are these butchers betraying their brethren?

When Sainsbury's approached Simon, it was initially to do a trial in two stores, however it quickly spread across the whole of Scotland. Simon is very positive about his partnership with Sainsbury's and is convinced the deal is not harming independents: "Supermarket meat counters are not in direct competition with retail butchers," he says. "Consumers who shop for meat in the supermarket don't buy meat in high street butchers. We've had no complaints from retail butchers in the towns we've opened up in."

Simon believes the counters offer a real alternative for consumers looking for something special outside of the pre-pack aisle. "What we have is a regional offer which takes into consideration the tastes of local consumers and gives them real choice. So, instead of just the top 20 products being offered there is a range of over 50 cuts, from French-trimmed lamb shank to offal and speciality sausages."

But there are compromises to be made. Sainsbury's provide the staff that serve Simon's meat, and he helps train them. "As in any retail store there are good colleagues and not so good colleagues," says Simon, "but a high proportion are time-served butchers. In an ideal world I'd like every bit of the operation under control and have my own staff. It's not perfect but it works," he insists.

When Sainsbury's approached West Country butcher Steve Turton, it was aimed at emulating their Scottish success. Steve says going into partnership with supermarkets is "not a step to be taken lightly" because of the high demands. "I'm a retail butcher at heart," says Steve, who has no shops at present. "My father, who was also a retail butcher, may have been one of those who was dubious about [going into business with a supermarket] but your business develops along a certain track."

Steve echoes Simon when he says he'd rather have his own staff behind the counters. Sainsbury's staff only have basic knowledge, he says. "I'd prefer to see butchers behind the counters but it's got to stack up for the supermarket." He is adamant his counters are not in competition with independents: "Not at all," he says. "Independents offer something else. Quality, service, advice to the customer, those are gold nuggets."

And this would appear to be the case for some independents. Crombie's of Edinburgh has a shop just two miles from a Sainsbury's store, complete with a Simon Howie counter but Jonathan Crombie insists it has "made absolutely no difference to us. Not many of my customers go into Sainsbury's".

Jonathan had a similar opportunity to go into business with Sainsbury's around 10 years ago, but turned it down. "They're hard people to deal with," says Jonathan. "It's all the checks and financial constraints. They tell you what you're going to promote and how much they'll pay you for it."

Jonathan does not think the counters are a good thing for the meat industry. "The quality of service falls way short of what you'd get in a butcher's shop. Simon Howie trains them, but the staff are Sainsbury's so you get some idiot behind the counter. I think the general consensus is that it's a bad thing because it's hard to know who is getting the benefit," he says.

While there is concern about the level of service, branded supermarket counters do not appear to be putting any independents out of business. Everyone agrees independents and supermarkets draw different customers so if more people are eating meat, maybe branded counters can only be a good thing. Sleeping with the enemy? Maybe. But the likes of Simon and Steve are also co-habiting happily with the independents. Let us hope the honeymoon lasts.

Printer friendly version

Email this article to a friend

Bookmark this

---