A Butcher is a person who has the ability to break down beef, pork, lamb, and poultry products into retail cuts. They perform duties related to the cutting, preparation, display, and selling of meat products. In this blog post we describe the primary responsibilities and the most in-demand hard and soft skills for Butchers.

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Main Responsibilities of Butcher

The following list describes the typical responsibilities of a Butcher:

Adhere to

Adhere to all sanitation and food production codes.

Assist

• Assist in setting up plans and actions to correct any food cost problems.

• Assist with campaign delivery via all agency team including ATL & BTL, experiential & PR executions.

• Assist with campaign planning, Launch / PR Events, Media Partnerships or experiential activations.

Break down

• Break down muscles from whole animal carcasses.

• Break down beef, pork, lamb, and poultry into retail cuts.

Carry out

Carry out basic cleaning tasks around the premises.

Check

• Check pars for shift use, determine necessary preparation, freezer pull and line set up.

• Check product to make sure it meets Whole Foods Market quality standards.

Clean

• Clean and cut various cuts of meat.

• Clean and maintain station in practicing good safety and sanitation.

• Clean and prepare fish and shellfish.

• Clean equipment and work areas to maintain health and sanitation standards.

• Clean meats to prepare for processing or cutting.

• Clean, prepare and smoke fish and other meat products.

Communicate

• Communicate and maintains Team Member safety and security standards.

• Communicate courteously and effectively with co-workers and supervisors.

Contribute

Contribute your skills to a professional team in a safe, collaborative, merit-based environment.

Control

Control food waste, loss and usage per policies.

Cost

Cost pricing (discount) on all products purchased by employees.

Cut

• Cut and prepare for use various varieties of meat, fish and poultry.

• Cut carcasses, sides and quarters.

• Cut fish into steaks and fillets.

• Cut, trim and prepare standard cuts of meat.

• Cut, Trim and prepare standard cuts of meat.

Debone

Debone, cut, trim various types of meat.

Deliver

Deliver positive and constructive communication between kitchen staff and Pit Crew.

Ensure

• Ensure accurate retail pricing and signage.

• Ensure all cases and shelves are clean and well-stocked.

Follow

• Follow department procedures for preparing, storing, rotating, and stocking of product.

• Follow recipes and presentation specifications.

• Follow safety and security procedures.

• Follow work instruction where applicable.

Handle

Handle and prepare meat products.

Identify

Identify various species and meat cuts when segregating and selecting.

Maintain

• Maintain inventory and record of food, supplies and equipment.

• Maintain sampling program.

Manage

• Manage the brand website, content updates & digital development projects.

• Manage the supply of campaign creative assets.

Model

Model and deliver outstanding customer service.

Monitor

Monitor product quality and freshness and ensure proper rotation of product.

Note

Note any out-of-stock items or possible shortages.

Operate

Operate standard kitchen equipment safely and efficiently.

Own

Own community management & content for TVB social channels.

Package

Package meat for customer orders.

Place

Place the fat in the fat chute.

Preform

Preform special order meat product requests.

Prepare

• Prepare different cuts of meat for the display cases.

• Prepare, package, weigh, and price meat products for sale.

• Prepare, season and cook food as directed, meeting dietary requirements where required.

• Prepare, package, weigh, and price meat and seafood products for sale.

• Prepare special displays of meats, poultry and fish products.

• Prepare specialty meat merchandise (i.e. sausage, oven ready products, and cured meats).

• Prepare specialty merchandise including sausages, ready-to-cook products, and cured meats.

Process

Process all customer meat order.

Provide

• Provide customer service, to meet our customers needs.

• Provide efficient and courteous customer service.

• Provide the highest level of customer service.

• Provide timely, thorough, and thoughtful performance evaluations.

Receive

• Receive, inspect, and store meat upon delivery.

• Receive, unload, and put-away product delivery.

Remove

Remove viscera and other inedible parts from carcasses.

Respond to

Respond promptly to customer needs and questions.

Rotate

Rotate products to reduce the chance of any meat spoiling to reduce waste and loss of profits.

Set

Set and achieve the highest standards of retail execution.

Shape

Shape, lace and tie roasts, other meats, poultry and seafood.

Sharpen

Sharpen and adjust cutting equipment.

Split

Split carcasses into smaller portions to facilitate handling.

Supervise

Supervise other butchers, meat cutters and fishmongers.

Work with

• Work harmoniously and professionally with co-workers and supervisors.

• Work with Restaurant managers to create weekly specials and communicate for items availability.

• Work with team and management in developing unique meat cuts for recipes.

Wrap

Wrap and package prepared meats.

Most In-demand Hard Skills

The following list describes the most required technical skills of a Butcher:

1. Meat cutting

2. Customer Service

Most In-demand Soft Skills

The following list describes the most required soft skills of a Butcher:

1. Written and oral communication skills

2. Attention to detail

3. Team player

4. Work under pressure

5. Interpersonal skills

6. Personal suitability

7. Multi-task

8. Professional maturity

9. Communicate effectively with coworkers and management

10. Continuous improvement and learning

11. Create great experiences

12. Dependable

13. Enthusiastic

14. Organization