THE LITTLE BLONDE BUTCHER
In honour of International Women's Day, ScobiesDirect have interviewed Saffy from
A. R. Day butchers. Saffy is becoming a well-known face on the butchery scene, and is certainly one to watch! Check her Instagram out
HERE.
Read below to see what Saffy has to say:
The start of my butchery journey is probably not dissimilar to many others. I lived in a very small rural village and my Mum often used the butchers. One day I said to her I would quite like to do my work experience week (which we had to do in school) there. She went down and said to my now boss Andy that I’d be interested in doing some hours in the shop and he said get her to come down and she can have a job now! So,
I walked down aged 13 and I’ve never left! I started off as
‘The Saturday Girl’ and then did more hours in the holidays.
I hated school, I always preferred being at work. However, I didn’t always think that butchery was what I wanted to do. I knew when I finished school that I didn’t want to go to college or university, so surprisingly I was looking into hair dressing as an apprenticeship. But I knew that I had found a passion and a love for the industry,
that’s when I decided I wanted to do my apprenticeship in butchery. With my Mum and Andy’s support, this was one of the best decisions that I’ve made.
To be a butcher is such an extraordinary role, the fact that you can turn a carcass into so many products and create beautiful works of art out of an animal. Without doubt, the best thing about the job is the fact that there are always things to be learning or refining, whether that be a new sausage recipe or learning the technical terms for things like synovial fluid (the gooey stuff round joints that’s a pain to clean up!). Although,
the most rewarding part of the job is when you serve a customer and they go away with your products happy and pleased with their purchase. Even when they might not fully appreciate the time, effort or skill of the craft or the process it took to get on their plate.
If I could go back in time and tell myself anything it would be to not doubt or question myself as much as I did.
I very much felt like I had imposter syndrome and that I shouldn’t be there. I was very lucky in the fact that Andy (my boss) had so much patience with me (especially when it came to tying sausages!). He is such a brilliant teacher and role-model, without him I would not have become the butcher or woman I am today. I will forever be grateful for the time he spent teaching me this dying trade.
My butchering future… I will always want to perfect my craft, getting that bone cleaner but I feel like that is a butcher’s goal full stop. I’ve been following the amazing Team GB Butchery and that is something that would be phenomenal to work towards as a personal achievement. I also want to grow my
Instagram page (@thelittleblondebutcher) not just for fellow butchers, but to people wanting to learn about the meat industry. I want people to understand the process and the love that goes into it. I want them to see that if they support local butchers shop they are not only supporting them, they are supporting a whole network of people that this country needs desperately. I haven’t really got a plan, I never planned this to be my career so who knows!
To other young women who are thinking about doing a butchery apprenticeship is to just go for it! If butchery is something that you enjoy doing and find pride in doing, then do it. It is difficult but all the hard work, the early mornings and frustration is worth it. Even if you have to cut the strings off the joint you’ve rolled 3 times already just to get it perfect, so what? Ignore the dinosaurs who will try to judge you, you’ll be just as good if not better than any man! Remember that you do not have to prove yourself in this industry there is space for everyone!
Being a woman does not limit me in my butchery career, it changes a world that has been dominated by men. Posted 111 days agomore...
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