Christmas is an exceptionally busy time of year for butchers, and just with any other sector, the key to success is all about being prepared. That means not only making sure you’ve got the right butchers equipment to hand, but also ensuring that you’re ready for all the specific questions you might find people throwing at you at this time of year, such as ‘What type of butcher's equipment or butcher’s knives are you using to prepare these meats?’ and ‘Where did this meat come from?’

We’ve got you covered there – here are five of the most common questions you’re likely to hear!

Where is your meat sourced from?

Provenance is always a vital issue for customers, so this is a common question that you can probably expect to receive at any time of the year. Since Christmas is a particularly busy season though (and one heavy on traditional meats), you might find more customers in your shop that aren’t necessarily aware of where their local butcher’s meats are from.

Moreover, customers nowadays tend to want to know if their meat is fresh. Has it been delivered very recently or has it been frozen for a long time? Has the meat been cut by hand by the butcher or elsewhere? As well as this, they may also want to know if it has been treated humanely on the farm that it came from.

How should I prepare this meat?

While many of your customers may have a decent amount of knowledge in terms of how to cook, prepare and serve their meat, there will be many that aren’t quite as clued in. They might sound like obvious questions to you, but every year is a first for cooking Christmas dinner for someone!

Simple tips and suggestions on things such as the right temperatures for cooking turkeys, and how to cut and efficiently serve a turkey, for example, will all be invaluable in terms of helping people get the most out of their Christmas dinner.

What do you recommend?

This question can be difficult to answer if the customer is unsure about what they want, but even if they have a little bit of knowledge, you can help steer them in the right direction.

Here, you can put your knowledge and expertise to the test by making suggestions that will your help customers understand the best methods of cooking particular meats in order to achieve certain desired effects.

For example, explaining which herbs and spices might work well in terms of seasoning particular meats and which types of alcohol might be beneficial in the cooking process will all help the customer.

This can of course also be a difficult question to answer if the customer is pressing for the your personal favourites, because people’s taste preferences differ greatly, and what might work for one person might not work for another. So it’s important to stress this point when conversing with customers.

meat cuttings

Could you custom cut this for me?

Asking for something a little trickier that might not be something always offered can be a great opportunity. It’s perfect for helping begin a long term business relationship with a customer. You may even find that they may continually ask for custom cuts from you in future, and they’re more likely to recommend you if you end up delivering something special.

Moreover, custom cuts can sometimes provide customers with meat that is far fresher, easier to prepare or cook, and generally will provide a better experience for the customer.

What’s the best meat for what I’m doing?

This ties into the recommendations question we mentioned earlier. Customers will likely ask you several follow up questions connected to this initial question.

First, you can start with whichever meat is intended for the meal (turkey, chicken, steak, etc), and if you think they’ll be receptive, you can then go on to introduce more exotic and less commonly bought meats that customers might be interested in.

Once the meat has been chosen, it’s worth asking customers how many people they are serving, so that they can make sure they prepare the correct amount of cuts that will correspond with the number of people being served during the meal.

You might then ask how the customer wishes to cook the dish, and may make some suggestions based on the customer’s level of cooking expertise, the equipment they have at their disposal, and their taste preferences.

Finally, depending on the customer’s budget and the occasion that the meat is intended for, you can make a couple more personal recommendations of your choice. Just as with any other industry, customers always love the personal touch, and you may find it makes all the difference to custom in future!

And if you’re in need of any specific butchers equipment to fill out your repertoire, rest assured you’re in exactly the right place. At Butchers Equipment Warehouse we have all the equipment and tools you need for cutting and preparing meats at Christmas. If you have any specific questions or you need any advice, feel free to call us on 01254 427761, and we’ll be happy to help however we can.