I am the son of a butcher – a simple village butcher, who served restaurants, hotels and families from his shop. My father provided his customers with good and honestly-made products such as sausages, cold cuts, pressed pig head, blood sausages, Leberkase, just to name a few of the variety he offered.
We had our own smoke house and the bacon we smoked on a bi-weekly basis is still the best I have ever tasted.
When I was growing up, one of the earliest duties assigned to me by my father was to join him to visit the local farmers at the beginning of every week. Our mission was to buy the animals which were needed for the weekly production. I enjoyed those days. These visits gave me the first insights into learning how to choose a good product.
Tuesday afternoons and entire Wednesdays were the days we slaughtered the animals and did the de-boning. On Thursdays, we processed the raw products. In the early hours of Friday mornings we produced all our sausages, cold cuts, etc.
The first customer was already in the queue at 5 am to enjoy the warm Leberkase.
It was not luck that brought us many customers, including restaurant owners and hotel chefs, but the quality of the meat products that we made. Our customers recognized and appreciate quality and therefore, the success of our business was guaranteed.
Slowly, over time, upcoming supermarket chains started to introduce meat, small goods and sausages into their repertoire of products, which were commercially produced and of mediocre quality. With this development, hotel and restaurant operators, with the prime objective of raking in maximum profits started to compromise on the quality of food they offered at their establishments. With the financial bottom line as the driving force, the quality of a product took a back seat over profit. As long as a product was cheap, it could be sold with a higher profit margin to the end consumer.
This development has posed big challenges to producing a product of good quality as cheap mass production floated into the market.
I still remember the day when I was shown bacon by our purchasing officer at the hotel I was working. He assured me it was the right product for our breakfast buffet. Obviously the price factor was the key driver and not the quality. However by this time, I was convinced that most people in the food industry did not know any more how good bacon actually tasted. Remembering the bacon from my youth made in our butchery, I realized that I was torn into two worlds. The world of quality, which was my world, slipped slowly away, losing its demand as the world of mediocre products overpowered the scene and became acceptable to most customers and clients.
As time passed, a product of good quality became a "niche" product. Small entrepreneurs, now fashionably labelled "artisan" butchers, started to make an appearance on the food scene. These shops take pride in announcing that they are sourcing for the best raw materials – hormone free, no antibiotics, etc. They proudly declare that their products are made by professionals, who are skilled in preparing products of superior quality by hand.
Back in those days, in our small village butchery, we produced products of superior quality. There was no distinction between "niche" and "non-niche" markets. There was one quality – superior – and this was made available to anyone and everyone. Our products were also hand made, and our raw products (animals) were walked into our slaughterhouse after being purchased from the farmer. Hormones and anti-biotics were never ever part of the diet of these animals.
The word "artisan" alludes to an honestly handmade product that implies a quality of the highest standards. That, I believe, is fair. However, today, the label "artisan" carries so much weight that it is a ticket to inflate prices. If a craftsman is serious about his produce, sincere about his desire to produce an honest product, his success is guaranteed – the same kind of success that was guaranteed a long time ago in small village butchery.
So, do we need the word "artisan" or do we need "good and honestly-made food"?
Reinhard Roithner is an Austrian-trained chef with culinary experience that spans the western and eastern domains. He has worked in Europe, North and South America, Australia, Middle East and Asia and is known for his simple, yet effective approach to the Hospitality & Food industry.
His RR Hospitality Consultancy provides support in building hospitality enterprises, including hotels, restaurants, functions centres and production kitchens. His team's collective experience ranges from financial control, internal logistics and staff training, to opening hotels and restaurants or rejuvenating flailing establishments. Their approach is completely hands-on, to mentor and guide clients to succeed in their endeavours. See RR Hospitality Consultancy for a complete list of services.
