Company description

Ellis Creek Farm aims to grow high quality food in an environmentally sustainable and ethical manner. We wish to sell the farm produce to people who likewise have an interest in eating local ethically raised food grown in harmony with nature. We aim to encourage more people to consider how their food is produced, and to choose food that matches these ideals.

We have recently commissioned our on-farm mobile abattoir which enables us to kill our animals in the most humane and low-stress environment possible, with no long-haul cattle trucks or dirty great factories.

The farm has always been run in a low-intensity way by our parents and grandparents with a strong focus on the wellbeing of the animals. We want to build on this foundation, developing our farming practices with our main goals being healthy contented animals and improving the capacity of the land to sequester carbon, build organic matter, and protect and enhance our waterways. We are continuing to work toward organic and regenerative farming practices.

Our family farm is located on the hills above Clifton and has beautiful views over Golden Bay. The Ellis Creek flows through native bush and via fenced-off watercourses across the farm, and eventually to the sea at Motupipi Estuary. As it runs through the farm it provides sustenance for the soils, plants, animals and the people on the land, which symbolizes our commitment to our core values:

Environmentally sound practices
Healthy and contented animals
Quality nutrient-rich food products
Transparency in all our dealings with customers.

Job description

Short term Working Holiday or permanent opportunity - We are looking for an experienced and self-motivated butcher to operate and manage our new butchery for our farm to fork meat business in beautiful Golden Bay, New Zealand.

Ellis Creek Farm is a true farm to fork family business growing and selling our own spray-free beef and lamb direct to our loyal customers around the Nelson region and beyond. We operate one of only a handful of registered micro-abattoirs in NZ, which means we can kill on-farm without sending our animals on trucks to the works. Our meat is currently cut and packed by a local contract butcher but due to continued growth we are now establishing a new on-farm butchery. The butchery will have a limited direct retail function with most of our sales currently being online or at local farmers markets.

In this sole-charge position you will use your expertise and attention to quality to efficiently break-down and process carcasses into bulk and retail products. You will be skilled at butchering high-value and specialty cuts as well as smallgoods and there is opportunity to add your creative input into shaping our product range to improve our offering and customer experience. You will have a customer and sales focused outlook and part of your role will be engaging with customers, both retail and in food service, at local markets as well as online. You must be physically fit and experience in handling and breaking down of whole lamb carcasses and beef quarters is essential for this job. While not a core part of the role there is also the opportunity to be involved in the operation of the micro-abattoir.

You will have a butchery trade qualification, experience within the retail & wholesale environment & an excellent work ethic backed up by references. Experience as a butchery manager is useful but not essential if you can demonstrate good organizational skills or experience that can be applied to managing food safety requirements, stock management, and order processing.

Salary or hourly rate will be negotiated in accordance with verified skills, experience and qualifications and we're happy to pay well for the right person. Depending on the negotiated start date we may be able to provide short-term temporary on-farm accommodation to assist with relocation.

If you would like to register your interest or apply for this role please get in touch to discuss further or apply.

Note that New Zealand has a Working Holiday Visa program with many countries including the USA which allows people aged 18-30 a work visa typically for 12 months. It is also possible to get a normal work visa for a job like this if you have a job offer.

If you're thinking about a Working Holiday visa with some travel, we'd want you to work for us for at least 6 months! All employment will be subject to a trial period, but if you're as good as you say you are then this shouldn't be a problem!

Compensation

this position is: hourly, varies DOE, $15.00 - $25.00

Work visa

This employer is willing to sponsor a work visa for international applicants

Application instructions

Deadline

no deadline