THE Beef Shop proprietor Kevin Armstrong captured the crowd's attention at the Charolais field day when he said why Charolais cross cattle came up trumps and why he bought and sold Charolias cross carcases through his store.
Mr Armstrong has been involved in the beef industry for 35 years and in the past two years his family moved from the country to the city to start up its own butcher shop.
"When I came home from a beef crisis meeting in Bunbury and told my wife we were going to Perth to open up a butcher shop she said I was bloody mad," Mr Armstrong said.
"We have now had it for two year and have spent $1.2 million setting up a new boning room because you must have the right gear and the right technology to do it properly.
"It costs a lot to run a butcher shop, we had no idea.
"My wage bill each week is between $7000 and $8000, my electricity bill is $10,000 in three months and staff want to get paid each week.
"As a farmer it never really worried me but now I have a butcher shop let me tell you, it does.
"You have got a crucial product and you've got to sell it."
It was a big learning curve for the family and Mr Armstrong said they were still learning.
"We have tried to make a bit of a niche because it is very, very competitive out there," Mr Armstrong said.
"I'll go to the farmers market and when customers buy our beef I'll tell them that it is zero tooth yearling beasts, it's the best they can eat.
"I explain to them that a lot of beef gets sold and its cow beef but advertised as budget and customers look at me and say isn't it all cow."
Mr Armstrong said consumers had no idea about what they were buying.
"We have to keep the consumer on board with what we are selling," he said.
"I think we really have to educate people on the quality of our product because we're getting a good product undermined by a cheap product."
There is a lot of beef that comes in from the east but Mr Armstrong said you couldn't blame them because it was a competitive game.
"We put cattle on the truck and send them east, why can't they send meat back here," Mr Armstrong said.
He said that if he asked 100 housewives if they bought hormone beef they would all say no.
"But they don't know that when they go to Woolworths or Coles they are buying hormone beef because there is no labelling on it," Mr Armstrong said.
The family has found it a lot harder than they ever anticipated.
"We thought the butcher was making all the money," Mr Armstrong said.
"For any farmer who thinks they can go buy a butcher shop and let someone run it, don't even bother because you got to be so dedicated to it and you really have to push the product, get a brand out there and get a name and stick with it."
Mr Armstrong said.
"Our labour and production costs are massive."
The family has had difficulties getting butchers, as it is a dying art.
"I have just sent my son off to do his apprenticeship," Mr Armstrong said.
"He will get paid very well in the future because no one wants to do it and it's very hard."
Mr Armstrong said Charolais are tremendous animals and in the feedlot they perform.
"That why we chase the breed because we can make good money out of them," Mr Armstrong said.
"Angus everyone knows, thanks to McDonalds and Hungry Jacks who have done a great job with it but at the end of the day I know what I make money out of and that's out of a premium product such as the Charolais."
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