Butcher Apprenticeship

Butchers work in the meat and poultry industry, which is worth several billion pounds in the UK and employs thousands of workers. Qualified butchers can look forward to rewarding careers in a range of environments with different types of employers. Employers include both processors and retailers. Processors range from multi-national processing businesses to smaller processors. Butchers will display understanding about a range of meat species and the various techniques needed to process and/or produce products. You will have a range of skills, knowledge and behaviours that can lead to rewarding careers in the butchery industry.

Topics include:

• The development of the meat sector leading up to the modern day.
• The principles of butchery; including the selection, procurement, provenance and handling of livestock leading to welfare and associated lairage and slaughter practices.
• Waste minimisation, saleable yield and predictive costing methods.
• The meat and poultry marketplace including the supply chain/traceability functions.
• Knowledge associated with carcass by-products, primal, joints and muscles.
• Various craft and knife skills, including the use of relevant mechanical equipment as required.
• Cold storage, stock control and safe movement in the butchery environment.
• Stock control, product pricing and quality assurance
• Health and food safety
• Methods for weighing products, controlling temperature, wrapping, sealing, packing, labelling and stock control of meat and poultry products.
• Team working practices and the importance of continuous personal development.

Apprentices will need to be working towards and achieve the following job role requirements before their end point assessment:

• Demonstrate dexterous knife skills to be able to produce the most cuts to make every carcase profitable.
• Offer excellent service to customers.
• Produce meat to the specific volume, size and weight to meet the needs of national/local consumers and customers in a timely manner.
• Advise domestic and commercial customers on the preparation and cooking of meat.
• Know and understand the need for traceability in the supply of meat.
• Plan and prepare for seasonal supply and demand of meat products ensuring best practice in the merchandising and promotion of seasonal foods.
• Estimate saleable yield and predictive costing methods as required for customers.
• Understand the counter sales environment, including cash administration, retail display, stock replenishment systems including online services.

Next steps: On completion you could progress into full time employment in the industry. You may want to go onto study at a higher level and take on more responsibility.

Every employer is different and therefore the entry requirements can vary. As a guide, you will need GCSE grade 4 in English and Maths. However, we will work with you and provide additional support to help you achieve their requirements, either prior to your Apprenticeship or during the delivery of your programme.

Exeter College has it’s own @34 fine dining, teaching and learning restaurant which has achieved a prestigious AA College Rosette Award for its quality service and food.

Our Learning Resource Centres (LRCs) give you access to a huge range of online books and resources to help you with your studies.

You will need to buy a basic clothing, safety shoes, knife set and textbook.