18/09/2026
Hi everyone.
For those who don't know us, we're Reuben and Katie, and we own Aussie Butcher New Lynn.
You'll have seen a few statements going round from supermarket owners explaining their co-operative and what it does for your grocery bill. We felt it was time we explained ours.
We currently employ twenty people in the summer months. We also employ twenty people in the winter months.
These are the people that keep our shop going.
We are proud members of a co-operative. It is called Katie. It is made up of one woman, a car, and a tray of scrolls that arrives at smoko. Every member holds an equal share. There is one member.
Being part of this co-operative gives us the scale and efficiency we need to remain locally owned and operated. It lets us share the cost of the infrastructure a modern business requires. Our IT department, our finance team and our communications department all operate out of a windowless room next to the mince, roughly the size of a small broom cupboard. It contains one laptop. That is where the invoices get done and where the page you are currently reading gets written. Our very important supply chain network is Jason, on the phone. Our combined buying power allows us to negotiate the best possible price for our customers, by which I mean Jason asks nicely.
Now, we are also part of a group. There are a few Aussie Butchers around Auckland. I want to be very clear that this is not a 104-year-old co-operative. It is some butchers who share a name and a logo.
We do have a head office. He is called Keith. He is ###xx years old, he is more passionate about meat than anyone I have ever met, and he does the rounds in a white SsangYong ute. When Keith pulls up outside, we all stand a bit straighter.
We're told that breaking big businesses into smaller ones makes them compete harder. We can confirm that we are already extremely small and competing like our lives depend on it. There is nothing above Keith. There is a shop on Margan Ave with the light on at six in the morning.
Beef and lamb are dearer than we have ever seen them, because the rest of the world wants them too, and we feel that every week. We still buy whole carcasses and break them down here. We still make the bacon, the ham and the sausages in the shop. Our meat is New Zealand. We won a national award for the bacon, which we will continue to mention at every available opportunity, including this one.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to approach us in store. We'll do our best to answer anything, except the sausage recipe.
And to the other small butchers, the fruit and veg shops, the bakeries and the fish shops out west doing exactly the same thing — good on you. It's harder than it looks.
Thanks for supporting our family-owned shop. Have a great weekend.
*TRUE STORY, LITTLE BIT TONGUE & CHEEK
Reuben & Katie
