Hi, Matt the Meat Man here! I'm 24 years old, married, one beautiful daughter and now an even better job.......
I am happy to say that after one year at Co-op (4 years total) in the meat business, I have accepted the position of Meat Manager at a small retail in a town of about 1000 people. The only competition in town is one IGA store so it's not too bad of a set-up. I have been here about a month as of writing this post.
I am really passionate about this new job and I don't want to say "oh I'll do that tommorrow etc etc." I want to be successful as much as I can and make you all proud!
My Question for today is:
I would really appreciate any advice on the best way to bring my margin up from a dismal 18.0% to an attainable 21 to 23% range.
Thanks for all the fun
I visit this site as often as possible! it's great to share stories and everything on this site, I think alot more Meatcutters/Managers would visit if they had any spare time!
I know a couple of outlets we like to use, if they are available for you and won't bring down sales, is to increase the the margins on frozen meat products since they have a longer shelf life. Sometimes this only needs to be twenty more cents or so, and if they are hot sellers it will really bring that % up. Also if you have acess to different vendors, use them to your full ability to bring in better priced meat, just be aware of that c-coded **** haha. I just started also, i love it but it certainly is a challenge, especially since we are independantly owned family market with giants, walmarts, and weis everywhere!
congratulations!! i would think in a smaller store to concentrate on lunchmeat and frozen foods first.cut ONLY what you need for the case,and a little back-up on specials.main thing is to keep it FRESH! word will get around.
Good News Everyone, I have been running my dept for just over 3 months now and things are improving, customer's are complimently and noticing that i keep a very fresh meat case daily.
Also my margin has improved thanks to a ton of things i have been doing was 13.0% last month was around 22% so we will see how much i can accomplish this first year!
Things that have helped: -Watching Shrink and Over Production and adjusting daily -Finding out the busiest days/ slowest days and cutting accordingly to avoid undercutting and losing potential sales -using stock control sheets for everything to avoid double ordering -one-to-one training non stop with summer student - saying hello and trying to chat and be friendly with every single customer no matter how busy i am, in a small store it has paid off so much.
I think being super-organized has saved me lots of headaches too, what a mess i was left with from the last guy.
Thanks again to all of you, your advice and hard work are appreciated!!!!!!!!!!!!!
customer service and organization are the key building blocks to any well run dept. Keep it up and people will definetly notice the changes! Congratulations.
to an attainable 21 to 23% range. 
Young Mr Matt !!! GLAD you in the house, HOPE you enjoy your stay here !!!
