Owning and operating a butchery in the heart of prime cattle country is a dream come true for Katherine and Luke King of Kilkivan Meats. The Kings bought the shop at 25 Bligh Street in rural Kilkivan – 50 kilometres west of Gympie – five years ago and are passionate about supplying locally raised meat.
“Luke has been butchering since he left high school so when this opportunity came up, we jumped at the chance,” Katherine says.
Luke and butcher Kurt Long prepare and sell the cuts while Katherine is responsible for marketing and administration. The majority of Kilkivan Meats’ stock is locally sourced.
“The Gympie region is burgeoning with quality producers so we supply local produce because we know where it comes from and how it is raised. One of our main lines is in-house small goods made from locally sourced pork.
“Most of our beef comes from the North Burnett and Gympie area and is Meat Standards Australia (MSA)-graded – a guarantee for tenderness and eating quality. We also make preservative-free sausages, stock chicken and lamb, free-range pork and a range of condiments such as jams and preserves from CC’s Kitchen, sauces from Cobra Chilli and cordial from Suncoast Limes – all produced in the region.”
The Kings have also developed their own dried beef snack, Awesome Beef Jerky, which is sold via various stockists throughout Queensland.
“It takes 40 hours to make our beef jerky from slicing and marinating to drying and packaging – quite labour intensive,” Katherine says. Awesome Beef Jerky will soon be available to customers nationally via a dedicated online store.