The butcher is back in “Wylie” and is hoping to stay, according to Wyalkatchem farmer and shire president Quentin Davies.
Wylie Community Meats opened on May 24 and has “brought business back to town”, Mr Davies said.
He said the community had to source its meat from other places after the previous butcher left town.
This had affected other local businesses.
“People would come into town to buy their weekly groceries and at the same time get their meat and other things,” Mr Davies said.
“But when the butcher shop closed, people decided to start buying their meat when they were in other places, which meant they would also get their groceries as well,” he said.
Mr Davies said they had to do something to bring business back into town and so he rallied the troops, without shire funding, so as not to create a conflict of interest.
He said with the assistance of five or six unguaranteed loans and a handful of locals offering their time and butchering skills, they approached the building owner with a proposal to reopen.
Mr Davies said the owner gave them three months’ free rent because they had to refurbish the cutting room to bring it up to standard.
“We just have to make enough money out of this to pay back the loans and cover the rent every month,” Mr Davies said.
“We are doing this for the community, so profits over and above the running costs are not a concern.
“It’s purely about the community.”
The reach of Wylie Community Meats goes far beyond the 350 or so locals because it also supplies the Beacon Co-operative.
Beacon Co-operative manager Debbie Jacob, a former Perth retailer, said the produce supplied by Wylie “far exceeded expectations”.
“It’s all good quality meats,” Ms Jacob said.
“At this stage, we hope we can keep on being supplied, as the alternative is being supplied by the big companies, where your meat sizes are limited.
“It’s hard to get smaller packs of just two or four slices, or a kilo, but Wylie supply us anything we want.”
Ms Jacob said the co-operative used to source its fresh meat from a butcher in Koorda but after she realised he had been working seven days a week to fill the orders, as well as run his own store, it seemed like a more reasonable option for everyone to turn to Wylkatchem.
The supply truck also passes through Wyalkatchem on the way to Beacon twice a week, which makes it easy for both parties.
She said the produce had been “well received” by the local community because they supplied cottage pies, meat loaf and other meats to order, which farmers weren’t necessarily able to source themselves.
“That’s what’s appreciated up here,” she said.
“The guys are also fantastic to deal with, which makes the arrangement so much easier.”
Ms Jacob said the Beacon Co-operative had a supermarket with fresh fruit and veggies, a post office and a new cafe.