Whiti Butcher – Arthur Olsen

By Pauline Stewart

It’s a butcher shop full of character and it starts with the owner and host, Arthur Olsen and extends to his staff. Hamish is key on the floor and a good friend of Ivan’s having first met as school friends when they were six. He is finishing his apprenticeship this year as a butcher and has been with the business here in Whitianga since Arthur bought it, which was five years ago. There’s always bright banter and a youthful reception when you enter the Butcher shop.

“With lambs and pigs, we break all of them down on site here at the shop,” says Arthur. “We make all our own sausages and we prepare all our bacon.” It is pretty full on with so many skills required to prepare meat exactly as the customer likes. With Hamish becoming a qualified butcher after this year, it will be more manageable. We need four staff n the summer season. We source our meat locally and all our trays are rinse and recycle, and we are proud of that.”

Arthur’s Whiti Butcher is not the ideal shop for a vegetarian but it certainly is great service for the customer who is looking for fine quality, skilfully prepared, lean, local and home-killed meat.

But there’s his free range eggs, so the vegetarian won’t go home empty handed.