The Seymour Alternative Farming Expo hosted over a hundred businesses from all over Victoria.
One of them was Victory Meats, a family-owned local butcher shop.
At the expo, Victory Meats’ Victor Bonacci held demos across the three days, looking at different meats and how to make the perfect cut.
“It’s been great. We get really good response from it,” Mr Bonacci said.
“I’d like to give back to the community and give information.
“There’s nothing better than actually teaching people something that I’m passionate about.”
Mr Bonacci said he had some initial nerves but quickly found his groove.
“To be honest with you, you forget about how daunting it is ... (you) look up, and you’re doing your thing and trying to explain,” he said.
“You’ve got to take some account that I’ve done this for 30 years.
“When you’re trying to teach it to new people, you have to try and give it in such a term that they’ll understand.”
Victory Meats first opened in Broadford over 12 years ago.
Another location, in Seymour, opened six weeks ago, with the grand opening scheduled for May.
“It’s been great support from the locals,” Mr Bonacci said.
“We’re going to be putting across all the specials, and we’re going to do a big barbecue at the front.
“We’re looking forward to doing that for the town.”
Mr Bonacci said that, as a local business, it sourced all its products locally.
“We try and keep all our products local,” he said.
“Our poultry’s from Hazeldenes Bendigo, and pigs come from Sinclair’s in Benalla.
“We’re a decent-sized family business.”
Victory Meats also acts as a wholesaler to businesses across the region.
“We love it,” Mr Bonacci said.
“We love just the whole community feel, the Mitchell Shire especially, with Victory Meats.
“We’re together with the forefront of the meat industry in this area, so we’re trying to establish a really good name for Victory Meats.
“I think we’ve got a good following, as you can see from the demonstrations.”
While the Seymour outlet of Victory Meats just opened, bigger plans are in place.
“(We’re) about to open up a processing room in Broadford,” Mr Bonacci said.
“We’re traditionally butchers ... we do everything in-house.”
Mr Bonacci said he wanted to preserve Victory Meats’ longevity in the area.
“We’re looking at opening another store in late 2024, maybe early 2025 down south,” he said.
“Probably towards the Mitchell Shire, we’re hoping, Wallan, and that will be a superstore.
“We’re doing a lot ... we’re trying to keep all our staff local.
“We have a fleet of 23 staff, so it’s a big thing to man, but it’s going on really nicely.”