THE Lockyer Valley’s best kept secret has made a beeline to the inner suburbs of Brisbane - bringing with it a treasure trove of mouth-watering preserves.
Purveyor of the provenance lifestyle, Peter Schulte has been in the small goods industry for the past 15 years after taking over the iconic family business Schulte’s Meat Tavern at Plainland with his brother Paul. Now, with a staff of more than 60, Peter manages the Lockyer business with wife Melinda.
The pair have recently expanding their reach with The Stores West End, a homely warehouse filled with the finest in fresh, locally sourced produce and small goods, including their award-winning mettwurst and a built-in fromagerie.
The Schulte clan have grown-up understanding the best food is that which is raised and cared for in your own backyard with The Stores allowing Peter and Melinda to further connect consumers to their food.
“Everybody is talking about ‘paddock to plate’ but we actually do that - what you see is what you get,” Melinda said.
“We’ve lived and breathed it for four generations now and, when we want top quality meat, we go straight to the farmers and buy it. There’s no middle man - it’s just real food.”
The expansion has meant a new challenge, one which Melinda says she’s more than happy to embrace.
It’s really exciting and we’re meeting some of the most fascinating people along the way.”
The couple agree the majority of consumers are now looking beyond the label and want to know more about the origin of their food and are happy to talk with their customers about their stock.
“The community has been brilliant - it’s such an eclectic space for culture and family and the majority are very conscious of where their food comes from. They want to know the stories behind the production and how it got here, and we’re able to tell them.”
Melinda said the best thing about The Stores was the ‘co-operative’ environment between artisans.
“We don’t rebrand anything in the shop. If someone goes to the trouble and the effort of getting their product launched, then that’s the way it’s presented,” she said.
“We want the people who do the hard work to get the acknowledgement for it and we really want to deal with the people at the grassroots of production.”
Stocking a huge variety of goods from across Queensland and interstate, the pair certainly have a soft-spot for the home of their first business, with a large portion their suppliers coming from the Lockyer Valley.
“We’d be crazy not to - the Valley has some of the best fruit and vege in the nation,” Melinda said, adding the beef is supplied by the Glasser family at Goondiwindi with the pork coming from Millmerran.
“We slaughter every week because we make a lot of our own small goods. “We do about 40 pigs on Monday and then we do about 20 head of Herefords from Yagaburne Station on Tuesday.”
Melinda said the meat goes straight into the cold room where it cools before being trucked ‘straight to the shop’ on Wednesday.
“It gets busted up and goes out for sale the next day...it’s a quick turnover.”
Peter said it was important for him to be able to show his customers the beef and pork was processed with the utmost care. “We don’t do lotfed cattle,” Peter said.
“I don’t really believe it breeds the sort of flavours that are naturally occurring as opposed to cattle out in the paddock and happy eating grass.
“These animals come to us calm and we keep them as stress-free as possible to make sure the meat isn’t affected.”
With an expansion in the wind at their Plainland business, Peter and Melinda are beyond proud to offer The Stores West End as an extension of their already prospering ethos.
“We’re not doing this because it’s ‘trendy’, we’re doing it because we believe in it - the food movement has met us and suddenly, we’re cool!”
For more information visit www.thestoreswestend.com.au
- This article first appeared in Queensland Smart Farmer December 2015.
