Aidan Knight
NESTLED in the heart of West Gippsland, Radford’s Meats stands as a testament to Australian family business resilience, a multigenerational enterprise that has weathered decades of industry transformation.
Founded nearly 80 years ago, the company has grown from a single-man slaughterhouse to a sophisticated meat processing operation that supplies across Victoria and beyond. Robert Radford, who has been at the helm for nearly 50 years, represents the second generation of leadership. His journey began with a butcher’s apprenticeship, evolving to exporting to 28 different markets. Today, Radford’s is one of the most unique meat operations in the region – a multi-species plant processing both beef and lamb, a rarity among the nine meat works within a 100-kilometre radius.
What began as a small butcher shop in Warragul in 1946 has grown into one of Gippsland’s quiet manufacturing success stories. Radford’s remains family-owned and regionally based, but now operates as a major player in Australia’s meat processing and value-added food sector – proving that a country business can compete on a national scale without losing its local roots.
“My permanent staff average 13 years service,” Mr Radford said proudly. “Some of them have been here over 30 years.” This stability is intentional. “We can guarantee them five days a week, where a lot of other plants in the area are reduced to three or four because of lack of stock, availability and price,” he explains, of which he has around 140 people employed.
Domestically focused, Radford’s supply “independent supermarkets, food service, wholesalers and independent butchers” with 95 per cent of their business serving local markets. “We supply Sydney and Melbourne markets, right through regional Victoria, from Bairnsdale to Healesville and Werribee.”
Their achievements are substantial, winning multiple awards local, state and national. The biggest being the national Telstra Sustainability Award in 2009 – the first for any meat company in Australia. Radford’s also participates in exporting some of the best beef in the country, thanks to its Level 1 license, allowing trade to markets mainly in the Middle East. While Mr Radford acknowledges that the exports are important, and for a country with beef as highly regarded as Australia, is an integral part of the economy, he says the company has always been locally focused, and the more regional the better.
“Exports are currently only about five per cent of our business,” he said. “We focus greatly on the domestic side of things, retail outlets, local butchers across the regions, independent supermarkets, food services and caterers – we do the lot.” Mr Radford has always maintained this vision, as most other plants in the area shifted their focus to American and Asian markets, opening it up for Radford’s to expand their reach across Gippsland and beyond to fill demand locally, something he doesn’t take lightly, and is reflected in the quality of the product.
Radford’s are also certified to prepare meats for a range of different religious affiliations, being Greek orthodox, traditional Chinese and Vietnamese communities, as well as Halal. In particular, being one of the biggest wholesale carcass suppliers in the Sydney and Melbourne Greek markets, and have a consistent customer base, doing a roaring trade in lamb each Christmas and Easter.
Now expanding the business in a different direction, Mr Radford has acquired Cheffields Meat Wholesale, rebranding it into Gippsland Choice Cuts.
“We will supply nursing homes, hospitals, and restaurants, institutions all across Gippsland – as well as catering,” he told the Gippsland Farmer. The business aims to have a major impact on localised bulk meat supply, which makes use of the multiple owners’ reputations and connections joining forces, including Lisa Moreland (formerly Moreland Meats) and Colin Kearley (Country Style Meats, Garfield). This team brings an expert knowledge/service in different areas of the same industry, allowing each of their own businesses to elevate to a new level with this newfound local venture – building further on what was previously established in Cheffields by the founders, Andrew and Kristy Smith.
While Radford’s own abattoirs provide highquality beef and lamb, the combined figures behind Gippsland Choice Cuts provide all of this, plus the finest in pork and chicken, seafood and goat. Radford’s have been supplying Cheffields with meat for the service industry for 24 years, and have a strong understanding of the impact it has on local meat economy.
Cheffields has long been a well-established supplier, and Gippsland Choice Cuts plans to not only continue that, but also elevate the wholesale servicing in the local region, as the new name would suggest. With this venture, Mr Radford aims to “take advantage of that and value-add our products that we process here, take it down there, and take it to another level”, while keeping the existing workforce of a dozen or so employees at the Warragul base in Masterson Court. Gippsland Choice Cuts is as committed as Radford’s Meats is to maintaining locality, not just in business and client base, but also in its employment and business continuity, “where the land defines the flavour”.
