(Left to right) Chris, Christian and Eamon Rowe have been serving Helensburgh for three generations. Image: Generated by AI.
A Helensburgh legacy is on the chopping block.
Not in a bad way, mind.
Helenburgh 17-year-old Eamon Rowe is on track to inherit a 50-year-old tradition handed down by his father and his father’s father, both of whom have brought the craft of butchery to Helensburgh for half a century.
It started in 1976 when Chris Rowe opened Rowe’s Quality Meats, an “old-school” butchery built on hard work, quality and service, which served locals for 20 years.
“It became a trusted part of the community,” his son Christian says. “Both my parents were hard workers. They owned a catering business that was part of the butchery as well and would cater for restaurants and supply restaurants with house-cured and smoked meats.”
Christian started helping out after school and on weekends, before starting his own apprenticeship in 1998 with butchery stalwarts Stapletons Meats. He went on to hone those skills in shops across Sydney and overseas.
In 2015, Christian brought it all back home, purchasing the shop his father once owned, though it had moved a few doors down and creating Christian’s Premium Meats.
“It’s been great returning to where I grew up,” Christian says.
There, he has built on the Rowe reputation.
Among its many accolades, the business claimed the Illawarra South Coast Business Awards Business of the Year in 2019 and Most Outstanding Butcher in 2023. It’s also claimed the Australian Small Business Champion Awards Best Butchery in 2021 and 2024, going on to claim the national title of Best Butcher in Australia both years.
“We’ve got a strong reputation in the community for quality product, consistency and looking after customers the right way,” he says. “It’s about old school service with modern standards.”
Preparing a whole crocodile for a spit roast was Christian’s most “unique” request. Photo: Supplied.
In an age of long supply chains and bulk buy supermarket discounts, shops like Christian’s Premium Meats lean into these traditional butchery tenets.
From time to time, that has meant applying his decades of hard-won skills to pivot for whatever a customer may need.
“The strangest request I ever had was when this one fellow came in and said ‘I want to put a croc on a spit’,” Christian recalls.
“He somehow got a croc sent to me from the NT along with his own spice mix. So I prepped the croc, rubbed it in the spice mix and wrapped it in pork belly, per his instructions. It was definitely the most unique thing I’ve done for a customer.”
Like his dad, Christian’s son Eamon grew up around the shop and started helping out after school at 14, learning the ropes and developing the same passion for the trade.
Now officially into his apprenticeship at the family shop, he’s building his skills alongside his dad and carrying the family tradition into the future.
That means learning to adapt as the market evolves.
“Butchery has changed in the decades since my dad started,” Christian says.
“Back in the day, it was about selling chopped steaks and sausages. Now it’s standard to include value adds that make your time-poor customers’ lives easier in this busy age. That means while we still focus on premium meats and specialty sausages, we also offer oven-ready meals people can take home, pop in the oven for 20 minutes and serve alongside a quick veg side dish.”
But, Christian adds, as much as some things change, others will always remain the same.
“What brings people to their local butchers these days is the things we’ve been practising forever and it’s things we’ll always have over the supermarkets,” he says.
“Quality products prepared fresh every day, backed by knowledge. We can, and routinely do, advise customers on the best way to prepare the things they buy from us.
“And after three generations of serving Helensburgh, we’re pretty well known here.”
