Once upon a time, cooking was a job, not a career, driven by functionality rather than perfection and professionalism. With training, teaching and support, chefs now have career paths filled with opportunity and butcher Pat Whelan of James Whelan Butchers is determined to create that same professionalism for butchers.

Speaking to Irish Country Living he says: “In October 2016, I founded the James Whelan Butchers Academy. Our company has always been run according to the four Ps: product, people, place and passion. We’ve got the product and now it’s about developing the people.

We want good, enthusiastic people with that passion to come on board with us and develop a career for themselves in butchery.”

“The course is all about introducing the person to different parts of the business, so they can pursue a career in the area they enjoy most. That could be stockmanship in the field, pre- and post-slaughter care, how to commercialise a carcase for retail products, in retail itself, or building teams of people with me. Whatever element they are interested in, I can give that opportunity. On top of that, they study modules such as food safety, knife skills, customer service, meat cuts as well as optional modules in recipes and food labelling, food legislation requirements, and cookery skills.”

The academy offers a fully accredited, three-year scholarship, allowing students to work full-time across selected James Whelan stores. This means as well as gaining experience and a qualification, you are also getting paid. The recognised course is evaluated on a continuous-assessment basis, and offers an in-depth syllabus where students are trained daily by senior experts in the company. The students then follow rotating placements out into other James Whelan Butchers stores.

Pat finishes, saying: “We want to position butchering beside other respected crafts, such as master chefs or sommeliers and, through our butchers academy, we are training a new generation of skilled butchers to our exacting standards and we instill in them the same commitment to their craft as we have to ours.”

James Whelan Butchers is currently working towards adding a FETAC qualification to the course, meaning that all those who complete the course will earn a recognised Level 5 FETAC certificate. Butcher Academy applications are currently being accepted with placement starting in January 2018.

For more information on the course please visit, www.jameswhelanbutchers.com/info/butchery-academy/ or email info@jwb.ie.