What impact have inflation and price increases had on your business?

Inflation has had a massive impact on our business especially over the last few months as the price of beef and lamb have increased. It has made us look at the efficiency of our whole operation, from the procurement and slaughtering side of the business through to our chilling, deboning, packing and logistics. Every cost saving measure can be used to reduce the burden on the end consumer. We have a very loyal customer base; we try to pass on savings wherever possible. We analysed the way we were breaking down beef and lamb carcasses and tried to maximise each part to generate as much as possible from each animal. We have begun to build a database of each animal we debone, looking at the breed, age, weight (pre and post slaughter), the farm the animal has come from and the meat yield. This information helps us to make better informed decisions when buying cattle and lambs for the business.

Have you had to adjust the price to your customers in the past 12 months?

We have had to raise the prices of all our products. We had to re-negotiate a number of government contracts at the start of the year because of how fast the price of beef increased from January to April. Increasing prices to wholesale and food service businesses was not an easy subject to broach with our customers. Going and sitting down with them to explain the current market makes it easier for them to understand. We have put a huge emphasis on our costing and pricing as we have had to raise our prices to stay profitable. We have a limited number of products so we cannot operate a margin mix strategy to keep our price to the customer low in that way, so keeping in constant contact with our customers is vital.

Are you exploring other methods of managing costs instead of passing on increases to the customer?

We are currently carrying out an operational and financial review of the whole business with ifac. We have stopped slaughtering pigs and processing wild game to concentrate on beef and lamb. This has allowed us to increase the volume we can get through the plant. We have also changed the way we debone carcasses enabling us to slaughter double the amount we could do 12 months ago, in half the time. In this industry efficiency is everything. We have invested in lean six sigma training for all our staff. At Burns Farm Meats we are huge believers in investing in our staff. Concentrating on safety first and foremost and really analysing the way we carry out daily tasks has led to operational efficiency and a large reduction in waste. Your business is only as good as the team you have working with you. We work closely with ifac on accounts, payroll and marketing as well as the current financial review project. One thing that stands out with the team in ifac is that there is always someone at the end of the phone to run an idea by or ask for advice. They were a real support to us at the beginning of the year renegotiating some of our large contracts when beef prices spiked. Working with ifac since we took over the business in 2022 has given our business structure. We are really seeing the benefits now the business is experiencing huge growth.