Coles' new proposal could change how we eat meat forever
Freshly-sliced cuts of meat may soon be a thing of the past at Coles as the supermarket proposes moving to exclusive pre-packaged products.
While shoppers can currently request their choice of product from in-store butchers, the company could slice more than 1,500 staff in the meat department.
The move follows the 2018 decision from rival supermarket Woolworths to stop processing beef, chicken and pork products in-store.
RELATED: Victorians are rallying around small businesses: 'We were shell-shocked'
The proposal may leave over 1,500 employees out of work. AP
Matthew Journeaux, Acting Federal secretary of the Australasian Meat Industry Employees Union, calls the move "absurd".
"There's 1500 people being affected, 400 of which are qualified butchers," he tells 9Honey.
Journeaux notes some of the staff employed by Coles' meat department have been with the company "in excess of 40 years."
"Being a butcher is a trade, and many people go to Coles to learn the skills and stick with the company for a lifetime," he says.
Journeaux confirms up to 1,524 staff members are at risk of redundancy. Getty
"Right now, there's a pandemic raging across the world and employees feel insecure at the best of times, and throwing this into the mix is devastating."
Journeaux confirms up to 1,524 staff members are at risk of redundancy if the supermarket giant's proposal goes ahead.
The restructuring of Coles' meat department will also see "customer service disappear", he adds.
"There's a desire within the community to know more about their food as well, and that's going to take all that intellectual expertise out of the supermarket," he says.
"My understanding is that Coles has plans to redeploy employees elsewhere in the company, but the majority will be made redundant."
"There's a desire within the community to know more about their food." Nine
In a statement, Coles said the proposed restructure aligns with the demands of customers, with supermarkets across the country slowly stepping away from traditional butchery services.
"We are considering a proposal to align our meat operating models nationally in our stores, so that we can consistently deliver high quality retail-ready meat for our customers whenever they want to shop," a spokesperson said.
"Under the proposal, our fresh meat range would be supplied to stores as retail-ready products and would not require any preparation to be carried out in-store before being placed on the shelves of our meat fridges for customers to buy."
For a daily dose of 9Honey, sign up here to receive our top stories straight to your inbox
