WELL known Riverland butcher Nigel Rollbusch has demonstrated his passion and commitment to the region’s livestock and meat industry by purchasing the Loxton Abattoir.
The abattoir will be known as the ‘Riverland Abattoir’ and was previously owned by Chris and Michele Schwarz who operated it for 37 years.
It is the only certified meat processing facility within the Riverland and Mallee area and was on the market for some time.
Mr Rollbusch said his purchase of the abattoir in July would value add to his Waikerie and Barmera-based operations.
He has employed three slaughtermen/butchers, two are from Loxton and one from Barmera.
The owner of Rollbusch Quality Meats said he could not resist the opportunity to purchase the abattoir and ensure that it remained in local hands.
“I did not want to see it go to outside investors who may have not allowed local butchers to source local livestock and kill them here,” he said.
Mr Rollbusch already used the abattoir before he purchased it to slaughter lamb and beef for his business and is committed to using local livestock.
“The quality we obtain from this area is unbelievable,” he said.
“We just can’t get this anywhere else, which is why I did not want the abattoir to shut.”
Mr Rollbusch has strong ties to the Schwarz family who employed him as an apprentice butcher at Hygienic Meats at Loxton and at the abattoir they previously owned during the late 1990s.
He is excited about the facilities on offer at the abattoir, which he will continue to use to prepare locally sourced pork for the small goods that he makes at his wholesale production store at Barmera.
Mr Rollbusch said the Schwarzs upgraded the abattoir about 20 years ago.
“It has slaughtering facilities, and a separate boning room, which is amazing because we can make sausages and burgers there,” Mr Rollbusch said.
“The whole abattoir is of a very high standard, and we can store up to 200 lamb carcasses and about 25 beef carcasses,” he said.
“We also have the facilities to kill pigs.”
Mr Rollbusch said owning the abattoir will enable him to bone meat at Loxton instead of at his Waikerie processing plant in McCoy Street, which he will use for mainly storing carcasses.
He also has a gourmet butcher’s shop next to Woolworths in Waikerie.
Mr Rollbusch said the abattoir is already used by Hygienic Meats, at Loxton, and the Berri North Meat Store and hopefully other local butchers would start using the facility.
“There is plenty of potential here, we are not far from Adelaide and butchers from Mildura are interested also in using the abattoir as well,” he said.
Mr Rollbusch said the close proximity of the abattoir to livestock producers based only about 30km away also ensured the meat would be high quality.
“The less stress on animals the better the quality of product,” he said.