Meet Our Makers: Hungerford Meat Co

At The Woodville Store we love a local business with a story, and Hungerford Meat Co has one of the best in the Hunter.

The Branxton butchery first opened in 1937, when Claude Hungerford and his family started the Hungerford Butchery and Smokehouse. The same family ran it for more than 60 years.

In 2016, former chef Michael Robinson took over, after 15 years cooking in top kitchens in London, Los Angeles and Sydney. He restored the heritage-listed building, which still has its original smokehouse, to the Hungerford name, and set out to run it the traditional way.

Today the team works with as many small local farmers as they can and uses the whole animal, both in the butcher's cabinet and in their own smoked meats and charcuterie. Their meat supplies restaurants across the Hunter Valley, Newcastle and Sydney.

When available, some of what's in Hungerford's cabinet starts its life right here in Woodville, with Berkshire pigs and Angus cattle from Albion Farm.

As a store that's been trading since the 1840s, we have a soft spot for businesses that honour where they came from. You'll find Hungerford Meat Co meats in our fridge at Woodville, so grab some on your way through for the weekend barbecue.

Photos courtesy of Hungerford Meat Co. Visit hungerfordmeatco.com.au to learn more.