Master butcher, Marco Peerdeman recently shared his wealth of expertise with fellow postgraduate students during a live butchery demonstration at Harper Adams University.
Marco, himself a second year postgraduate meat business management student at the university in Shropshire, taught the course’s newest recruits as part of the animal production, meat processing and quality module.
With more than 20-years of butchery experience, Marco taught the 23 students about ‘hidden steaks’ such as feather blade and under blade, using a full quarter of beef.Marco, butchery operations manager at The Ginger Pig Ltd, said: “Unlike many in the trade, my family has no connections to butchery, it is something that started when I began a Saturday job and I slowly worked my way up.
“During my training, I studied the one-year meat business management course at SVO Utrecht in the Netherlands, and then travelled before settling down to work in the industry.
“It was hearing about Harper Adams 15 years later that inspired me to return to education. I have already learnt a lot from my course. It has broadened my horizons and shown me a different perspective on things.”
For the first year of his studies, Marco completed the AgriFood ATP-funded PgC Meat Business Management course, and has since progressed to the PgD level of the award. He hopes that future assignments will prove valuable for contributing to future developments at The Ginger Pig Ltd.
Professor Ralph Early, head of the Food Science and Agri-Food Supply Chain Management Department at Harper Adams, said: “We were delighted that someone with such a wealth of practical experience such as Marco, was able to give a live demonstration to students on the PgC course.
“The course aims to provide staff from the meat industry with the knowledge and skills required to increase the efficiency of their employers’ businesses; Marco is a testimony to its success.
“It is also extremely encouraging that he has chosen to continue his studies with the diploma, and that he is willing to share his knowledge with fellow students.”Previous to his role at The Ginger Pig Ltd, Marco worked as a butchery manager at Jamie Oliver Ltd, responsible for the meat supply for the popular Barbecoa steakhouse restaurant in London.
He is also a recipient of the PgD scholarship, awarded by the Worshipful Company of Butchers; and is one of a hand-full of qualified Master Butchers in the UK.
Many PgC students have benefited from 100% bursary funding provided by the AgriFood Advanced Training (ATP) Partnership. Harper Adams is one of the four academic partners of the AgriFood ATP, which provides higher level training to agri-food professionals across the food supply chain.
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
