XtraBlatt Issue 02-2020

TITLE THEME
SOLD TO BUTCHERS
However, the vaccine production came to an end in the
mid-70s by which time the substance could be synthesised.
The slaughter facilities remained and continued to be used,
although less by the regional butchers and instead almost
exclusively by a large slaughter company. Slaughter headage
increased continuously. In 1981, the centenary of the original
slaughterhouse, throughput numbered some 28,000
cattle, 36,500 pigs and 2,000 calves. Investment was also
a continuous process. Despite ongoing progress, doubts
were being voiced about the future. The slaughter company
profited, but Fürth had to keep paying upkeep.
“The showdown came in 1984”, explains Konrad Ammon
jn, independent master butcher and managing director
of the Metzger Slachthof Betriebs GmbH. “Although Fürth
showed willingness to be very generous in financial terms,
the large concern at that time shut down operations. Our
slaughterhouse was threatened with the same fate as that
of nearly all other earlier slaughter facilities in the region:
Schwabach, Weißenburg, Gunzenhausen, Ansbach, Lauf
and Nürnberg. The last remaining municipal facility, in
Erlangen, had not long before been sold
to a private concern. But even before
this, we regional butchers felt as if we
were the “fifth wheel on the wagon”
as far as the Fürth slaughterhouse was
concerned. Despite this, it became very
important for us to retain a regional
supply source, as well as keeping the
This picture of the
slaughterhouse cutting line
with its modern equipment
was taken before the
corona crisis. Nowadays the
workers naturally wear face
masks.
“AS SELF-EMPLOYED
MASTER BUTCHER THIS
REGIONAL SLAUGHTER-
HOUSE IS ENORMOUSLY
IMPORTANT FOR ME.”
KONRAD AMMON JN.
facility’s work and training opportunities. On the initiative
of my father, 55 professional colleagues joined forces and
took over the municipal facilities with a deposit of 2000
DM per person.”
NEW CONSTRUCTION
Thankfully, things went well for the butchers’ slaughterhouse.
But there were always new hygiene requirements to be
met and, soon, thoughts turned towards the construction
of new premises. Fürth supported this ambition, offering a
leasehold building site and financial aid. In January 1989,
60 shareholders (50 butchers 10 livestock dealers, farmers
and tripers) arranged construction of new facilities costing
almost 5 m DM in the suburb of Burgfarnbach. No subsidies
were available from the EU, federal government or state. By
November 1993, the first test slaughter had been carried out.
“We built a compact 7,500 m 2 floor area plant and stocked
it with modern equipment”, recalls Konrad Ammon. In
2019 we slaughtered almost 61,000 pigs, 3,800 cattle and
1,600 sheep with throughput being slightly increased
every year, a performance that strengthened our resolve to
make what turned out to be the right
strategic decisions. We re-organised into
two businesses: the Betriebs GmbH that
takes care of the entire infrastructure,
and the Fürther Lohnschlächter GmbH,
a company contracted for the actual
slaughter work with 15 specialists from
the region, all butchers with master
All three with master butcher certificates (l – r): son Maximilian, daughterin-law
Geli and Konrad Ammon jn. Together they manage the family
butchery in Fürth-Burgfarnbach.
certificates. Current shareholders total 105. In our customer
files we have 330 addresses: butchers, livestock dealers,
farmers with direct marketing, catering facilities and also
associations that perhaps buy just a single suckling pig each
year for their annual company dinner. Naturally, we are EU
certified, fulfil the QS (national quality programme for farm
produce) requirements and are also licensed to slaughter organically
raised animals. Four specially appointed inspectors
are responsible for the welfare of all animals.”
Fulfilling the highest meat quality requirements means
continuous investment to meet welfare, hygiene and environment
protection requirements, as well as improving
resource and energy efficiency in our operations, explains
Konrad Ammon, adding: “For the current year we’ve budgeted
5.5 m € for investments. For instance, we’re enlarging
lairage area for pigs and improving intake facilities for cattle
and pigs. On top of this, cooling capacity is being increased,
the conveying system for carcasses automated so that
cooling is accelerated. In total we are modernising the entire
cooling plant to the latest technical and energy-efficiency
standards. Another development: a stand-alone tripery
for processing inner organs and intestines. Finally, we are
restructuring product input and output facilities”.
REGIONAL QUALITY
“This regional slaughterhouse is extremely important for
me as self-employed master butcher”, emphasises Konrad
Ammon. He is the fourth generation to manage the family
business in Burgfarnbach. And the next generation is already
in-place too: both his sons are master butchers and a daughter-in-law
a certified butchery salesperson as well as master
butcher. The young ones have already taken responsibility
and management of the butchery business into the fifth
generation. The product range is wide. Alongside shop sales
and party and delivery services, there’s a cook on the payroll
to produce regular meals with daily menu changes for the
staff. “We slaughter around eight to twelve pigs and one
cattle beast per week”, calculates Konrad Ammon, adding
that these slaughter animals have been ordered from the
same farmers in the surrounding regions for years now,
forming an unofficial partnership between firm and farmers.
Thereby, the butcher has an influence on management and
feeding of the livestock earmarked for delivery and therefore
knows what he gets and gets what he wants in terms of
quality for his customers. “For instance, I like to have slightly
heavier than standard pigs with a slaughter weight of from
105 to 110 kg. With cattle I put a lot of value in producing
from beef breeds. Young bulls we do not slaughter at all.
Getting our animals from large-scale farming operations
wouldn’t work for us. The low numbers we slaughter weekly
mean small operations are best suppliers. Here, the in and
out system is mostly followed. I arrange the transport
myself. In the slaughterhouse, there’s a lairage area with
straw bedding and with feed and water available so that,
as far as possible, any stress is avoided with the animals.
After slaughter, carcass quarters or halves are transported
to us for further work.”
“The requirements of our customers have changed”, continues
Konrad Ammon. “Nowadays, sausage is no longer sold
in 100 g portions but instead in single slices of different
sausage. This is more complicated for us, but I realise that
our customers put a lot of thought into what they buy.
There are others that simply go by price – although these
are not necessarily our usual customers. But even those
clients have to be somehow serviced too. This is why there’s
also a place in the market for the large slaughter concerns
and discounters. However, we choose another route – a
way that’s luckily appreciated by our customers. Hereby
the regionally reared animals we slaughter ourselves are
an important component in the comprehensive range of
quality ware we present to our customers.” «
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