MMM OPENS NEW SHOP IN HIGH STREET ARCADE

Press, 27 November 1978, Page 15

MMM OPENS NEW SHOP IN HIGH STREET ARCADE

Clean, quick, pre-packaged

The latest addition to M.M.M.’s chain of neatly 40 South Island butcher shops is their allpackage butchery in the new High Street Arcade. MALM, used this idea for quick, convenient shopping in two Dunedin shops with notable success. The firm felt that the availability of the "postage stamp-sized” shop ivas too good to pass up, and are offering Christchurch city shoppers the same service. Overheads will be low and will be reflected in competitive consumer prices.

M.M.M.’s general manager, Mr K. E. Johnston, emphasises that the package shops are not meant to supersede the firm’s 20 big Christchurch shops, which will always be popular, but there are many occasions when a centrally situated instant retail depot can be the answer for a rushed city shopper looking for something for dinner.

The new shop, which is almost on the Heregg ford Street frontage of the B complex, will stock not jH only attractively packaged S raw cuts, but also pre- » packaged cooked meats ■ and small goods.

The shop will be stocked on Mondays and added to during the week. Unlike larger butcher shops, there will be no need in the arcade shop to store meat every night and set out new displays every morning. This will mean cheap running for the firm, and customers will pay the same prices as for unpackaged meat in the larger M.M.M. shops. M.M.M. (Miracle Meat Marketerias Limited) are a subsidiary of the North Is-

land firm, R. and W. Hellaby Limited, who have a small package shop in the heart of Auckland, as well as 40 other shops in the city. They report enthusiastic customer response, and the shop seems to answer a big demand for clean easily-handled meats. Both in Auckland and Dunedin, customers have commented on the convenience of taking packaged goods from the shop to the home freezer or fridge, without a lot of wrapping, unwrapping and mess.

An interesting innovation in the new M.M.M. shop, and something that is very new to Christchurch, is vacuumpacking. Cooked meats, bacon and small goods will be sold in barrierbags which will greatly extend their lives. As long as lhq bag remains unpunctured, the meat will have a shelf life of three to five weeks in a refrigerator.

The Hellaby/M.M.M. Group can now boast that they have the biggest chain of meat retail out-

lets in the Southern Hemi sphere.

The M.M.M. shops began with Mr K. Vogan and a small Kilmore Street shop, in the Depression days of the early 19305. The aim in those days was to offer a cheaper range of meats at low prices. Today, the quality of the product has been improved, but the firm's aim is still to give the best possible cuts at the lowest prices.

M.M.M. have been able to keep their prices at a reasonable level by cutting out the middle-man in the initial stages of meat processing. At first they relied solely on the meat they bought from freezing works, now they buy directly from the farm and have the meat killed on their own behalf. They feel this ensures fresh and consistent quality. M.M.M.’s smallgoods scene has been streamlined by the establishment of a new smallgoods factory and wholesale shop in Dunedin’s Kaikorai Valley. Designed with modern hygenic materials, the new factory incorporates the

latest techniques in smallgoods preparation and is the centre of an efficient distribution network, ft is from here that the goods in M.M.M.’s new arcade shop will come. Later it is expected that, goods will be vacuum-packed in the firm’s Cashel Street branch. Sometimes M.M.M. sell items other than meat. One month ago they put a first-class cook-book on sale in their shops. It is a h a n d s o m e ring-bound paperback in heavy quality paper, entitled “Making the Most of Meat.” Put together by Miss Jan Bilton, an Auckland Home Science graduate associated with Hellabys, and photographer Rees Osborne, the book contains not only commensense directions on what cuts of meat to fry, grill, roast or stew, but also an exciting collection of both everyday and entertaining recipes. These range from Vienna Fondue to Pork Schnitzel with Fruity Sauce.