Robson Gourmet Butcher manager Manzar Atakhanov, alongside his dad, in front of their shop.

ROBSON GOURMET BUTCHER
Serving the Right Cut

by Lucas Pilleri
Robson Gourmet Butcher is one of the reasons why people keep shopping at the Robson Market, located at 1610 Robson Street. From Tajikistan to the West End, the Atakhanov family has always brought meat to tables in their community.

After managing a chicken farm in Tajikistan in the 1980s and fleeing to Uzbekistan after the fall of the USSR, the family bought the butcher shop (which was founded in 1986) when they moved to Canada in 2005.

Manzar Atakhanov started work at the butcher at the age of 14 and has been managing the place since his father Khasan retired this year. The hardworking and passionate merchant brings The West End Journal behind the counter in this Q&A edition of Business Spotlight.

Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

TWEJ: How did it start for you and your family at Robson Gourmet Butcher?

Manzar: We bought a struggling business operated by a man who really didn't want to have it. The sales were low, but the price was acceptable. We somewhat knew the English language at the time, and thought this business needed just some good hard work. It turned out to work for us. We turned this business around with a slew of innovations, great consistency, and friendly demeanour with the customers.

What do you like the most about the butchery? I love the fact that I'm contributing to people's health — either physical, emotional or financial. I earn money while providing the best products I can source offered at a reasonable price. It's nice to engage people to see what they're striving for. I have many long-term customers, many of whom I know by name. I follow their life stories and offer what advice or perspective I can. Many of my customers are seniors from whom I am gathering knowledge. I've truly become a part of the community.

Has inflation become a reoccurring topic with your customers? It's nice to have financial discussions with younger people as to how they can save money while cooking at home. Their increase in cooking proficiency leads to them being able to host others into their homes. For the right people, that's a way to increase social circles. I have many customers who deal with different issues, and social anxiety is definitely one of them. Me being a relatively anonymous outlet for people to express their incompetence in a certain skill set is an easy entry point for them to start overcoming that. The right cut for the client isn't the most expensive one. It's the one that saves them the most money and can be cooked easily in a dish they want to make.

What are the things that people are not aware of in your work? The work of a butcher is a complicated one. There are health inspections, tax codes to follow, the constant acknowledgement of the 100+ products I sell that are aging with every hour. One of the hallmarks of a good butcher is how they can plan for the weeks ahead. We mostly succeed in finishing the weekend with minimal cuts remaining in the cooler. Once the weekend's over, we're back to being able to order products in again.

Where do you source your products from? We sell mostly local products. We buy chickens from Rossdown Farms and eggs from Coligny Creek Egg Co. in Abbotsford. We buy AAA grass-fed beef from Northern Gold in Brooks, AB, through an intermediary. We buy pork, bacon and sausages from Johnston Packers in Chilliwack. Some other sausages are from Continental Sausages in Surrey. We usually buy ducks from Fraser Valley Specialty Poultry in Chilliwack, even though right now we’ve switched to an Eastern Canadian supplier because of the avian flu.

What effect has the pandemic had on your business? The pandemic had a truly weird effect. The first three weeks in March were exciting, easily tripling our sales and actually wiping out our entire supply a couple times. It turns out that when people aren't allowed to go out and eat, they have to cook at home. That’s exactly the service I cater for. The downside came almost immediately. Our suppliers have doubled their prices or more. We ended up making double our normal sales while earning less than normal. We didn't fall sick, since we followed the guidelines and just covered up the shop display to a single point of contact. I double-checked with my health inspector that I followed the rules and got the approval. The lockdowns didn't affect my business overall. It made me work harder while losing some of my income. I'm happy that my immediate family came out without a death.

The market you are located in attracts fewer and fewer shoppers. Are you planning on staying? My father turned 65 last year and he's looking to retire. We are looking for a good family to replace us. The money we make doesn't make us an interesting investment for an absentee business developer, but it's just enough to bring up your family in this expensive city. I've already refused both scammers and bad faith actors from buying the business.

To learn more about Robson Gourmet Butcher visit their website here.