Butcher Career Profile

Picture this: A skilled professional carefully examining a large cut of beef, assessing its quality before expertly wielding specialized knives to transform it into perfectly portioned steaks, roasts, and ground meat—all while maintaining strict safety and sanitation standards. Think about your last visit to a meat counter where the butcher helped you select the perfect cut for a special dinner, offering preparation advice and custom cutting services not available in the pre-packaged section.

Butchers cut, trim, or prepare consumer-sized portions of meat for use or sale in retail establishments. They bring specialized knowledge of animal anatomy, meat quality, and food safety to provide consumers with properly cut, safe, and high-quality meat products.

They bridge the gap between animal agriculture and the consumer’s plate, preserving traditional cutting techniques while adapting to modern consumer preferences and food safety regulations.

Total Employment: 136,330 (2023)

Common Names for Butchers

• Butcher
• Meat Clerk
• Meat Cutter
• Meat Specialist
• Meat Wrapper

What Butchers Do

Butchers transform animal carcasses and large wholesale cuts into retail portions that meet customer needs while ensuring food safety and quality. Their responsibilities include:

• Meat Cutting and Fabrication: Skillfully break down animal carcasses into primal, subprimal, and retail cuts using appropriate knives, saws, and cutting techniques to maximize yield and ensure product quality.
• Food Safety Compliance: Maintain strict adherence to health department regulations, USDA standards, and sanitation procedures to prevent contamination and ensure safe products for consumption.
• Customer Service: Assist customers with special orders, provide recommendations on cuts and cooking methods, and answer questions about meat products to enhance customer satisfaction and support sales.
• Inventory Management: Monitor stock levels, place orders, receive deliveries, and rotate products following first-in-first-out principles to minimize waste and maintain product freshness.
• Equipment Maintenance: Clean, sanitize, and properly maintain knives, saws, grinders, slicers, and other equipment to ensure operational efficiency, workplace safety, and food safety compliance.
• Meat Display and Merchandising: Arrange cuts attractively in display cases, create promotional displays, and ensure proper pricing and labeling to drive sales and enhance visual appeal.
• Quality Control: Inspect incoming products and finished cuts for proper color, texture, and freshness, removing substandard items to maintain high quality standards and customer satisfaction.
• Basic Meat Processing: Prepare specialty items such as ground meat, sausages, and marinated products according to specifications to offer value-added options for customers.