If you want to know more about the day-to-day life of a blockman, Dylan gives us a peek into his world.

He’s a Junior Blockman at an ethical butchery in Cape Town and he shared a little of his work day with us, so we could learn more about his career.

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Here we leak some behind-the-scene shots…

Dylan went through a couple of career changes before he realised he wanted to be in the food industry. Once he’d made up his mind, a good friend recommended that he take a skills based route to get into the business, and this is how he ended up at Frankie Fenner Meat Merchants learning the fine craft of butchery. 

It is the job of a blockman to cut, trim, and prepare portions of meat for use or sale in retail establishments. Some blockmen are also trained to cure, smoke and preserve meat. The job can be quite physical, with blockmen required to lift heavy carcasses and be on their feet most of the day, among other duties. Some blockmen are also customer facing, discussing and preparing cuts to order, and may handle transactions and sales.

We asked Dylan what he enjoys most about his role as he shared this with us “Besides being a part of such a cool team of people at Frankie Fenner, learning about meat and the meat industry is fascinating. Getting ethically raised animals from the farm all the way to our hands takes a lot of hard work, and learning the skills of a blockman has taught me to respect that.”

Dylan explained that anyone looking at a blockman career must be ready for “proper hard work - it's like gym 8 hours a day! And then there’s getting dirty, cutting your fingers and the challenges of whole animal butchery.”

But, he adds, “The learning never ends and knowing that I’m creating high quality products is a very rewarding feeling. ”  

If you’d like to be featured in this Instagram series, send a mail to editor@careers24.com, telling us about yourself and your awesome job, and we’ll be in touch!