Welcome to the Ocean Park Business Association's Member of the Month Page.

Butcher shop's 'dying art' gives restaurants the edge.

By Michael Booth, Surrey NOW August 20, 2010 (with permission)

Want to make a burger at home that ranks with the best in the city?
If so, the place to start is a small family-run butcher shop in South Surrey.

Operated by the husband and wife team of Al and Gaye Forbes, Ocean Park Fine Meats (12852 16th Ave.) is the supplier to two of the top four restaurants - Uli's link here.
and Morrison Café link here.
in the Now's Best Burger in Town competition.

"We really run quite a different business than your traditional butcher shop because we still hang our meat here," Al Forbes said. "We're one of only three butcher shops in B.C. who still hang their beef for a month. So the beef that the two restaurants get is dry-aged meat that has about 25 days of age on it."

The hanging process uses the bulk weight of the beef to stretch the meat out and also serves as a dehydrator. Between the dehydration and the stretching, the resulting product doesn't have the rubbery texture found in typical manufactured ground beef.

"Most ground beef is not aged more than three or four days before it is 'mulched' so it still retains 100 per cent of the water," Forbes explained. "This meat can only be ground once before it turns to mush. With dry-aged beef, the meat can be ground two or three times. The meat is smooth without a lot of connective tissue.

"The aging is truly the secret to the finished product. Of course the restaurants love it because there is no shrinkage. They can weigh up a six-ounce patty before cooking and they know they'll be serving a five-and-a-half ounce burger rather than a two-and-a-half ounce or three-ounce patty."

Best of all, the beef sold by Ocean Park Fine Meats is all Canadian grown and produced with no hormones or antibiotic residue.

Forbes' passion for his craft is infectious and the shop's dedication to quality struck a note with burger contest winner Tyson Blume of Uli's.

"When I was looking for a supplier I went and saw Al and asked about his beef," Blume recalls. "He said, 'If you want to try it, just go across the street,' and he pointed to Morrison Café. So I went over and had a burger there and came back and told Al I wanted him to provide our beef too."

According to Forbes, quality is something you can taste. More and more consumers are demanding fresh food, a trend that plays to his shop's strengths.

"It's sort of a dying art, which is kind of disappointing from my point of view," he said. "I really feel people can benefit from the goodness of the food they eat. Our ground beef is literally produced from scratch two or three times per day. It's not produced in a factory and sent out where it can sit, by law, for up to five days before it has to be sold. In our shop it's a matter of hours between production to the counter to your home. The difference is really quite dramatic. For more information on this OPBA Member link here.

The Ocean Park Business Association (OPBA) invites you to join us to meet your fellow business people and to lend your voice to the business community when it speaks about issues of concern and interest to its members. The OPBA meets at the Ocean Park Community Association Hall 1577- 128 Street. Light lunch is available for $6. We meet every 2nd Thursday of the Month @ 12:00PM.
Interested in attending?(our next meeting will be in Sept. ... or can't attend? please call OPBA acting Membership Chair, Laura Thibeault @ 604-531-1111 or-Mail @ LAURA.