by Gabriella Vukman
Featuring among Australia’s top independent grocers, the Cockatoo IGA celebrated winning best national meat department of the year.
Announced in July, members of the store were invited to attend the national awards ceremony on the Gold Coast on July 15.
Cockatoo IGA owner Nathan Pasco said, “Our team were unable to attend the Queensland ceremony, but we had many other retailers and IGA Head Office team members bombarding us with congratulatory messages on the night, which was fantastic.”
“We’re extremely proud of our Meat Department – with Alren and Zayne, our two on-site fully qualified Butchers, Josh our 1st year Apprentice, and Simone our Meat Manager who’s been with us since we opened the store almost 5 years ago,” Nathan said.
This is not the first rodeo for the Cockatoo IGA. Having won Customer Service and Experience Award and the Delicatessen Department of the Year Award at the IGA Victorian Awards of Excellence in 2023.
Further, the Cockatoo store also won the state award for best Meat Department in April and has been nominated for the national awards three years in a row.
Nathan said, “We’re proud of our whole store and privileged to be nominated in every category for the third year in a row, and very grateful to have won the state award in April.”
“Upon winning the Victorian award, we were nominated for the National Meat Department (medium store) award,” Nathan said.
“We have never set out to win any awards, however this one and the others we’ve won in the past, give us confidence that we are doing some things well, but these awards mostly serve to reiterate that our valued customers are getting an exceptional experience when they shop with us.”
This year’s Queensland awards were a spectacle, with performers such as Delta Goodrem and Matthew Copley making appearances.
In terms of the IGA’s award-winning meat products, Nathan confirms that unboxed meats and a long list of store made products sets the store apart from other markets.
Nathan said, “We pride ourselves on beautiful store-made products like Sausages, Mince, Rissoles, Schnitzels, Chicken Kievs and many more.”
“Our two butchers are also kept busy cutting most of our product from bodies (not boxed like other Supermarkets!), so the Beef, Lamb and Pork you’re buying from us is ‘Butcher Shop Quality’ and we love to tell people about this,” Nathan said.
Whilst noting that the awards signify the IGA’s competence, Nathan insists that community feedback is the store’s best indicator of performance.
Nathan said, “We love what we do, and the thrill of winning the National award reiterates for us that we present a great offer to the community, but we still value the feedback and input of our local community above all else.”
“We support our community through Saturday BBQ’s, donations to local schools and clubs, as well as a loyalty program that gives our customers the opportunity to donate through us back to these local groups,” Nathan said.
“We love giving support, and we’re grateful for the support we receive back.”
