For more than 60 years northern Geelong locals have seen Tony Siketa or his dad Bruno behind the counter while buying meat.
Tony talks to Luke Voogt about taking over from dad – almost.
Tell us about you…
I’m 57 and I have three kids. My wife Tania and I have been married since 1987 and have lived in Torquay since 2013.
My son Riley enjoys golf – that’s why we went down that way. He’s won the championship there and at Commonwealth Club in Melbourne.
His pop, my wife’s father, was a golf fanatic, so he used to go out with him, and his mate is Ben Eccles.
I was born and bred in Geelong – Baxter House – and I follow the Cats.
I enjoy surfing and going to car shows. I’m into old muscle cars. I had a 1969 Corvette which I gave to my son.
I said, “if you buy a house and garage that car will be yours.” But he still lets me drive it.
I had an SVR Jag which I sold recently and I’ve got a C8 Corvette coming this year. That’s my weakness: cars. My dad’s was horses.
How did you become a butcher?
My dad Bruno came over from Croatia with just a suitcase when the communists took over after the war.
He started as an apprentice butcher and bought the shop in 1956 – his boss asked if he was interested in taking it on.
I went to uni for a year and didn’t like it, so I started working full-time at the shop. Same thing – my dad was going to sell the shop in 2010 and asked if I was interested in taking over.
My dad had done all the hard work so it would’ve been a shame to let it go. We moved to a new location that year.
He still does the bookkeeping and comes in once a week to check there’s no ‘for sale’ sign in the window.
What do you like about the job?
It’s always different and you meet people.
Making small goods and meat products is like being a chef, it’s not just cutting a piece of meat.
The hardest part is hitting that sweet spot that the customer expects – not too salty, dry, fatty or lean – and getting the spices right.
When you get it perfect and the customer loves it, you get a real satisfaction from it – it’s like hitting a golf ball perfectly. If it was easy everyone would be doing it.
What do you like to do locally?
I love having a meal at local restaurants and wineries, going for a drive down the Great Ocean Road or surfing on the weekend.
How are you coping with COVID-19?
It didn’t really affect me but I’ve got a lot of friends with restaurants. They struggled, which was hard to watch.
We were actually very busy because more people were cooking at home – I had to employ three more people.
I still wish COVID didn’t happen, because it was bad for a lot of people, but I’m thankful to work in an industry that wasn’t really affected.
