Reuben Sharples is everyone’s favourite local Butcher and no one knows meat better than Reuben. He is the managing director of Aussie Butcher New Lynn, and is an active member of the wider Aussie Butcher franchise.
Reuben’s 28 year career began as an apprentice doing home kills in Waipu and then started his professional career at Greenwoods Corner butchery in Auckland, where he finished his trade. Reuben then continued his career in London, spending time within the famous Smithfield Market and at within a busy local Chiswick butchery.
On his return to Auckland, Reuben continued his journey at Victoria Avenue Butchery, before stepping out into butcher shop ownership. After eighteen months at Coates Avenue, he set up the Newmarket Aussie Butcher shop, and then Aussie Butcher New Lynn. He has now owned the New Lynn store for eight years, and has spent over eleven years in the Aussie Butcher group.
He appreciates the early input into his career from his own bosses, and so is committed to the importance of training and mentoring younger talent. To date four apprentices have now qualified under his tutelage. His apprentice Ben Nelson took out the Auckland Regional Competition last year and Reuben has also been a regular judge at the Young Butchers competition.
Reuben is known for competing (and winning) many competitions including being a regular medallist in the Devro Sausage Competition, including winning 6 golds.
He represented the North Island in the 2014 North vs South butchery competition, won New Zealand's Best Ham in 2017 and New Zealand’s Best Butcher also in 2017. Reuben has won countless awards for his own brand of meat ‘Reuben’s which specialises in award winning small goods and epically delicious sausages.
Reuben isn’t just active within the world of butchery but they spends numerous hours investing and giving back to his community. Reuben and his family are proud supporters and fundraisers for Child Cancer Foundation and regularly get involved with their campaigns to raise vital funds for their incredible work.
Reuben also gets involved at a local level with numerous sponsorships and donations to schools, sports teams and is a proud partner of the Kindness Collective Foundation. Reuben’s work with the Kindness Collective has resulted over $100,000 worth of quality meat donated through various organisations including Women’s Refuge groups, food banks, community supermarkets, and to social workers and the NZ Police through other Charitable Trusts. Reuben doesn’t just donate product but also connects the Kindness Collective to greater resource and has been instrumental in their ability to work with bigger retailers and suppliers to produce a greater impact for those in need within the community.
During Covid19 lockdowns in 2020 and 2021, faced with the huge devastation of being not able to trade, Reuben opened the store for the Kindness Collective to take what they needed for families doing it tough before the country was plunged into lockdown. As a result of Reuben’s generosity over 3,000 families were fed.
Since 2019 Reuben has supported the Kindness Collective initiative that sees Christmas delivered to over 1,000 families within a Women’s Refuge group and other Charitable Trusts. Last year Reuben donated over $20,000 worth of fresh, quality meat including 50 hams, turkeys, sausages, mince and whole chickens. The feedback from families was incredible with quotes like “it was the first time we’ve celebrated Christmas with a ham. Thank you for the quality meats and for making our Christmas special” and “we had the best fun with our family and have never felt so loved and looked after with our own feast”.
If that wasn’t enough, Reuben is a member of Hellers Sharp Blacks, is a director on the Retail Meat Board and New Zealand Pork Board. His New Lynn Store is also Google’s Number #1 rated Best Butcher in Auckland.
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