If there’s one thing Andre Huber knows, it’s that when you’re starting out on your own, the first thing you have to do is differentiate yourself from the competition.

Buoyed by “encouraging response” from the first Huber’s Butchery outlet that he and his brother Ryan opened last year at NTUC Finest supermarket in Bukit Timah Plaza, they are moving out by the end of this month (they will be replaced by Culina) to concentrate on two new independent outlets they will open simultaneously on July 7. While the focus is still on meat, Mr Huber says they will bring in a much wider selection of ‘dry’ items to give the outlets more of a gourmet-grocer ambience than a pure butcher shop.

The flagship store will be a two-level space in Upper Bukit Timah at the Goh & Goh Building, a stone’s throw from Beauty World Plaza. At 2,600 sq ft, the first level will feature the main meat counter and chillers where the meat and pre-packed meat items will be housed. The second floor will be the grocery area, comprising a bakery (Swiss Bake), frozen seafood, condiments like sauces, honey and olive oil, fresh herbs and antipasto.

One area they are paying particular attention to is wine, with 16 labels not found in supermarkets. And there are plans to hold wine and food-tasting sessions using meat from the butchery. There will also be a hot deli for takeaway pork knuckles and the like.

Of course, having his father Ernst and general manager Thomas Kreissl “who were running the show at Swiss Butchery” will help them build up the business.

The second outlet, at the new Friven & Co building at the old Tanglin Post Office, is a tie-up with fruit wholesaler SunMoon Fresh, which is making its retail debut with a special line of organic fruit and vegetables.

Huber’s Butchery@Tanglin will have a full-fledged meat and deli counter but fewer grocery items. In line with SunMoon’s concept, it will focus on organic meat starting with beef and followed by lamb within the next month. “Subsequently we hope to have organic pork so as to provide a nice range of air-flown chilled organic meats,” says Mr Huber.

That said, let the competition – and our eating – begin.

Huber's Butchery@Bukit Timah
122 Upper Bukit Timah Road
(Goh & Goh Building)
Tel: 6465-0122

Huber's Butchery@Tanglin
56 Tanglin Road
Level 1
Tel: 6737-1588

This article was first published in The Business Times Weekend on June 28-29, 2008.