Profile - Jim Viggars: The man with a big stake in the future of the UK’s meat industry

ASDA’S new television advertising campaign begins with Jim Viggars, dressed in a white butcher’s coat, a black apron and white hat, in a kitchen.

He picks up a slab of beef on the counter in front of him.

“At Asda, we believe the steaks in our new Butcher’s Selection range are our best ever because they’ve been created by master butchers,” he tells the camera.

Asda’s 44-year-old senior red meat trader appears to be a natural choice to front the supermarket’s revamped range of meat products.

The knowledge that comes from 28 years working at the major retailer, combined with a twinkle in the eye and a relaxed approach, has already proved to be a hit with viewers.

The 30-second advert for the 15-day matured and extra-trimmed steaks was launched earlier this month, and has already sparked a catchphrase.

“The kids, the friends and the family have picked up on the end piece of the advert where I make reference to ‘it’s a cracking steak’,” says Viggars. “I went to a football tournament at the weekend with the kids and I got a lot of banter at that point: ‘Hey, Jimmy, it’s a cracking steak’. I think that’s fantastic because if they’ve picked up on that, take the ‘cracking steak’ and associate that with quality, that’ll do for us.”

The advert took two days to film. “It was a fantastic experience,” says Viggars. “The team did a great job. The amount of effort that goes in behind the scenes to put a quality advert together is immense.”

Asda is already reaping the benefits. Figures show the new range has produced an initial 54 per cent year-on-year increase in meat’s sales.

There are plans to extend the Butcher’s Selection brand to include a range of joints, which will be launched later this year, as well as pork and lamb products.

“We’re trading in a recession,” says Viggars. “As you can appreciate, people are switching into different proteins, and if you want to keep beef and lamb on the repertoire, you need to make sure it’s a good eating experience, so we’ve heavily invested into those categories.”

There is sometimes a difficult relationship between retailers and farmers, with big supermarkets often accused of bullying farmers by trying to renegotiate contracts and reduce prices. But Viggars is keen to express his passion for British farming.

“We’re certainly addressing (the problem). I work with 8,500 beef producers and we source direct over 5,000 lamb producers and we have Scottish pig farmers producing pork on our behalf. We’ve got a really robust relationship.”

He adds: “Our face-to-face communication is paying dividends. We rock up at all the agricultural shows, and four times a year we’re getting out to speak to farmers.

“What we’re telling them is the truth...we’re really passionate about British. It’s about working together and connecting the farmer with the end consumer.”

When asked whether he thinks there is an argument for paying farmers more for what they produce, he sighs.

“I never get involved in price,” he says. “I pay the market price...and I’m the only retailer to pay our suppliers within 24 hours to enable them to pay our farmers within 24 hours.”

He adds: “I then reward our farmers for quality up and above the market price. So if they produce what the customers are looking for, and they do manage their genetics to get the right type, the right breed, the right shape, the right size, we pay up and above the market price.”

Viggars began his career in the meat industry by chance at the age of 16 while waiting to join the Royal Marines after leaving college in Dinnington, South Yorkshire.

He began working in an abattoir to earn some pocket money. “I was brought up in a big family where there were six of us. I needed to go out and get a job,” he says.

Working in that environment gave him “good grounding”, he believes, but he admits he was squeamish at first.

“I think anyone going into an abattoir situation is going to feel squeamish but, in actual fact, it’s moved on a lot since then. It’s not gory at all. It’s a very slick, quick, humane process.”

He went on to join Asda where he worked in the stores, became a trainee butcher’s boy and then a trainee butcher, earning £54 a week.

“I really enjoyed the fact you could take this piece of flesh, and I recall watching the butchers create something really special, and when they’d go on their break, I’d have a go,” he says.

His dream of joining the Royal Marines was abandoned at the age of 19 when he married his first wife and started a family. Instead, he worked his way up Asda, progressing to become a butcher, a meat manager and then a sales development manager.

He became a trainee buyer and buyer before taking on his current role as senior trader in the firm’s red meat department six years ago.

He drives Asda’s agricultural agenda and travels round the UK’s agricultural shows during the summer months. This year, Asda has introduced a children’s farm to its stand.

“I’m a big believer in educating the next generation, and that has been a big success at the Great Yorkshire Show,” he says.

Meat tastes and trends have changed over the years, most recently during the economic downturn.

“We’re seeing the green shoots of recovery following the recession but people are still shopping very differently,” says Viggars. “The average home has between £8 and £10 a week to spend on protein to feed a family of four.

“People still want great value for money, but most of all they don’t want cheap. They want great quality, and hence why we’re putting investment in. Products such as beef and lamb are deemed expensive wherever you go and there is a switch from some of the key prime cuts into some of the lesser cuts – braising steaks, mince, and meatballs have become very fashionable.”

He adds: “It’s important when we do sell beef and lamb that they are of the best quality you can find in the market place, so when the customer has that experience and they do trade into a premium steak, and spend a little bit more, that it delivers like it would in a restaurant, and I take great pride in knowing we are delivering that consistently well.”

Viggars’ typical working day begins at 4.40am. He commutes from Rotherham to Leeds to be at his desk for 6am.

“Between six and eight, I really get to know my business,” he says. “I reflect on how I’ve performed the day before so I’m well set up for what I need to do that day, and get myself set up in a position where I can direct the team early morning and they can crack on and do it.”

It is Viggars’ passion and enthusiasm that won him the Fresh Meat Personality of the Year 2009 as part of the SuperMeat & Fish Awards.

“I am absolutely made up with that,” he says. “Usually, you get those awards when you retire, and the fact that I’ve got at least 25 years left in my career and still won, was overwhelming.”

At this year’s awards ceremony, Asda was named the Meat & Fish Retailer of the Year 2011.

“I’m really proud of it because we’ve been waiting for this for 20 years,” he says.

Away from the office, Viggars says he enjoys spending time with his family in Rotherham – his second wife, Kerrie, and three children, Ryan, Katie-Jo and Charlie – as well as Laura, his daughter from his first marriage. He also enjoys sport and has helped raise money for charity by taking part in a number of endurance cycling events.

However, he admits he is no saint, adding: “I do like a beer sometimes.”

Jim Viggars Factfile

Title: Senior red meat trader

Date of birth: May 17, 1967

Education: Dinnington Comprehensive School

First job: Working in an abattoir

Favourite song: Father and Son, by Ronan Keating

Car driven: Audi A5

Favourite film: Gran Torino

Favourite holiday destination: Florida

Last book read: Your 15th Club: The Inner Secret to Great Golf, by Dr Bob Rotella

What I am most proud of: My family and leading the team we are in and the reputation we have built within the farming community