Hawthorn Meat Store – "Meat" The Team
Darren "Dash" Klippel
We have built a team of fun, always happy individuals to carry on the tradition of quality. Through recipes passed on to us from past generations of butchers we are bringing this shop up to today's trends.
Darren – nicknamed Dash – started at Willunga Quality Meats with Richard J Brown. Apprentice for 4 years then took off around the world traveling through Indonesia, Holland, Belgium, France, Spain, Portugal and Morrocco. His traveling companion was Brian Swanson who is the man behind the label 'Brian's Olives' from McLaren Vale, which can be bought in the store complimenting his age old tradition of pickling.
Darren then traveled off around Australia finding skydiving in Yeppoon Queensland which is on the coast of Rockhampton the Beef Capital of Australia. Darren worked at Consolidated Meat Group (CMG) as a Beef Boner & Slicer for five years while he racked up 500 hundred skydives all up and down Queensland from out of helicopters on the Gold Coast to planes and hot air balloons at Cairns acquiring an instructor rating and became an aerial photographer with video and stills camera strapped to his head.
The need to keep achieving found Darren arriving back in Adelaide with parachute on back and knives around waist where he settled at Murray Bridge working for T&R Pastoral working his way from tutor to leading hand, to Supervisor of the Beef Boning Room. This is where he met his partner Kelly Fitzgerald and the two quickly made a passion for pursuing their active interests, by spending time on the River Murray wake boarding.
To progress their life further, they both moved to Adelaide where Hawthorn Meat Store was found and it was time this little shop had some TLC shown its way to restore it to its premier heritage listed state. Darren and Kelly had managed to have some holidays to Dubai UAE and then to Norway where Darren learnt to base jump off of 3000 foot Norwegian Fjords. Skydiving is still the favorite with over 1000 jumps achieved recently, and a Tandem Sky Diving Instructor Rating due soon.