Woolies livestock legend Brett Thompson on MSA, beef careers and the best cuts

A true legend of the beef game, the man at the helm of sourcing red meat for Woolworths is now hanging up his hat.

He is one of the most familiar faces in feedlots, on farms and at processing sites across the country.

What started as a butcher's apprenticeship in Toowoomba turned into a career that made a mark on the industry nationwide that will be felt for years to come and Mr Thompson will finish with the title of general manager of strategic sourcing in Greenstock, Woolies' red meat supply chain business.

"I could not have asked for a better career," he said.

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Mr Thompson called out the launch of Australia's eating quality guaranteed program, Meat Standards Australia as the greatest milestone moment for the industry.

It effectively turned a subjective practice - assessing the eating quality of a steak - into a proven science, he said.

And while it 'got runs on the board quickly' it wasn't smooth sailing for the pioneers, he revealed.

"When Woolies turned all its fresh meat supply over to MSA in 2012, there were indeed fears we wouldn't get the supply we needed," he said.

"Our view was that people pay good money for a steak so it has to be consistently great.

"But in the early days we did have to work very hard to bring everyone on board."

He listed ossification, or skeletal maturity, and understanding pH decline in chillers as the two big 'game changers' that MSA brought.

Mr Thompson said alongside eating quality, the beef industry had constantly pushed the boundaries to achieve new levels of sustainability, animal welfare and professionalism.

What was most exciting today - and possibly the biggest difference he's witnessed - was the standard of young people coming into beef, he said.

"Beef businesses are so professionally run today and the industry pays well. There is so much opportunity, a diversity of roles, a willingness to promote people comparatively young and a diversity of people working in the industry," he said.

"There are good leadership roles to be had and all of this is attracting great people.

"In the processing space, for example, a lot of young people are coming through with degrees in food science or sustainability.

"The young professionals coming into the industry is a wonderful thing and puts us in good stead going forward."

Mr Thompson started with Woolworths Store in 1983 in the Toowoomba store, where, as store meat manager, he was responsible for producing case-ready meat from primals and butcher counter operations.

He took up meat manager roles at numerous new stores as Woolworths expanded its footprint across regional Australia - leading him from Roma, where he married Maureen, to Bundaberg.

He was managing Woolworths' Brismeat secondary processing facility at Churchill when much of the MSA trial work was undertaken there.

He became national livestock manager around 2000 when Woolworths centralised its in-store butchery to ensure consistency of meat across stores through a national sourcing team.

In more recent years, he has been key to the full end-to-end integration of the red meat supply chain under Greenstock, which was established in 2021.

Greenstock managing director Anna Speer said he was one of the most respected leaders in the beef industry.

On the most important topic - what is his favourite cut - Mr Thompson said it was hard to go past a lamb cutlet or a piece of rib eye steak, cut thick, cooked medium rare.

Greenstock will begin an internal and external search for Brett's replacement, with Sam Ditchfield continuing to act as general manager of sourcing in the interim.