Rino Lupini, is shown above in front of the meat display that he proudly supervises at Desjardins’ Food Basics in the Hanmer Valley Shopping Centre. For Rino, it is a long journey since the day he started out his career in 1968 as a meat cutter at the old Dominion Store on Riverside Drive in Sudbury . “I retired in 1999 and then Ken asked me to manage his meat department. I’ve been here ever since. It’s been my whole life and it’s something that I love doing.”

            Desjardins’ Food Basics is an extremely busy grocery store which goes through a huge amount of meat products every week, so Lupini is always busy ordering and stocking the shelves. He is also proud of the quality of the meat that he brings in for his customers. “All of our meats are Grade A, and most of it comes from Ontario . When you buy meat from here, you know you are getting the best grades available on the market. You are not going to get anything less.”

            Rino has noticed that there seems to be a gradual shift to leaner, smaller portions among health-conscious consumers today. “Many people are buying boneless chicken breasts – anything without skin or fat. They are also buying a lot more ground chicken and turkey which they are using as a substitute for traditional ground beef.”