On the chopping block
A LONG-standing Gold Coast butcher fears more shops will close as soaring costs and cutthroat competition from supermarkets play havoc with the industry.
The Bulletin late last month reported that butcher Whitwicky Meats, which had outlets in Southport and Labrador, had been ordered into liquidation – the latest in a string of butchers to disappear from Gold Coast shopping centres.
Hope Island Gourmet Meats owner Neil Blank said he feared they would not be the last.
“This year is really going to be a struggle. More will go,” he said.
“We are at the high end with our meat, we don’t sell any crap.
“But I’m losing percentages because I can’t put up prices by as much as costs are going up.
“... Coles forward buy – they know how much they’re paying for their lamb in six months time. We have to pay the market rate on the day.”
A study by comparison company Frugl Grocery last year found the price of beef had risen by 14.6 per cent in the 2021-2022 financial year.
Mr Blank said it was impossible to pass on the full rise to customers.
“The price of meat is so dear now,” he said.
“I don’t get near as much margin as I used to do. Because to keep that margin, people wouldn’t buy it. It’s bad enough trying to get it out of them now.”
Mr Blank said he also faced rising rent and electricity costs, with his small outlet at Hope Island Shopping Centre costing him almost $12,915 a month – up from $10,646 two years ago.
“We’ve got greedy landlords. I’m paying $13,000 a month now. It’s a lot of money,” he said. “Power’s about $3000 of that. “You’ve got to sell a lot of sausages to make any money.”
Mr Blank said the rises came despite the fact the opening of a rival centre in the area four years ago had caused his turnover to fall by 30 per cent.
He appealed to Gold Coasters to support their local butchers to prevent them from disappearing completely.
“By coming to a local butcher shop your quality is basically guaranteed,” he said.
“You can come in and buy a quarter a kilo of mince or you can buy 300g of nice beef, you don’t have to buy the whole lot in a packet.
“That stuff in Coles and Woolworths. It’s treated with carbon dioxide and nitrogen. That’s why the meat never discolours.
“We make our mince fresh every day and probably two hours after it’s made it starts going brown. And that’s because the PH levels change. But it’s still fresh, it’s good, there’s nothing wrong with it.
“... We need the support of our locals. People don’t realise (about the costs).”