Christmas hams in hot demand as supply tightens
South Australian ham lovers are being warned to get in early with their Christmas purchases – or risk paying top dollar.
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Ham lovers are being urged to get in early with their Christmas ham orders, or risk either missing out or paying top dollar.
Bruce’s Meat owner Trevor Hill said while South Australian buyers could still pick up ham at $17 to $19 a kilogram, in Melbourne the price had already risen to $25/kg.
“Prices are pretty firm on last year at this stage but we’re going to close our books early on ham (due to tight supply),” he said.
“If you secure your Christmas ham early, you shouldn’t notice a great price jump. But if you leave it to the last minute, you’ll just have take whatever it is you can buy.”
Christmas is the peak time for Australia’s pork industry, with a massive 4.6 million kilograms of product usually sold over the festive season.
But it has been a tumultuous time for the sector. Only 18 months ago, farmers were struggling to even sell their stock, due to massive oversupply issues.
Australian Pork Limited chief executive Margo Andrae said the local pork industry was now in a slight undersupply situation, after some farmers left the industry during the downturn.
This lesser supply has led some outlets to already sell out of Christmas hams, more than a month out from the big day.
Ms Andrae said despite there being an upturn in the pork industry, it would still be a long road back for producers who battled with crippling financial losses.
“The cost to operate here in Australia is so much higher than overseas. You might pay a bit more for Aussie ham but you’re supporting Aussie farmers,” she said.
Looking for top quality SA hams has been made easier with the Australian PorkMark Ham
Awards winners announced this week.
Barossa Fine Foods, Edinburgh North, took top honours in the South Australian bone-in competition, while Saint Meat, North Haven, won the boneless category.
Saint Meat managing director Shannon Anderson is starting to see demand increase already, in the lead-up to the festive season.
“The amount of hams available this Christmas is going to be limited,” he said.
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“We anticipated out normal orders, but we’re getting a lot more requests at the moment, so we need to try and source more legs of pork.”
In the South Australian bone-in competition, Churchill’s Butchery, Marryatville, placed second, with Gumshire Hampshire Pork, Keyneton, third. In the boneless competition, Hope Valley Butchers, Hope Valley, was awarded second, with Barossa Hill Butchers, Angaston, rounding out the top three.