Hope Island Gourmet Meats owner Neil Blank says more shops will close amid soaring meat and rental costs

A veteran Gold Coast butcher says the industry faces a brutal year, with more shops likely to forced out of business. This is why.

A long-standing Gold Coast butcher fears more shops will close as soaring costs and cut-throat competition from supermarkets play havoc with the industry.

The Bulletin last week 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.

“I really think 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.”

Butcher Neil Blank at Hope Island Gourmet Meats. Picture: Glenn Hampson.

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.”

Butcher Neil Blank at Hope Island Gourmet Meats. Picture: Glenn Hampson.

Mr Blank said the rises came despite the opening of a rival centre in the area four years ago causing 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).”

BULLETIN VIEW: LOCAL BUTCHERS NEED OUR SUPPORT

THE humble snag, sizzled to perfection atop a backyard barbecue, has long been as Aussie as Boxing Day cricket and red and yellow flags.

Lamb chops, too, have a place in the national consciousness – so much so that the annual summer lamb ad on television is eagerly awaited.

And who doesn’t like a well-crafted meat pie or chicken parmigiana?

But despite our carnivorous leanings, butchers have disappeared from shopping centres in many parts of the Gold Coast.

Westfield Helensvale lost its only butcher late last year when Saville’s shut up shop – although customers can still purchase its quality meats at its nearby factory store or Harbour Town outlet.

Shoppers at Southport Park and Labrador Central shopping centres have also lost their local butcher shops recently due to the closure of Whitwicky meats, as reported in today’s paper.

Even Woolworths has been getting in on the act, announcing this week the closure of the majority of butcher counters across its stores.

At a time when cost of living pressures are rising, it’s a retrograde step.

Not everyone wants to buy their meat in shrink-wrapped four-packs, when two serves will do.

And meat presented in those cheerless plastic casings will never have the same great taste and freshness a local butcher can provide.

We are fortunate that a number of great butchers remain on the Gold Coast, including the aforementioned Saville’s, which has been serving the community since 1913. But it’s clear the industry is under pressure.

If we wish to continue enjoying great Aussie meals we must resist the lure of supermarket tricks and give local butchers our support.

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Originally published as Hope Island Gourmet Meats owner Neil Blank says more shops will close amid soaring meat and rental costs