Sunshine Coast butchers Cotton Tree Meats and Mick’s Meat Barn reveal factors behind business boom

Several multi-generation Sunshine Coast butchers have revealed they’re in the midst of a winter windfall with several key trends driving a massive surge in customers.

Chef shortages, rising costs of eating out and a growing obsession with smoking meats are combining to create a winter windfall for several Sunshine Coast butchers.

Cotton Tree Meats manager Jonathon Brown said their customer base had grown by 10-15 per cent since the pandemic as more people ate at home and American-style barbecuing grew in popularity.

The family-owned butcher shop on King St, Maroochydore, had taken to running their own classes on smoking and slow-cooking meats.

“It’s bringing in people that would have never walked into a butcher shop,” Mr Brown said.

Mr Brown said an “incredible” hunger for this new style of cooking entered the scene in 2017 but was amplified by Covid-19 when people were stuck inside and forced to pick up recipe books.

Testament to this demand, Mr Brown said his 22-person classes were selling out each session.

Another butcher with meat flying off the shelves was family-owned Mick’s Meat Barn along Nicklin Way, Warana, which had operated since 1989.

Mick’s Meat Barn owner and family member Liam Richards said his customer base had bumped up by almost 20 per cent this year compared to 2020.

Mick’s Meat Barn owner and family member Liam Richards. Picture: Supplied.

Mr Richards said demand was backed by people dining in more often, meat prices increasing at supermarkets, and some people shying away from dining out because of a shortage of chefs at restaurants.

But not everyone agreed with his latter point.

Restaurant Alba Noosa owner and restaurateur Peter Kuruvita said he doubted restaurants were experiencing a drop in demand because of a lack of chefs.

Mr Kuruvita said his restaurant, which didn't lack chefs, hadn’t seen a dip in meat sales or customers, partly because customers wanted high-quality meals they couldn’t make at home.

The Courier-Mail recently reported some resort managers, executives and chief executives had been forced to take on kitchen shifts amid major staff shortages and a reduction of international visa arrivals.