Stage 4 restrictions: Mince, steak sales soar as meatworks cuts threaten supplies
Locked-down Melburnians forced to cook for themselves are buying more meat than ever before. But will it still be available under Stage 4?
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Demand for meat is soaring among locked down Melburnians as supplies are threatened by coronavirus outbreaks and Stage 4 restrictions slash production at abattoirs and meatworks.
According to Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) domestic sales of beef were up by more than 20 per cent across the country.
MLA’s National Customer Development Manager Scott Cameron said 130,000 new households had bought beef during the first lockdown and butchers had seen a 39 per cent increase in beef sales.
“In terms of the product sales that are driving this growth, mince has been a big contributor as people stocked up in the initial response to COVID-19, but more recently we’ve also seen a spike in steak sales,” Mr Cameron said.
“People’s shopping habits have changed quite significantly, as they move away from top-up shopping to stock-up shopping, which means that they’re frequenting stores less but still spending more.
“This isn’t the case for butchers though, as they are seeing more buyers coming in, buying products more frequently, and spending more, so it’s a brilliant story there.”
An MLA report on how COVID-19 was changing shopping habits revealed that online grocery shopping could become the norm and “price sensitivity” would increase as household incomes were restricted by the financial fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.
It also found that increased interest in “familiar” recipes as more people were forced to cook their own food at home had helped fuel red meat sales.
Major supermarket chains have also seen spikes in demand for fresh meat through panic buying before the first lockdown in March and again in preparation for Stage 4 restrictions, which came into force on Sunday.
Coles, Woolworths and Aldi have urged customers to buy only what they need and resist the temptation to stockpile.
Coles has also introduced meat limits, restricting customers to two packs of mince meat, chicken breasts and chicken thighs per shop.
Woolworths has a two pack per shopper limit on beef, chicken, lamb and pork and customers are also banned from buying more than 1kg of meat, poultry and smallgoods from the in-store butcher or deli.
Aldi has no restrictions in place.
Coles has found alternative sources for products including meats in order to “continue to provide the food and groceries our customers need”.
The supermarket giant was listed as a client of the virus-plagued Somerville Retail Services (SRS) in Tottenham.
SRS has been linked to 164 coronavirus cases.
Other key outbreaks at meat processing plants and abattoirs include Bertocchi Smallgoods in Thomastown (189 cases) Cedra Meats in Brooklyn (111) Australian Lamb Company in Colac (80 cases).
Further pressure will be placed on the supply chain when Stage 4 restrictions come into play at midnight on Friday.
Red meat and pork processing facilities will have to reduce production to 66 per cent and poultry processing will be reduced to 80 per cent.
These restrictions will not apply to facilities with less than 40 staff.
Australian Meat Industry Council CEO Patrick Hutchinson confirmed the restrictions would mean less meat available for sale to Victorians.
“The impact of these restrictions in Victoria, AMIC believes will lead to a 30 per cent reduction in supply chain throughput overall, based on discussions with our membership,” Mr Hutchinson said.
He stressed that eating meat was safe: “There is no evidence that you can become infected with COVID-19 through food or food packaging.”
A Woolworths’ spokesman said the supermarket chain’s key abattoir providers were based in regional Victoria and “are expected to be able to continue operating as usual”.
He said the main meat production partner in Melbourne operated in a “state-of-the-art facility with world-leading automated technology and will be able to maintain good volumes with the restrictions”.
Aldi was also working with supply partners to ensure supply.
Premier Daniel Andrews said the aim of the processing workforce cuts was to have less people working, particularly in high risk industries, without creating a critical shortage of basic food.
“We will get the best outcome we can for both the reduction of workers, the reduction of risk and the maintenance of critical supplies of food,” Mr Andrews said.
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