After eight months of rises in wholesale meat prices, families and devoted carnivores in the Riverina are trying to find ways to save on the weekly shop.
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However, a simple solution has been staring shoppers right in their faces the whole time, according to Lockhart thrifty-living blogger Jypsie Geppert – the humble butcher.
Once a stop in every grocery trip, butcher’s shops have slowly been replaced by the big supermarket chains. But Ms Geppert said you could save a bundle by shopping around.
“I once bought a meat pack at a butcher for $100 that would have been $200 or more at the supermarket,” Ms Geppert said. “You can also use slow cookers with cheaper cuts of meat.”
Griffith Area Hotel chef Roderick Pieper said cheaper cuts of meat were packed full of flavour if you knew how to cook them.
“There’s generally the ‘low and slow’ rule, but also remove it from the fridge a good half hour before cooking and season your meat – you’ll be surprised what a little salt can do,” he said.
“Always rest the meat and don’t turn it like Brocky on Mount Panorama!”
Wagga butcher Ray Farrell said he was selling scotch and eye fillet steaks at two-thirds the price of a major supermarket chain this week, a claim Fairfax Media confirmed.
“We can generally out-price supermarkets because we can source from a number of suppliers and we look after our customers so they come back,” Mr Farrell said.
“People have got to look at the ‘per kilo’ price and the weight of what they’re buying.”
Australia is ranked the world’s biggest meat consumer per capita – outpacing even the burger-loving United States – and Mr Pieper said he had gone in search of American flavours.
“I’ve been to Texas twice now and I can say they are masters of the ‘nose-to-tail’ method of cooking,” he said.
People who take an interest can generally pay half the supermarket price every day of the week.
- Ray Farrell
“They get the best possible flavour from varying the way they cook – from grilling to smoking, I think we will benefit by adopting these methods.”
Beef prices have on average increased 66 per cent from $10.60/kg in 2000 to $17.61/kg retail weight in 2015. Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) said meat prices were beginning to stabilise after a 20-year low in cattle herd numbers saw eight successive months of price growth.
Retail prices would remain strong, a spokesman said, but would continue to stabilise as more feedlots were brought online in the coming months.
Stephen Mudd
Stephen Mudd is a journalist for Fairfax Media west of the great divide. He loves music, dogs and travel.
Stephen Mudd is a journalist for Fairfax Media west of the great divide. He loves music, dogs and travel.
