Local butchers weigh in on whether Kempsey will see an increase in meat prices

There are fears now that meat prices could rise as a result.

Brothers and owners of 'K and J Superior meats, Jason and Troy Crilley, spoke to the Argus about whether these natural disasters affecting the supply chain countrywide will impact their Kempsey based store.

"We are lucky because we rely on local producers for our beef; however, if the rest of the market does go up we will be most likely have to adjust as well," Jason said.

"For the last few years beef and lamb have seen a noticeable increase anyway, especially lamb, it's been right up and down," Troy said.

Regardless of what happens in the rest of the market, the brothers are confident that they will have more than enough stock to satisfy their customers.

"Regardless of what the market is doing, the good quality beef is obviously going to be a bit more expensive," Jason said.

"We have only top quality produce; you can definitely find the cheaper stuff in the market, it just depends what you like to eat, some people like to pay a little more for good meat.

"If people are looking for an alternative, pork and chicken are both great, and are both still priced very reasonably," Troy said.

Geoff Ball, the director of Balls Butchery in Kempsey, gets most of his produce from local sources as well and doesn't believe his prices will be affected.

"We are lucky, we have our own paddocks and stock, we also get a lot of our stock local, I'd say we should be fine, but we will most likely have to follow what the market is doing," Geoff said.

"I'd say most butchers are the same; we are all in the same boat, it's countrywide. Long term in Australia we need our cattle numbers to rise significantly, everyone is fighting over the fat cattle, there aren't many good quality beasts with fat on them."

Geoff Ball has more than 30 years of experience in the industry to draw upon, and in his opinion, meat prices rising is nothing new.

"Prices have been high for a while; the problem is with the high price of grain, the drought, floods and other weather events there is no fat stock around. It's going to be a rough few years for many people, at least until the stock numbers start to replenish," Geoff said.

"Everyone should keep shopping local, support your town and support the local industry, it may cost a bit more, but you get good quality meat and will help ensure the future of our local industry."

Owner of L-Bo Butchery, Josh Ball, also relies on local suppliers and doesn't think his Kempsey store will see a significant rise in the foreseeable future.

"We are in our own little bubble here; what happens in other areas doesn't affect us as much. I run my shop on local meat; I stick to local sources for this exact reason," Josh said.

"Many farmers are de-stocking at the moment because they can't afford to feed them, we have had drought-like conditions here but nothing like what is happening out west."

Long term though, Josh says he will have to follow what the rest of the market is doing.

"Our prices go up and down based on what the market does, we try to keep them steady regardless though to ensure the prices aren't changing from one day to the next," he said.

The owner of L-Bo Butchery is confident that regardless of what happens in the rest of the market, his unique stock of meats will keep customers happy.

"The trick is to do something a little different; we have a Dry Ager Fridge that dry ages the meat for a few weeks to enhance the flavour and tenderness, we also have flavoured cuts, and our award winning bacon rashers," he said.

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