Local butchers see increased demand for their services

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“With things kind of tightening up, their food service demand has still been fairly strong, just because of the communities up North but we did see a decline slightly from where we were trending,” Collins told paNOW. “On the retail end of it, depending what is circulating in the media we are seeing an average (increase) of 10 to 20 per cent at times.”

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At this time Collins noted they are feeling some short-term pressure sourcing specific cuts of meat as meat-packing plants deal with shutdowns, but explained they are still finding supplies and it’s not affecting their business model.

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A member of staff from Parkland Meats LTD. out of Shellbrook noted the public demand for meat at the beginning of the pandemic took them by surprise.

“We were caught completely off guard,” Parkland Meats, Bill Mumm told paNOW. “We got cleaned out, people came in stocking up. We were right down to bare shelves; it took us awhile to fill things back up to where we would like it and it’s just been steady since then.

“It’s definitely an increase in traffic. More than traffic, it’s the volume. People that would normally spend $50 at a time they’re spending $250.”

While they try and source the majority of their meat from Saskatchewan, he noted the Alberta meat-packing plant shutdowns also affected them.

“For the producer, beef (prices) have been cut in half and coming out of (the plant) its doubled,” Mumm said.

He hopes moving forward more meat processing can be done locally so the supply chain is not as reliant on big plants.

“I would love to see it rebuilt if it’s not too late,” Mumm said. “When local communities consume the local product, it works better for everyone than if we’re relying on a national or global supply chain. Especially in a place like Saskatchewan where we could easily be left out of the mix.”

He added COVID-19 has helped them reconnect with existing and new customers from Shellbrook to Birch Hills all the way to the North.

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Ron.Quaroni@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @RonaldQuaroni