When the supermarket shelves were bare during the pandemic, many of us returned to shopping the way our parents and grandparents did.
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We went to the fruit and veg market and chatted with the friendly fruiterer, we were lured to the bakery by the smell of a fresh loaf and most of all, we returned to the local butcher for our choice cuts of meat.
And as we got a taste for the finer goods these small businesses offer, business boomed, but some are now struggling to get staff to keep up with the new-found demand.
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The Australian Meat Industry Council (AMIC) has reported that around a third of independent retail butchers need staff, and employment forecasts indicate that the occupation will experience an 11.2 per cent growth by 2026.
Head teacher of butchery at Wagga TAFE Michael Knowles said that there was a record number of students undertaking butchery apprenticeships in 2021, but it still might not be enough to meet demand as the current ageing workforce starts to retire.
"COVID has been kind to our industry when the supermarkets couldn't keep up with distribution ... people went back to their butcher and realised they provide great service and a great amount of variety. And the butchers were run off their feet," he said.
"Semester one 2021, we had our biggest intake for two to three years. But we need more."
Owner of the South Wagga Butchery Liam Hanigan said that most trades are struggling to attract young people to apprenticeships.
"I find they don't want to do it as much, they don't want to do anything," he said.
Patrick L'Estrange, 16, is a second-year apprentice butcher working at Lake Village Butchery and he loves the trade and encourages others to give it a go.
"I wanted to get into it because it's a good skill to know," said Mr L'Estrange. "As a kid I always liked playing around with knives so I pretty much get paid to do it.
"I'd love to own my own shop eventually ... if you love your job you're not working, I'm getting paid to have fun."
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