Irish butchers require year-round backing and not just during the Christmas period, according to the Associated Craft Butchers of Ireland (ACBI).
The festive season has traditionally been a busy time for butcher shops throughout the country, reports RTE.
However, the organisation representing the sector has said that a significant number of butcher shops have closed in recent years.
It said pressure from convenience stores, supermarkets and shifts in Irish eating habits have led to a steady decline, with few young people choosing to enter the trade, reports RTE.
The ACBI said that two decades ago there were more than 1,100 butcher shops nationwide. It now estimates that just 520 remain, meaning the number of shops has fallen by more than half over the past 20 years.
Similar to the decline of rural post offices, pubs, newsagents and greengrocers, the expansion of convenience outlets and large supermarkets has left many butchers struggling to stay open, reports RTE.
Once a core part of retail life in towns across Ireland, changing dietary habits have also played a major role in the downturn.
In Athlone, Co Westmeath, there were once 22 butchers trading successfully in the town. Today, only three butcher shops remain, reports RTE.
Bernie Dunning closed his shop on Connaught Street last April after more than five decades working in the trade.
Mr Dunning began working in the family butcher shop three months after it was opened by his brothers, Tommy and the late Sean, in June 1971, and said “a whole lot of reasons” led to his decision to close, but ultimately it was down to simple economics, reports RTE.
“I just couldn’t make ends meet, it’s very easy to make up your mind, then,” he said, reports RTE.
Bernie had been working alongside his brother Sean, and following Sean’s death last December, he was left running the business alone.
“I wasn’t getting any younger either and lifting a side of beef, I’d be feeling my bones creaking,” he added, reports RTE.
Like many in the trade, Mr Dunning believes customer habits have changed significantly in recent years.
“You see at one time there was a butcher and a green grocer and maybe a bakery, but now you can get everything in a supermarket,” he said, reports RTE.
“Eating habits have changed too. The traditional Sunday roast is down by around 80%. When families were bigger, a roast was nearly a must on a Sunday, but not anymore,” he said, reports RTE.
Mr Dunning also said attracting people into the trade has become increasingly difficult.
“Butchering is a hard life, and it’s hard work,” he said, reports RTE.
“If you’re slaughtering, and bringing sides of beef from the abattoir in here, you’re heavy lifting from one end of the week to the other,” he said, reports RTE.
He explained that traditional butchering involved meat coming directly from the abattoir, being slaughtered, hung, brought into the shop, and then broken down for sale.
“A lot of the meat is coming from factories in vacuum packs now, being displayed and sold,” he said, reports RTE.
Fergie Jameson worked as a butcher in Athlone for more than 50 years, having entered the trade at the age of 14. He closed his shop in 2019.
“I found that my customers, who were older, when they died there was no one replacing them. Very few younger people were coming in,” he said, reports RTE.
Mr Jameson also pointed to supermarkets selling meat below cost as one challenge, but said parking and traffic issues in regional towns are another major problem.
“Traffic and parking. It’s all geared towards the shopping centres and not the town centres. If people want to come to a butchers in town, they’ve to try find parking and walk a mile,” he said, reports RTE.
He was candid in his view of the future of the trade.
“More doors will close without support. They need support. People have to make a bigger effort if they want to keep the small shop going, let that be the butchers, the fruit and vegetable shop, whatever. They’ll have to make a bigger effort,” he said, reports RTE.
Pat Smith runs a butcher shop on the Dublin Road in Athlone, one of just three remaining in a town with a population of more than 23,000.
He opened his shop in 1993, reports RTE.
“For me, business is good, but overall, the butcher’s trade is suffering. You can see it around the country, shops are closed, left, right and centre,” he said, reports RTE.
Pat said he introduced tray packs to better compete with supermarket offerings.
“If you don’t keep up with the times you’re gone,” he said. “If you can’t match the supermarkets for price, or try and do it, you’re going to suffer, and that means you’re taking a hit on your margin,” he said, reports RTE.
“Some butchers will survive. It will be the minority,” he added, reports RTE.
Pat said customers also need to consider quality and service when deciding where to shop.
“It’s the human touch. You can come in here and they know what they’re getting is quality,” he said, reports RTE.
“They can have whatever they want, whatever way they want it,” he said, reports RTE.
“So if they want a thick steak, a thin steak, or if you want a thick one and a thin one. Or if you want three quarters of a pound of mince or a pound and a quarter, you can have it,” he said, reports RTE.
“Once you have the quality, people will come back and they appreciate when they come in here, they can have a little chat. There’s very little places you can go now and have a chat with whoever is behind the counter,” he said, reports RTE.
Tell us your thoughts in the Facebook post and share this with your friends.
