Skills shortage puts retail butchers on the chopping block

Butcher shops are under pressure in the face of a dire skills shortage, with one Noosa business choosing to close its retail store due to a lack of staff.

There has been an official shortage of butchers nationally since at least 2021.

Some butcher store owners are exploring how to recruit people from overseas to fill vacancies.

Queensland butchers are grappling with a skills shortage, with one set to stop serving customers due to a lack of available staff, while others have begun recruiting from overseas.

Noosa butcher Steve Young's business had grown over more than 20 years, starting with his first storefront in nearby Tewantin in 2005.

He said the retail butcher store still had a strong and loyal group of customers, but that its popularity was also the reason for it having to close.

"We've just hit rock bottom where my retail shop is operating here today with two butchers in it, where normally there would be four butchers and probably two counter staff as well," he said.

A number of forces are driving Mr Young's need, and his struggle, for staff.

Alongside the retail business that acts as a classic neighbourhood butcher, he supplies IGA supermarkets across the state and increasingly into New South Wales.

And a freshly signed contract means his smallgoods will now be stocked in another 22 stores.

But his business has also been built over decades in what has become one of the country's most expensive housing markets.

There is also the added challenge of finding qualified butchers and staff after years of falling apprentice numbers and disappearing local stores.

"They are contacted by phone, by text, and half of them, most of them, don't even answer.

"You might have a conversation with some and they'll say, 'Yeah, I'll come in for an interview' and they never turn up."

He said the turnover of staff was also challenging.

"I couldn't even put a number on how many I've seen come and go from my facility in the past 12 months."

Queensland's retail meat industry has been struck by multiple high-profile closures in recent months, particularly in the state's south-east.

Jack Purcell Meats closed in July after more than 80 years while third-generation Big Gun Meats shut down in recent weeks.

Australian Meat Industry Council chief executive Tim Ryan said the lack of butchers was a "genuine and ongoing workforce challenge".

He said shortages made it harder for butcher shops to grow, train apprentices and keep up with customer demand.

Martin Pennay has 130 staff at his store in Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast.

His business has begun looking overseas to recruit the workers he struggled to find locally.

"Over time, we have found some visa workers who have integrated incredibly well.

Mr Young said he was glad the closure of his retail store was partly due to its success, and said no workers would lose their job.

But he said putting an end to serving customers at the counter was "a massive decision" for both him and wife Stacey.

"I'm closing down a very successful retail outlet because we simply can't staff it, and it's devastating," he said.