After almost 40 years in business, a well-liked neighborhood butcher has announced its closure in a heartfelt email to clients, citing “chronic” staff shortages and sharp rises in meat costs.
Moore’s Meats employees in Sydney’s west posted a letter on the store’s window for its devoted customers informing them that the company could no longer afford to keep its doors open.
The Bakehouse Quarter location, which had previously been at Paramatta Road, was to shut “due to the chronic scarcity of butcher employees and the enormous rise in meat expenses in the past two years,” according to the message.
In the message, it was said that “these conditions have rendered it difficult for the More Meat model of selling excellent meat at discount pricing to continue.”
“We would want to thank our faithful consumers for their support and patronage throughout the years,” the management and employees said.
According to its website, the George Street shop was run by fourth-generation butchers.
Beginning in the early 1950s, Moree Meat Processing Factory Shop was established as a meat wholesaler on Parramatta Road in Strathfield. As the company progressed, it added export production for the USA, Japan, and Korea.
When the site and factory were refurbished and remodeled, the store’s current iteration debuted in 1984.
A distraught citizen posted a picture of the letter today on a neighborhood Facebook group.
I apologize if this has already been posted. Not related, but wanted to share this,” stated the message.
“Moore Meats has permanently closed.”
Other neighbors expressed dismay and said it was “the end of an era” in response to the “sad” news of the beloved neighborhood butcher.
“Goodness gracious! That’s awful, one person commented.
“My mother used to frequent the first store on Parramatta Road, and since then, we have frequented their Bakehouse Quarter location.”
Another person highlighted the challenge faced by neighborhood stores in maintaining “low costs while the items are so pricey from suppliers.”
Others noted Moore’s had to restrict “the variety that they had,” saying the shutdown was a sign of a troubling trend for nearby companies.
In Australia, the price of meat and seafood has soared from levels observed in 2013 by more than a third.
The Covid epidemic caused lengthy delays for the meat industry, which resulted in a labor shortage and the closure of processing plants.
These factors limited total output in 2021 and 2022, pushing up the price of meat while maintaining record-high cattle prices.
Retail meat prices increased 10% per kilogram in 2022, according to Meat and Livestock Australia, the marketing and research organization for the meat industry.
Australian families have felt the pain of rising cost of living expenditures during the last several years as a result of rising prices.
»Moore’s Meats in Sydney’s North Strathfield is closing«