Property values are leading to the closure of a number of butchers' shops in the State but most of these will be replaced by butchers opening new premises, the Associated Craft Butchers of Ireland's chief executive, Pat Brady, has said.
Mr Brady said the trend in butchers' shops closing down has been reversed, but the arrival of property speculators into provincial towns in particular had led to a number of closures this year.
"The shops that closed this year have been totally driven by property values. If someone offers you a million euro for your shop, you would have to seriously consider that. There are a lot of pork chops in a million euro," he said.
There had been a dramatic fall in the number of family butchers' shops in the State following the BSE crisis, competition from supermarkets and new abattoir regulations in the 1990s, but that had now been reversed, according to Mr Brady.
Speaking at a Retail Food Show organised by his organisation in the City West Hotel, Mr Brady said there was still buoyancy in the industry which had recorded a 1 per cent increase worth €13 million in the year up to September 11th last.
Bord Bia research had shown that in the fresh beef market, the overall value in the same period increased by over €3 million following a rise in volume purchases estimated at 400 tonnes, an increase attributed to the fact that more households were buying beef.
"My members are saying they are selling more roasts and joints to the public and there seems to be a change out there in that more people are buying fresh meat and cooking it at home because of the high cost of eating out," he said.
The ACBI launched its "Choose Irish" campaign at its Retail Food Show in association with the Irish Food Board and the Irish Farmers' Association and the Irish Cattle and Sheepowners' Association.
This is to promote the sale of locally produced meat in butcher's shops and signs in both English and Irish will be displayed in shops as part of this promotional campaign in the coming months.
"It is partially aimed at those eating out, reminding them that even though they may presume they are eating Irish beef, chances are it is not. It's not a question of wrapping the national flag around us, we are saying you should always buy local food when you can," he said. "Unlike the catering trade, retailers have to indicate the country of origin of beef at their counters and I think it would be fair to say virtually everything sold over butchers' counters here is Irish."
