A growing group of red meat consumers are turning their trust from trained chefs to themselves and purchasing expensive cuts of meat to cook at home.
The Butcher Shoppe in Brisbane sells everything from chuck steak to A5 Kagoshima Wagyu sourced from Japan which would set you back as much as $350 a kilogram.
One of the shop's managers Mike Smith said the high-end product exploded during the COVID-19 pandemic when restaurants were closed.
He said the high quality cuts were easier to source when restaurants were closed, however most of the customer base the shop grew during that time has remained, although numbers have dropped.
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"At the moment there's a bit of a trend that [customers] have stepped away from the high end," Mr Smith said.
"Through COVID, with the restaurants down and out, we could source whatever we wanted, and we could sell it because people were eating at home."
Mr Smith said during the pandemic supply chains were difficult to predict and some days were spent calling multiple wholesalers trying to source products, with customers growing daily.
He said he never would have predicted the pandemic, so didn't expect the upswing in interest for high-end meat.
Mr Smith said Wagyu sirloin was the easiest to sell because it was heavily marbled and easy to present.
"We trim the fat on the outside, whereas the cube roll has the big bit of fat through the inside as well," he said.
Despite the hefty price tag, Mr Smith said the shop had a strong group of return customers looking for high-end meat.
"There's a couple of different customers who come in on a fortnightly basis and just buy something special for themselves," he said.
"But then there's word of mouth ... and they will come in and nominate their friend and say 'oh such-and-such said to come in and ask for you'."
Mr Smith said the business works with a wholesaler who imports the Kagoshima Wagyu from Japan, and sometimes supply had been a challenge.
"Sometimes there's been a couple of weeks in between being able to get that Wagyu sirloin," he said.
He said the store sells between four and six kilograms of the Japanese Wagyu which sells for $300-plus per kilogram each four to six weeks.
"We've had people buy up to 800 grams for just one meal," he said.
The step down from Kagashima-branded beef is the Robbins Island (Tasmania) and Black Opal Wagyu which sell for between $100 and $150 a kilogram.
Mr Smith said the store sells about 25 kilograms each week of those products.
Educating is key
Mr Smith said when selling high-end meat to everyday consumers, it was important to ensure they understood the product so they didn't go home and "chuck it on the barbecue".
"When we sell the high-end stuff we will have someone at the counter who will make contact with the customer and then they will come back and get one of the experienced butchers," Mr Smith said.
"The butcher will stop and go to help and at the same time tell the counter person to stay and listen and help.
"We'll explain what type of cut is going to be what they want, or they tell us what they want and we just manufacture that to whatever specifics."
Mr Smith said many customers looking to buy the beef had never cooked it before and educating them was important to ensure they enjoyed their experience.
- This article will feature in ACM's special Carcase Merit print publication in July.