Christchurch's Halswell Butchery given green light to open - but deliveries only

Wednesday, 1 April 2020

Akaroa Butchery won NZ's top sausage in 2017. Pictured: Brendan Foster, owner and butcher. He has had to close.

Halswell Butchery in Christchurch says it's had official word.

It can operate its online shop during the level four lockdown with wholesale and private deliveries three days a week.

Halswell Butchery has permission to send meat out via couriers. It supplies essential services like rest homes.

But it appears not all butchers are equal.

Akaroa Butchery, on Banks Peninsula, announced on Facebook on Wednesday there would be 'sadly, no more deliveries'.

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Ash Peters wants to source meat from closed butchers around the country so he can cook, preserve and pack it all for donation to food banks and services working with homeless people in NZ.

'We have just received confirmation that in addition to keeping the shop closed we are also not able to deliver to your door.

'Our premises must be non-operative. Unless we are advised otherwise we'll be closed for the duration of Level 4.'

The meat industry has been seeking clarification about what meat suppliers could continue operating online shops and deliveries.

The meat industry has been seeking clarification about what counts as essential food business.

It was a case-by-case situation, but Retail Meat NZ general manager Pippa Hawkins said she had been liaising with the Ministry for Primary Industries daily to get clarity.

Agriculture Minister Damien O'Connor was aware of the issue, and he 'and officials are working with urgency on it'.

Hawkins said many small butchers serviced small towns with no access to a supermarket, provided halal meat, and supplied essential services like rest homes.

Butchers were capable of doing online orders and delivery, but most were waiting for confirmation it was allowed.

'In terms of a blanket rule for our industry, we haven't been given the green light. I think there's just a lack of clarification.'

Halswell Butchery owner Brad Williams said his business, a 'dual operating butcher', normally did wholesale, online orders, retail and home kill. It delivered to central Christchurch, Selwyn and North Canterbury.

He was not entirely sure why his butchery was allowed to open while others were not. It was continuing essential services like supplying wholesale to rest homes, but it had lost 80 per cent of its business.

'We only can do what we can do.'

He agreed there needed to be clarity on what was classed as an essential service.

Banks Peninsula community board member Jamie Stewart said there were many locals disappointed they could no longer support the Akaroa butcher because 'he is a large part of our community'.

The only other place to buy meat was the Four Square, and the queue there on Wednesday was 'huge'.

'It also means potentially another business that could struggle to get out the other end of this.

'They have immense community support.'

NZ Pork chief executive David Baines said there would be an animal welfare issue if butchers remained non-essential, due to lack of capacity to hold surplus pigs on farms.

'Commercial farms typically supply pigs to market on a weekly basis and do not carry spare holding capacity. Overcrowding of pigs in pens would quickly constitute a significant welfare issue under the animal welfare code.

'Ultimately, wholesalers and processors will have no option but to leave as many as 5000 pigs on farm each week and this will result in an animal welfare crisis.'