Butchers at the Six Roads and Cheapside Public Markets say they are not seeing an uptick in the sale of pork, beef and lamb, traditionally eaten by Barbadians during the Christmas season.
While several butchers are hoping consumers will make a last-minute rush to buy their meat, they said they believe the significant reduction in sales this year might be linked to people having less money to spend.
They also noted that some pig farmers were now selling their pork to people in their communities and elsewhere at a lower cost than the price in the public markets.
Pork was being sold at $9.50 per pound in the public market, beef at $8.50 per pound and lamb at $10.50 per pound.
Victor Sealy said butchers could not afford to sell their pork cheaper since farmers had raised the cost of their pigs.
“Farmers are deciding now to kill the pigs themselves and sell it to you at a wholesale price. Sometimes you can pay $1 200 to $1 500 for one pig. Some farmers even kill the pigs and sell the meat themselves a little cheaper. After the farmers get the pigs killed, they bring them to the butchers to get them cut up, pay a small fee and then take the meat home to sell,” he told the Saturday Sun at the Cheapside market in Bridgetown.
“People hardly buying meat this year though. Last Christmas was a little better for us, but this year is really low-keyed. One time, five days before Christmas and you come into this market, you would not have been able to move around properly because of the amount of people in here. Right now, a man that would come and buy ten pounds of pork only buying five. Things just ain’t like before is all I can say . . . .”
Another butcher there, who requested anonymity, said consumers were going directly to farmers to purchase their pork at a cheaper cost.
“It may only sound like they are paying one or two dollars less a pound when they buy the meat directly from the farmers. But if you think about it carefully, if a man buys nine pounds, he may be able to get an extra pound because he is paying the farmer less a pound . . . . Things really slow for butchers in this market this year, man. But, we’re thankful for whatever sales we get and we hope that more people pass through [this weekend],” he said.
Young butcher Kadeem Layne said that while a favourable crowd passed through the market last Saturday, customers were now merely trickling in.
“We are hoping that customers come through on Saturday which are relatively good days for us. What people are buying is pork,
beef for pepper pot and some lamb,” Layne said.
Patrick Shepherd, of Bobby’s Meat Shop in Six Roads, St Philip, said he was not surprised at the reduction of sales since Barbadians were complaining that they did not have money.
“Almost everything in the market went up by one dollar because the farmers were paying more for feed. People complaining that they don’t have money overall, but I am hoping that Saturday and Sunday will be busy for us,” he said.
Janelle Coppin, also a meat vendor at the Six Roads Public Market, agreed that business was slow this year.
“I don’t know if it is the price for pork now or what, but sales last year and years ago were way better. At this time years ago you couldn’t even get in the shop to talk to us because so many people would have been in here buying meat,” she said.