Taking a bite out of downtown

Our local butcher shop closed down, the owners unable to find a suitable buyer. It’s always been hard to run any retail business. New Zealand’s constricted food supply chain is further hindered by a supermarket duopoly who work real hard to buy all the good stuff ahead of the local guys and can then sell it for less. Then there is a tier of smaller, mostly Asian, stores that also process a lot of meat. And with so many restaurants trying to stand out, it must be harder than ever for a butcher to differentiate themselves and find enough discerning home cooks to make the business attractive.