In September the majority of respondents to MLA's butcher retail survey indicated stronger sales, consistant with a shift from eating out to at home meals.
Meat and Livestock Australia reports that consumers are also shifting towards buying cheaper meat cuts, driven by the economic slowdown.
Price information provided to MLA by 350 butchers over the September quarter shows an increase for all meat types, but most prominently for beef (silverside, blade and sausages), lamb (forequarter chops, chump and leg) and chicken.
The increase in prices reflected stronger demand for secondary meat cuts and cheaper sources of protein.
Despite the higher prices, butchers also reported stronger sales in the September quarter, with 52pc of respondents reporting 'very good' to 'excellent' beef sales, an improvement from 46pc during July to September 2007.
For lamb, 39pc of butchers surveyed responded that sales were 'very good' to 'excellent', up slightly from 35pc in the September quarter 2007.
Sales of pork during July to September also improved, as 32pc of respondents indicated 'very good' to 'excellent' sales compared with 26pc last year.
About 46pc of butchers reported 'very good' to 'excellent' sales for chicken, up from 34pc in 2007.
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