A SIGNIFICANT and "surprising" jump in the price of lamb in recent weeks has not had a sizeable impact on sales of the red meat, butcher Mick Lamond says.
Mr Lamond, who owns Collins Court Butcher, Mount Gambier, said the sudden spike "hadn't slowed customers at all".
"We're probably only back two or three lambs a week," he said.
"I think there has been so much advertised about the lamb prices in the news that people have realised (prices are up) and it hasn't had much effect," he said.
He said the biggest difference was they were not selling many sides of lamb.
Mr Lamond said in recent weeks he had been paying as much as $10 a kilogram for whole lamb carcases, whereas just three months ago it had been more like $6.50/kg.
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"Lamb prices had been steady for a while, then the huge rise took us by surprise," he said.
He said there were some customers switching to other meat options, such as beef or pork, or cheaper cuts.
"Pork has taken off - pork chops are probably $15/kg, while lamb chops at the moment are $21 or $22/kg," he said.
"We are selling more forequarter chops than loin because of the difference in price."
He said there were still some sales of the more expensive cuts, such as cutlets, but at $75/kg, these were not put out on the shop floor.
Mr Lamond said it was unlikely these prices were sustainable in the long-term, and tipped they would come back in the coming months.
"I think we'll probably notice it when the spring lambs come on," he said.
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