With the cost of living seeming to rise by the week, are people changing how they eat, especially around buying and consuming meat? Those on the inside of the industry have the facts and figures showing that public demand has definitely shifted to keep meat in their diets.

Graeme Hodges, the owner of Mootown Meats in Morrinsville, has been a butcher for 30 years. He is a dual trade operator, running a retail butchery and a separate MPI-accredited homekill service.

The beginning of change

During the Covid-19 lockdowns, Graeme was able to carry on with homekill work under strict regulations. Directly after Covid in 2021, there was an increase in lifestyle block ownership, with people wanting to be more self-sufficient after the pandemic.

“From 2021 through to 2023 there was a clear uptake in homekill demand, with people wanting to know where their meat came from, with accountability from paddock to plate,” says Graeme.

By 2024 and 2025, the homekill demand flattened but has remained high, and Graeme works at capacity.

“Realistically, the vast majority of people don’t have access to land to raise homekill. Many of the people who bought lifestyle blocks in 2021 onwards are now looking to sell.

“Having a few acres and raising a couple of beasts isn’t easy. Maintaining the pasture and providing feed for animals is a lot of work. There’s also regulations, such as you have to own an animal for at least a month before you can homekill it.”

Emerging trends

In 2025, the yard price for cattle is high because of the United States’ demand for beef and a willingness to pay whatever it takes to acquire it, which moves New Zealand meat prices out of reach for locals.

The owner/operator of Morrinsville Mootown Meats, Graeme Hodges, says the demand for home kills has risen.

Butchers like Graeme buy their beef and lamb locally from trusted farmers for their retail cabinet, visiting the farm each week and personally picking the animals to be culled through the farm’s abattoir.

“We process the carcasses as we want, and there is still good demand for meat from a trusted source through a local butcher, with no middleman involved.”

What Graeme has seen in 2025 is a rise in requests for quarter, half and full beasts for people’s freezers.

“Once again, I use my local supplier and choose the beasts to be culled, and we process to the customer’s requests.”

He says this route of processing seems to be a happy medium that is more cost-effective than straight retail and produces the same product as a homekill beast. It offers massive savings and still with the knowledge of source and accountability that people want.

Are more people turning to hunting as a meat source?

New Zealand Deerstalkers Association (NZDA) national president Callum Sheridan reports a definite upward trend in people looking to hunt for their food.

“I believe it’s driven by a desire to have a secure food source that’s healthy and organic, and wanting a deeper connection to the land and their food,” says Callum.

Founded in 1937, the NZDA represents the interests of New Zealand’s hunters as a not-for-profit and non-government organisation.

One of its roles is running Hunter National Training Scheme (Hunts) courses, where the organisation’s volunteer network proudly trains new hunters.

“The training ranges from practical marksmanship, safe use of firearms and acquiring a firearms licence, to river navigation, bush camping, game resource management, ethically locating animals and breaking the kill down into joints.”

Numbers attending the Hunts courses are increasing yearly of late. For three years, 2022, 2023 and 2024, the course was government-funded. In 2022, 221 individuals were trained, 346 individuals were trained in 2023, and in 2024, 288 individuals were trained.

“Government funding ceased for 2025, but nine months into the year, 302 individuals have completed the course, and we predict that will rise to around 450 by the end of the year.”

People hunt mainly for deer, pigs and goats, with goats and deer being easier to find.

NZDA has 49 local branches nationwide, giving a voice to hunters and raising concerns of the hunting community locally and nationally.

The NZDA is funded through membership fees, grants, donations and fundraising events.