For the first time in 2023, the retail prices of lamb meat and mutton in Australia have slumped to AUD$10 per kg. The drop marks an initial 10% reduction of an oncoming bigger slash.

This means that mutton is as cheap as chicken and may reduce further if retailers match farm gate price cuts.

By October 17, 2023, farmers were receiving AUD$4.70 per kg for farm-slaughtered lamb, making it affordable to most consumers.

Economists however cite that the 37%-50% fall in lamb meat price at the farm gate may take several months to register at Aussie supermarkets.

For now, however, shoppers are content with the slight price reduction. Retail stores including Woolworth’s, Coles and Aldi have decreased the cost of lamb by only AUD$0.9 per kilo.

Meat producers however decry the laxity by supermarket and retail stores to reciprocate their price slash and bring trade parity.

The nearing onset of the El Niño summer in the Southern Hemisphere has forced producers to mass sell their livestock. Farmers fear a repeat of drought as in the summer of 2020 and have been selling their sheep in droves. To compound this situation, the country expects a 23% increment in its sheep flock in 2023. As a result, farm gate sales price in October have plummeted by as much as 50% below those of early 2022.

Other popular animal protein sources also showed slight drops in their market cost in the week ending October 15, 2023. Turkey meat at Australia’s grocery stores, for instance, lowered by 9.6% in the same week from the previous one.

Also accompanying the drop in consumer market prices of meat, is a lush stone fruit season in the Australian summer. The sector, which is presently enjoying a 3.5% annual growth serves as price refuge for a fruit-loving consumer market.

The markdown in meat and fruit costs ameliorates the steep price rises in the food and beverage sectors in 2023. Stats indicate that the two sectors saw a 7.5% price increment between June 2022 and mid-2023. Flour products including bread spiked by 11.6% and dairy notched up by 15.2% during the same period.