Market vs Supermarket - Cheap Meats

I've spoken before about striving to live on a budget. Now normally, I can get away with grocery shopping up to about once a month, and just buying fresh fruit and vegies every couple of weeks. I've been trying to find a cheaper way to buy my meat, rather than from the supermarket, and I have trouble getting to the butcher due to my availability.

So recently I came across Tasman Meats, probably not a new thing to some of you, but cheaper for me than where I normally buy my meat. Here's a bit of a run down about Tasman Meats:

"Tasman Market Fresh Meats is a large format butcher with over thirty years experience in providing a personalised shopping experience to Victorians. We have 16 stores conveniently located across metropolitan Melbourne, Geelong, Shepparton and Traralgon.

As a company, we pride ourselves on the freshness, quality, range and value for money that our products provide. Our meat is 100% Australian grown and is mainly sourced from the lush pastures of Victoria. All meat is delivered fresh daily to our stores where it is prepared and packed on site.

We carry a full range of quality yearling beef, choice cuts of lamb, a full range of pork, chicken and other poultry lines as well as game and veal. We also sell bulk meat including full cryovac pieces.

If you are planning a function or a barbecue be sure to visit any one of our stores, where we will be able to assist you with your requirements. We can make product recommendations as well as cater for special orders.

All of our stores offer complimentary services such as marinating, slicing, cutting and trimming to your requirements.

Tasman Market Fresh Meats carries a wide selection of complementary grocery, frozen and deli products and a range of Italian products that we have exclusively imported."

I thought, while I'm out I'll do some price checking, so see if it really was worth it. During my grocery shops I go to Aldi, Coles and Safeway, depending on who has what on Special and where I am at the time. Here is my price comparison:

Product	Tasman Meats	Aldi	Coles	Safeway
Diced Lamb	$18.99 per kilo	-        -    -	$20.00 per kilo	$21.99 per kilo
Chicken Thigh Fillets	$11.99 per kilo	$8.99 per kilo	$13.00 per kilo	$14.00 per kilo
Pork Mince	$7.99 per kilo	$9.98 per kilo	$11.00 per kilo	$10.99 per kilo
Regular Beef Mince	$3.99 per kilo	$5.99 per kilo	$7.00 per kilo	$7.56 per kilo
Chicken Breast Fillets	$8.99 per kilo	$8.99 per kilo	$14.00 per kilo	$14.00 per kilo

So clearly I couldn't find diced lamb at Aldi, I'm not even sure if they stock it. All of the prices are based on my location in the South East Suburbs of Melbourne. I've highlighted the cheapest price in red to make it easier to read. I've tried to work out why at Tasman meats the chicken thigh fillets are more expensive, I think it's because I only bought a pack of six. If I had seen & bought the pack of 12, it would have been a little cheaper. Not as good as Aldi, but you win some you lose some.

Now, I know you're all wondering what the quality is like, well, let me tell you, Tasman trumps the competition! I actually watched them cut up the meat and package it there, then put it out on display. The mince meat has no preservatives, so they last 24 hrs and need to be either cooked or frozen for later use. The chicken products are plump and fresh, with a natural chicken smell (nothing gross here!), and the red meat is all beautiful red meat colours, even out from under the lights.

If you guys know of somewhere cheaper that has great quality meat, let me know, I'm always on the hunt for bargains!

Much love,

J xx