During May, 58 percent of Australian butchers surveyed by Millward Brown, on behalf of MLA, described their business performance as "doing okay", while a further 35pc said their business was "thriving", and only 6pc reported a "usually slow or struggling" business.

Meat sales also generally improved in May. When questioned about sales performance, 58pc of butchers surveyed reported their beef sales as "very good to excellent", compared with 52pc in April.

During May, 45pc of respondents said that their lamb sales were "very good to excellent", compared with 40pc in April, while for pork, 38pc of respondents noted "very good to excellent" sales, compared with 23pc in April.

For chicken sales, 52pc replied with "very good to excellent", an increase on the 48pc in April.

The main influence over certain cuts being more popular in May was "cold weather" (33pc), followed by the price of beef (16pc) and product quality (14pc).

The majority of butchers surveyed thought the quality of non-MSA beef was "excellent" (70pc), with 89pc stating MSA beef quality was "very good to excellent".

When asked about lamb quality, 67pc described it as "very good to excellent", while 81pc and 79pc, respectively, described pork and chicken quality as "very good to excellent".

Most cut prices for meat eased in May, compared with April; however, year-on-year results indicate that chicken prices have risen between 6pc and 22pc, primarily a reflection of higher grain prices.