Butchers use TikTok live-streaming to boost falling high street sales
Traditional butchers are live-streaming sales on TikTok to counter declining numbers on the high street, with one shop seeing a 600% spike in orders.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
Traditional butchers are fighting back against the decline of the high street by taking their trade to TikTok, live-streaming meat sales directly to customers. The move aims to recreate the personal service of a butcher's counter for shoppers who no longer have a local shop.
One example is the Fat Butchers near Newcastle, where Mason Miller began live-streaming a year ago. Within weeks, the shop saw a 600% spike in orders. Miller says the online activity has also boosted sales in the physical shop, and he sees it as a return to what butchery was meant to be.
"To me, what I'm doing is what butchery was meant to be and used to be before the supermarket," he said. "Because although we have a shop, there's a lot of villages that no longer have a local butchers, and they don't get the experience that I want to offer from the supermarket. So it was to make sure everyone, no matter where you live, can get that butcher's counter experience."
The wider picture is stark. In 1990 there were around 15,000 butchers in the UK. By 2019 that fell to 7,130, and last year there were just 5,800. Tony, a butcher with more than 40 years' experience, worries about the profession's future. "It is a tough job. It's a heavy, sort of wet, not a very nice job. That's why there's no youngsters coming into the trade now."
Butchers are not alone. Faced with declining high street sales, traditional stores like grocers and cheesemongers are also turning to social media to live-sell their fresh produce. At the Fat Butchers, they believe personal service, even online, is the way forward, and may in time drive customers back to the high street.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, mapped by channel. Ordered by how many channels carried each claim.
| Claim | Channel 5 |
|---|---|
| The Fat Butchers reported a 600% increase in orders after starting TikTok live-streaming. | |
| The number of UK butchers fell from around 15,000 in 1990 to 5,800 last year. |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
The report focuses on the personal and traditional nature of butchery, contrasting it with supermarket shopping. It highlights the success of one shop's TikTok strategy while also giving space to a veteran butcher's concerns about the trade's future. The tone is sympathetic and features a reporter on the ground.
- “To me, what I'm doing is what butchery was meant to be and used to be before the supermarket.”
- “Because although we have a shop, there's a lot of villages that no longer have a local butchers, and they don't get the experience that I want to offer from the supermarket.”
- “It is a tough job. It's a heavy, sort of wet, not a very nice job. That's why there's no youngsters coming into the trade now.”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.