The meat section, once a place of a simple choice between cuts and types, has now become a hotbed for illicit activities.

In an alarming trend, supermarkets across Australia reportedly witnessed a surge in brazen meat thefts, with thieves costing the industry up to $9 billion a year.

Fred Harrison, CEO of Ritchies IGA, shared a recent incident where a woman used her children to steal meat from one of his stores.

'A lady came in with a pram, had two young kids load it up, placed [at least 12 to 15 packs of meat] in the pram with a blanket over the meat and a kid,' he recalled.

'She virtually did a runner out the front door.'

Supermarkets have seen an increase in meat theft. Image source: rawpixel.com on Freepik.

This incident is not an isolated one.

Supermarkets across the country are grappling with similar thefts, and it's not just the financial loss that's concerning—the brazenness of these thefts and the involvement of children raise serious questions about societal values and the lengths people will go to for a free meal.

In light of the increased thefts, the supermarket industry is fighting back.

'We are getting better now we know what's going on,' Harrison said.

'We have more video, we're concentrating on having video recorders on our meat cases, and we're employing more and more store detectives than ever before.'

The culprits are not always who you might expect.

'They talk about the people they're apprehending, and it's Mr and Mrs Public—often it's females anywhere from their 40s through to their 60s and 70s, and it's just disappointing that people almost have that sense of entitlement,' Harrison added.

While the thieves may get away with it once or twice, Harrison is confident that they will eventually be caught.

'We may not catch these people [the] first time round, but we certainly will [the] second or third time,' he said.

These incidents square with a study from comparison website Finder, which showed that a growing number of Australians have turned to petty theft just to get by.

Finder surveyed over 1,000 people and found that 12 per cent confessed to stealing basic necessities like food, fuel, and other retail items in the past year due to financial stress.

This figure equates to a staggering 2.4 million people in Australia engaging in unlawful behaviour to afford basics.

The study also showed that five per cent of Australians had stolen items at the self-checkout of supermarkets, while four per cent lied about what they scanned—for example, shoppers indicated the machine was weighing onions rather than avocados.

You can read more about this here.

Key Takeaways

• Criminals are increasingly targeting supermarkets for meat theft, costing up to $9 billion a year.
• Ritchies IGA CEO Fred Harrison reported a recent incident where a woman used a pram to steal numerous packs of meat from one of their stores.
• Supermarkets have enhanced their security measures, including using more video surveillance and hiring additional store detectives.
• Store management acknowledged that while thieves may not be caught on their first attempt, the chances of apprehending them increase with repeated attempts.

What are your thoughts on this issue, members? Share them in the comments below.

 

[bluetang]

It is not just the young ones. At a Bunnings store a few years ago, and elderly man kept the door greeter
busy whilst his lady shot through with a trolley full of goods.

 

[Bezz]

I think a lot of the thefts are due to people knowing they can get away with it, as staff are not allowed to front someone if they see them walking out the store with stolen goods. I saw two teenagers filling the pockets in their hoodies with goods, and walked straight thru the checkout. I mentioned it to a staff member at the front desk, her reply was I know but we are not allowed to challenge them.There use to be security personal walking around supermarkets, as you would often hear over the PA a call for security to go an aisle where staff suspected someone was stealing.

 

[gamiry]

It's not just food. I knew a woman who took her kids to the shops with no shoes. They came home with shiny new shoes. I don't know what she did with all the shoes as she did it at least once a week. Believe it or not, this was over 50 years ago.

 

[DEL boy]

What is being stated is that even with a barcode which should activate alarms to non-paid for goods nothing can be done about it?

 

[Bid]

There will be thefts, regardless of the security measures put in place, maybe shops need to look at their pricing. With profits in the billions they are obviously overpricing goods for retail sale. I do not condone stealing, some do it because they can, others do it because they see it is the only way to eat properly If it is meat that is at the forefront of theft - then it is because of need. Again a look at pricing, it needs to be their first port of call. Reduce the price of meat and it would eliminate/reduce the need for extra CCTV, security staff - profit would not be impacted on - after all profit is the bottom line, not service to customers

 

[LeahI]

There will be thefts, regardless of the security measures put in place, maybe shops need to look at their pricing. With profits in the billions they are obviously overpricing goods for retail sale. I do not condone stealing, some do it because they can, others do it because they see it is the only way to eat properly If it is meat that is at the forefront of theft - then it is because of need. Again a look at pricing, it needs to be their first port of call. Reduce the price of meat and it would eliminate/reduce the need for extra CCTV, security staff - profit would not be impacted on - after all profit is the bottom line, not service to customers

Not necessarily a need for people to steal meat. A few years ago there was a spate of meat theft in my previous town. They were stealing to swap for drugs. I guess that's a need of sorts.

 

[gamiry]

There will be thefts, regardless of the security measures put in place, maybe shops need to look at their pricing. With profits in the billions they are obviously overpricing goods for retail sale. I do not condone stealing, some do it because they can, others do it because they see it is the only way to eat properly If it is meat that is at the forefront of theft - then it is because of need. Again a look at pricing, it needs to be their first port of call. Reduce the price of meat and it would eliminate/reduce the need for extra CCTV, security staff - profit would not be impacted on - after all profit is the bottom line, not service to customers

reduce the prices at the shops NOT THE FARMERS. I had a friend who I went shopping with one day. In Woolies she was looking at the price of pork, then burst into tears. The shop wanted $22 per kilo then she explained that she and her husband were only paid $3 per kilo and if a pig knocked a leg on it's way up the ramp to the truck the leg was marked and my friends were NOT paid for said leg. It was supposedly classed as damaged so was not edible.

 

[Colleen M]

I used to manage a Woolies meat department located opposite a pub. We had junkies regularly raid our stock, usually lamb cutlets and eye fillet. They would then head to the pub and sell it off or exchange it for drugs! In 1980 i remember an elderly woman wearing fur and diamonds was caught by an under cover shop detective with eye fillet stuffed down her knickers. One never knows!

 

[Knell]

I used to manage a Woolies meat department located opposite a pub. We had junkies regularly raid our stock, usually lamb cutlets and eye fillet. They would then head to the pub and sell it off or exchange it for drugs! In 1980 i remember an elderly woman wearing fur and diamonds was caught by an under cover shop detective with eye fillet stuffed down her knickers. One never knows!

True that!

 

[Subduedshilo]

There will be thefts, regardless of the security measures put in place, maybe shops need to look at their pricing. With profits in the billions they are obviously overpricing goods for retail sale. I do not condone stealing, some do it because they can, others do it because they see it is the only way to eat properly If it is meat that is at the forefront of theft - then it is because of need. Again a look at pricing, it needs to be their first port of call. Reduce the price of meat and it would eliminate/reduce the need for extra CCTV, security staff - profit would not be impacted on - after all profit is the bottom line, not service to customers

My sentiments exactly. If the reduced the price of meat especially instead of so much money on security then the supermarkets might just work out that there is no so much theft. It certainly won’t alleviate it but it would bring it down substantially. When will they realise that people need to eat!

 

[GillyH]

It's not just food. I knew a woman who took her kids to the shops with no shoes. They came home with shiny new shoes. I don't know what she did with all the shoes as she did it at least once a week. Believe it or not, this was over 50 years ago.

I worked in a Foodland store 45 years ago. One woman came in & helped herself to the meat section often. It took me awhile to work out where she was stashing it! underneath the bottom of her shopping bag. the was a lift up bit. when I finally confronted her she was defensive are you accusing me of shoplifting? Unfortunately she was a friend of the owner. I was very reluctant to tackle anyone after that.