There are the hotel workers who are being laid off or put on part time working. The butcher Just occasionally, you hear of the handful of people actually benefiting from the crisis, like the straw contractor who is working flat out to locate and transport the material needed to fuel the ghastly animal pyres in infected districts. More modest, but still encouraging, is the steady increase of new customers at John Kench the butcher's shop. Even better, from his point of view, are the small reductions in the wholesale prices of lamb, pork and bacon, which have allowed him to restore his squeezed profit margins. John welcomes the new business, of course, and the changing attitudes which it portends.
Customers are more conscious of quality, and want to know exactly where their food is coming from.
When it's a busy day, and you have 150 people all saying the same thing, it gets a bit wearing. The supermarket manager Trade is also healthy at the town's Co-op supermarket. Everything is running along on an even keel. We are able to offer a full range of products. Our sales are not depressed in any way, but we are not seeing any panic-buying.