Culinary historians might one day write about how YellowknifersSA国际影视传媒� appetite for meat persisted even during the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020, and possibly beyond.

At least thatSA国际影视传媒檚 what the last six months have shown the owner of Northern Fancy Meats, Terry Greene, who said business has been steady ever since Covid arrived in the NWT in March.

SA国际影视传媒淲hen the pandemic started we got really busy. People were stocking up. It didnSA国际影视传媒檛 slow the business down one bit,SA国际影视传媒� said Greene.

Unlike most other businesses in Canada, the store didnSA国际影视传媒檛 have to lay anyone off, didnSA国际影视传媒檛 apply for any territorial or federal Covid assistance and didnSA国际影视传媒檛 close its doors even for one day.

In fact, the high demand during the spring gave the Woolgar Avenue meat shop a sales boost of about 15 per cent, he said.

SA国际影视传媒淎ll the restaurants were closed. People were eating more at home,SA国际影视传媒� Greene said, explaining his bump in business.

And of all the meat items the store sells, chicken wings were by far the most popular.

SA国际影视传媒淚've never sold so many chicken wings. We went from (selling) 40 pounds of chicken wings a week to four times that. No bars were open so chicken wing night was at home.SA国际影视传媒�

But, while the past six months have been strong for Northern Fancy MeatsSA国际影视传媒� bottom line, the shop was just as affected by pandemic-related supply chain disruptions as most other businesses.

After Covid outbreaks in April at the Cargill meat processing plant in Alberta, Greene said he wasnSA国际影视传媒檛 receiving any product.

SA国际影视传媒淭here were two weeks in there that were really tough. If you don't have nothing to sell, you got no business, right? There was a lot of stuff you couldnSA国际影视传媒檛 get, and if you could get it, it was expensive.SA国际影视传媒�

Overnight, the price for many cuts of beef rose from $15 per kilogram to $25 per kilogram.

That slump was short-lived. After workers in the Cargill plant went through their 14 days of quarantine, supply shipments resumed their regular frequency, Greene said.

Overall, the shopSA国际影视传媒檚 day-to-day operations havenSA国际影视传媒檛 been significantly affected since March, other than staff doing more disinfecting tasks.

SA国际影视传媒淭he sanitizingSA国际影视传媒� you always did anyway in the meat business, we just do it more often (now).SA国际影视传媒�

When Greene considers the wider context in Yellowknife of other businesses that deal with customers on a daily basis, he feels lucky that his shop avoided the worst of the pandemic's effects.

SA国际影视传媒淚 feel bad for the restaurant guys and the bar guys," he said. "Even now, itSA国际影视传媒檚 got to be tough on them. You wish you can help them out. ThatSA国际影视传媒檚 all you can do.SA国际影视传媒�