Zac Arnott said his sausages are keeping Port Fairy’s bountiful visitors well fed.
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The Sheehan’s Meats butcher has sold record numbers of the encased meat product this month and the demand, he said, is all thanks to the weather.
Fondly referred to as ‘the sausage king’, Mr Arnold said he was making almost 100 kilograms of sausages per day during January.
“Other than Folkie (The Port Fairy Folk Festival) this is the busiest time of year,” he said. “The plain barbecue sausages are the town favourite.
“We’re selling almost 100 kilos of sausages a day, seven days a week at the moment.”
Mr Arnold said the exceptionally mild weather conditions had contributed to the sales boom.
“The good weather has definitely helped,” he said. “It means everyone can relax and keep it simple by having barbecues most nights.”
After seven years at the Bank Street business Mr Arnott said the current town visitor numbers were the best he’d seen.
We'll go through 700 kilos of sausages this week. Every summer it gets busier and busier.
- Zac Arnott, Sheehan's Meats Port Fairy
“Yep, its definitely busy in town,” he said.
“Every summer it gets busier and busier and that’s better for us.”
Butchers are not the only ones to feel the affects of good weather on tourism in the port town.
Port Fairy Confectionary owner Ian Blizzard said this was the first year he’d had to restock shelves more than once a week, with red jellies, flying sauces, red licorice and pink lady jellies the most popular.
“It’s been so busy,” he said. “We’re just about working double.
“It’s the first time in years we’ve had to restock during the week and it’s constant which is great for the town.”
Bank Street and Co said coffee was fast becoming a staple for gathering tourists in the township.
After installing an outdoor machine on the pavement at the front of the cafe, staff are kept busy keeping an additional 400 caffeine-lovers in constant supply.
“If the outside temperature is good we’ll make more than 400 coffees a day at the moment,” said Bank Street and Co staff member Tahnee Horvat.
“Every other year they’ve got washed out at campsites but this year the weather just keeps on giving.”