CLONCURRY-based grazing family, the McDonalds, has recently taken over the Gold Coast's Super Butcher chain of six retail stores from administrators and is set to roll out more retail stores, supplying export quality meat to customers along the eastern coast.
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Newly-appointed chairman of Super Butcher Australia (SBA) and director of the McDonald family's McDonald Holdings (MDH) group Zander McDonald said MDH exported beef all around the world already, and the local venture was a continuance of their "paddock to plate" story.
"It's a natural progression for us, and our intention is to roll out more SBA stores across the eastern coast.
"It'll give more Australians as far down as Melbourne the chance to buy export quality beef at an affordable price," Mr McDonald said.
MDH were owed $170,000 for beef by the failed company which went into receivership in late April, and as it had been the family's intention for some time to enter the retail market, it was an obvious business opportunity, he said.
"We now own 70 per cent of the company, and our partner, which was owed over $1 million, now owns 30 per cent."
SBA has six shops from Brisbane to the Gold Coast, with about 160 staff and Mr McDonald said SBA would spend six months rebuilding before focusing on expansion.
The McDonald family has been in the Queensland cattle business since 1827.
Jim McDonald, now 105 and living in Brisbane, settled at Brightlands Station near Cloncurry just after World War II.
MDH run 175,000 head of cattle on 11 stations totalling over 8.5 million acres in Queensland, and a feedlot at Condamine.
"We export 98 per cent of our beef to 12 countries around the world, and we're the only nominated company licensed to export beef to Brazil," Mr McDonald said.
