The traditional lamb and chicken products will make the cut this Australia Day, Meat Matters’ Ethan Collins says.

“Lamb chops are very popular this year, plus any type of kebab, hamburgers, stuff like that,” he said.

The Eaglehawk company sees a sales spike of between 10 and 15 per cent on Australia Day Eve and Mr Collins expected Saturday morning would also be busy.

It is the best time of year to be a butcher, he said, with strong sales and a cool place to work as others suffer through high temperatures.

Related: Ice delivery or groundskeeper – which job would you want on a day as hot as Friday?

As people prepare to host their barbecues the Australian Bureau of Statistics have been crunching the numbers.

They have tracked the price of snags and lamb chops over 20 years and say their values have spiked in real terms by 41 per cent and 36 per cent respectively.

It is not all bad news for your hip pocket, though. The price of tomato sauce and white bread has fallen by 21 per cent and 23 percent.

The ABS says we have earned our day off but should spare a thought for the 526,100 shop assistants who regularly work public holidays – not to mention the 4390 lifeguards and 261,043 nurses.

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