Mad Butcher
Mad Butcher is a privately held New Zealand meat retail franchise chain founded in 1971, operating 18+ stores across the North and South Islands. It sells fresh meat, small goods, and curated Meat Boxes to Kiwi households via in-store retail and a WooCommerce-powered e-commerce channel offering Click & Collect and Home Delivery.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1971
- HeadquartersChristchurch, New Zealand
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Mad Butcher does
Mad Butcher is a New Zealand meat retail chain founded in 1971 by Sir Peter Leitch, operating 18+ brick-and-mortar store locations across the Upper North Island (8 stores), Lower North Island (8 stores), and South Island (2 stores), headquartered at Level 1, 125 The Strand, Parnell, Auckland. The company sells fresh meat (beef, chicken, pork, lamb), small goods (sausages, bacon, ham, frankfurters under brands such as Hellers and Top Hat), and curated Meat Box bundles to New Zealand household consumers, with a smaller community fundraising and corporate gifting channel. The business operates as a franchise model — individual stores such as Riccarton are run by separate entities (e.g., DAK Enterprises Limited) — while the corporate entity, Mad Butcher Holdings Limited, coordinates brand, supply, and digital infrastructure.
Revenue is generated entirely through retail product sales at per-kilogram or per-unit pricing, supplemented by weekly promotional specials. The technology stack is intentionally lean: a WooCommerce-powered e-commerce storefront enables Click & Collect from local stores and Home Delivery (with same-day delivery in Christchurch and Rolleston via the Riccarton store, and next-day delivery to out-of-town postcodes). Payment processing is handled by Visa, Mastercard, Zip, and Afterpay, with a 1.8% card surcharge applied across transactions. Customer engagement is driven by 'The Butcher's Block' weekly email newsletter (store-personalized), Facebook and Instagram social channels, and a Recipes & Tips content hub on the website.
The go-to-market motion is direct-to-consumer via the physical store network augmented by a lightweight e-commerce layer. Products are partly sourced internationally (Australia, USA, Germany, Poland, China) alongside domestic supply. The company is privately held with no disclosed institutional investment, no funding rounds, and no M&A activity in the source material. There are no AI/ML capabilities, patents, certifications, or third-party awards referenced. The competitive positioning rests on a 50+ year-old heritage brand and a broad physical footprint across New Zealand's islands.
Mad Butcher firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Mad Butcher
- Legal name
- Mad Butcher Holdings Limited
- Website
- https://madbutcher.co.nz
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1971
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Mad Butcher is a privately held New Zealand meat retail franchise chain founded in 1971, operating 18+ stores across the North and South Islands. It sells fresh meat, small goods, and curated Meat Boxes to Kiwi households via in-store retail and a WooCommerce-powered e-commerce channel offering Click & Collect and Home Delivery.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Mad Butcher industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Meat Retail / Butcher Shop
- NAICS
- Meat Retailers (44524), Meat Retailers (445240)
- SIC
- Sausages & Other Prepared Meat Products (2013)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Butcher Shops & Meat Markets (CRAHAHAB)
Keywords
Where Mad Butcher is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Christchurch
- HQ country
- New Zealand
- HQ region
- Oceania
Offices18 records
Markets served
Mad Butcher business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Retail Meat Sales: Mad Butcher generates revenue through direct retail sales of fresh and frozen meat products, poultry, lamb, pork, and smallgoods at physical store locations across New Zealand. Products are priced per unit or per kilogram.
- E-commerce Sales with Delivery: Online sales through the WooCommerce-powered website with Click & Collect and Home Delivery options. Customers order online and either pickup from local stores or receive home delivery within designated delivery areas.
- Corporate/Bulk Orders: Bulk or corporate orders for events and gifting, packed into boxes with optional individual packaging for client gifts.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Retail meat products sold per kg or per unit |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Meat box bundles for weekly/meal planning |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels4 records
Mad Butcher product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Mad Butcher is a New Zealand retail butcher chain that sells fresh and frozen meat products (beef, chicken, pork, lamb), small goods (sausages, bacon, ham), and curated meat box bundles through a network of 18+ physical stores across the North and South Islands. The chain supplements its brick-and-mortar retail with an online store offering Click & Collect and Home Delivery within designated postcode areas. Revenue is generated primarily through direct retail meat sales priced per kilogram or per unit, with weekly promotional specials and community fundraising sausage orders as secondary lines.
Product overview
Mad Butcher is a New Zealand meat retail chain founded in 1971, operating as a franchise network of butcher shops. The core offering consists of fresh meat products (beef, chicken, pork, and lamb) sold alongside small goods (sausages, bacon, and processed meats). The company operates an e-commerce platform powered by WooCommerce that enables customers to purchase products online for Click & Collect at local stores or Home Delivery. Additional offerings include curated Meat Boxes at promotional prices and a Recipe & Tips content section. The product portfolio spans multiple protein categories and includes various cuts, from premium steaks to everyday essentials like mince and drumsticks.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Fresh Meat Products Fresh meat products including beef, chicken, pork, and lamb sold at retail locations and online. Products include various cuts such as steaks, mince, drumsticks, chops, and whole birds, targeted at New Zealand households for everyday meals and special occasions.
- Small Goods Processed meat products including sausages, bacon, ham, frankfurters, saveloys, and cocktail sausages from brands such as Hellers and Top Hat, sold at Mad Butcher stores and online.
- Meat Boxes Pre-packaged meat box bundles offering curated selections of meat products at bundled prices for weekly meal planning. Examples include the $70 Meat for the Week box containing beef stir-fry, steak mince, pork loin steaks, lamb sausages, chicken drums, and diced chicken.
- Click & Collect Online ordering service allowing customers to purchase meat products through the Mad Butcher website and collect orders at their preferred local store location.
- Home Delivery Delivery service bringing meat products directly to customer addresses within designated postcode areas. Available Canterbury-wide for Riccarton store, with next-day delivery for out-of-town areas and same-day delivery for Christchurch and Rolleston.
Companies that use Mad Butcher
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Mad Butcher technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Mad Butcher partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- WooCommercecoreWooCommerce provides the e-commerce platform powering Mad Butcher's online store, enabling product listings, online ordering, payment processing, and inventory management for the retail chain.
- MTG MediaminorImage copyright holder for website content on madbutcher.co.nz. All images on the website are protected by copyright owned by MTG Media.
- IstockminorImage copyright holder contributing to website visual content. All images are protected by copyright owned by Istock.
- VisaminorPayment processing partner accepting Visa credit and debit card payments. A 1.8% surcharge applies to all card payments.
- MastercardminorPayment processing partner accepting Mastercard credit and debit card payments. A 1.8% surcharge applies to all card payments.
- ZipminorBuy now, pay later payment option offered at checkout for customer convenience.
- AfterpayminorBuy now, pay later payment option offered at checkout for customer convenience.
Scale indicators2 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Mad Butcher competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- HelloFresh New Zealand: Global meal-kit operator with an established New Zealand presence. Competes with Mad Butcher for weekly meal-planning shoppers via curated ingredient boxes with recipe content, mirroring Mad Butcher's meat box + recipe content strategy from a tech-led angle.
- My Food Bag: New Zealand's leading meal-kit delivery service. Competes with Mad Butcher for the same household 'what's for dinner' occasion, but via subscription recipe boxes rather than loose fresh cuts, and represents the digital-first adjacency Mad Butcher's e-commerce push targets.
- Neat Meat: New Zealand online butcher delivering curated meat boxes direct to consumers. Direct competitor to Mad Butcher's Click & Collect and home delivery proposition, especially for the meat-box/weekly-meal occasion, though without Mad Butcher's physical store footprint.
Broad incumbents
- Pak'nSave: New Zealand's discount supermarket banner, operated by Foodstuffs. Directly competes with Mad Butcher on price-sensitive fresh and frozen meat purchases, leveraging national scale and aggressive low-price positioning.
- New World: One of New Zealand's largest supermarket chains operated by Foodstuffs, with full-service meat counters. Competes with Mad Butcher on fresh meat, pricing and weekly specials, but from a much broader grocery portfolio and stronger scale.
- Countdown (Woolworths New Zealand): Major NZ supermarket chain owned by Woolworths Group with extensive meat counters and an online grocery platform. Overlaps with Mad Butcher in fresh meat, smallgoods and home delivery, competing from a much larger grocery and digital infrastructure base.
- Four Square: NZ convenience/small-format supermarket banner operated by Foodstuffs, often in regional towns where Mad Butcher also has stores. Competes on everyday fresh and frozen meat baskets for local household shoppers.
Others
- Top Hat: New Zealand smallgoods brand whose processed meat products are stocked at Mad Butcher. Functions as a branded supplier within the same meat category rather than a competing retailer.
- Hellers: Iconic New Zealand smallgoods and processed-meat brand whose bacon, sausages and ham products are sold through Mad Butcher stores. Comparable as a supplier-side participant in the same NZ fresh-meat value chain, not a direct retail competitor.
Direct peers
- Wilson's Butchery: A long-running New Zealand independent butcher chain with multiple store locations across the country. Direct peer to Mad Butcher given the same specialty meat retail format, fresh-cut product mix, and physical store-led distribution within NZ.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat2 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Mad Butcher social profiles
Digital presenceMad Butcher financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Mad Butcher leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Mad Butcher subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Mad Butcher funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Mad Butcher M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Mad Butcher
What does Mad Butcher do?
Mad Butcher is a New Zealand retail butcher chain that sells fresh and frozen meat products (beef, chicken, pork, lamb), small goods (sausages, bacon, ham), and curated meat box bundles through a network of 18+ physical stores across the North and South Islands. The chain supplements its brick-and-mortar retail with an online store offering Click & Collect and Home Delivery within designated postcode areas. Revenue is generated primarily through direct retail meat sales priced per kilogram or per unit, with weekly promotional specials and community fundraising sausage orders as secondary lines.
Is Mad Butcher a public or private company?
Mad Butcher is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Mad Butcher founded?
Mad Butcher was founded in 1971. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Mad Butcher based?
Mad Butcher is headquartered in Christchurch, New Zealand, in the Oceania region.
How does Mad Butcher make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Retail Meat Sales are the primary driver. The others are E-commerce Sales with Delivery and corporate/Bulk Orders.
Who are Mad Butcher's main competitors?
Emerging players on record are HelloFresh New Zealand, My Food Bag and Neat Meat. Broad incumbents are Pak'nSave, New World, Countdown (Woolworths New Zealand) and Four Square. Others are Top Hat and Hellers. Wilson's Butchery is listed as a direct peer.
Does Mad Butcher have an API?
No public API is recorded for Mad Butcher.
What industry is Mad Butcher in?
Mad Butcher's product category is Meat Retail / Butcher Shop. Its primary akta.pro industry code is CRAHAHAB, Butcher Shops & Meat Markets. Its NAICS code is 44524 and its SIC code is 2013.