Within 20 hours of the government announcing stage one restrictions on social gatherings due to the Coronavirus pandemic, Smo-KING barbeque instantly lost 60 per cent of their bookings for 2020.
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As tighter restrictions were rolled out, the local catering business had to cancel 100 per cent of bookings but instead of retreating Sigourney and Darren Keyte decided to re-create their vision and rise to the challenge.
As previous owners of Inverell's Wade Street Meats, qualified butcher Darren and Sigourney are no strangers to innovation as they dove into the world of catering to stay afloat when cattle prices went through the roof in 2015.
"Through the butcher shop, we started catering. Initiated at the markets, we'd go down on Sunday and cook steak sandwiches which helped pay wages and cover costs at the shop. When cattle prices kicked, our business halved," she said.
It wasn't long before word of mouth spread about the delicious feasts the team were serving out at the markets when people started asking if they'd cater for larger events, such as weddings.
What started with a horse float and barbeque, lead to them heading to Meatstock in Sydney- a festival promoting the art of butchering.
The American concept of barbeque wars, low and slow wood-smoked meats, was one of the many events at the festival and it appealed to the Keyte's who decided to take a gamble and start their own in Inverell.
"It was a big gamble, we had no work for it. It was something we had to pull off and make work. We had a seller for the butcher shop, so we sold and we were already spending a lot of time on catering," Sigourney said.
Smo-KING barbeque was in hot demand before Coronavirus hit Australia. The local business was almost fully booked out for the year. The big question the two were facing, and still face, was how do we survive?
"We're not the kind of people who feel sorry for ourselves but we were worried about how we were going to generate enough to cover expenses that don't stop. The next thought was, how can we reschedule and fit in everyone we've already committed to when things are all good again?," she said.
At the same time, a delivery of meat arrived for a wedding who'd already paid their invoice but had to cancel. With a cold room stocked with cuts, they decided to offer delivery meat packs to their Facebook community.
The packs ranged from dinner meals for two right up to large cooked pieces to serve a family. Orders were placed from Inverell, Glen Innes, Guyra, Armidale, Tamworth, Somerton, Gunnedah, Narrabri, Moree and Grafton.
"1085 is the number of kilometres we did combined to get orders out."
Like many other small businesses, Smo-KING barbeque is relying on heavy community support to get through this time of uncertainty.
Their next round of home deliveries is scheduled for April 10 and 11. If you would like amazing cuts of meat, or a night off cooking, head to their Facebook page to place your order.
"We're not begging, but we kind of are. We just want to know the support is there. For us it's been let's feel what we feel, take a deep breath and work out another avenue of how to get through this."
Home deliveries to the wider region is their answer.
"It's a scary time for everyone. Being a small business, you can get stuck in your ways, but that won't get you through anything. You have to evolved to meet your market and at the moment the market can't leave their homes, so you have to go to them," she said.
