The Hungry Brown Cow burger joint in Holt drops its prices to beat the rising cost of living

The Hungry Brown Cow burger joint in Holt has dropped the price of its gourmet burgers and now you can grab a burger and chips for just $20 - a saving of $4.

Owner Will Cowie recognises everyone is doing it tough.

"A burger and chips shouldn't be a luxury item that people have to go without," he says.

Since he opened the venue in late 2020 he's seen the price of everything go up, from ingredients in the actual burgers, to the cost of cardboard boxes for takeaway and even the coffee.

"I reckon every ingredient we use has probably gone up by about 30 per cent in the past six months but I wanted to do something to buck that trend," he said.

While the burgers haven't changed at all, indeed there are some new burgers on the current menu, he's been clever with cost cutting.

He's replaced the cardboard boxes, which were 68 cents each, with customised paper wraps, which work out to be about 10 cents each; he's made savings too on smaller paper bags; while he's spent more money on oil to fry the chips, it's a better quality oil that doesn't need to be switched out as often; he's talking to his suppliers and negotiating better prices if he's buying in bulk.

He's changed the shop hours too, opening at 11am and not nine and staying open later until 2pm before opening up for dinner again at 5.30pm.

"We're not standing around and making a few coffees in the morning, we're here longer making burgers when it's busy and people want them," he said.

The burgers on their own are $16, a serve of chips is $4. He realises it's a risk, that he needs to make more burgers to keep profits rolling. He only reduced the prices on July 25 and has already seen an increase in sales.

"The community around here has been really supportive since we opened but we're noticing more people coming from outside of Belco too which has been great," he said.

"I reckon we were twice as busy on Tuesday than we have been for a while."

Cowie and his partner Rebecca have recently had a baby boy, Bear, who is now three months old. Cowie recognises that families in particular are doing it tough.

"If you've got a couple of kids and you want to have some takeaway at the end of a busy week you shouldn't have to be forking out more than $100 to feed everyone," he said.

"We do a smaller burger for the kids, it's $16 with chips, and maybe out of that $100 you've got enough left to pop into the IGA and grab a bottle of wine and some beers and make it a bit special."

He's also noticing business through his food van is increasing. He says that's also helped in being able to drop the in-store prices.

You might find him parked around building sites in Giralang or Whitlam doing breakfasts. Or there's a regular gig at the Flynn Community Hub in Bingle Street on Thursday and Friday nights from 5-7pm.

"It makes me feel good that I'm able to do this for the community and my regulars who've been so supportive," he says.

"Everyone is doing it tough and if you can walk in, throw $20 on the counter and walk out with a burger and chips, it's the little wins here and there that can make all the difference."