Who steals hamburger, or mince as they call it down here?

A man and a woman drove off with 100kg of mince from Westmeat meat suppliers in Christchurch after a new staff member loaded it into their car about 3pm on Saturday.

The staff member, in his late 20s, thought the customer had paid for the haul.

The theft was the latest in a string of thefts from Westmeat had suffered recently.

Store manager Hayden Soper said the shop had been targeted by four organised criminals “virtually stealing to order” about four or five times, two months ago. 

The thieves had made off with filet steaks hidden beneath trenchcoats and in suitcases.

But Soper suspected Saturday’s theft was opportunist.

He did not recognise the pair on the CCTV footage. “They didn’t look rough”, he said.