The Club with the World’s Biggest Meat Raffles

Grafton District Services Club gives away hundreds — and sometimes more than 1100 — trays in just one night.

“We’re averaging probably 560 a week,” says General Manager Michael Sear.

On peak weeks, the numbers are extraordinary.

“One week we had 1500 prizes — 1100 meat trays, 250 hams and about 150 vouchers — and that was on a Friday night,” he says.

At its busiest, the Club has given away more than 1100 meat trays in a single evening across four consecutive Fridays. Michael believes that, on a consistent weekly basis, the raffle would rival almost any in the country.

“For meat raffles on a consistent basis each week, I’d reckon we’d be up there for Australia,” he says.

Unlike one-off promotional events, the Grafton raffle is a long-standing tradition that has grown organically over many years. 

It is now a major weekly operation, producing an estimated 20,000 meat trays last year alone — primarily for the Club.

The trays are prepared through a local butcher shop, with qualified butchers employed to service both the Club’s kitchen and raffle operations.

"We own the butcher shop down the road, so that lets us keep the costs down and provides more jobs for the community," says Michael. 

While some base product is sourced from Sydney, all trays are cut, prepared and packed locally, providing consistent employment and supporting the regional economy.

Michael says the raffle has evolved significantly over time, particularly following COVID, when systems were reviewed and upgraded.

“We had to make sure everything was ticked around food safety and food planning,” he says.

As the raffle grew, the Club invested in large fridges, improved compliance processes and implemented more structured systems to ensure operations kept pace with demand.

“We’ve got it fairly right now,” he says.

Despite its size, the raffle has never been heavily promoted outside the local community.

“It’s just one of those things that we’ve always done,” Michael says.

For many visitors, however, the scale is unforgettable.

“People come in and they’ve never seen anything like it before.”