Mary Portas Does Not Horse Around

I have always loved Mary Portas for her devotion to the British high street's independent shops and no-nonsense attitude when it comes to giving business advice, so it was great to see her recent article in the Telegraph reviewing The Ginger Pig butchers shop in London. Not only does Mary give the shop the recognition it deserves, she makes some brilliant observations regarding the traditional quality butcher in general. 

Unsurprisingly, the high street guru sees the horse meat scandal as a great opportunity for Britain's butchers... Yet she also states how important it is for butchers to "play your trump card" and really step up to show consumers what they have to offer. What is wonderful is that Mary notices that the supermarkets aren't always cheaper than traditional butchers although glitzy offers may make it seem so, and that any extra expense one might pay is more than worth it for the experience offered... 

"I am not saying that traditional butchers are always cheaper, but it is certainly true that we must get out of the mindset that prepackaged, mass produced meat is much less expensive [...] What you would certainly miss out on is a fabulous butcher who went out of his way [...] An experience like this is priceless." Mary Portas 

We strive to offer a service that supermarkets simply cannot match and in a time when supermarket is domination is threatening our high streets, I hope not only butchers but all independent retailers will take Mary's advice to really take such opportunities to show the British public the wonderful alternative services they have to offer. Read the full article here. 

"If We Say It's Beef It's Beef"

The horse meat scandal has seen butcher's chalkboards across the UK sing out loud with every horse meat pun imaginable. Aside from boosting trade, we of course want to reassure our customers of the full traceability of all our meat to high welfare farms, just as our suppliers have wanted to reassure us. We are very lucky to have trust-worthy suppliers who care about the provenance and welfare of our meat, just as we are lucky to have customers with similar cares that trust us.
Yet as I think about the whole affair, the scandal raises bigger questions and issues. While for those in the trade the main scandal has been the unlicensed sale of untraceable, uncertified-edible meat it seems that for the general public it is the utter shock that they have been eating a horse, an animal they imagined they could not and would never eat. While I have no desire to eat horse meat myself, this troubles me. Does a cow or pig have less rights to not be eaten than a horse? I have spent my whole life involved in the traditional meat trade through my family, and with knowledge of the industry I feel able to make an informed decision to eat meat.
I count myself lucky... When meat is processed into different shapes and packaged in bright plastic wrappers with a picture of a ready-made meal on the front, how are people able to make that decision? When the connection between food and animal is removed, any interest in the production of that food is inevitably lost. The solution? Acknowledgement of the fact we are using animals for meat is crucial... If this makes a few more vegetarians in the world then at least the meat eaters that are left are informed meat eaters. From there we can then seek knowledge of where our meat comes from. Hopefully this will enable consumers to buy meat depending on its welfare, provenance and quality and put an end to the illegitimate and harmful trading the UK has experienced.