We have deliveries coming up on the 22nd and 29th December to keep you stocked up with quality local meat for the festive season. We’re even extending our deliveries this coming week, going all the way down to Braemore, and out to the end of Lochside.
We usually operate fortnightly in the winter, to keep delivery costs down at a time of year when our delivery volumes are lower, but we always try to put an extra delivery in around Christmas and New Year, because we know that there’s often extra bodies to feed, there’s a lot to organise, and sometimes things get left until the last minute!
I spoke to a relatively new customer recently and they were surprised to learn that we weren’t shutting down over the festive period or, indeed, over the whole winter. I was surprised in return that they thought that!
We’re serious about being a reliable, permanent supplier of quality, ethical, affordable and delicious meat and this means being there for you, year-round. We know that not everyone has a freezer big enough to store their year’s meat needs, and that some people have to spread their spend out across the year… and that many people like to shop on the spur of the moment. Mostly… we know that people need to buy meat all year round.
The seasons here make it much easier to just provide meat in the autumn – raising pigs can be much easier and cheaper over the summer, rather than in the cold and wet of the winter where they are using extra energy to keep warm. Sheep and cattle are at their fattest (or young stock have reached a good size) in the autumn, and it’s always nice to send some stock away before the winter, when the grazings are poor and we’re having to buy additional feed to keep things sustained over the winter months.
But where are people supposed to get local meat between January and August?
So… we’re gradually learning how to operate a year-round supply of pork (the easiest and quickest to produce), mutton (a little bit of tweaking needed to get more consistent fatness!), beef (quite hard actually… but we’re working on it) and venison (this is limited by an imposed “season” for stalking).
We’re learning a lot about the seasonality of our products, and we hope you’ll come with us on this journey – lean mutton in spring and fatter mutton in autumn, stags in late summer and hinds in the winter… and we’re also learning about your seasonal preferences. We’ve started butchering for more roasting joints and slow cooking options in the winter, with more quick-cooking, grill-type options in the summer. Hopefully we’re getting better at having what you’re looking for, when you’re looking for it. And as always – if you have any special requests, please get in touch and we’ll do our best to meet them. We love to get new ideas about what people want.
We really appreciate you supporting our local businesses, and in return we want to support you – to shop local, all year round!
