As a butcher I am constantly working around fridges and aware of the dangers of letting meat get too warm, especially chicken & pork products. I am always making my butchery staff aware of managing the amount of meat they have to work with at any one time. Keeping things cool so the product will not deteriorate is a second nature to me. At home, I am just the same when it comes to meat, nevertheless, I can understand why some people would forget what butchers take for granted; and that is the temperature of your fridge and the temperature of the meat you buy.

Before the spawn of central heating, those that can remember would have particularly noticed the fridge freezing up with the approach of winter and the milk going off during the onset of summer. We would then automatically turn our fridges up or down; however,today with many of us having longer lasting products such as milk, we tend to leave our fridges on the winter settings all year round. One could argue that in the summer the central heating is not turned on so it would balance out! This is not the case and you should always turn your fridge up in the summer (say number 4-5) and down in the winter (3-4); you should always base any meats at the bottom shelves of the fridge. Butchers fridges are industrial yet we still have to call in the engineer as summer creeps in.

You have to remember that every time you open the fridge door warm air rushes in and it takes on average 2 hours to re-adjust to the right temperature; So plan your fridge trips more carefully.

After your shopping trip to the butcher, another good tip is to place your meats in the freezer for about an hour, before putting it in the fridge, as this will help the meat chill down and extend the life of the product. Much of my advice may be common sense but we all live busy lives and forget the simple things. So please take my advice and avoid waste and those nasty tummy bugs.

An idependant butchers life can be a tough one as you have to carry out every role in your business. For instance, you have to be the marketing manager, general management, complete orders, organize staff, manage the health of the business, create product lists, carry out staff training and so on; the list of tasks is endless. Many of us also work with our family; brothers, wives, daughters, nieces, nephews and so on. Family working together can be brilliant when it works but a nightmare to manage when it doesn’t.

Therefore, to be a member of the ‘Q-Guild of butchers’ is really helpful as you can meet people who will try to help you solve your problems or overcome your obstacles through sharing of methods & ideas and offering good advice. I have mentioned before in my blog the ‘Q-Guild of Butchers’ is an organisation of the best UK independent butchers. Recently, with the help of the Q-Guild, we were able to source a more sustainable product.

I am proud to say that Chadwick’s are a Q-Guild butchers as very few butchers in the UK have such an honor. We are all excited for the future of the Q-Guild of butchers as we are currently deciding new strategies to make consumers aware of our presence. We want more and more people to understand what values the ‘Q-Guild of butchers’ embraces and who we are.

As a member of the Q Guild of butchers I believe it is my duty to explain; who they are? as most of you will not have even heard of them.

Throughout the UK there are probably 200-300 quality butchers that provide the standards of quality and service to the public that Chadwick’s applies. The very best of those butchers are awarded the ‘Q Guild of butchers award’. The Q guild consists of approximately 140 of the UK’s very best butchers. Only the very best will be admitted as a member and you have to pass a rigourous audit to be accepted.

Q guild members meet on regular occasions throughout the year, and share the best of our ideas we believe will help improve all areas of our business from customer service, range of products, quality and profitability.

Farmers & producers are also be accepted into the Q Guild providing they have philosophies and practices that meet with our very high standards.

The Q Guild of butchers is over a 100 years old and the knowledge of the trade and skills that are shared by its members are far beyond anything the supermarkets can offer or have in their butchery skills locker. We have experts of all types such as bacon makers, sausage makers, pie makers, ready meals and so on and so on.

I recently heard that one supermarket has put sausage machines in all their stores just for show; this is so the public subliminally thinks they make their own sausages. Nice when you can afford to do that; the machines are £2-3000. If only Q guild butchers had that sort of money to waste!

Q guild members may not have the financial clout of the supermarkets but we do provide a quality way above that of the supermarkets and you will always recieve a friendly smile and a helpful style with lots of product knowledge on offer from our staff.

As one of Britains best butchers, I am always on the look out for new exciting farmers that can supply us with new local products. So I was particularly interested when Derek from Stream farm made an opportune visit to us and explained his offer.
Stream farm have a herd of 250 Organically grown Dexter beef cattle that are renown for the marbling and flavour of the meat. A large herd of organically grown lamb that have a good layer of fat which keeps the meat tender even when cooked pink. Organic rare breed pigs that are reared in an orchard and left to root outside and have a varied natural diet. Organic gold chickens with well developed legs & breasts that have been grown at a natural wieght in natural surroundings for the breed.
I have placed my order with the Farmer and have my first body of Dexter beef hanging for delivery in a fortnight (I am getting really hungry now!). I have a chicken to taste over the weekend from the farm; so I am very exited about my Sunday lunch.
On top of all this he has an organic apple juice, spring water and Rainbow trout from their hatching stream. Yum, yum. I hope you are as exited as I am. Watch this space I will let you know the results.

Chadwicks Butchers featured in this months Meat Management Magazine with 3 full pages, so when you have 5 minutes, grab a coffee and have a good read.

At Chadwick’s we can guarantee the traceability of our beef as we have a direct relationship with our farmers and buy direct from the farm. Childhay organics in Dorset, is one of our farms and deliver most of our organic meat.

The family have farmed for 4 generations and is now run by father and son team Tim & Will; whilst in the office, Lucy and Kate run the administrative side of things and Kevin delivers the meat to our store.

All the animals are grown in the area local to Childhay especially for Chadwick’s; such as beautiful Organic Rose Veal, Organic beef, Organic lamb, Organic pork & Organic chicken. We have worked with Childhay for 10 years or more and trust their product.

Childhay always provide the passport certificates for all the animals they deliver to us and we use the passport numbers on our counter & service tickets so you can be sure you can trace the beef you buy back to it’s origin.

Another farm we have a special relationship with is Blackwell farm in Coggleshall in Essex. The farm is run by father & son team Howard & George. They provide us with premium rare breed beef, salt marsh lamb and free range & rare breed pork such as gloucester old spot. Again, all the animals are farmed in the local area especially for Chadwick’s

Chadwick’s are renown for the quality of our quality of product, service and our range of product. The ‘horse burger’ scandal has highlighted just how important it is to know where your food comes from and at Chadwick you can be absolutely sure it’s beef and it is British.