❤ LOVE LOCAL ❤
This leads to slower growth, giving the meat a natural, deep fl avour. The same goes for poultry too, where they haven’t been allowed to stuff themselves they grow at a slower rate, resulting in more depth of fl avour. “It’s the traditional way of doing things, which we feel gives the best product,” Ian says. But the Warrens don’t breed all of the meat on offer themselves. “We pride ourselves on offering a source to market for smaller farmers,” Ian tells me. They have between 120 and 130 local farmers on their database. Some of those may have as few as eight cattle, while others might have 50. They drop in and out throughout the year with the products they have on offer. This means the produce sold is seasonal too. Through spring, summer and autumn they have a lot of Red Devons, while in November and December they have more Galloways on offer. “Galloways live well up on the moors and we like to keep stocking as many outdoor cattle as possible,” Ian tells me. When it comes to pigs a lot of their
farmers are ‘hobby’ farmers because it’s relatively simple to keep pigs on smaller plots of land, “you don’t want pigs roaming across 12 acres”, Ian laughs. All of their pigs are free range but some are more ‘commercial’ than others, in that the Gloucester Old Spot’s stubble and thick skin doesn’t appeal to everybody!
“We pride ourselves on offering a source to market for smaller farmers,”
They work with their farmers to make
sure that each of them gets what they want. After all, Ian’s biggest concern is, “where is my generation of farmers going to be in 15 years time?” He adds: “We want to encourage children coming into farming by paying them the money they need to make it work. In 10 years time I need these guys producing the quality of product they’re producing now.”
It’s an important point and one that, working together as a family, which includes his father Philip, mother Margaret, sister Rhia, wife Karenza and around 60 staff, Warrens are chipping away at. “We’re all heading towards one goal,” says Ian. “We like to think of ourselves as the link between our local farmers and the restaurants and customers.”
Local customers are very important to
Warrens. “We are very lucky to have such great customers,” Ian says, adding, “you couldn’t pick up what we’ve got here and replicate it anywhere else.” This is a family run business that is as passionate about the quality of their product as they are about supporting their local farming community and providing top-notch customer service. What’s next for Warrens? Online shopping is an area they would like to grow, particularly for holidaymakers who sample their meats when they are in the area. “Like a lot of things, it’s down to trust,” Ian says. We certainly know a butcher we would trust…
FOODLOVERMAGAZINE.COM | 47
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60