A HUSBAND-and-wife team has expanded their butchery business to a new site on the same farm with a kitchen, takeaway coffee and food and an outdoor seating area.
Mike and Sarah Alexander have re-launched The Farmers Butcher at Swallowfields Farm in Bramshaw with a new shop at the front of the farm.
The development opportunity was encouraged by the farm owners who suggested the couple build a bigger building closer to the road and with outside seating.
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Co-owner of The Farmers Butcher, Mrs Alexander, said: “Our old butcher’s shop was lovely, but small. We were also right next to the farmhouse at the back, and the butchery does sometimes get stupidly busy, despite not being easily accessible from the road.
“The new place is beautiful and we hope it will be a destination shopping experience. People can come and shop, grab a takeaway coffee and sit outside.
“We continue to be, first and foremost, a butcher with a ready-to-cook range, however we will be able to offer a wider selection of local produce, including beers and ciders. We are primarily a farmers’ butcher with some lovely local food and drink on the side - not a farm shop with a butcher’s counter.
“Our priority is local and if it isn’t local there is a damn good reason! For example our meat sauces come from Ludlow because we weren’t able to source them locally, and Creedy Carver free range duck comes from Devon, because it is known to be the best.”
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The new shop includes an on-site kitchen where they will produce their recently launched ready-to-cook range, along with fresh bread, local cakes, display cabinets with ready-to-go hot food, such as homemade sausage rolls and pies and coffee to takeaway or enjoy outside.
The Farmers Butcher specialises in quality, local meats such as pork from the Commoners Larder, chicken from Noah’s Ark, lamb from Parsonage Farm, and beef from Hampshire and Wiltshire farms. Mike and Sarah are aware of customers’ interest in provenance, low miles and sustainability, therefore the Farmers Butcher has a chalkboard listing each farmer’s name alongside the meats and poultry available.
The shop, in Blackhill Road near West Wellow, re-opened on Wednesday, March 6, following a temporary closure while the team made the finishing touches to the new space. For more information go to thefarmersbutcher.co.uk/.
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