SCOTTISH butcher, Simon Howie, is inviting customers to join in National Butchers’ Week celebrations with a selection of special offers in its Auchterarder and Perth shops on Saturday 19 March.
National Butchers’ Week, which runs from 13-20 March, aims to encourage consumers to consider the local butcher as their first port of call for all of their meat purchases and to use the butcher’s in-depth knowledge on everything from cooking times, to cuts and menu suggestions to improve their own understanding and expand their repertoire of meats and dishes.
The week seeks to encourage customers to experience the level of personal service and advice that can only be had from their independent butcher.
One of the aims of the week is to raise the profile of butchers as beacons of excellence for all things meat and as a potential career to young people.
Simon Howie said: “Rather than selling a commodity like a newspaper, butchers can make a real point of difference to customers through their display, how they hang their meat, by communicating the provenance of the product and advising on particular meats and providing various cooking tips.
“It is this interaction that butchers have with their customers that distinguishes them from commodity retailers.
“There is a considerable segment of the meat-buying public that will always choose to shop in an independent retail butcher’s outlet rather than a supermarket because of the personal service they receive.”
He continued: “When I was an apprentice, 25 years ago, Perth had 20 butcher shops: now there are three,” he said. “Whilst the population of Perth has grown over that period from 55,000 to 65,000, the number of independent butchers in the town has dropped by 80 per cent.
“There is presently an excellent opportunity for retailers to open and operate as independent butchers, but they are being thwarted from doing so because the trade is not perceived as a sexy industry and youngsters appear to be more interested in sitting behind desks rather than getting their hands dirty.”
Simon Howie Foods started out with a small village butcher’s in 1986. The Perthshire-based business services some of the prestigious hotels and restaurants in Scotland in addition to supplying all of the UK’s leading supermarkets, including Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Tesco and ASDA.
In addition to winning the title of UK Butcher’s Shop of the Year in 2006, and the Scottish title in 2009, Simon Howie was named Entrepreneur of the Year in 2008 by the Entrepreneurial Exchange.
ENDS
For further information please contact Simon Howie on tel 01764 684332
Issued on behalf of Simon Howie by Liquorice Media tel 0141 568 4018 www.liquorice-media.com
Date 10th March 2011
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