Gordon King of Scottish Craft Butchers (SCB) outlines the key dates in the calendar for butchers north of the border.
There is no doubt that there have been grey clouds surrounding businesses over the last few years. Energy, supplier and labour cost increases have made many feel that they are enduring a long winter of uncertainty and a feeling of “what next?” However, at the end of every winter there are always some signs of spring sunshine. The opportunities for businesses to highlight their very best products, service and exceptional innovation are all there for craft butchers.
Scottish Craft Butchers and our colleagues at National Craft Butchers have been delighted with the response to National Black Pudding Day. It was an opportunity to celebrate one of the most iconic craft butcher’s products available - now elevated to the lofty heights of “super food”. SCB will begin the search for the Scottish Champion Black Pudding soon, with the evaluation of entries on 3rd May in Stirling.
”As we move forward into 2024, our members will have many other opportunities to promote their products and business innovations.”
We will also hold evaluations for Beef Links and Home Cured Bacon products. Entering nationally recognised product competitions, such as those organised by your trade association or those presented at the Meat Management Industry Awards, gives the chance to receive exposure of the highest quality products and innovative ideas in your business. Of course, it is always great fun to attend the awards ceremony too!
Scottish Craft Butchers are also delighted to be part of a great board, representative of the industry, to select the GB-UK lions butchery squad. The chosen team will compete at the World Butchers’ Challenge event held in Paris in March 2025. I must say that the positive collaboration from everyone on the board has been exceptional, with a strong desire to send a winning team over to France.
As the trade association for the independent retail butchers in Scotland, we have also been delighted to welcome several new members to the fold. More businesses are recognising that it is important to have someone to contact with any question or query, especially when dealing with the many challenging situations that may arise.
As we move forward into 2024, our members will have many other opportunities to promote their products and business innovations with the upcoming evaluations for Lorne Sausage and ‘Make it with Pork’; the first being another Scottish iconic product, only just surpassed by haggis in popularity. The second of these initiatives, the ‘Make it with Pork’ evaluation, is geared up to give our members something to share with industry stakeholders and customers as we head into the ‘Porktober’ celebration once again this year. Now in its 3rd year, it has been heartening to see ‘Porktober’ being celebrated UK-wide, with more stakeholders appreciating the chance to recognise and reward locally sourced pork.
As the spotlight shines on a number of our initiatives, we look forward to sharing the successes of another summer for our fantastic trade.
