'Local' Produce
Discussion
When you go and buy your foods, and I don't mean the standard 'stock the freezer up for the week' (unless you are a gourmet every day of the week!) but for the special meals, when you make an effort, how much does the knowledge of where the foods/drink etc came from, how it was reared/grown etc matter to you? I'm not talking 'humane treatment' specifically, but knowing the meat for example is from a slow-matured breed.
muppetdave said:
When you go and buy your foods, and I don't mean the standard 'stock the freezer up for the week' (unless you are a gourmet every day of the week!) but for the special meals, when you make an effort, how much does the knowledge of where the foods/drink etc came from, how it was reared/grown etc matter to you? I'm not talking 'humane treatment' specifically, but knowing the meat for example is from a slow-matured breed.
I wouldn't say it mattered to me in the sense of how it was reared etc - but the local stuff I can see and smell is 100x better than the supermarket stuff.We'll buy veg from the farmer's market - but it may not necessarily be organic, but you can see it's better than the supermarket and it tastes it! meat, we're lucky to have a farm with a slaughterhouse and a meat farm shop attached - so you know it's fresh.
Thanks bint. I ask as I've been very steadily working on a still unique business plan since I was at uni some 6/7 years ago (just pleased it's still unique to a large extent). I still believe it has legs, and amongst lots of other ideas I think it has legs.
I've seen the success of the farmer's markets, and I guess some of the benefits of those are inherent to my idea.
I've seen the success of the farmer's markets, and I guess some of the benefits of those are inherent to my idea.
For the special meals, when I'm making an effort, taste and quality are everything. Rare breed / how it was reared / local producer etc are incidental factors that may or may not contribute to the fundementals - flavour, texture and smell.
If anything, it's the everyday stuff where I make the effort to buy local - our local butcher is also a local farmer; I buy bread, pies, cakes from the bakers on the corner (who are a real bakers, they don't just buy stuff in and reheat like many do). The only stuff I tend to buy from supermarkets are the loss leaders, EG own-brand tinned tomatoes etc.
If anything, it's the everyday stuff where I make the effort to buy local - our local butcher is also a local farmer; I buy bread, pies, cakes from the bakers on the corner (who are a real bakers, they don't just buy stuff in and reheat like many do). The only stuff I tend to buy from supermarkets are the loss leaders, EG own-brand tinned tomatoes etc.
Rob-C said:
For the special meals, when I'm making an effort, taste and quality are everything. Rare breed / how it was reared / local producer etc are incidental factors that may or may not contribute to the fundementals - flavour, texture and smell.
If anything, it's the everyday stuff where I make the effort to buy local - our local butcher is also a local farmer; I buy bread, pies, cakes from the bakers on the corner (who are a real bakers, they don't just buy stuff in and reheat like many do). The only stuff I tend to buy from supermarkets are the loss leaders, EG own-brand tinned tomatoes etc.
Spot on. Me too.If anything, it's the everyday stuff where I make the effort to buy local - our local butcher is also a local farmer; I buy bread, pies, cakes from the bakers on the corner (who are a real bakers, they don't just buy stuff in and reheat like many do). The only stuff I tend to buy from supermarkets are the loss leaders, EG own-brand tinned tomatoes etc.
I try and avoid any meat that I don't know is free range and from the UK too - not particularly out of chauvinism but because I don't see why my chicken should come from Vietnam, and I don't believe in animal cruelty. It's hard, and I fail often when I'm not doing the cooking myself (restaurant etc) but I am very successful at home.
That's why I support and take part in rough shooting but abhor organised shoots. Never kill anything for sport alone, or anything you wouldn't eat. But when you do kill something and eat it, it's the nearest you can get to being an honest carnivore.
bint said:
What about lamb from N Zealand though? It may have been shipped miles but you know it's been fed on grass as they have more space to graze out there.
You've got the country that produces the best Lamb in the world on your doorstep, its only got to come over the Severn Bridge.NZ Lamb, pah!
As for the French, if they dont want our lamb, we dont want their letters.
Likewise. My local butcher isn't cheap but his stuff is good quality, and I do buy a lot of the cheaper cuts cos they can taste just as good with a bit of effort.bint said:
What about lamb from N Zealand though? It may have been shipped miles but you know it's been fed on grass as they have more space to graze out there.
What do you think UK sheep are feeding on? I can't think of anything more free-range than all those sheep rambling about all over our moorland farms! In terms of your project, I'd suggest a different view.
Consumers come in many shapes and forms. In terms of your proposition you can grade them:
- Don't care (cost and convenience first)
- Don't care much (broadly happy with supermarket fare)
- Do care about quality
- Serious about quality
(and note, we don't occupy one grade all the time. Sometimes and with some products I want the real McCoy, but on other occasions I don't care)
Your targets are the latter two. "Serious" really do want to know the detail. However I suspect this is a very small market - not to be ignored, but unlikely to be viable on their own. "Care" is likely to be the bigger market.
For the "Cares" I believe the features you describe form part of an umbrella of quality, a series of cues. For example:
- Aberdeen Angus is probably better than non-specific beef.
- Waitrose "Select Farm" milk is probably better than Sainsbury's generic, but not as good as their organic.
- I choose British bacon over Danish, because of the things I've seen and heard.
- I choose wild salmon, or worst case organic.
I can't rationally justify these assertions, but I do use the cues in my purchasing decisions.
So if your project were a premium butchers, I'd use these cues, both to visit your store, and in selecting which meat to buy. Cues would be:
- Labels that say not just "leg of lamb £8/kg", but tell me about the lamb: which farm, which breed, age, etc.
- Cooking ideas: leaflets to take away
- Regular variation of meats and cuts. Offer the regulars, but offer odd cuts to tempt me to try something different.
- An old fashioned master butcher who natters, and tells me the story of his produce (without prompting). That makes me think I'm dealing with an expert who really cares, and hasn't just graduated from McDonalds.
- Take that to the next level, where he knows me by name, and starts actively selling ("Why not try this guinea fowl for something different? Off the estate of Charlie McFarmer. Pot roast it with some shallots, dash of red wine for the sauce, take this leaflet, etc."
, and I'm totally sold.
Whilst I'll admit I'm a bit of a heathen - I can't honestly taste the difference - that approach would tempt me out of the way to try your wares, and would quite rapidly build my loyalty.
Not sure if this is what you want to hear, but hope it helps.
Consumers come in many shapes and forms. In terms of your proposition you can grade them:
- Don't care (cost and convenience first)
- Don't care much (broadly happy with supermarket fare)
- Do care about quality
- Serious about quality
(and note, we don't occupy one grade all the time. Sometimes and with some products I want the real McCoy, but on other occasions I don't care)
Your targets are the latter two. "Serious" really do want to know the detail. However I suspect this is a very small market - not to be ignored, but unlikely to be viable on their own. "Care" is likely to be the bigger market.
For the "Cares" I believe the features you describe form part of an umbrella of quality, a series of cues. For example:
- Aberdeen Angus is probably better than non-specific beef.
- Waitrose "Select Farm" milk is probably better than Sainsbury's generic, but not as good as their organic.
- I choose British bacon over Danish, because of the things I've seen and heard.
- I choose wild salmon, or worst case organic.
I can't rationally justify these assertions, but I do use the cues in my purchasing decisions.
So if your project were a premium butchers, I'd use these cues, both to visit your store, and in selecting which meat to buy. Cues would be:
- Labels that say not just "leg of lamb £8/kg", but tell me about the lamb: which farm, which breed, age, etc.
- Cooking ideas: leaflets to take away
- Regular variation of meats and cuts. Offer the regulars, but offer odd cuts to tempt me to try something different.
- An old fashioned master butcher who natters, and tells me the story of his produce (without prompting). That makes me think I'm dealing with an expert who really cares, and hasn't just graduated from McDonalds.
- Take that to the next level, where he knows me by name, and starts actively selling ("Why not try this guinea fowl for something different? Off the estate of Charlie McFarmer. Pot roast it with some shallots, dash of red wine for the sauce, take this leaflet, etc."
, and I'm totally sold.Whilst I'll admit I'm a bit of a heathen - I can't honestly taste the difference - that approach would tempt me out of the way to try your wares, and would quite rapidly build my loyalty.
Not sure if this is what you want to hear, but hope it helps.
HiRich - spot on really with my thoughts. As you say 'Serious' will probably be the minority - the trick will be to appeal to 'cares' and to educate those who ponder and effectively move them up the 'food chain' gaining buy-in through the later methods you mentioned (i.e. the quality old-fashioned butcher). Really useful answer, I'm glad I'm not alone in my thinking!
I guess in reading some of the responses, I labelled my thread wrongly - should have been 'quality' produce rather than local, as that is the greater emphasis....
I guess in reading some of the responses, I labelled my thread wrongly - should have been 'quality' produce rather than local, as that is the greater emphasis....
Rob-C said:
bint said:
What about lamb from N Zealand though? It may have been shipped miles but you know it's been fed on grass as they have more space to graze out there.
What do you think UK sheep are feeding on? I can't think of anything more free-range than all those sheep rambling about all over our moorland farms! 
But apparently
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