Meat Quality of William Rose

[Be blessed]

Believe in supporting local shops and supporting British farming, I regularly shopped in WR. Not long ago, I bought a pack of smoked bacon from WR which were still in the original sealed packaging as I needed to bring them out of the country. I specifically asked where the meat was sourced from and was ensured it was British. Got home and had a closer look with my glasses on, it turned out the meat was Danish but was smoked in Scotland!!!

I have never returned to WR as I can no longer trust the shop. Am I truly paying a premium for British meat and supporting British Farming? How much can we trust our local butchers?

[Alan Medic]

British or Danish, I'm sure the pig didn't care when s/he was slaughtered.

[Sally Eva]

I think you can put a Produce of Britain mark on anything (legally) if it is packaged here. Obviously that shouldn't be enough to justify any raised price tag.

Other butchers will be able to tell you where their meat comes from. The meat is marked if it comes from, say, New Zealand. You can buy seasonally and sustainably by buying Welsh lamb anywhere.

Are you concerned to support British farms, humane meat-raising; or sustainability? I think it's pork which, if raised in the UK, is almost unsellably expensive because of the requirements to raise pigs humanely. Other meats not so much (I'm getting vague here).

Eat less meat -- is the other suggestion for a green, sustainable planet

Be blessed Wrote:

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> Believe in supporting local shops and supporting

> British farming, I regularly shopped in WR. Not

> long ago, I bought a pack of smoked bacon from WR

> which were still in the original sealed packaging

> as I needed to bring them out of the country. I

> specifically asked where the meat was sourced from

> and was ensured it was British. Got home and had

> a closer look with my glasses on, it turned out

> the meat was Danish but was smoked in Scotland!!!

>

> I have never returned to WR as I can no longer

> trust the shop. Am I truly paying a premium for

> British meat and supporting British Farming? How

> much can we trust our local butchers?

[Peckhamrye]

There are different husbandry laws in the UK and Denmark, marginally better here, so British pork and bacon costs more because our pigs have a happier life.

[mynamehere]

What you are pointing out is not quality but truth in advertising and a very very common problem in this world of parts and labour from multiple places here is an amazing video zoom in to the country of your choice

http://www.visualcapitalist.com/interactive-mapping-flow-international-trade/

[Peckhamrye]

But back to William Rose that is really bad practice - there are a handful of good independent butchers in the area, the bacon at Flock and Herd in Bellenden Road, Peckham is most assuredly English raised and cured.

[Jules-and-Boo]

Where meat comes from, how the animal lived and by which standards makes a big difference - I think it's really poor of them to do that.

[NewWave]

We buy all our meat at the butchery opposite Sainsburys on London Road.

Excellent quality meat.

and really good knowledgable staff.

highly recommended and they sell great booze and condiments and spices too.

[ken78]

i use this butchers now.

[Sue]

NewWave Wrote:

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> We buy all our meat at the butchery opposite

> Sainsburys on London Road.

> Excellent quality meat.

> and really good knowledgable staff.

> highly recommended and they sell great booze and

> condiments and spices too.

Which Sainsbury's is that? Forest Hill?

[Jah Lush]

Yes Sue. It is. It's called The Butchery. And very good they are too.

http://thebutcheryltd.com/index.html

[dbboy]

And are extremely expensive.

[Sue]

Jah Lush Wrote:

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> Yes Sue. It is. It's called The Butchery. And very

> good they are too.

>

> http://thebutcheryltd.com/index.html

It does look very good. I rarely eat meat at home, but I'd go here rather than William Rose if I did, because I'm not happy at the way William Rose have big signs saying free range, organic etc but not all their meat actually is.

[Jeremy]

Never had a problem at WR, the meat always seemed good to me (and most things reasonably priced), but these days Flock & Herd is our local butcher. Expensive, but their meat is fantastic... especially the beef.

[Whittler]

"And are extremely expensive."

I disagree.

It depends on whether you value quality or not.... it is not expensive if you consider how the meat is sourced, prepared and retailed and the care and attention with which all of this is all done.

http://thebutcheryltd.com/index.html

Nathan and Ruth (and their fantastic team) will be able to tell you exactly where their meat is from, what breed it is and if necessary, how to cook each cut and as they are 'whole carcass' butchers (meaning that they buy and butcher every single bit of the animal) it's perfectly possible to get cheaper and more economical cuts from them, as i often do, for stewing and slow cooking etc...something you generally can't get from cheaper butchers/supermarkets.

Wouldn't get my meat form anywhere else, personally, and i'm a butchers daughter!

[Jess85]

We've taken to eating less meat but happily paying more for it to ensure better quality,rearing etc.

Bit of a silly statement it may be (please have a lovely life before I eat you..) but hey ho.

The above would really put me off WR, It seems very misleading..

[DulwichFox]

William Rose offers a very impersonal service.

Unlike the butchers of old who knew their customers.

Long queues.. Their favorite word.. A disinterested 'NEXT'

There is nothing Special about their produce.

Foxy.

[Peckhampam]

They have always been charming to me and I don't buy large amounts

[Seabag]

In WR's defense, yes there are better 'meat quality' butchers. In that there's butchers like Nathan at The Butchery who work with whole beasts and the farmers who rear them. I buy my meat from him because he's nearest to me and I like what he does. But it's expensive, in comparison to some others.

But WR is more like a supermarket in price on many things, not all is organic or free range, but it's still pretty good.

If they've f'd up i'd say its not done cynically, they've too much to loose doing it. Speak with them, they're ok in there, just often very busy.

Good businesses need good customers, and that involves a two way conversation.

[bubbachumps]

I shop at WIlliam Rose and always ask for free range meat. A couple of times I have actually double checked that what I am receiving is free range as it seems so cheap, much cheaper than free range meat from Sainsbury or Ocado for example. I have been assured by William Rose staff on several occasions that ALL their meat is free range, but this thread has made me doubt that again. If the meat they are selling as free range really isn't, then that would be outrageous. I once went into Flock and Herd to buy some free range chicken thighs. They were very honest and said that they only sell whole free range chickens and that the breasts and thighs are not. I didn't buy them but was pleased they had been honest with me.

[Sue]

bubbachumps Wrote:

I

> have been assured by William Rose staff on several

> occasions that ALL their meat is free range,

There was a thread on here about it a while back, I'll do a search and see if I can find it.

I'm pretty sure it was about their meat NOT all being free range, but I may be wrong.

And also maybe they have changed things since then.

ETA: Can't find it as the search only goes back as far as 2015, and it was before that :(

ETA: Their website doesn't make it clear whether it is all organic/free range or not:

http://williamrosebutchers.co.uk/

But if you look at the descriptions of individual meats, they have "barn-reared" whole chicken, for a start, whereas the rest of their chicken is described as "free range".

But the turkey isn't??

Organic Whole Chicken

Free Range Whole Chicken

Barn-reared Whole Chicken

Free Range Chicken Breast Fillets

Free Range Chicken Supremes

Free Range Chicken Thighs

Free Range Chicken Thigh Fillets

Free Range Chicken Drumsticks

Free Range Chicken Legs

Stuffed Chicken Paupettes

Marinated Chicken Legs

Lemon and Coriander Chicken Breasts

Turkey

Turkey Escalopes

Whole/Half Turkey Breast

And for pork:

Free Range Pork Loin

Free Range Pork Shoulder

Free Range Pork Leg

Free Range Pork Belly

Spare Ribs

Pork Parcels

The fact that some of it is actually described as Free Range would seem to imply that the rest of it isn't?

[pjal]

A vote here for the Butchery opposite Sainsbury's. We made rare burgers with their aged minced beef last week. Costs were a bit higher than Sainsbury's but quality was infinitely higher - and who would risk cooking supermarket minced beef rare.

[NewWave]

dbboy Wrote:

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> And are extremely expensive.

I actually don't find them extremely expensive. just on a par with any decent independent butcher selling great quality tracable meat.

they are also very happy to do small cuts.

When it comes to meat I really prefer to buy on quality rather than price.

[Y'man]

I used to get my meat from Tony in North Cross Road. Went in one day and asked for my usual pork chop cut with a piece of kidney.

"Not allowed to do that any more", says Tony. "Against EU regulations".

Do you suppose now that we've done the sensible thing I could once again get my chop & kidney?

[Jeremy]

You're right. Totally worth sending the country down the pan, so you can get a kidney attached to your chop.