Is William Rose an organic butcher, as advertised?

[*Bob*]

Frankito Wrote:

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I have yet to buy

> something from there that wasn't the dog's

> bolloqs... >:D<

So you've yet to try the sausages?

[*Bob*]

I mean - so you have tried the sausages?

Not that they have testicles in them - I just want to make that clear. It's just a cheap joke.

[anna123]

I have just made a google search to find a local organic butcher and William Rose, who advertise their 'free range and organic meat', came up high in the search list. Over the years I have popped in to William Rose on a number of occasions, but have come out empty-handed, as I have each time been told they have 'just run out' of the organic meat.

I have spoken to several friends who use William Rose and they have all been of the understanding that the meat they buy from this butcher is organic, as the shop sign suggests, and not just free range.

As I only use organic meat, I decided to called them this time, thinking that I could pre-order, so that I wouldn't risk them being sold out of what I wanted again, but was now informed that they don't sell either organic beef or pork, but do sell some whole organic chicken. I explained that it is organic meat, not chicken, that I am interested in and was to my surprise told there isn't much demand for organic meat!!

When I then suggested that their advertising and sign are in that case misleading, the person I spoke quickly backtracked, got very het up and insistent that they in fact do sell organic meat, as they occasionally have some pieces of lamb available.

After the call I thought I would see if I could find any recommendations for a proper organic butcher on the forum and was interested to find these messages from over two years ago about William Rose, who clearly are quite happy to continue to benefit from people 'misunderstanding' their advertising.

I would suggest that, if people don't fully understand the difference in farming methods between meat that is described as free range (but not organic) and that which is organic, a more honest butcher, less willing to cash in on the misunderstanding rather than perpetuate it, would be happy to explain this difference to their customers and would have a shop sign that properly reflects what they sell.

And if anyone can recommend a butcher that sells organic meat reasonably locally, I would very much appreciate it.

[edcam]

I don't think there are any butchers locally who sell exclusively organic meat but am happy to stand corrected. I doubt it's a plentiful enough resource for a small trader to stay fully stocked, thus the fact that they run out of things.

If it's crucial to you then ordering online is probably the best way to go for organic meats (Abel & Cole have a few options for example.)

I'm surprised that there are people who think everything William Rose sells is organic as they don't claim that to be the case.

[Pickle]

I use William Rose, and have never felt misled. They are happy to chat about the meat they stock, and have good knowledge of where it's from etc. I'm sure if you wanted a specific organic meat they would do their best to source it for you. I image it would be a lot more expensive than standard meat, so can understand why they wouldn't stock it all the time as there's probably not a huge demand.

[spider69]

anna123 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I have just made a google search to find a local

> organic butcher and William Rose, who advertise

> their 'free range and organic meat', came up high

> in the search list. Over the years I have popped

> in to William Rose on a number of occasions, but

> have come out empty-handed, as I have each time

> been told they have 'just run out' of the organic

> meat.

>

> I have spoken to several friends who use William

> Rose and they have all been of the understanding

> that the meat they buy from this butcher is

> organic, as the shop sign suggests, and not just

> free range.

>

> As I only use organic meat, I decided to called

> them this time, thinking that I could pre-order,

> so that I wouldn't risk them being sold out of

> what I wanted again, but was now informed that

> they don't sell either organic beef or pork, but

> do sell some whole organic chicken. I explained

> that it is organic meat, not chicken, that I am

> interested in and was to my surprise told there

> isn't much demand for organic meat!!

> When I then suggested that their advertising and

> sign are in that case misleading, the person I

> spoke quickly backtracked, got very het up and

> insistent that they in fact do sell organic meat,

> as they occasionally have some pieces of lamb

> available.

>

> After the call I thought I would see if I could

> find any recommendations for a proper organic

> butcher on the forum and was interested to find

> these messages from over two years ago about

> William Rose, who clearly are quite happy to

> continue to benefit from people 'misunderstanding'

> their advertising.

> I would suggest that, if people don't fully

> understand the difference in farming methods

> between meat that is described as free range (but

> not organic) and that which is organic, a more

> honest butcher, less willing to cash in on the

> misunderstanding rather than perpetuate it, would

> be happy to explain this difference to their

> customers and would have a shop sign that properly

> reflects what they sell.

>

> And if anyone can recommend a butcher that sells

> organic meat reasonably locally, I would very much

> appreciate it.

You could always try Iceland

[anna123]

Edcam: perhaps I didn't explain myself properly - I don't mind using a butcher that sell some organic and some non-organic meat, what I do mind is a butcher that advertises itself as selling organic meat, but doesn't sell any.

Pickle: William Rose was definitely not offering to source any organic meat for me, in spite of advertising themselves as selling it.

[spider69]

anna123 Wrote:

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> Edcam: perhaps I didn't explain myself properly -

> I don't mind using a butcher that sell some

> organic and some non-organic meat, what I do mind

> is a butcher that advertises itself as selling

> organic meat, but doesn't sell any.

> Pickle: William Rose was definitely not offering

> to source any organic meat for me, in spite of

> advertising themselves as selling it.i

There are many meat purveyors in Rye Lane that you could investigate. Sure they could source if asked.

Life must be very difficult in LL. Glad Ican be of some help

[Alex K]

I imagine vegetarians scanning through this thread and muttering to themselves -- why this hairsplitting about whether it was drowned or choked or hit on the head, whether it had play-toys and sunny skies? -- ALL meat is murder!

This from someone whose favourite utterance at breakfast is "Pass the bacon".

[BrandNewGuy]

spider69 Wrote:

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> You could always try Iceland

From Iceland's website:

>

Maybe not organic, but if you're going to buy meat, Iceland's probably as good as any other shop. It's mainly snobbery that stops some people from walking through their doors.

[Sue]

Did you mean to put in a link, BNG?

I agree re Iceland.

[BrandNewGuy]

No, I just copied text into my post, like so :-)

"We are very proud that, as long ago as 1986, Iceland became the first UK supermarket to remove artificial colours, flavourings and non-essential preservatives from our own brand products ? 19 years before Marks & Spencer. Also in 1986, Iceland became the first UK supermarket to remove monosodium glutamate (MSG) from our own brand products. We banned mechanically recovered meat from all Iceland brand products in 1990, and in 1998 we became the first national food retailer anywhere in the world to ban genetically modified ingredients from all our own brand products: a commitment which every other major UK retailer then followed. We removed hydrogenated fats (manmade trans fats) from all Iceland brand products in 2006."

[Jeremy]

Right, so next time I'm looking for a couple of decent steaks I'll head over to Iceland.

[BrandNewGuy]

I didn't suggest they had the best, but just countering the lazy "Iceland is sh*t" meme. Look around Sainsburys, Co-op etc and you'll see lots of rubbishy food for sale. Most people aren't looking for the best steak but maybe a couple of chops, in which case I suspect Iceland isn't noticeably different from most other retailers. I say this as someone who doesn't eat meat, but my family are voracious carnovires :-)

[Jeremy]

You said it's "probably as good as any other shop", so you kind of did suggest they had the best!

But yeah, it's quite possible that their fresh meat and veg is of comparable quality to other supermarkets, but the selection is very small. And the fact remains that the majority of their food IS complete utter shit, so the reputation is probably deserved.

[spider69]

Jeremy Wrote:

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> You said it's "probably as good as any other

> shop", so you kind of did suggest they had the

> best!

>

> But yeah, it's quite possible that their fresh

> meat and veg is of comparable quality to other

> supermarkets, but the selection is very small. And

> the fact remains that the majority of their food

> IS complete utter shit, so the reputation is

> probably deserved.

So you agree with DavidH that Iceland is slumlike, something he has not yet explained.

Am sure if they raised their prices through the roof ED would flock there as it was edgy and a new experience.

Grow up or prove the reputation you mention is deserved

[*Bob*]

Iceland..

Most of the unprocessed food is properly priced and perfectly fine.

Most of the processed food is just .. properly priced.

Nobody's going to flock anywhere and pay high prices for processed food made from beaks and tezzas.

[spider69]

If its slumlike and edgy, who can tell

[*Bob*]

It would have to be dark as well. Professional photographers can't even make some of that stuff look appealing.

[spider69]

If they found anything it would be the topic of many ED dinner parties. No doubt raising house prices even higher. Bring it on.

[StraferJack]

These look nice. And their website is very upbeat about ingredients. Wonder what's in them

http://groceries.iceland.co.uk/iceland-party-24-piece-sandwich-platter/p/5558

Oh.....

http://twitter.com/gracedent/status/410160971173605377/photo/1

[*Bob*]

I'm sure bottles of Icelands 'Good Red Wine' and 'Good White Wine' will be making a few ironic appearances at dinner parties over the festive season.

[spider69]

StraferJack Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> These look nice. And their website is very upbeat

> about ingredients. Wonder what's in them

>

> http://groceries.iceland.co.uk/iceland-party-24-pi

> ece-sandwich-platter/p/5558

>

> Oh.....

>

> http://twitter.com/gracedent/status/41016097117360

> 5377/photo/1

After Bobs wine choice who cares.

[StraferJack]

Fair point spider. But these days I'm fR too aware of The Next Day to even contemplate such a scenario

[edcam]

Iceland have a product called "Beef Garland". This is either wonderful or horrific and I really don't know which way to go here.