Village Butcher Shop: local and nose-to-tail

By Glenda Eden, as published in Eastern Ontario AgriNews

MANOTICK—Engineer James Watt and his family made a leap of faith this summer. Confident that people want to know where their food comes from, Watt left behind a twenty-odd year career in the telecommunications industry in Kanata to open the Manotick Village Butcher in July.

One hundred per cent of their meat is sourced locally and delivered to the shop by the farmers themselves. "People really do care," he says.

It is in fact an old-fashioned style butcher shop and family business.

Even his 12-year-old daughter Heather, robed in her own made-to-measure white butcher’s coat helps out at the shop. The Manotick Village Butcher held their grand opening on September 18 but opened in July "to get all the kinks out," says Watt. One day this summer it was just the two of them manning the shop and he says having her there was a surprisingly big help.

Offering custom cutting and knowledgeable staff, their customer service includes sharing advice on what cuts to purchase and different methods of preparation. Aiming to be a "nose to tail" butcher shop they are seeing an encouraging market for things like cow tongue and pork liver.

While the service may be old fashioned the marketing is totally contemporary, driven in part by a user-friendly web site. "The team" includes not only a butcher and a couple of apprentice butchers but family members, a photographer, a web designer and a handful of shop assistants with a passion for animal welfare. A regular newsletter and blog fleshes out their culinary Internet presence.

Producer profiles on the website give visitors information about where and how the farmers raise the beef, pork, lamb, poultry and eggs that they sell. Though most are not certified organic all producers practice natural livestock production with no antibiotics or growth hormones.

Although the Manotick Village Butcher doesn’t necessarily market by breed they are able to tell customers where and how the animal was raised and slaughtered, it’s age, breed, and even its name. Although laughs Watts, "that’s often too much information for some people. Local beef producers include O’Brien Farms in Morewood and Shima’s Farms at Winchester.

Watt admits to struggling with the pricing of his meats. He wants to give good value but has been told he’ll have to start charging premium prices for a premium product if he wants to stay in business. That premium product includes beef that is dry-aged. Hung for at least two weeks before it arrives at his shop they don’t usually start cutting a side before 14 to 21 days.

"At 14 days our butcher won’t touch it," says Watts. "And that’s the kind of thing I like about our butcher."

As well as opening the butcher shop Watts is also studying cooking and baking at Le Cordon Bleu. Awaiting final inspection at the shop is a small kitchen where deli meats, bread, stock and cooked meat dishes will be prepared. "What do you do with 100 pounds of bones?" asks Watts, of his plans to make and market saltless stock.

"We’ll be doing a lot of French cooking here," he says of the frozen and reheatable lamb stews, meat pies and such soon to be available. Not exactly catering or take-a-way the service is a bit like custom cooking. Watts can prepare whole stuffed turkeys or large roasts with sauces for folks who want a little help preparing a big family meal or gathering.

He also plans to fill the local haggis market. It is an odd dish, he says, "like a sheep that ate itself." Basically just a type of sausage it is also a good way to use lamb and mutton parts that are difficult to sell.

To expand upon the eat local philosophy that is so important to this new business venture Watts has also brought a number of other food products into his shop. They sell Beking eggs, dairy products from Cochrane’s Dairy in Russell and goat meat and goat cheese from Alpenblick Farm in Ashton. They have a hard time keeping Cochrane’s dairy products on the shelf, he says. " They have the best chocolate milk on the planet," They’ve also recently found a local producer of raw milk sheep cheese and are looking for a local supplier of honey and garlic.

The career change has in fact been a lifestyle change for Watts and his family. Since giving up the daily commute last winter and taking a course of study at Le Cordon Bleu he’s lost 20lbs and thinks he may also be running on the same tank of gas. "I come and go as I choose," he says of his new work environment, "and I choose to come."

Reprinted with permission from www.agrinewsinteractive.com