See Quality Statements

All our Meat and Poultry has been produced to the highest standards and we have full traceability back to the herds and flocks.

Only The Best

Knight Butchers has always advocated and practised the highest standards of quality and service amongst butchers to provide the discerning customer with the best meat products. The butcher is however the first and last step in the supply chain before it reaches the customer and so he only buys from the best sources then inspects and rejects anything he is not 100% happy with. Knight Butchers have always sought out suppliers who can not only provide the quality meat but who can trace their meat back to individual farms and perhaps even stockmen and herders. Knight Butchers are reliant on suppliers embracing the same high standards and so not surprisingly our suppliers are all members of the leading UK meat and Poultry quality assurance schemes.

Best Beef

Our best beef is obtained from scottish herds, where some of the finest beef cattle are reared. This comes down to a combination of factors including “grass feeding” and skilled stockmanship. The Beef is then supplied to us by one of the wholesalers most proactive in meat quality management.

It is easy to make claims about quality but it is much harder to prove it. The challenge of proving the quality of our beef is carried by the The Scotch Quality Beef and Lamb Association.

The Scotch Quality Beef and Lamb Association

Over 8000 of Scotlands Livestock producers have subjected their farms to independant inspection to ensure that the cattle which are destined to provide Specially Selected Scotch Beef are reared to the highest standards of animal husbandry, health and welfare. The scheme adresses all aspects of stockmanship but it also particular issues of concern to the public such as:

• Traceability of meat back to the herd.
• Feeding of the best quality “natural” feeds.
• Animal health is paramount and ensured by rigid regulations.

These rigorous standards are maintained as cattle are transported to the Auction Markets, to the processing plant, and on to wholesalers and butchers.

At each stage from farm to plate the animals and meat may be subject to independent inspection.

The tradition of Scottish quality coupled to the pioneering assurance scheme for Scotland’s farmers, hauliers, auctioneers, meat processors and retail outlets give Specially Selected Scotch Beef a reputation as a superior product.

Where we occasionally stock beef from other sources in the UK this will be when Chris White has found something very special for his customers meeting the same rigorous quality standards and bringing specialist breeding to the table.  These products will be – as marked.

Best Lamb

The Lamb supplied to us is produced either locally in Sussex or from a farm in Kent that participates in the NSPCA Freedom Foods scheme. This scheme is designed to ensure that animals reared on the member farms are subject to the best standards of animal welfare. This is achieved through an initail audit of the farm as a precursor to achieving membership and is followed by random spot checks.

But animal welfare on the farm is not the whole story. Good animal welfare produces high quality meat. Additionally the Freedom Foods scheme provides the consumer:

• Traceability back to the orginating herd.
• Confidence that animals have been treated humanely throughout their lives, and that by buying this meat they are voting with their feet for higher standards of animal husbandry.

The NSPCA describes the five essential freedoms as:

• Freedom from fear and distress
• Freedom from hunger and thirst
• Freedom from discomfort
• Freedom from pain injury and disease
• Freedom to express normal behaviour

Poultry

All our poultry is supplied farm fresh.Our suppliers are carefully chosen for strong belief like ours in quality produce. They are a long established businesses and have won numerous awards over the years, one winning the 2002 National Quality Chicken Award.