Nicky Mackintosh talks to Rodney Macken

With growing public concern regarding the conditions in which poultry is raised (please see our January newsletter) and the growing interest in organic food, I wondered how the present economic down turn might be effecting sales.  I thought the best person to ask would be my local butcher Rodney Macken of Macken Brothers.  I have known him for over twenty years as he has always supplied my restaurant and catering company with high quality meat.  When I first opened my restaurant in Chiswick there must have been at least eight butchers trading. Sadly Rodney is the last, a sign of how the small independent shop has been priced out of the high street.  He is one of those treasured suppliers that you rarely come across, always willing to please, nothing is ever too much trouble and always striving to give you quality at a fair price.  The proof is in the queues, especially on a Friday and Saturday, that are seen outside his shop.  All his customers wait patiently knowing that Sunday lunch will be worth the wait!

So over a cup of coffee at a nearby café I asked him a few questions.  It was a very revealing half an hour which I hope you the reader might enjoy.

Nicky: Is organic meat a fad or is it here to stay?
Rodney: It’s not quite that simple to answer since there is often confusion between organic and free range food.  If however one treats them as one then I would have to say yes, it are here to stay.

Nicky: When did you start selling free-range and organic products?
Rodney: Free range about 15 years ago but to be truthful I and my father before me have always bought meat from reputable farmers who have always raised their animals as free range.  Chicken is the main change since it is relatively recently that there has been large scale production.  I would say that we started selling organic chicken about 5 years ago. 

Nicky: How long did it take for the customer to take up this new offering?
Rodney:  To a limited extent straight away but the huge price differential (double) made it difficult to sustain high sales.

Nicky: Is pricing an issue for your customers?
Rodney:  Yes, particularly now with people cutting back on their spending due to the uncertain economic climate.    

Nicky: Is the price difference between organic and non-organic closing?
Rodney: Organic meat is still significantly more expensive than free range- about 25% and more than double when compared to meat which has been produced using mass production methods.

Nicky: What is the approximate difference for the shop between its organic, free range and normal sales?
Rodney: 10% for organic, 80% for Free range and 10% for the mass produced chickens.  As mentioned before all our meat other then chicken is free range.

Nicky: Has the current economic climate affected customer’s choices regarding which sort of meat they buy?
Rodney: Not really except that people are buying slightly smaller portions and slightly cheaper cuts.  For instance, they are buying rib-eye instead of filet of beef.  Filet has doubled in price over the year! Customers still want quality however and will pay extra for it. 

Nicky: Should animal welfare be a priority and therefore free range the norm?
Rodney: Absolutely.  The idea of any animal not being able to roam and grow at a normal rate is morally wrong and can only reduce the quality of the meat.  A happy animal will always produce a superior product.  Serious animal diseases such as BSE are nearly all due to poor animal management and this should not be tolerated any longer.

Nicky: Do customers understand the difference between organic & free-range?
Rodney:  Not really.  They assume that organic is better but for meat this is not really the case.  One of the most significant factors in the quality of meat is where it is raised.  Most of my meat comes from Scotland with lamb raised on salt marshes (e.g Romney Marsh Lamb) in Wales and England as well as in Scotland.  Every delivery of meat comes with a certificate so I know precisely its provenance. To become organic one has to have Soil Association certification and that means the land has to be guaranteed to have been free of any chemicals for at least three years.  The bureaucracy is just too time consuming and costly, so they don’t bother even where it is obvious that know chemicals have been put on the land.  These farmers raise their animals on acres of rich soil in the Scottish highlands, far superior to anything that the organic farmers of England have, and therefore produce better tasting meat.  I tried some Organic Pork which was nice but was nothing like as good as free range Gloucester Old Spot.  The only organic meat I stock is chicken, but if people want organic beef or pork then they are able to specially order some.  I always tell them that they should really have free range as it’s cheaper and nearly always better and has been raised in exactly the same manner but in richer pastures.

Nicky: Is meat ever 100% free range/organic?  How reliable is the labelling?
Rodney: It is so hard to be truly organic when you are dealing with an animal because it roams.  One would think wild salmon was organic, but it’s not because it’s not living in a controlled environment. To produce organic fish it has to be farmed.  Which one is better? Well obviously wild in my opinion, unless of course it’s been swimming in polluted waters.  Vegetables, fruits and other things that grow in the ground or on trees are different because they obviously don’t move around, so as long as the grower is honest they can be grown to virtually 100% organic rules.

Macken Bros is located at:
 44 Turnham Green Terrace
Chiswick
London
W4 1QP
T: 020 8994 2646
www.mackenbros.co.uk