RJ Balson & Son - England's Oldest Family Butchers - Buy English British & Irish Sausages Bangers and Bacon Online in the USA.

Bridport butchers come out on top as horsemeat scandal continues

8:30pm Tuesday 19th February 2013 in NewsBy Rene Gerryts

With concern growing about ‘criminal activity’ at the heart of the crisis, local traders say they are seeing an increase in customers who want to know where their food comes from.   Richard Balson of Balsons Butchers in West Road said they had been seeing and increase in customers.He said: “It has made people aware of what they are buying.  “It is all about traceability. We can trace form the farm shop to the butchers’ counter.  “If you buy convenience food for £1.59 it can’t be a lot of good stuff in it can it? It is just common sense.

“It is a wake up call for consumers and it has been good for us.”  Phil Frampton, of butchers Framptons in East Street, said he thinks local butchers could benefit in the long term.  He added: “If there’s a proper investigation it will do give us a long-term benefit.  “The UK is not self-sufficient and that’s why we import meat.  “But when supermarkets give away a bottle of wine and two so-called finest cuts of meat and dessert for £10, they can sell it cheaper than I can buy it for. “Around Christmas, one of the big supermarkets was selling topside of beef for £5 a kilo when we’re paying £7 a kilo for it.” Mr Frampton said there are information points around the shop so people can see where the meat comes from. He said: “We’ve been getting younger people coming in with children. People can talk to us behind the counter about where the meat comes from – the packet can’t talk, can it?"

Caroline Morgan, chief executive of Bridport Local Food Links which provides school and day centre meals said that they had always worked using only high quality ingredients and that all food is prepared by them from scratch.  We believe that the quality of our food is everything.  We don’t use any processed foods.These problems have arisen from buying in ready-processed meals.  We have got a good reputation and a great relationship with quality suppliers.  We believe that the meals we offer children are the closest you can get to cooking for them at home.  We order straight from our butchers, we know where that meat has come from and everything is put together when it’s fresh.  If you are buying frozen meals then basically you are trusting the label on the packet.  We hope that parents and schools can trust us and we are always happy to answer any questions directly. There is a feedback form on our website.”

http://www.bridportnews.co.uk/news/10238046.Bridport_butchers_come_out_on_top_as_horsemeat_scandal_continues/

For our regular online customers, you will notice that our Traditional Bangers have a new face.  Never fear -- the sausages are unchanged!    As well as selling to a number of ENGLISH and IRISH pubs, we have also started packing our bangers both with an ENGLISH and IRISH themed label.  This has come about after working with a number of retail buyers on what they feel will best perform at retail here in the U.S.

While there are geographical differences in what butchers call "Traditional Bangers" in all of the U.K., we feel these differences are more regional rather than national.  What we at Balsons from Southwest England consider "Traditional" may be very different from what a butcher in Lincolnshire or Cumbria considers "Traditional", but could be very similar from what Londoners or Dubliners consider "Traditional."  

If you are confused, you're in good company!  A surprising number of distributors, buyers, and even pub owners are equally as confused as to what difference is (if there is one!).  We hope to soon release more detailed thoughts on the matter soon with an upcoming blog entry, "English, Irish.... Whats the Skinny?" Hopefully it will be a small contribution to help clear up the matter!

We love free press coverage!! Thank you to the San Diego Reader for the mention, and thank you to Ron Choulartan of the Union Jack newspaper out of L.A. for spotting it! Click on the link below ...Cheers!

 http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2013/jan/23/straight-butcherys-history/

 We are pleased to introduce our newest specialty sausage in the U.S., based on our recipe that won "Gold Medal -- Overall Champion" at the 2010 Southwest England BPEX Awards. Our beef banger combines a unique blend of traditional spices, bread crumbs, and beef in a natural casing.  We've also added a hint of dried horseradish, which compliments the beef and adds just a bit of heat.  Mild and pleasing, these specialty sausages are msg and nitrite free. Fully cooked, just brown and serve .. now available in our online shop!

We would like to thank so many of you for your patronage this year, and we'd especially like to wish you a Happy Christmas and New Year!  God bless you,

The Balsons

A highlight from last year's National Sausage Week... R.J. Balson's Spicy Pork and Toffee Apple sausage, created for fireworks night, reached the finals of the competition and was judged to be one of Britain's "Most Legendary Bangers" by the panel of experts and guest judge Noddy Holder. I list of all 2012 awards coming soon!

 The Summer of 2012 was quite eventful! ...London survived the crowds of the Olympics while Bridport survived major flash flooding!  Our shop was underwater with much of Dorset, and we still managed to keep the butchery going!  Summer of 2012 is another major event to add to our 477 year history!   Top photos are of front and sides of the shop, Bottom photos are of Bridport streets.

Be sure to catch us on the radio Wed., July 17... We're talking butchery with " Big JD" -- at 4pm -- don't miss "uTalkin2ME with Big JD" talk show on 99.1FM out of Windsor-Detroit or online podcast at

http://www.utalkin2me.ca/index.html