Horsemeat scandal boosts business for Hackney’s independent butchers

Meat N16

Independent butchers in Hackney are doing a roaring trade as people avoid processed supermarket meals in the wake of the developing horsemeat scandal.

Paul Grout, owner of Meat N16 on Stoke Newington Church Street, said: “It’s difficult to pinpoint because the business has been growing month on month but we have had two very good weeks.”

“I do believe that this kind of scandal, this kind of situation, will hurt the multiples,” Mr Grout added, “but it still rings absolutely true that if you are buying eight burgers for a pound then the horse content is the least of your worries.”

Asked for his opinion on who should take the blame, Mr Grout said: “I think the multiples have to take full responsibility. They were trying to drive the price down and in trying to do that they were pushing suppliers to the absolute maximum.”

“They have got to get some kind of honour into what they are doing and some kind of responsibility. They must be taken to task.”

Nicola Swift, Creative Food Director of high end butchers The Ginger Pig, which has a branch in Victoria Park village, claimed the company had seen a 24% increase in profit on the same week the previous year.

“We certainly had a very good week,” Ms Swift said.

Alan Wells, owner of W Wells Butchers on Well Street, said: “I’m seeing a lot of new faces. The story from customers is they can’t go over the road anymore to the supermarket.”

Mr Wells said although there had not been what he would determine as a “vast increase” in trade, he had noticed a definite shift: “They only spend a little bit – these are the people who would have bought ready meal lasagnes – but little bits are better than nothing.”

Mr Wells said he believed that customers’ biggest fear was about the presence of veterinary drug ‘bute’ – which is banned from the human food chain – in their food: “Their concern is what the thing’s been injected with and that people are using it in their ready meals.”

“It’s quite sickening really.”

He added that while consumers were concerned now, they were likely to start buying processed meat again once the scandal had ‘blown over’: “They have been deceived and people don’t like that, but at the same time people have very short memories.

“People will forget and it will start again.”

Problems were first uncovered in Ireland in January, when beefburgers supplied by ABP Food Group to supermarkets were found to contain up to 29% horsemeat.

Further UK suppliers have since been implicated with Findus UK lasagnes – supplied by French company Comigel – found in early February to contain up to 100% horsemeat in a second case of “gross contamination”.

Meanwhile, others are shunning meat eating altogether since the scandal broke, with The Vegetarian Society reporting a 40% increase in traffic to its main website compared with the same period last year.

Others are opting for an even more extreme dietary change and cutting out all animal products – including dairy.

Amanda Baker, spokesperson for The Vegan Society, said: “Some people will adopt plant-based living due to this scandal, which can support healthy living at every age and life stage.

We don’t need to take anything from other animals to live well.”