Fed up with being horsed around, Lincoln shoppers turn to local butchers

Since the horsemeat scandal broke in January this year, a significant number of popular brands were found to contain horse DNA in some of their meat products.

The majority of products found to contain horsemeat were frozen meats and ready meals, and it’s been reported the scandal caused a shift in consumers buying habits.

Lincoln butchers have also noticed changes since the horsemeat scandal.

Ken Roberts, owner of Elite Meats in the Bailgate, believes there has been a positive change since the scandal.

Elite Meats.

He said: “People are going back to their local butchers to get exactly what they want, not what people say it is.

“All our meat is sourced locally so we know exactly where it comes from. We have full traceability because we buy locally.

“People come back to us because they know it’s inferior stuff in the supermarkets.”

Crawshaw Butchers’ owner David Tempest agrees, after seeing positive change for his business.

Crawshaw Butchers.

He said: “Sales have gone up and were having a lot of people coming to us because they’re not sure what’s in the supermarkets.

“We also have a list up on the wall of where our meat is supplied from. They can see exactly where it comes from and trace is back to the farmer.”

However, David Foster of Chatteron and Sons on Sincil Bank found their experience of the scandal didn’t initially start off well.

Chatterton and Sons.

“A scare like this always damages business for about two or three weeks,” he said.

“Though people do have faith in the private sector more than they do in supermarkets, so business did come back.”

For consumers looking for fresh meat in supermarkets though, NFU county advisor Andrew Wilson explained that you can see where meat has come from on some packaging.

He said: “For the past couple of years, the NFU have supported the Red Tractor Assurance scheme. This is where packaging contains a little red tractor, which shows that the meat has met British farm standards.

“If you buy red tractor or from your local butchers, you will have no horsemeat contamination in your food.”