CORONAVIRUS UPDATE 3RD SEPTEMBER 2021

Covid Update

Vaccine passports are to be required for entry to nightclubs and many large events in Scotland from later this month, The First Minister has said.
The plans will apply to indoor and outdoor events and will need to be signed off by MSPs next week.
Ms Sturgeon said the move was needed to help stem the recent surge in the number of cases.
A further 6,107 people have tested positive, with the number of people in hospital doubling in the past 10 days.
And several areas of Scotland are among the regions with the highest rates of the virus in Europe.
A similar plan for England had been announced earlier in the summer.
Ms Sturgeon says that despite positive cases remaining high she has no plans to reimpose restrictions.

Members Meeting Wednesday 8th Sept 2021 @ 7pm on Zoom

OPEN TO MEMBERS, CORPORATE MEMBERS, STAFF, APPRENTICES AND YOUR FAMILIES!

We are delighted to announce that MasterChef winner, Gary MacLean will be presenting at our next members zoom meeting on Wednesday 8th September at 7pm.
Gary will present some Autumn dishes and share cooking tips and knowledge with you, your staff and apprentices. An e-mail will be sent out to all members and apprentices that we have on our database.
If any members of your staff would like to join in, please let us know by sending us an e-mail contact for the individual. We will send out the meeting link details nearer the time.
EQUALLY, IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION FOR GARY, SEND IT TO US AND WE WILL ASK ON YOUR BEHALF!

Book your place [email protected] or [email protected]

Meat @ The Mart Learning Experience Monday 25th October

Lanark Market, 20 places available, first come first served basis!

Objective: To highlight the Mart as an important part of the red meat sector, educate young members of butchery staff and enhance experienced butchers' knowledge of purchasing live.

Open to butchers who wish to purchase live and apprentices who wish to know more about the process and skills required.

Please send your details to [email protected] to register your interest. 20 places will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

Date: Monday 25th October,

Voting underway for Women in Meat Industry Awards 2021

Voting for the prestigious Women In Meat Industry Awards is now well underway online with a final deadline of 15th September.
Organisers report that once again the initiative is generating a strong response from all sectors right across the meat industry.
The annual awards initiative recognises the contributions that women make to the meat sector and is a unique and popular initiative attracting many thousands of votes.
In 2019 the campaign received nearly 7,000 votes, almost double that of 2018 and in 2020 votes topped 9,000.
Voting for a finalist is quick and easy and all the candidates can be found at the online voting pages of the official website: www.womeninmeatawards.com/vote.

Categories are as follows:

• Meat Business Woman Award: Foodservice
• Meat Business Woman Award: Retailing
• Meat Business Woman Award: Manufacturing / Processing
• Meat Business Woman Award: Craft Butchery
• Meat Business Woman Award: Trade Body
• Meat Business Woman Award: Wholesaling
• Meat Business Woman Award: Industry Supplier
• Meat Business Woman Award: Training & Education
• The Rising Star Award
• Meat Business Woman of the Year Award

Winners will be announced during the 18th November Awards ceremony taking place at the Hilton London Metropole and the overall Meat Business Women of the Year will be chosen from the various category winners following the conclusion of voting.
Sharon Yandell from Meat Management magazine, who organise the Women In Meat Industry Awards said: “Once again there are some amazing finalists and we are delighted that the Women In Meat Industry Awards goes from strength to strength.
“We are also delighted that the ceremony returns to an in-person event this year with the usual black-tie dinner and after party. I hope everyone, including men of course, will get voting well before the final deadline.”

Full details of the awards event can also be found at www.womeninmeatawards.com

The final deadline to vote is Wednesday 15th September and details with pictures of the finalists across all categories can be found at www.womeninmeatawards.com/vote.

Good news for Scottish Venison on Scottish Venison Day, 4th September

UK retail venison sales continue to rise

Mairi Gougeon, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, welcomes additional funding for venison sector through Scotland Food & Drink Partnership Covid recovery programme

Scottish Venison Day falls annually on 4th September, also the launch day of Scottish Food and Drink Fortnight. Despite the pressures that the pandemic has placed on the sector with the restaurant, catering, food service and events outlets having been shut down for around 18 months, although now re-opened, retail venison sales have continued to rise through that same period according to the latest research from The Knowledge Bank.

In the year to week end 8th May 2021 UK retail venison sales, as reported by Nielsen, showed a continued steady increase of 28% – a hike in value to £14m, representing £3m sales in Scotland and £11m in the rest of the UK. All categories of venison product bar one showed increases in retail sales.

Amanda Brown, Director, The Knowledge Bank, says:

“Venison sales have grown strongly in grocery over the last year with seasonal sales at Christmas particularly important. The strong performance can also be attributed to a number of reasons including: increased distribution across a range of products including venison burgers, grill-steaks and sausages; new shoppers entering the category and existing shoppers buying more. It is exciting to see that the range of products and brands in this category are really making venison more accessible and relevant for today's consumer giving them the opportunity to easily prepare, eat and enjoy venison at home.”

Richard Cooke, Chairman, the Scottish Venison Association, and who has recently been elected to the position following the retiral of Bill Bewsher at the Association's AGM in July, said:

“The positive trend across retail sales of venison in the UK continues, and this is good news and must be partly down to our online promotional campaign which ran from March through to May earlier this year in Scotland, London, and SE England. It should give us a firm platform from which to re-establish the position of Scottish venison in the UK restaurant and hospitality sectors as these re-open following closure through lockdown and the Covid crisis.”

In addition to the positive data, further good news for the sector comes with its success in bidding for funds through the Scotland Food and Drink Partnership Covid Recovery Programme to implement a pilot project for the expansion of locally based chill and processing facilities with a fund of £80,000 awarded, subject to agreement of details, to support several potential demonstration sites.
Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon said:
“I am delighted by the positive news of a rise in sales of quality Scottish venison and with Scottish Venison Day on 4 September, I hope to see these strong sales continue. The Scottish Government is providing £5 million to the Food and Drink Recovery Plan this financial year, some of which will be used to help grow the venison sector further. £50,000 of funding was provided earlier this year to help support a venison promotion campaign and it's fantastic to see this healthy, nutritious and sustainable product selling so well.
“As part of the Recovery Plan, the Scotland Food and Drink Partnership has also provided £80,000 to support demonstration sites for locally based chill and processing facilities. This will ensure the quality of product as well as support the Scottish Venison Strategy and our commitment to local food, confirmed by the recently launched local food strategy consultation.”
Richard Cooke says:

“Whilst the sector relies heavily on a small number of skilled, professional businesses to take its raw product, process it, and ensure that it goes to market – whether retail, hospitality, or export – in tip-top condition, the Covid crisis has demonstrated the fragility of that system but has also highlighted the opportunity for smaller enterprises to be doing similar work serving local producers and meeting an increasing demand both locally and, as research continues to show, further afield. This new fund will enable us to help a small number of prospective ventures that are currently at business planning stage over the line, with a commitment to operate as demonstration units in their initial years. It also helps us to take forward a key area in the Scottish Venison Strategy, Beyond the Glen.”

Meat Managers Hygiene and HACCP Course
27-29 September 2021 (Only One space left)
Please get in touch if suitable for you or a staff member!
It is a legal requirement to make sure that our businesses have an operational and auditable food safety management system in place.
We have traditionally held our Meat Managers Hygiene and HACCP courses in one location on one day. These have been held throughout the country and have proven very popular and useful in the development of individuals within the business who are required to take responsibility for the implementation of the HACCP system.
The courses have been delivered by Verner Wheelock.
Paul Bache has presented these courses for many years on behalf of Scottish Craft Butchers and the certificates issued are recognised by the local authority environmental health officers.

Due to the current restrictions we cannot hold face to face courses.
Therefore, we have decided to offer the course online during a video meetings in September.
The format will be 3 x afternoons (3 hours each session) on a Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday with a maximum of 7 places. Each candidate will have to attend all 3 sessions!

Cost is £250 per candidate.
The course content is available on request.

OUR PREVIOUS 3 SESSIONS IN APRIL AND MAY ACHIEVED A 95% PASS RATE!

If you would like to find out more or register yourself or someone in your business on the course, please e-mail Claire Simpson [email protected]

Update to e-mail contact details

As we have now completed the process of changing the name of the organisation to “Scottish Craft Butchers” we have also taken to opportunity to change our e-mail addresses to reflect this.
Please note the new e-mail contact details for Gordon and Bruce below.
Our mobile numbers remain the same.

Gordon King: [email protected] 07917524313
Bruce McCall: [email protected] 07834490922

The Scottish Craft Butchers office in Perth is staffed every weekday.

We will be available to our members to answer any queries via email or by mobile phone
and will be available out of office hours for any members wanting to contact us.