Fraser Brothers, Dingwall – May 2011

The shop is narrow but the back shop extends deep behind the façade and its there you discover the maturing beef, the caringly prepared speciality products and a purpose built kitchen.

A major boost to the business was being selected as the Scottish Black Pudding champions in 2010. It was the year that Ross County qualified for their first ever Scottish Cup appearances and while that firmly placed Dingwall on the map it was Fraser Brothers who lifted the silverware.

Their Black Pudding is now proudly served up in local establishments and loudly at Dingwall Mart where it is clear to everybody that what's served up is Fraser Brothers Champion Pudding.

Shop Manager, Graham Mowat says that customers keep coming in to ask how it all came about and it has had a fantastic affect on sales, not just of black pudding but for everything they stock.

Success was no surprise to regular customers at Frasers since they have been the home of quality meats for over a century and have long lasting and strong ties to the community. Founded in 1888 by the Fraser Brothers in a shop below the Royal Hotel in Dingwall Ross-Shire, the shop was then owned by Mr. William Fraser.

Today, 123 years later, the same shop is now owned by his grandson William Fraser Hutcheson and is still providing the community with the same high quality of service and quality meats.

Fraser Hutcheson buys his beef and lamb at Dingwall Mart's Tuesday market and food miles are extremely low since he uses the local abattoir run by John M Munro and sources his pork and chicken from Munros as well.

Fraser has interest in a host of local businesses so Graham is very much in charge of the day to day running of the shop. The staff of 6 full time and one part time keep the wheels turning from 8.00am until 5.00pm six days a week.

Trade is steady all year round with just the usual seasonal switches in demand for cuts. While retail trade is by far the most important to them, they do deliver to local residential homes and local hotels.

The refrigerated displays in both the serve over counter and window bed are kept full and fresh. As well as the neatly cut fresh meat there is an interesting range of different sausages and burgers.

The use of space in the front shop couldn't be any better. The shop is too tight for cooked meats sales but the dairy cabinet that faces customers as they enter is well stocked with steak pies, pastry products, ready meals and even sticky toffee pudding.

All the pastry products and ready meals are made in the kitchen that Fraser converted out of a former video rental shop at the rear of the premises.

The kitchen is well kitted out and operates to high standards to avoid any potential cross contamination. The raw diced stew for the pies enters through a hatch from the manufacturing area and the bags are tipped straight into the pots on top of the hob for cooking. There is plenty of room to weigh, gravy and top the pies before they are placed in the Turbofan 32 Blue Seal oven that fires them off.

Pastry is supplied by local bakers Cromarty Bakery. Products are cooled on trolleys and wheeled straight into a holding chill for cooked products.

The kitchen is run by Ann who although limited by the selling space available for her products in the eight years at Frasers she has developed the production of Scotch Pies, Macaroni, Chicken & Mushroom pies and even a Sausage Roll with an added strip of that championship winning black pudding.

Attachments:

• FraserBrothers300311(2).pdf