Award winning butcher launches fresh food hall

Cunningham's, an award winning butchery business in Northern Ireland, has launched a new Fresh Food Hall and Bistro.

The business, based at Kilkeel in county Down, Northern Ireland's main fishing port, is now stocking a range of its own branded products including meat, poultry and convenience meals along with gourmet foods from other Northern Irish artisan producers.

The butchery sources beef from its own farm. The new food hall also includes a bistro, Cunningham's Kitchen, specialising in meals using locally sourced ingredients. The shop also features a bakery. In addition to an extensive range of Cunningham branded products, the company makes its own gelato ice cream.

Cunningham's has won a series of awards for its products including all-Ireland winning titles for pork sausages and salt and chilli chicken wings. The company's French bread stuffing and dry cured bacon were voted 'Best in Ulster' last year. The butchery features a Himalayan Salt Chamber for dry-aging beef for a minimum of 28 days.

Cunningham's is a fourth generation business that's now headed by James Cunningham jnr, the fourth generation family member. The butchery business was established in 1919 by James Cunningham, his great grandfather of the current managing director.

James Cunningham says: "Everything in our bistro is supplied straight from our butchery counter. Our luxury is that we are our own supplier. Everything we sell is either produced by ourselves on site, or bought locally. Our fish is straight from the harbour from the fishing fleet that we already supply with our beef when at sea.

"Everything is fresh; our chefs don't need to order from an outside supplier two days in advance. When someone orders a steak on a Friday night service, it will have been dry aged in our own Himalayan Salt Chamber that can be seen in the shop through glass doors, cut that day and cooked that night.

"Only a handful of places in the whole of Northern Ireland have this luxury in their bistro. We do everything the traditional way but with a modern twist. We never compromise on quality and understand that customers want choice and value, which is so important in today's fast paced consumer market. We have over 1,000 different product lines produced fresh every day. From extra lean low fat burgers and sausages, to ready-made cooked healthy lines, we try and cater for all."

Cunningham's is one of the 10 per cent of butchers left in Northern Ireland that still dry-age all their beef the traditional way on the bone. The business employs over 50 people.