Award winning beef producer launches first 'pop up' business


Bruce's Hill Cattle Company, the award winning Northern Irish producer of speciality meats including Dexter beef, has opened the first 'pop up' butchery and deli in Belfast city centre.



The company runs a series of Dexter and Angus herds in county Antrim and has opened the 'pop up' butchery shop to help drive beef sales in response to the growing demand from consumers wishing to know about more the origin and provenance of the meat they buy.



The shop is an initiative by Mike Frazer, managing director of Bruce's Hill, a beef operation that has won a series of Great Taste Awards from the UK Guild of Fine Food over the past few years for its Dexter steaks. The pop up butchers opened its doors last week and has a lease on a previously vacant shop for the next five months.



In addition to beef, the butchery shop is also selling products from other Northern Irish artisan enterprises including Broighter Gold Rapeseed, another Great Taste winner, from Limavady in county Londonderry. Bruce's Hill also operates a large and successful deli and farmshop close to its farms, near Antrim town.



Mike Frazer, commenting on the new pop up butchery business, says: "We decided to open the shop in response to requests from many people from the Belfast area who buy Dexter beef from our Antrim deli.



"They asked us to consider setting up in Belfast city centre because there are now hardly any local butchery businesses there. We've seen 'pop up' restaurants in Belfast vacant shops and decided to plug a gap in the market by setting up the first pop up butchery.



"More people than ever before are now asking about the source of the meat they buy. We are able to show them that all the meat in the shop comes from our own herds raised in county Antrim. This means they can count on the quality, traceability and safety of all our meat products.



"We have a lease for five months on the pop up shop as a bit of an experiment. Business has been great so far. If it continues to grow, we will look at making it a permanent base for us in the city," he adds.



The company also runs prize winning Dexter and Angus herds and provides top quality meat used in many of the leading UK restaurants. The company's Dexter cattle are kept in their natural hill farm environment at Glenwherry, near Antrim.



Bruce's Hill has been focusing on the development of speciality meats including Dexter and Belted Galloway for sale outside Northern Ireland.