Alternative meats firm steps into foodservice

Alternative Meats, owned by business partners Rachel Godwin and Jeanette Edgar, is based in a farm building near Wem. Having started selling ostrich meat seven years ago it now sources produce from across the West Midlands Region and ships in rare breeds from the southern hemisphere. The company is venturing into the food service industry with two major firms in the Region, including a new agreement to supply Wolverhampton-based Blakemores, which is initially listing the company's ostrich, venison and rosé veal products. Discussions are also progressing with Troughles Fine Foods in Leominster, Herefordshire, which supplies more than 250 pubs and restaurants in the West Midlands Region and Wales. Alternative Meats is listed in two of Rick Stein's 'Food Heroes' books and has benefited from unusual produce featuring in popular TV food programmes, even supplying crocodile for the chefs on 'Ready, Steady, Cook' this month. When ostrich meat featured on Gordon Ramsay's 'The F Word' in May the company had 50 new orders on its website the following day. It also sells various meat cuts and products to hotels, pubs and directly to the public via an online home delivery service at www.alternativemeats.co.uk Jeanette Edgar, director of Alternative Meats, said: "We have come a long way since that fateful first day and have thankfully managed to turn things around. It has been quite an adventure along the way but I'm glad to say that business is thriving. "We started on a small scale but have diversified more and more over time. If there's a new product we discover to source then we put it on the list for people to buy. "Having said that, there is a more serious side to what we do. Many of the products we source are healthier options with most rare meats such as ostrich having much lower fat content compared to more traditional choices such as beef and lamb. "We also set high ethical standards, as we are proud to supply some taboo meats such as veal products as long as they pass strict RSPCA Freedom Food standards. The way veal is produced is completely different in Britain to the horror stories people hear from the Continent." Having started in ostrich farming the company soon expanded its range by sourcing wild boar, venison and duck from Shropshire in the West Midlands Region, goats from Cheshire and mutton from Wales. It always sources from Britain where possible but some more exotic breeds such as bison and crocodile come from as far afield as Canada, South Africa and New Zealand. Last month the company was shortlisted in the Heart of England Fine Foods (HEFF) Diamond Awards and in 2007 it was a finalist the Innovation in Industry category at the Shropshire Business Awards.