Purchasing & Traceability Policy for Beef & Lamb
Livestock Markets
We use various North West livestock markets, Monday through to Friday, ensuring that we buy stock each day. We use local buyers at each market who have specific knowledge of every type of animal required to meet our stringent specification, for guaranteed eating quality.
Each beast bought leaves the market with a Cattle Identity Number (CID) and this contains all the details of that beast i.e breeding, date of birth and any movements.
Slaughter House
We use two slaughter houses, both of which are full EC Licensed and EBLEX approved. Stock is transferred from the market to the nearest slaughtering facility to reduce any stress on the animal before slaughter. This is another step to improve eating quality.
After MHS ( Meat Hygiene Service) inspection each beast is then labelled with their market numbers and kill numbers, which is then labelled with their market numbers and kill numbers, which is the second step in our trace-ability procedure. They are then chilled until delivery is required to ourselves.
AB & S Wholesale Meat & Poultry (Wholesale Division)
AB & S Wholesale Meat & Poultry is a fully licensed cutting plant and EBLEX approved. This means that the unit and procedures are highly controlled by the FSA (Food Standards Agency) and MHS, both of which are Government agencies regulating the high standard of the British Meat Industry.
On receipt of a delivery from the slaughter house each carcass is again fully inspected by trained staff to ensure it meets our strict quality checks.
Birtwistles Catering Butchers (Catering Division)
Specialist catering butchers hand select various carcasses or cuts of meat to again ensure that only top quality meat is transferred to Birtwistles Catering Butchers.
All our beef is aged for a minimum of 21 days and lamb for 7 days to ensure maximum flavour and tenderness.
Our team of specialist experienced catering butchers then selects cuts that are boned and trimmed to meet each customer's specific requirements.
