A supermarket is quick, we know. But once people start buying their meat from a local butcher, most of them don't go back. Here's why it's worth the trip, or the few clicks to order online for click & collect.
1. You know where it came from
Ask a supermarket assistant which farm the beef came from and you'll get a shrug. Ask your butcher and you'll get an answer. A good local butcher buys from farms and suppliers they know and trust, often close by, and is happy to tell you about them. If provenance matters to you, and it should, this is the simplest way to get it.
2. It's cut the way you want it
Steaks as thick as you like. A joint sized for exactly six people. Chops French-trimmed, a shoulder boned and rolled, mince from a cut you chose. At the counter, the meat is cut for you rather than for a standard pack size, so you buy what you need and nothing you don't.
3. Advice you can actually use
How long should this rest? Which cut for a slow-cooked stew? Will a 2kg joint feed eight? Your butcher answers these questions all day. That advice is free, it's specific to the meat you're buying, and it's the difference between a good dinner and a great one.
4. Better meat, properly handled
Butchers care about the things that make meat taste good: the breed, how it was reared, how long beef is hung, how it's trimmed and stored. Properly matured beef, for example, is deeper in flavour and more tender than beef rushed to the shelf. You can taste the difference, especially in steaks and roasting joints.
5. Cuts you won't find on a shelf
Supermarkets stock what sells fastest. A butcher can offer the full animal: ox cheek, beef shin, lamb neck, pork belly on the bone, featherblade, onglet, proper sausages and seasonal game. Many of these are cheaper than the familiar cuts and some of the most delicious, cooked well.
6. Less waste, less plastic
Buying the amount you need means less ends up in the bin. And meat from the counter is wrapped simply rather than sealed in trays and layers of film. Small changes, but they add up across a year of shopping.
7. Good value, when you look closely
Price per kilo isn't the whole story. A well-trimmed joint, sized so nothing is wasted, often works out better value than it first appears. And your butcher can point you to cheaper cuts that cook beautifully, which no price label will do.
8. Your money stays local
When you buy from Mr & Mrs Park's, your money supports local jobs, local farms and a shop on your high street, rather than flowing out of the area to shareholders. We've written more about where your money goes when you shop local.
Try it for yourself
The best way to see the difference is to taste it. Browse our counter online, order for click & collect, and if you've any questions about what to choose, just ask us.
