Butchers | Bert Fowlie
You can order this butcher’s range of products on line, but it’s well worth the trip to Strichen, a little town in North-East Scotland. No matter which compass-point you approach from, you’ll travel through the rich farmlands of this part of Scotland – and the origin of the naturally-reared, grass-fed quality meat through which the company has made its name.
Now run by Hebbie Fowlie, along with his wife Eileen, the business was started by his father Bert Fowlie in 1955 – the classic local butcher’s, supplying the needs of the community and standing or falling on its standards of service and quality. The business prospered, its reputation grew, so that today it employs a staff of 16. Thanks to on-line ordering, its customer-base has grown far beyond the immediate environs of Strichen – last year they even supplied the pies for a Burns Supper in the Globe Theatre, London, England!
When he isn’t sourcing cattle from the mart a few miles away at Inverurie, or from a few carefully selected local farms, Hebbie Fowlie has his sleeves rolled up. He admits he puts in a lot of hours as he oversees the proper hanging of the meat, the cuts and presentation of the beef, pork and lamb, or the making of the Scotch pies and the white puddings - and all the other traditional lines which a real Scottish butcher provides. Naturally, years of experience have gone into knowledge of proper hanging times for meat, so that the full flavour has developed by the time it is presented on the counter. Another speciality is proper dry-cure bacon from local pork – the way breakfast used to taste! The expanding ready-meal sector is also important – and here the emphasis is still on good and simple traditional Scottish meals. (Another concession to tradition is the supply of real butteries – offered as a result of customers’ ‘pleading’ with them to stock this bakery line – a north-east breakfast speciality!)
On-line or in the shop, you know you’re in the hands of knowledgeable and experienced folk who know their business and want to supply the very best. It’s what personal service is all about.