Jason’s major investment brings benefits for quality food shoppers

Successful farmer and leading meat wholesaler Jason Hamilton has seen a significant investment in retailing last year prove an outstanding success especially over the festive season. He’s created what must surely be the biggest and most modern farm shop on the island of Ireland.
Jason Hamilton, managing director of Carnbrooke Meats, taking delivery of a new fleet of vans for the company’s extensive delivery servicesJason Hamilton, managing director of Carnbrooke Meats, taking delivery of a new fleet of vans for the company’s extensive delivery services
Jason Hamilton, managing director of Carnbrooke Meats, taking delivery of a new fleet of vans for the company’s extensive delivery services

Successful farmer and leading meat wholesaler Jason Hamilton has seen a significant investment in retailing last year prove an outstanding success especially over the festive season. He’s created what must surely be the biggest and most modern farm shop on the island of Ireland.

The new shop – established just ahead of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic in March – was a major development by Carnbrooke Meats, the successful meat

processing business Jason launched in Dromara in 2011 and runs with wife Jacqueline. He started the processing and wholesaling operation on the back of his knowledge and experience as a butcher, mixed farmer and in meat sales. It has since become a preferred supplier of meats to the hospitality sector here.

The new food hall in Lisburn developed by leading meat wholesaler Carnbrooke MeatsThe new food hall in Lisburn developed by leading meat wholesaler Carnbrooke Meats
The new food hall in Lisburn developed by leading meat wholesaler Carnbrooke Meats

“I decided to invest in the new farm shop in Lisburn because shoppers here are increasingly seeking to buy directly from local producers,” Jason explains. “The new shop specialises in our Mourne Gold branded meats, ready meals prepared by our team of chefs and other groceries from local artisan suppliers. It’s doing extremely well with shoppers from the area, other parts of Northern Ireland, and even from the Republic of Ireland.”

Shoppers, he continues, have been stocking up on Carnbrooke’s range of premium meat pies in particular because of the quality of the ingredients and outstanding taste.

“Shoppers know that the pies are made entirely by us with our meats without any fillers,” he continues. “We can stand over the provenance and traceability of our all meats and meals as well as products in the shop sourced from local suppliers we know and trust.”

Carnbrooke Meats has a longstanding reputation for quality and tasty meats supplied to the hospitality sector here including top hotels and high-end restaurants; success which led Jason and Jacqueline to move from Dromara to the much larger premises in Lisburn.

“We always had a farm shop at Dromara but proved too small because of the growth in demand from shoppers for the meats they enjoyed in the hospitality outlets,” he explains.

The switch to the much more extensive site in Lisburn, part of which was once a car showroom, enabled Jason to create a larger meat processing plant of 8,000 sq ft and to kit out the 3,000 sq ft food hall. There’s also an in-store kitchen for the preparation of Carnbrooke branded ready meals. Another feature of the complex of Himalayan salt blocks for dry-aged meats. The whole development represents an investment of almost £2 million and employs over 50 people with additional jobs in the pipeline.

The move coincided with the first coronavirus lockdown which impacted adversely on Carnbrooke’s very successful foodservice business.

“The lockdowns are, of course, a severe blow, the first coming just after we had invested in the new expanded operation,” Jason says. “Fortunately, the food hall was up and running and is helping offset the setback in hospitality of two lockdowns over the past nine months. It now accounts for around 50 percent of our business. I really feel for everyone in hospitality. It’s been a terrible time for them. I talk to our customers in the sector regularly and really do hope they’ll be able to open their doors again soon… and remain open. I also know that they’ve all spent a lot of money on making their premises as safe as they can be for customers and staff.”

He fears it will be some considerable time before this important sector fully recovers from the lockdowns. “It’ll be a while before our tourism industry, for instance, gets moving again. The hospitality industry was going really well last year and looking forward to continuing growth in visitors from abroad,” he explains.

The provenance and quality of the food hall’s range of foods are proving extremely popular with shoppers, which, according to national surveys, are increasingly opting for local food and speciality grocers.

“We’re certainly extremely busy throughout the week and especially at the weekend,” Jason continues. “As a result, our retail sales have grown to 50 percent of our business at this immensely challenging time. We’re now regarded as a one-stop shop for people seeking exceptional locally produced food and especially premium meats – beef, bacon, pork, lamb and poultry - and fish, all of which are sourced from close to the plant. There’s also a comprehensive selection of local artisan products.”

Teams of Master Butchers cut every order to each customer’s exact specification. Experienced chefs prepare established dishes and meats and also come up

regularly with new meal ideas.

Carnbrooke has also responded to the lockdowns by providing home deliveries – up to 150 a day – using its own fleet of refrigerated vans. Boxes of products required by customers, in addition, are sent to callers here and across Britain and the Republic of Ireland.

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