In 2003, Ian Jalland wanted to get public liability insurance for some farmland he had bought the year before. But his insurer told him he needed livestock on the land to qualify, so he acquired three Jacob sheep.
Two years later, Jalland is the owner of specialist meat producer Brockleby’s and boasts a flock of 300 Jacobs and Hebrideans.
The 3,000-year-old Biblical Jacob breed from Syria is so much slower growing than standard sheep that when other farmers are slaughtering in May, Jalland is still lambing. But the benefits of slow-growing stock free from hormones and antibiotics, farmed on fields free from artificial fertilisers and pesticides, shine through in quality and flavour, he claims.
“Most commercial livestock is bred for productivity and weight gain,” says Jalland. “But we market ours on the basis of taste. Slow-maturing breeds have a fuller flavour.” Customers are willing to travel out of their way to his farm shop and farmhouse kitchen near Melton Mowbray and to pay a little extra for high quality fresh local produce, Jalland says.
Turnover has trebled in the shop’s first full year of trading and he says he is on track to turn over £500,000 this year.
Brockleby’s also handles meat from rare breed Middle White pigs and slow-maturing, free-range chickens and Hereford cattle. Further, it now offers award-winning (Gold at the 2004 Great Taste Awards) lamb and mint sausages - along with pies and dry-cured ham and bacon - in the shop, at farmers’ markets and online.
Jalland has joined the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Association, to emphasise that his pies are made using traditional methods.
If demand keeps rising, he plans to add a specialist pie factory and is interested in enquiries from retailers.
Greg Meenehan
Two years later, Jalland is the owner of specialist meat producer Brockleby’s and boasts a flock of 300 Jacobs and Hebrideans.
The 3,000-year-old Biblical Jacob breed from Syria is so much slower growing than standard sheep that when other farmers are slaughtering in May, Jalland is still lambing. But the benefits of slow-growing stock free from hormones and antibiotics, farmed on fields free from artificial fertilisers and pesticides, shine through in quality and flavour, he claims.
“Most commercial livestock is bred for productivity and weight gain,” says Jalland. “But we market ours on the basis of taste. Slow-maturing breeds have a fuller flavour.” Customers are willing to travel out of their way to his farm shop and farmhouse kitchen near Melton Mowbray and to pay a little extra for high quality fresh local produce, Jalland says.
Turnover has trebled in the shop’s first full year of trading and he says he is on track to turn over £500,000 this year.
Brockleby’s also handles meat from rare breed Middle White pigs and slow-maturing, free-range chickens and Hereford cattle. Further, it now offers award-winning (Gold at the 2004 Great Taste Awards) lamb and mint sausages - along with pies and dry-cured ham and bacon - in the shop, at farmers’ markets and online.
Jalland has joined the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Association, to emphasise that his pies are made using traditional methods.
If demand keeps rising, he plans to add a specialist pie factory and is interested in enquiries from retailers.
Greg Meenehan
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