Taking control of our supply chains PEN LLŷN BEEF FARM TEAMS UP WITH NEARBY BUTCHER
STEPPING off the production treadmill was the motivation behind a new joint venture that will provide high quality Welsh beef and lamb to consumers on the Llŷn Peninsula.
Nanhoron farm, Llaniestyn, has teamed up with Cigoedd y Llain, a butchery business at nearby Glasfryn Park.
By slaughtering Nanhoron’s pedigree Hereford cattle at Cae Iago abattoir, near Trawsfynydd, the partners hope to slash food miles and market a genuinely local product.
Emlyn Roberts is already gearing up for the challenge by building an extension to his Cigoedd y Llain butchery unit.
Ultimately this will also serve as an academy for the training of local butchery apprentices.
Peter Barrett, manager at 1,400acre Nanhoron farm, said the arrangement was born out of frustration at the way beef producers are being squeezed by the market.
“In the past 12 months we have lost £200 per bullock,” he said.
“This time last year we were getting £378 per animal, now it’s £315. Revenue has fallen 17%-20% at a time when input costs have risen 8%.
“This really isn’t sustainable for any business, so we had to explore options for recapturing some of our margin.”
Price pressures, and subsidised Irish imports, were only part of the equation. Others were a need to cut the farm’s carbon footprint and a desire to get closer to the end customer.
Brexit, and looming changes to the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS), were also considerations.
“We are not a play farm, we are a business,” said Mr Barrett.
“People say we are fortunate because we are a large farm and efficient.
“But farm payments are due to decline and covering the land in solar panels is not an option.
“At the moment we are far from the marketplace, our animals are slaughtered in England and we are not getting a fair share of the market price. So something had to change.”
A fortnight ago the first two beef carcases were delivered to Emlyn, who priced them up and assessed the venture as viable.
Weekly throughput will rise to four and possibly more in the run-up to Christmas.
As Emlyn supplies shops and restaurants as well as having his own retail outlet, Nanhoron’s beef has a ready distribution network.
Some has already gone to Spar shops across Pen Llŷn, with whom he has good relationships.
Among them is Conrad Davies’ Spar store in Pwllheli where Emlyn, 45, first began as a butchery apprentice.
His career subsequently took him to poultry wholesalers OG Griffiths & Sons, Welshpool, then Harlech Foodservice as butcher manager for its Bwydlyn brand.
On April 4, 2017, he started up on his own at Glaslyn Park, with help from the Cywain food marketing initiative.
Now he has four staff, and one part-time, while sons Iwan, 16, and Owain, 13, pitch in at weekends.
Wife Fiona, a teacher, helps with the books. Despite this, he foresees a time when he’ll need to grow his workforce – especially as his new extension will double the footprint of his retail cutting operation.
“Butchery isn’t seen as glamorous by young people but from my experiences at Harlech Foodservice, new apprentices soon realise it can be a rewarding career,” said Emlyn.
“I’d like to stage open evenings for local young farmers to introduce butchery to them.
“This way we can all work together and grow the provision of local meat for local people.”
As well as its 400-head Hereford herd, Nanhoron has 200 pure Salers cattle and 400 Welsh Mules and Halfbreds, all put to Texel tups.
Currently the beef is sold to Dunbia but Mr Barrett believes there is plenty of scope to channel the farm’s entire output through Cigoedd y Llain as the venture grows.
Cywain is again providing marketing support.
“We could sell as far as Cheshire but Emlyn doesn’t think we’ll need to go that far,” he said.
“Even if we sell into 20 or so restaurants, the volumes will quickly mount up.
“We would hope to get a 20%-30% uplift in our beef returns. For customers this will still represent exceptionally good value, as there will be no middlemen and little in the way of transport costs.
“We produce quality meats that stand up to anything else out there in the market – we just want local people to have access to it.”