Oink pork pioneers aim to go whole hog

Company keen to develop new chain of franchised outlets with London a target for owners

Twenty years after “taking a punt” on selling their own hog roasts direct to the Scottish public, Borders farmers Adam Marshall and Sandy Pate are ready to make their hard-earned experience available to franchisees throughout the UK.

Already working on their first such development, to be located in Belfast, the two Berwickshire farmers have their sights set on a major extension of the Oink business they founded together in the late 1990s.

“Farming was in real downturn at the time, with the pig sector in particular enduring a difficult time,” said Adam. “We were at a crossroads as farmers and decided to look for other options.”

Adam, the fourth generation of his family to farm Slighouses, and Sandy, whose farm at Redpath in the Lammermuir Hills has also passed down successive family generations, knew each other from junior rugby days.

Applying together for grant support, they set up a meat cutting plant to process Adam’s pork and Sandy’s beef and lamb. They also handled meat for early suppliers to farmers’ markets, an initiative which was gaining momentum at the time.

“It was hard work but reasonably profitable,” said Adam. “By 2002 we’d started cooking roasts for various events, having bought a specialist catering trailer and started attending the farmers’ market in Edinburgh, where our roasts went down a treat.”

Encouraged by their success over the next few years, they started looking for an outlet in Edinburgh, duly finding a shop in Victoria Street and a landlord who was willing to accept them as tenants.

“It’s not easy to find a landlord who is willing to back businesses without a track record,” said Adam.

“Thankfully our Victoria Street landlord liked our concept and we still have a great working relationship with him today, 11 years on from that first Edinburgh opening.”

With Oink now having three Edinburgh outlets and a full-time staff of about 20, the business has clearly done well, fully justifying the 1990s decision to try something new.

However, when asked if he’d advise others to do the same, Adam combined a broadly positive response with a warning that there’s a lot of hard work involved.

“My comment for other farmers who are thinking of doing something similar is to go for it, provided you have a modern mindset. You also need to move rapidly in this business as you can miss an opportunity very quickly.

“In addition, it’s hard work, which comes with its own penalties, such as working 18-hour days on a regular basis. We’re not doing that now but life only got easier about four or five years ago.”

Now looking to develop a network of franchised outlets, Adam is keen to take Oink into the London scene at some point, if the right franchisees can be identified.

“We’ve already talked to a lot of potential franchisees,” he said. “You have to be more than a foodie to take on our sort of project and make it work, however. You need to be passionate about food in general and pork in particular.”

You also need to be ready for the workload, although not to the level Adam and Sandy faced in the early days. To use a Borders rugby expression, they’ve already “done the hard yards”, clearing the way for future Oink outlets to be somewhat easier to set and run.

Adam Marshall with Sandy Pate at their Canongate eaterie.