High-end butcher rebrands, expands

Asked how the corner of Oxford and Oak streets in west-end Halifax was chosen for the second location of Osprey’s Roost Butchery and Provisions, vice-president Peter Boudreau said, “Look at the neighbourhood.”

Thousands of people live within a short walk of the shop, which opened earlier this month. Osprey’s Roost is the new branding for Getaway Farm; the company’s beef will have the Getaway label.

A third location is due to open within a few weeks at the brewery market. The three retail shops, along with a production facility and offices in Bedford and the farm in the valley, will employ 40 people.

There are plans for at least two more retail outlets, probably in the Halifax area, and company president Chris De Waal wants to, within three years, build a packing plant in the municipality. The plant would accept whole carcasses from local abattoirs and farms, process beef and then forward it to retailers and institutions.

All the pork for sale at Osprey’s Roost comes from a family farm near Great Village.

“It’s certified humane and it is, honest to God, some of the best pork you’ll ever eat in Canada,” said De Waal.

“No farrowing cages, no antibiotics. Even when we truck their animals to the abattoir, we are inspected to make sure the transport is humane. Is there enough straw on the floor? How long are you going to be on the road? Do they have enough room to lie down? This farm even goes so far as to raise the pigs as family units so that when they ship, they don’t fight.”

Poultry isn’t as simple to source, as the demand for certified free-range chicken outstrips the supply available from any one farmer.

“So, the focus is that we use Nova Scotia-certified free-range producers. Largely it’s from Wayne Oulton (in Windsor) and Kevin Hamilton, down around Yarmouth. He’s the lone ranger of free-range in that area.”