On this page . . .

# The nature of the problem - Why we started

# In the beginning . . . - Our origins

# Can't you get meat like this in supermarkets? - Definitely not

# So how is Real Meat Company Meat different? - Key factors which define the Real Meat Company:

~ Independence and Commitment
~ Accountability and Open Door policy
~ Security Issues
~ Perpetual Liability

The nature of the problem.

Meat is the only widely consumed product which relies on the life and death of a living creature.

Meat is NOT a dietary requirement - many people live good healthy lives without it.

Meat costs relatively much more than other food options.

So eating meat, in our view, is a privilege, not a right and it is the duty of the end consumer to make certain that the livestock's life and death were undertaken with the maximum care possible.

That is what we do.

In the beginning . . . .

When we started out in 1986, it was quite difficult to get any meat or poultry with any provenance of welfare or purity. We were the first brand ever set up specifically to address the problem customers had of identifying a source of meat that they could genuinely trust.

It was thought that we were "nutters" and that the company would not last five minutes. It certainly was not easy for us. The concept that customers would pay extra to be reassured that the meat was pure, was from livestock which had been properly cared for and that it would have more flavour was revolutionary.

Can't you get meat like this in supermarkets and other places now?

You could be forgiven for thinking so. Labels like "organic", "free range", "farm assured" and schemes like "Freedom Foods" and the "Little Red Tractor" have sprung up over the years.

Once the supermarkets and those involved in conventional and intensive (factory farming) systems realised that we were not going to go away, they had to decide how to react. Early on they made two important discoveries:

# You can make a great deal more money by procuring something that sounds high welfare and pure than procuring something that actually is.

# The number of customers that say they are interested in welfare and purity is huge. The number that are prepared actually to commit to do something about it (pay extra / visit a specialist shop) is a much, much lower figure.

The supermarkets and others can therefore engage most customers by presenting them with something that sounds right, probably supplied by the same people that supply their intensive products. This will leave their customers' consciences feeling much better without actually solving much.

So how is Real Meat Company Meat different?

There are a number of huge differences between us and all other schemes which purport to tackle welfare, purity or eating quality. These differences can be turned into questions for others to see how good their schemes are.

Independence and Commitment

The Real Meat Company is owned and controlled by the two people who campaigned for and pioneered a better way to farm - without cruelty, unnecessary medication and with focus on eating quality.

The company is independent of the conventional meat industry and stays aloof of any pressures that supermarkets might apply by simply not supplying them.

The founders, Richard Guy and Gilly Metherell (see picture) never eat conventional meat and become vegetarians when away from home.

Meanwhile . . . .

Most suppliers of 'alternative' meat, poultry and eggs, particularly supermarkets, are subsidiaries of the companies which supply their intensive products. Sometimes a pioneer company will be swallowed up by one of the companies they set out to criticise.

Battery, barn, free range and organic eggs all come from one or two national egg companies. The directors, operatives and representatives of these companies are not well known for their commitment to animal welfare nor much else. One assumes that they will, in turn, pursue the provenance of their 'alternative products' without much zeal or alacrity.

Rachel's Dairy was pioneered and run by Rachel who quite rightly got an MBE for being the first scale producer of organic milk in Britain. She sold out in 1999 to Horizon Foods, a huge American organic group. But with the cork now out of the bottle, Horizon was itself taken over by Dean Foods a gigantic American dairy conglomerate whose practices in the States would not please free range or organic fanatics much. Yet on the label, there it is: "Rachel's Dairy".

In much the same way Green and Black, successful marketeers of chocolate that was both fair traded and organic have sold out to Cadburys. Without casting aspersions on either party, to the keen environmentalist/welfarist this would be like the Pope selling the Vatican to Satan. Somewhere in Africa, far, far away one bunch of farmers who get a fair price for their beans and another bunch who do not. Well, that's nice, isn't it?

Accountability and 'Open Door'

When seeking a defining proof to set us apart from the others at an early stage of our development we came up with our 'Open Door' policy. Every farmer, every delivery firm, every butchery area, every kitchen and even every abattoir that does business with us must fulfill two criteria:

# They must follow our rules.

# They must allow free public access.

This second one sets us apart. Not that many farmers and certainly very few abattoirs are happy to allow this. Yet, if they will not allow this, they cannot be doing business with us.

The fact that we reveal the identity of EVERYONE in the supply chain, not just a couple of show farms proves that we have absolutely nothing to hide.

And the supermarkets . . . .

The game played by the supermarkets is to strongly feature one or two farmers - on the packet / on a great big spread in the colour supplements / on the telly. Choose a small traditional looking farmer and give the impression that everything in the store comes from people like them and your customers' imagination will do the rest.

Try asking for a list of the names and addresses of ALL of their contributing farmers so that you can pop round at your leisure for a visit. Oh and the abattoirs too. Don't be too optimistic about getting anything other than ,"I'm sorry its confidential / there are security issues / it's not our policy"

Security issues

As if any further proof was needed that we are sincere and the only serious alternative, there is more. We operate a security system to be sure that meat is not substituted on its way to you. Yes that right, we invest money trying to catch out our own wholesale customers. And if we are successful, we lose a customer and the sales that go with it.
So we spend money to lose sales.
Well that's not quite it, of course. We hope by doing it that fraud is reduced to effectively zero. No other organic or free range type operation does this.
We use a number of security systems but the most effective and sophisticated is DNA fingerprinting. We take samples from carcasses headed to a particular shop and then send in a secret shopper to purchase samples to send to the lab to check that they match. And if they do not, rare but it happens, all hell breaks loose.
This company was started BY people who believe the issues FOR people who believe in the issues. That's why we spend so much time, energy and money making sure no one breaks the chain.

Meanwhile . . .

Supermarkets and the rest of the industry are happy to rely on bits of paper which allow plenty of opportunities for substitution from farm to shelf. Basically, as long as the paperwork looks legitimate and the price is cheap, supermarket buyers aren't that interested in whether or not the product is authentic.
In 2004 over 30 tonnes of "Organic Free Range Chickens" sold through Waitrose, Morrisons and the Co-op were found, by a sheer fluke, to contain residues of a growth promoter which had been banned throughout Europe for all farmers.
An ITV documentary attempted to buy organic meat from four butchers shops and filmed the transaction secretly. It turned out that NONE of the meat actually was organic. Interviewed in the same programme, a Soil Association spokesman said that they did not do DNA tracing because they did not think it was necessary. 100% of shops tried were cheating their customers blind and they don't think improved security is necessary!

Perpetual liability

Our secret weapon. Unlike organic, Freedom Foods, Red Tractor and all of the other rubber stamping schemes, we select farmers to produce for us AND buy the produce. This gives us much greater protection in commercial law enshrined in a clause which sorts out the wheat from the chaff. Within our Welfare/Diet Codes is included the Perpetual Liability Clause. It states:

<< WARNING - Perpetual Liability.
There are so many paper-only, half-cocked assurance schemes around that you could be forgiven for thinking that the Real Meat Company is just another one. It is not. We are not a charity, a government organisation or a collection of meaningless committees.
We are a visionary welfare, purity and quality based organisation that keeps its promises to its customers. Because we set the Codes and buy the items from you, the Codes become a purchase contract. Any violation of the Codes by you causing us damage of any magnitude now, or at any time in the future, we will seek to recover from you in full and without limit. This could be £millions.
If you feel you cannot abide by these Codes or think you will be tempted to violate them, please do not bother to try to supply us.

Any farmer who will not sign this may not rear livestock for us.

There's More

Click on "More" to see the "Why we are not organic," a full current listing of our farmers and the details of our Diet / Welfare Codes.