Aubrey Allen
In our quest for perfection, we came across Aubrey Allen - purveyors of meat to the Royal family.
From a back street Coventry Shop, opened by the orphan Aubrey Allen in 1933, to the award-winning national catering butcher it is today, the core philosophies that run through their business have remained the same.
Aubrey Allen are a family-run wholesale butchers who have built their business through passionate commitment to sourcing quality meat. By only purchasing whole animals from specific herds, it retains absolute quality and provenance.
During our initial discussions about provenance and quality, Jon told us about a farm they work with that has thoroughbred Wagyu that can be traced back to Japan. Unlike their Japanese cousins, these cows are nourished by the green pastures of Suffolk. Although the marbling isn't quite as extreme as Kobe, the meat has a brilliant flavour that can only be achieved using English farming methods.
Because the quality is so high, this meat doesn't come cheap with fillet fetching £80+ per kilo. But being passionate about using every part of the animal, we also love using other cuts like short-rib or Jacob's ladder, which is very well priced considering the work that goes into breeding such renowned cattle.
Another notable feature of Aubrey Allen is their meat storage facility. They mature their meat in scientifically structured dry ageing chambers where space, air flow and humidity are kept at optimum levels. In fact, meat scientist Professor Chris Caulkin has said that Aubrey Allen beef is “the best example of dry-ageing in the world”. High praise indeed!
It's this kind of commitment to excellence and responsible sourcing that resonates with our own values. Sourcing only the very best ethically cared for meat is why they have won a National Meat Buyer of the Year award for "Ethical Sourcing and Animal Welfare". Add to that master butchers, who are some of the best in the trade, and it means that we can serve our guests with the finest possible meat that has been looked after from farm to plate.
Taking the bacon!
This facility really is something else! With passionate people who care about their product, determined commitment to source the best animals and investment in the very best equipment and technology, we are absolutely certain there is no better produce for us to put on your plate.
Check out this awesome video on how they produce the highest quality bacon. Sourced from English outdoor-bred gilt pigs (young females), which have better intramuscular fat and a sweeter flavour, it really is some of the finest bacon you'll ever eat... trust us, we've tried!
"My Grandfather, Aubrey, was passionate about education and his desire to escape poverty drove him to be an innovator in his business. Indeed, he obtained the first slaughter licence in Coventry and used to do the slaughtering himself on a piece of grazing land! Innovation and education remain at the centre of what we do today and we are very proud to have been named The Most Innovative Butcher in Britain by the Meat Trades Journal.”
Lucianne Allen, Marketing Director
Download our Rooted In Food brochure
We love creating exciting menus that celebrate our local food heroes. That's why every proposal that we send out includes our Rooted in Food brochure to whet your appetite.
This brochure contains just a sample of the sort of menus we can produce for your event and is designed to give you a sense of our passion for great food. They are sample menus and are subject to change based on availability of produce.
