Published at 11:44, Thursday, 05 February 2009

Prime cut - Gilly Fraser meets Alan Elliot, the young butcher who left County Tyrone to take over a Dalbeattie business - and hasn't stopped winning awards since

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Would you consider haggis to be an exotic food? Well, to misquote Frank Carson just a little: “It’s the way you make ’em.”
If you’re wondering what could possibly connect an Irish comedian and an iconic Scottish delicacy, you’ve obviously never tasted haggis as made by Dalbeattie-based butcher Alan Elliott. Because it just so happens that the 2007 Haggis Championship was won by this son of County Tyrone. Ironically, it was the first time the award had come to Dumfries & Galloway, that most Burnsian of counties.
Furthermore, Alan had never even tasted haggis till he crossed the water to set up shop in south-west Scotland, yet his Chieftain o’ the Puddin Race has featured in a series produced by German television on the world’s most exotic foods.
Something of a fluke result perhaps? A bit of beginner’s luck? Well, maybe. Except that Alan has also won the Black Pudding Championship, the Steak Pie Championship, and has now topped that little lot off by being crowned UK Young Butcher of the Year 2008. Pretty good for a 24-year-old who opened his first shop on his 19th birthday – a stranger in a strange land.
“I came to Dalbeattie because I wanted
a challenge,” Alan says, as if it were the
most obvious thing in the world. “I’d
been working in a butchers at home
since I was 15 and I wanted to branch out on my own, but there just wasn’t anything suitable in County Tyrone. So I had a look round and heard about this shop being up
for sale.
“I didn’t know the area at all, but it was grand because it’s not too far from home.
When I first came over to see the shop and the area, I just took a good look round and thought ‘Yes, this will do me fine.’”
Despite his amazing string of successes, Alan says going it alone hasn’t always been easy: “For the first couple of years it was an incredibly steep learning curve. I put a lot of hours into the business, investing in new machinery, developing new product lines, researching sources of meat and meeting with local producers.
“But it all came together. The shop’s takings have more than doubled in the time that I’ve been here – and a lot of that is down to the team I have working with me.”
Alan’s pride in his staff is very evident, but taking over an established business at such an early age must surely have had its problems?
“It was difficult to be a young boss at first, because I had absolutely no management skills and really I didn’t know the best way to handle staff. But I believe it all comes down to the way you are with people – whether they can get along with you or not. After a while, if you’re doing okay, they look beyond your age.
“Recently I was asked to judge a local livestock show and I’m really delighted about that. I know they wouldn’t ask me if they didn’t think I knew my stuff.”
Alan is keen to use and to promote local produce whenever he can – but he says that’s not the most important factor.
“As far as I’m concerned, quality must come first and the fact that the produce is local comes second, though that’s still very important.
“I’m constantly on the lookout for new ideas – but consistency is also vital. When you create a product you’re happy with, you need to stick with it so that customers know exactly what they’ll be getting and know they can depend on it always to be good. I’m also trying to introduce younger customers to the idea of cooking from scratch with good ingredients, rather than just buying ready-made meals.”
Many towns and cities have seen their local shops, such as butchers and grocers, disappear after falling victim to the spread of supermarket chains. But Alan is optimistic about the industry’s future.
“I honestly feel butchers are making a comeback,” he says. “That’s partly because customers nowadays are far more concerned about the traceability of meat – and when they buy something from me, they know exactly where it came from. Also, butchers are much more aware of their customers’ needs, so as well as selling them a prime cut of meat, they’ll also give cooking advice, recipes and so on. Shoppers won’t find that in most supermarkets. So the personal touch is really important.”
He may have been an incomer, but Alan says he’s always been made to feel welcome in Dalbeattie.
“I’m really thankful to people here. I’ve had such a lot of support from them – to be honest I couldn’t have done what I have done without them. They’ve made me more than welcome right from the start. It’s a great
wee town.”

Published by http://www.dgblife.co.uk