food Aberdeenshire Butcher Celebrates 65th Anniversary An award-winning, family-run Aberdeenshire butchers, known for its wide range of quality local produce, has celebrated its 65th anniversary. Bert Fowlies Butchers in Strichen, Fraserburgh, celebrated the occasion today (23 September 2020) with customers being entered into a prize draw to win two £65 gift vouchers. Owners Hebbie Fowlie, his wife Eileen, son Gavin and daughter Donna also decorated the shop with posters, balloons and old photos, providing a bit of light relief for customers in these difficult times. The business, which is a member of Quality Meat Scotland’s Scotch Butcher’s Club, was established in 1955 by Bert Fowlie Senior with his son, Hebbie, joining the family business in 1972, after having left school at the age of 16. Ten years later, Bert decided to retire and Hebbie took over the running of the business with Eileen. Donna joined them in 2007 after leaving the oil and gas industry after 13 years, and in 2012 Gavin left his career in joinery to start within the company.
In 2018, Hebbie and Eileen’s grandson, Aaron, started working on a Saturday learning the basic skills of butchery, making Bert Fowlie Butcher’s a fourth-generation family business which, in addition to the shop, supplies over 52 retail stores and over 24 fishing boats. The business, which has won the prestigious accolade
of Scottish Butcher Shop of the Year three years in a row, prides itself on its locally sourced, diverse offering from Specially Selected Pork sausages to Scotch Lamb PGI roasts. Their beef, which is all topquality, farm-assured Scotch Beef PGI, comes from cattle reared by a local farmer and
is also provided by three top Scottish processors - Scotbeef (Inverurie), Munro’s Dingwall and Broxburn-based processor AK Stoddarts. This allows the family to sell meat which has been matured for a minimum of 21 days, giving it the tenderness their customers are looking for.
Vets lament ‘severe blow for animal welfare’ as MPs vote against Agriculture Bill amendment on import standards The British Veterinary Association (BVA) has responded after a crucial clause that imposes a requirement for agricultural and food imports to the UK to meet domestic standards was voted down in the House of Commons as part of the passage of the Agriculture Bill. MPs voted down Amendment 16 by 53 votes (322 votes to 18
279). The amendment, which was tabled in the Lords by Lord Grantchester, Baroness Bakewell of Hardington Mandeville, Lord Krebs & Baroness Boycott, had garnered a swathe of cross-party support, including from several Conservative MPs. Amendment 18 (the Curry amendment) which would have made the Trade and Agriculture Commission
statutory was deemed by the Speaker to be disagreed to as it would impose a charge on the public revenue. BVA, which represents over 18,000 vets across the UK, has previously urged the Government not to allow animal welfare standards to be compromised in pursuit of future trade deals.
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James Russell, BVA President, said: “This result is a severe blow for animal welfare and a betrayal of the Government’s own manifesto commitment to maintain and improve on health and welfare standards. “After such a strong show of support in the Lords, it is bitterly disappointing that the
