TORQUAY butcher has started selling fruit and veg to support local shoppers missing their greens.
After the closure of Torre Fruit and Veg last month, Gribbles butchers have added fruit and veg to their lines in their shop in Brunswick Square.
Boss Mark Gribble said: "It was sad to see Torre Fruit and Veg close, so we have created space in the shop for some fruit and veg. It is working really well as some people are coming in for fruit and veg and then buying meat as well."
Mark is a keen supporter of the principals behind the Herald Express Shop Local campaign.
The butchers, which have a shop in Ivybridge and a delivery service stretching from Chagford to Salcombe and Plymouth to Exeter, is principally supplied by eight local family farms, based in Ivybridge and Modbury, Dartmouth, Salcombe, Bovey Tracey and Kingsbridge.
Mark said: "For example we can supply people living in Bovey Tracey with meat produced on farms in the Bovey Tracey area. We will take it to their doorstep."
Rather than getting their local meat from a wholesaler, Gribbles collect the carcasses from the farm after the farmer has taken their animals to the local abattoir at Ashburton.
Gribbles also sell a wide range of game such as venison from Haldon Hills and Exmoor, pheasant and pigeon.
The company run a weekly meat box delivery or collection scheme.
Mark is keen to spread the message of the contribution farmers make to maintaining the countryside of which Devon residents are so proud.
"I am a great lover of the Devon countryside. But what many people don’t realise is that the rolling hills, patchwork fields and pretty hedgerows that make Devon so special simply wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for our agriculture.
"But farmers don’t look after things like hedgerows because they like gardening. It is a business. And the more we support their business the more we can preserve the Devon countryside."
He added that he knows every local farmer individually.
"They in turn know us well enough to understand exactly what we and our customers want in terms of size, weight, carcass etc.", says Mark.
Mark started the business selling game and exotic meats to restaurants and pubs.
His first shop followed, they now have three. Their biggest seller is beef and 50 per cent of that is reared locally using traditional methods.
The staff use traditional hands-on methods of hanging, butchering and preparing meat with no mechanical processes involved.
There is also a catering section supplying restaurants, pubs and hotels between Plymouth, Exeter, South Devon and Dartmoor.
In a bid to promote local shopping, Gribbles offers loyalty incentives to its regular customers including the chance to ’earn’ or win free meat boxes worth up to £50.
