Meat to your doorstep

FOOD FILE:"There has to be a better way," thought Nigel Cobbe, as he and his wife Jacqueline ate yet another disappointing piece of tasteless meat. Despite shopping carefully in local butchers, the couple found that more often than not "pork was bland and dry, rashers boiled in a white cocktail rather than caramelising, beef was tough and tasteless, and corn-fed chicken was an elusive quarry".

And so Cobbe set out earlier this year to track down the very best meat he could, starting with pork. Having identified 20 suppliers of free-range and organic pork, he e-mailed them asking about buying a half pig; he received two replies. One of these was from Kenny Gracey, who breeds Gloucestershire Old Spot and Saddleback pigs and Longhorn cattle at his Forthill Farm in Co Armagh.

Cobbe headed straight to Armagh and came away with samples, which he tried himself and distributed to friends – all of whom came back for more. And so Simply Sourced, an online shop selling and delivering top quality meat – pork, beef, poultry, venison and lamb – was conceived. Simply Sourced sends its carefully butchered, dry-cured and well-hung produce nationwide in chilled vacuum packs. A pork taster pack – three pounds of sausages, 10 rashers, four pork and apple burgers and two chops, costs €30. See www.simplysourced.net.