Field to Plate: Our Traceability Promise

Sustainability, responsibility and traceability are all buzzwords that we hold in high regard here at Eversfield Organic. The latter is something that has become particularly hazy in today’s ultra-commercialised climate and it seems as though companies won’t think twice about hiding their secrets in the small print. This is why we are making a stand with our traceability promise.

Field to Abattoir

Many months before you receive our award-winning organic produce, a process begins which has the highest industry standards of animal welfare at its core. Using our traditional breed Aberdeen Angus cattle as an example, they are granted access to roam organic pastures the way nature intended for around 30 months in order to ensure they reach peak condition. After Bill, our resident farmer has cast his expert eye over the herd and given his seal of approval, they are transported comfortably to a local abattoir where they are quickly and efficiently stunned to prevent any unwanted stress. 

Each animal has an individual identification tag which holds information such as their parental heritage, birth date and any movements. This information is transmitted onto a label which is then attached to the carcass for the entirety of the production process. Our bullocks, due to their size, require four labels which will be attached to the two forequarters and two hindquarters, whilst a lamb would only require one label. You get the picture.

Abattoir to our Farm Butchery

All meat arrives at our farm butchery in built-for-purpose vehicles that ensure the meat is kept below four degrees. Our traditionally trained butchery team intake the carcasses in two ways. The first involves the use of a meat intake sheet. This sheet holds information such as the carcass type, date of slaughter, date of arrival, supplier information, the weight of the product, the temperature upon intake and a thorough inspection which must be carried out. If any corrective action has to be taken or the meat quality doesn’t reach our butchers’ lofty standards then rest assured that it won’t be signed off.

Another way in which the carcass is in-taken is through our integration system. This is whereby the same information that is mentioned above is input into our system and a tag is produced. This tag is printed twice and contains a barcode, an abattoir number and a cutting facility number. One tag is attached to the corresponding carcass and hung in one of our specialised meat fridges to develop further taste, whilst the other tag is handed to our labelling team. 

Butchering and Packaging

Image: Every consideration is made in our farm butchery.

After our butchers work their magic during the cutting process, each product finds its way into our labelling department along with its personalised intake code. This ensures our labelling manager knows which code to scan and thus which information to print onto our packaging. By following this process, we are able to trace the entire product journey and guard against poor quality in the future. 

Our farm butchery is fully licensed and audited by a number of different regulatory bodies. For example, the Soil Association, Safe and Local Supplier Approval, and the Food Standards Agency. The latter of which will do unannounced spot checks. As should be expected, we have an outstanding record with all of these auditors and pride ourselves on running an efficient ethical butchery. 

All of the steps and considerations that we take translate to a finished product that is not only of supreme quality but also can be traced back to its very beginnings and along every step of the organic journey.