SPONSORED: Grogan & Brown Artisan Butchers – Kilkenny’s finest foods at the click of a button

An innovative digital service launched by Kilkenny’s award-winning Grogan & Brown Artisan Butchers is proving to be a huge hit with customers who appreciate great food, but also lead very busy lives during the week.

Grogan & Brown Artisan Butchers pioneered their ‘Click and Collect’ service over the past year, and in recent months they’ve expanded their online offering to cater for the growing demand.

Visitors to the artisan butchers in Loughboy will be familiar with the store’s immaculate layout and presentation: high-quality beef cuts and locally-sourced organic foods all served up with the expert guidance of Grogan & Brown’s highly-trained staff.

However, with today’s hectic lifestyles, a growing number of customers often only have the time to enjoy the Grogan & Brown ‘experience’ at the weekend. Recognising the shift towards more ‘digital’ lifestyles, the Kilkenny butcher has adapted to meet the needs of their busy client-base by providing a ‘weekday convenience’ service that saves time and effort.

“Providing the highest quality service is at the core of everything we do, and as a business we need to change and adapt to the needs and lifestyles of our customers,” said co-owner and co-founder Jonathan Brown.

“Product development and innovation is at the core of our business and we continue to expand on our very popular fitness and well-being range of foods. Again, with a real understanding of retail and how it is quickly evolving, our expanded online shop is a tacit acknowledgment of the busy lives we all lead these days.”

And it’s not just a digital collection service: Grogan & Brown also provides a nationwide next-day delivery service, which allows customers to order online from the comfort of their homes or offices and have their products delivered to them within 24 hours.

Grogan & Brown Artisan Butchers first opened their doors almost seven years ago, but the business has been decades in the making. Jonathan and co-founder Dermot Grogan, two local Kilkenny butchers, have been honing their butchery skills for a combined half a century. They have worked in all aspects of the butchery business and have a passion for high quality produce, food and local industry.

Their approach differs from many traditional butchers and, particularly, from supermarket butcher counters. Grogan & Brown control and select their individual suppliers, prepare their own meat products through processes such as dry-aging beef, dry cured and nitrite free bacon and hand-linked sausages. Their expert team of butchers hand-prepare their products and even dress their meat to match their individual customers’ tastes and needs.

All their beef is hanged for a minimum of 21 days, and steaks for up to 40 days. Well hung meat is not a standard in many supermarkets and is frequently wet-aged in vacuum pack or in gas flushed packaging. Grogan and Brown Artisan Butcher pride themselves on their stringent quality-led processes and strongly believe it results in superior-end food products that their growing customer-base appreciate. Grogan & Brown also recognise, and embrace, recent food trends and the growing demand for pre-prepared meals and the huge interest in fitness foods.

And despite their growing online offering, Grogan & Brown have also enhanced the shopping experience for visitors to their store. With a view to taking the ‘chore’ out of going to the butchers, Jonathan and Dermot recently engaged a team of top retail designers to produce a store that is wonderfully tactile, welcoming and warm.

Dermot explains: “It allows the customer time to browse the display, so they feel unhurried in their choice selection and comfortable in their interaction with our butchers.”

Grogan & Brown also place a huge emphasis on sourcing quality, locally-produced foods. All their beef and lamb is sourced locally. They also stock the award-winning Andarl Farm high welfare free range pork, famed for its delicate flavour. Grogan and Brown’s free range and organic chickens come from Sean Ring in Castlecomer, their organic eggs from Eamonn Wallace in Callan, while Michael Bergin from Jenkintown supplies fresh country vegetables and quality Hereford Beef.

The Grogan & Brown instore dry goods area is a virtual Aladdin’s Cave of artisan produce, from small cottage businesses such as Joan & Bob’s Juicy Jams & Chutneys from Thomastown, and many others supplies across the county.

Jonathan says: “We love to support small local producers and we take great pride in allowing them use Grogan & Brown Artisan Butchers as a platform to showcase their products. We invest in their future, and they invest in ours. It’s important to us that we support such businesses and to support the local economy, providing employment and engaging in social development.”

Despite their emphasis on quality, Grogan & Brown also pride themselves on being able to provide produce at affordable prices. Dermot sums up their motto: “You don’t need a silver fork to eat good food.”

He adds: “We understand, in the current climate, that every penny counts, but we don’t believe quality and taste should be sacrificed for cost. This is where our knowledge and expertise come to the forefront: to ensure you get the very best out of whatever budget you may have.”

For more information, or to visit the Grogan and Brown Artisan Butchers online store, visit: https://groganandbrownbutchers.com/