Yellowbelly Food

Kenny Roberts’ cheeky conservation and welcoming smile, has encouraged customers into Elite Meats, for the past 22 years.

I went into the shop and had a chat with Kenny about the history of the business, his specialities, organic rain and his television appearances. 

Elite Meats has been trading for many years, Kenny says: “It all started many moons ago, I was a Saturday lad and when I left school there was a recession on and no work so my boss said: ‘Would you like to work here as on the YTS (Youth Training Scheme)?'”

This was back in the 80s and Kenny leaped at the chance: “I enjoyed what I was doing”. 

The business was sold onto another butcher and then ended up in Kenny’s hands, he explains: “He weren’t much good, and I ended up showing him how to cut meats and he sold it to me 22 years ago. He taught me some good ideas, learnt my own ideas, watched a bit of telly, going to all the shops having a look at what they’re doing and passed the trade on into one unit so that’s how it started”.

Kenny enjoys his jobs and says: “Meeting customers, having a bit of banter, just having a laugh really… that’s the best bit. Christmas is good as well: pocket full of money!” 

All of Kenny’s meat is free range and he prides himself on having the highest quality goods from local producers. “We use local farmers, the beef is from Mr Davidson, he has a little small holding down Skew Bridge, just behind Morrison’s and he just has his cattle, a retired farmer, and just breeds them for me.  That’s nice” says Kenny.

“The pork is from Schofields, based near Market Rasen, they’ve won a lot of awards… award winning for the fat stock, because they do the traditional way, breeding the traditional way and feeding the traditional way so they’ve got a layer of fat on.  If you go into supermarkets you don’t see a layer of fat on the pork anymore, people always say: ‘How do I get the crackling?’  ‘Well buy decent pork to start with’, that’s what I say”.

When talking to Kenny about organic produce he says: “We can get organic if people want it but I don’t agree with organic because there is no such thing as organic rain.  When the rain comes from the sky, it doesn’t say: ‘don’t rain on there’ does it? Nobody has thought about it. Free range is as good as organic is going to get”.

Nowadays many local butchers are losing trade to supermarkets that are popping up everywhere. Kenny however has plenty of trade coming through the door, saying: “We have our regular supply of customers but if they see a bargain on telly they go off and have a look. They sometimes buy but sometimes they wouldn’t even think about buying meat there.  If it’s half the price I sell it at, they’re going to try it. But I’m not bothered”. 

One thing Kenny is bothered about is supporting the local economy. “It’s a good idea to buy local, it’s good for the local economy, the local traders, and the local producers.  It’s a great idea, keeps all the money in one place”.

The application for the Lincolnshire Sausage to recieve PGI status has it’s roots with Kenny.  “I started it six years ago, because when I started we had a traditional Lincolnshire recipe the old man had, that was passed through generations. That was a proper Lincolnshire sausage, but now you can buy Lincolnshire sausages anywhere and people don’t know what a Lincolnshire sausage is.  So I thought a few years ago, to start the campaign to have Lincolnshire sausage only made in Lincolnshire.”

Kenny’s Lincolnshire Stuffed Mushroom, as featured on the Secret Super Club. Photo: Emma Chapman

According to Kenny the campaign is doing well, he says: “Cornish pasty got it’s PGI status, the Cumberland sausage got it’s status, and we were just behind them when we put the application in, so hopefully this year or next year, it’s going good!”