Venture scoops ‘Oscar’ at meat awards

Taste Tradition, based near Sutton Bank in the North York Moors national park, won the Best Beef Product at the awards, often referred to as the Oscars of the meat industry.

The company defeated some stiff competition, coming in ahead of other finalists such as Asda, Marks & Spencer and Tesco.

It caps off another great year for Joyce Ashbridge and her son Charles.

The pair founded Taste Tradition on New Year’s day seven years ago, as a small farmgate business at Cold Kirby at the top of Sutton Bank.

The Ashbridge family has farmed there for three generations using the traditional methods of breeding, rearing and finishing livestock. To support this expansion, Charles and Joyce joined forces four years ago with James Wright, who is now a director of the company.

Mr Wright said: “It’s a real tribute to Taste Tradition and to our region to be putting Yorkshire produce on the menus of some of London’s most prestigious venues. We treat celebrity chefs in exactly the same way in which we would treat our local customers, and I believe that they appreciate our honest, no nonsense, Yorkshire approach.”

Mr Ashbridge added: “We were absolutely overjoyed in winning this award, it is such an accolade.

“We have always received such positive feedback from all our customers, but this is huge recognition and an endorsement for our traditionally run Yorkshire business.”

The business operates from two modern factory premises in Thirsk, just a few miles from the farms.

The teaming up of Joyce, Charles and James has turned Taste Tradition into an award-winning business, gaining them national recognition and a succession of highly recognised awards over the last five years, which acknowledges their reputation as farmers and wholesale butchers specialising in rare and native British breeds.

The business recently developed another farm just two miles from their butchery at Thirsk.

The Taste Tradition Farms are stocked with a variety of animals; Longhorn, Shorthorn, Aberdeen Angus, Red Poll, Dexter, Hereford, Galloway, Belted Galloway, Welsh, Irish Moiled cattle. Saddleback, Gloucester Old Spot and Welsh pigs and Texel and Suffolk sheep.

Bosses at Taste Tradition say they have a strong local customer base but add that the majority of their customers are in London and the South East.

Among those buying their meat are many of the country’s leading restaurateurs and TV ‘celebrity’ chefs.

It also expects to take on more staff in August when they have completed their new production unit.

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