2018-11-30 |
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Kitson & Sons bag Winter Fair Champions
North Yorkshire and Durham butcher Anthony Kitson has again snapped up the supreme champion beef cattle at two of the UK’s leading Christmas primestock shows.
Mr Kitson, of Kitson & Sons Butchers, first travelled down to the English Winter Fair at Stafford Showground, the first major festive prime stock highlight of 2018 staged over the weekend of November 17 and 18, to again claim the overall victor, following up the next weekend with the title winner at LiveScot, the Scottish Winter Fair in Lanark.
We have the champion! Pictured at the English Winter Fair with the supreme champion beef animal are representatives of both vendors and buyers. From left are Henry and Oliver Kitson, Alan Dickinson, Antony Kitson, Andrew Dickinson and Lisa Powdrill, with their daughter on the halter of the supreme champion heifer.
He just failed to make it another unique Winter Fair hat-trick when narrowly missing out on the supreme champion at the Royal Welsh Winter Fair in Builth Wells the following Tuesday.
It was a ground-breaking feat he first achieved two years ago when purchasing all three Winter Fair supreme champions, the first time an independent family-run retail butchers had pulled off such a coup.
The English Winter Fair victor was a British Blue heifer from Andrew Dickinson and Lisa Powdrill, from Heage in Derbyshire. There was spirited bidding for the best in show, with Mr Kitson, who was accompanied by his two butcher sons, Henry and Oliver, winning the battle with a successful call of £3,400.
The Kitson family have been long time supporters of the English Winter Fair, purchasing four champions in recent years. Interestingly, the 2018 supreme champion was first sold at Leyburn Auction Mart in March this year by local beef farmers, Bainbridge Bros, who run the Abbeybain British Blue herd in Marrick.
The fact that the title winner was bred in North Yorkshire had added appeal to Mr Kitson, who always strives to buy prime beef, lamb and pork from local farmers wherever possible, so providing a major boost the regional agricultural economy.
Less than a week later, Mr Kitson was at the Scottish Winter Fair, where a bid of £3,300 netted him the supreme champion for the third year in succession. It was a Limousin-cross heifer from Perthshire’s Wilson Peters, of Cuilt, near Crieff, who also provided Kitson & Sons’ 2016 supreme champion purchase. His latest victor had a successful summer show season, standing first at the Royal Highland Show and champion at Dunblane, Kirriemuir and Braco shows.
Three days later, Mr Kitson was at the Royal Welsh Winter Fair in a bid to secure their supreme champion, narrowly missing out as the under-bidder to the show judge, who went to a heady £6,600 to claim his chosen champion. However, Mr Kitson didn’t leave empty handed, claiming the best butchers’ beast.
Supreme champions at Christmas shows staged at regional auction marts were also on his shopping list. At CCM Skipton’s annual festive highlight, Mr Kitson bagged the title-winning British Blue-cross heifer from local breeder John Stephenson, of Bordley, for top price in show of £2,726.
He also paid £436.50 each for the champion trio of Pietrain-cross pigs from Daniel Thackray, of Fewston, near Harrogate. The total outlay £1,039.50 was a new record high price for pigs at the Skipton Christmas highlight, also believed to be the most paid for prime porkers anywhere in the UK this year.
Mr Kitson then spent just short of £2,000 to secure the prime cattle champion at Ruswarp Auction Mart’s annual Christmas show, another Limousin-cross heifer shown by Gavin Stainthorpe, of Whitby.
He covered many hundreds of miles the length and breadth of the country to claim top-notch primestock, to date securing more than 30 prize-winning prime beef cattle at this year’s festive shows, along with prize-winning prime lambs and porkers.
However, the Kitson buying spree is by no means over, with the Christmas primestock shows at Malton and Northallerton still to come at the time of writing.
All Kitson & Sons Butchers’ purchases will again be carefully prepared for sale for the keynote Christmas trade at its four outlets - the latest Five Houses Farm Shop and Kitchen in Crathorne, launched in September last year and proving a huge success, along with established butchers shops in Northallerton, Stockton-on-Tees, and Hutton Rudby.
Meat from the champions will also feature on the menu at Five Houses Kitchen as roasts and steaks, as well as in home-made steak pies.
As far as the beef is concerned, Mr Kitson explained:
“Careful
preparation involves hanging the meat for three to four weeks to
ensure it is fully matured to maximise both taste and texture.
You could compare it to a fine Burgundy wine – it gets better
with age.
“However, the secret is to know exactly the right time to serve up specific cuts to ensure they are in perfect condition for our customers’ Christmas tables, primarily as festive roasts, which are growing in popularity year on year as a refreshing alternative to the traditional turkey.”
Mr Kitson added:
“We will again be providing some of the best
UK beef that money can buy at our four shops. We just love to beef
up our festive offering, though our customers can rest assured
they won’t forking out extra for the privilege, as we’ll again
be selling the meat at our normal shop prices. Let’s call it a
timely Christmas present for our lifeblood customers!”
