Burnside Farm Foods excel in their delivery of beautifully prepared wild game meat, whether it be fur or feather, to the public and commercial outlets both locally in the Scottish Borders but also in Edinburgh and beyond. Their service and enthusiasm for their products is unparalleled and their social media is first class.
Johnny Rutherford and his wife Susie are staunch game conservation practitioners in support of their business. They are passionate about wild grey partridge conservation and run their own shoot on Rutherford, with pigeon a prized quarry. The combination of active conservation and promoting game as a healthy meat (i.e conservation through wise use) makes Johnny and Susie and their business a very worthy nominee.
The website of Burnside Farm Foods and the distinct energy projected through their social media output makes this business and its owner stand-out contenders for this award. Trying to encourage the 'public palate' to embrace game meat as a healthy addition to their diet is a huge challenge, but there is a measurable shift resulting from innovative business planning and creating products that add value and appeal for the market place.
The Burnside game/venison sausages, meatballs and burgers are 'go-to' products for summer BBQs or winter casseroles and the range of game species and associated ingredients (herbs, spices, fruit, honey etc) that allow new, eye-catching products to be created is impressive.
Notably, birds that are shot on Burnside are often processed on the farm before distribution, something which possibly doesn’t happen anywhere else in Scotland.
Burnside is a key partner for The Country Food Trust (CFT), a food poverty charity which raises funds to provide high-protein nutritious meals to those in need. The charity distributes these meals and raw meat to foodbanks and community kitchens across the UK. The meals are created by a specialist food manufacturer, with a 1-year shelf life, they are high in protein, low in fat and free of additives. They are available in two forms:
- Single, ready-to-use retort pouches that don’t require refrigeration
- 2 KG Catering packs for community kitchens that feed a large number of people at once.
Burnside has been working with the CFT for over a year and a half playing a pivotal role in the operation by working closely with estates in the Scottish Borders to source the game before then processing it, sending to Yorkshire to be made into the meals and then delivering them within the Borders. The meals are then delivered to Kelso Community Larder and the foodbanks at Jedburgh and Coldstream, helping local people in the Borders struggling with food poverty.
Since Christmas 2023, Burnside Farm has delivered 4,500 grouse breasts and 600kg's of pheasant to the CFT.
Burnside has a big presence at Kelso Farmers Market, which is held monthly. They have used the market to educate and advocate the benefits of game to the local community, which has seen a significant increase in demand.
Accompanying their range of products are wonderful recipes that help educate and allow new purchasers of wild game meats to explore cooking the meat with increased confidence, whether it be a buttermilk partridge burger or a venison Nacho cheese bake! Use of words such as wild, tender, lean, indigenous/local and sustainable are accurately used to raise awareness of this wonderful natural resource.