Meating the Demand for West Country Butchery

FJP Launder established a butcher’s shop in 1886, before becoming chairman of a dairy company in 1894.

His son, Lloyd Maunder, took over the management of his father’s dairy in 1898, expanding into poultry, eggs and pork and selling direct to customers in London. Lloyd Maunder moved to the present site in Exeter in 1913, chosen for its better railway links to London.

The first of Lloyd Maunder shops was opened in 1913 in Brampton Street, Tiverton. In 2008, Andrew Maunder set up a new limited company (West Country Family Butchers Ltd) and purchased the 14 butchers shops, which trade under the Lloyd Maunder name.

General Manager David Carter outlines the way that things have changed, “We cover the whole of Devon, together with a shop in Camborne in Cornwall. We are very particular about the meat that we sell. Our beef is either from Aberdeen Angus or from Galloway cattle and is hung in the traditional way for 21 days so that when the customer gets it, it is 30 days old. Similarly, with our lamb which is 4-5 days old. We use all West Country suppliers and all our eggs are free range.”

With regard to staffing, it is becoming increasingly difficult to get young people into the butchery trade. David tries to overcome this by running internal ‘Butcher of the Year’ events. He also has one lady butcher in the St Marychurch shop near Torquay who has been very successful, increasing turnover by 1,000%.

The butchers offer a range of homemade sausages, with nearly 30 different varieties available. These have been very successful with 11 awards, including Gold for the Pork Devon Chunky, a 25-year old recipe. They have also received awards for their homemade pies and pasties.

David concludes, “We try to do what supermarkets cannot do. We offer a series of specially prepared joints, including Cushion of Lamb, Stuffed Loin of Pork, Crown of Lamb and Beef Wellington. Finally, another innovation is that we have introduced a butchery school for our customers where they can learn how to properly joint and prepare meat and then take it home. They find this great fun as they have to wear a chain mail apron while they are doing it!”

For further information please telephone 01392 432782 or visit www.lloydmaunder.co.uk.