www.happyherefords.co.uk

Happy Herefords gearing up for the show & festival season

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:16:46 +0000

Happy Herefords are taking a break from the regular farmers markets we attend in london, in all honesty as much as we love coming into town, meeting, chatting & selling our beef to people who can only be described as out most appreciative customers to date, unfortunately londoners dont quite eat enough Happy Hereford Beef to justify the economics and to enable us to provide a top quality supply. Add to this the additional cost of hiring in relief staff to feed the Happy Herefords whilst we are in town suffice to say it just dont add up folks.

Never one to be put off however, Happy Herefords are busy forging some new business relationships with local businesses back in rural Milton Keynes and it is hoped that when these fledgling relationships emerge in the spring we will be able to return to London Farmers Markets, Walthamstow will not see us again, Brixton & Balham it will all be up to you!

Meanwhile when we are not cursing frozen water pipes and ferrying emergency water bowsers to the cows which seems to take up the whole day our Butchery & prep rooms are ungoing reorganisation so that we can ensure our catering operations will run with maximum efficiency this season, already 2012 is shaping up to be a busy one for the cooking teams, keep an eye on our events calendar to see where you will find us setting fire to the grill!

Happy Herefords @ Brixton Sundowner 23rd Dec 5-10pm

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 11:29:49 +0000

Londoners - staying in London this Christmas? - treat yourselves to a night off cooking and wander down to St Matthews Church opposite Windrush Square (Ritzys) on Effra Road and be part of the first ever Brixton Sundowner night Market.

From 5pm - 10pm Happy Herefords will be there cooking up our best value Handmade Hereford Beefburgers, bacon & sausages to soak up those celebratory pints of beer. Its not just us there will be a whole host of other local food businesses serving up delicious hot food as well including

Ms Cupcake, Casa Catering, Happy Herefords, The Caribbean Chef , Bosco & Bee, Tuckers, El Panzon, Tongue n Cheek, Meatballs, Sylvias, Dos Santos …and much, much more!

Start salivating, because it’s gonna be big!

http://sundowner.b-electric.co.uk/ Twitter: @BrixtonSundownr

Avoid Disappointment order your Hereford Beef for the Christmas period now

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 20:23:13 +0000

Thankyou to all our customers for purchasing some HerefordBeef/sausages/faggots from Happy Herefords this year, we hope you enjoyed eating it!

We have some absolutely stunning 6-8 week dry aged beef in the chillers over the next 3 weeks and would love for our Hereford Beef to feature somewhere on your Christmas holiday menu, however, to avoid disappointment we would strongly encourage you to pre-order. This can be done in several ways either:

           Via our online shop on our website www.happyherefords.co.uk
           Via email: herefords@countryside-explorer.com
           Or, by ordering from Steve or myself at next weeks farmers market

If you are collecting at one of the Farmers markets we attend please do let us know at which market you would like to collect your order ie: 17^thor 24^th Dec Balham) 18^thor 23^rd Dec (Brixton/Walthamstow)

Finally, thankyou to all our customers for supporting Happy Herefords in 2011, we look forward to serving you all again in 2012.

Don’t forget for up to date info on the daily antics of the Happy Herefords at HQ you can follow us on twitter https://twitter.com/HappyHerefords

Happy Herefords forequarter weekend @ London Farmers Markets

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 20:56:00 +0000

Its too early to get into much of our hindquarters this week, we need to leave them to mature a little longer than the forequarters to ensure your Happy Hereford Roasts continue to be as stunning as they have been.

Instead this week we will have lots of forequarter beef for you to get stuck into, we know everyone who visits the farmers markets we attend in London is counting the shillings in the run up to christmas so this week we will be doing extremely good deals for our customers on our mince & stewing beef and dig out those receipe books!...

We will be at Balham Farmers Market on Saturday and Brixton & Walthamstow markets on Sunday, see you there http://www.lfm.org.uk/markets-home/

Check out the ad the dairy industry doesn't want you to see

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 10:46:12 +0000

Check out the ad the dairy industry doesn't want you to see: http://bit.ly/s5zFXW

As consumers you have helped this to happen - buy British beef folks - insist on it - every cut, mince to fillet - think about this waste - give UK dairy farmers a reason not to shoot calves at birth (no, unlike the rest of the world we don’t ship them around live in trucks) - as consumers you can create a viable market to supply - UK farmers will meet the demand if it is there but you need to realise that it costs more time effort & cash to produce beef from dairy calves than the so called 'value' pack placed on the shelf - you may not be able to help every dairy calf born in the world but you can help the ones born on your local doorstep - rant over

Happy Hereford Beef offal @ Farmers Market this weekend

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 11:56:56 +0100

First round of Christmas beef kill is back from the abattoir so Happy Herefords will have a limited supply of beef offal in the chillers at our attended Farmers Markets this weekend. Fresh oxtail, heart, liver & kidney all available - dig out those receipes!

Hereford Beef for Christmas

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 12:21:23 +0100

The first of our Christmas dinner fatstock went for killing today, orders can now be placed online for your beef requirements over the festive period just let us know in the sepcial delivery instructions if you would like delivery nearer to the Christmas period. If you require a specific sized joint or any cut that you do not see listed please email us and we will do our best to accomodate your requirements.

Dont forget online orders can now be collected at Balham & Walthamstow Farmers Markets every week.

Does Olney Town Council really know it’s a**e from its elbow? – Discuss

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 00:18:25 +0100

Olney is my local town, my cows live less than 3 miles away as the crow flies, I have been on the Farmers Market waiting list since May 2009.

Telephone call from Olney Town Council (OTC) Thursday 29^th Sept 2011 – are you coming to the Farmers market this Sunday, we need to audit you so that you can come every month.

Upshot of telecon, will turn up on Sunday, someone will call tomorrow with details of rent electric availability time to turn up etc

Telephone conversation with OTC Friday 30^th September – the rent is £21.50, electricity is there, turn up and one of the stallholders will tell you where to go

Turn up on Sunday 2^nd October market manager nowhere to be seen, talk to other stallholders, decide to pitch so that facing away from the sun, hoping to god not pitching in someone elses spot

Get set up, chiller going down to temp, meat all displayed, told expressly no cooking at this one, f**k knows why not, 3 other meat producers at the market but all doing different things & catering to different customers seems a good balance, so leave butcher to it head off to the fields to check the cows…

Have an ok first day, other stallholders welcoming & friendly despite a bit of ranting first thing regarding guest stallholders, customers seem keen to buy locally produced beef asking if we will be here next month & at the Dickens market

Telephone conversation with OTC Monday 3^rd October, that’s it just that market, no reason why, apparently being contacted by just the messenger?? Thank f**k I didn’t kill anything on Friday in preparation for next month.

This, coupled with the rip off (to both the general public and the participating food businesses) that was BOFF a fortnight earlier, was the icing on the cake on Monday morning and certainly the nail in the proverbial coffin for Happy Herefords as regards supporting local events in Olney in the future.

OTC and its ‘Farmers market committee’/quango needs to take a good look at what it thinks its achieving in the bigger picture of Farmers Markets and the provision of a service to the local community. It is not alone however, there are many similarly run Farmers Market schemes/scams running around the country where one really has to question whether they are providing an impartial service for consumers & producers or whether they are in fact just a clique comprising of a chosen few, who just happened to be in the right place at the right time when farmers markets first became vogue in the 90’s and then enjoyed a resurgence following the foot & mouth outbreak in 2001.

Heres the news Joe Public, there is a whole new generation of producers out there that were in college at the time, hell; some of us may even have been toddlers, that are & have been for many years trying to break into these often impenetrable clubs.

If Farmers Markets really want to make a difference to both local producers and local consumers they need to start to look at the bigger picture: Provide greater choice, more often, avoiding stagnation, drawing customers from across the social spectrum. Don’t get me wrong there are many farmers markets in the UK that have addressed these points and are indeed growing as a result.

Many monthly Farmers Markets achieve nothing significant for the local economy save for benefitting the chosen few stallholders, who may or may not be ‘local’, who attend probably somewhere between 4 – 12 markets a month in the ‘local’ area and successfully shut out the real ‘local’ producers by enforcing strict ‘thou shalt have no more than 3 meat producers and 2 cheese producers at this market’ type regulations. Quite frankly a receipe for stagnation.

Pardon me for asking but where does providing choice and variety for the customer feature in this ethic?

If Farmers Markets really want to make a difference to consumers spending patterns, really want to stand up to the multiples as a serious competitor for customers, really want to contribute fiscally to the local economy, contribute to sustainability by providing a very real, very available local alternative to weekly shopping at a large supermarket.

Consider this; a small-medium sized town large enough to support a couple of smaller supermarket/grocery store chains, a hardware store, couple of banks, post office, butchers, bakers, a few delis/cafes, mixed compliment of eateries & non food shopping options, complimented by a Farmers Market held weekly at the weekend and a traditional general market held during the week, a variety of stalls available each week, not all stallholders attending every week, some maybe only fortnightly, seasonally or monthly, some local some not so local specialist producers, some regular pitches some turn up & see pitches. All contributing to a vibrant successful town centre supported by its community both in terms of suppliers and consumers and significantly reducing the risk of becoming a ghost town centre - planners nightmare - surrounded by & managed by large out of town shopping hubs. Dont get me wrong they can be handy for the larger things in life but lets face it who can afford these nowadays and are they really a solution to your weekly shop, cant the bulk of what they provide be purchased online anyway?

Given this choice who needs to get in the car and drive the 20+ round trip miles to the nearest Tesco, Sainsburys, Asda, Morrisons etc etc? when choice & variety (both in terms of price & produce) is in fact on your doorstep? Why burn the fuel & spend valuable time travelling & queuing when there is choice on your doorstep?

We all talk about being concerned about food miles and supporting the local economy what better way to start putting words into action by supporting local businesses and more importantly encouraging residents young, old & somewhere in the middle to use their local procurers.

All too often we hear folk saying farmers markets are too expensive for me, or washing powder is cheaper from the large supermarket 10+ miles away – start costing in the fuel, wear & tear & value of your free time people and you may start to question such logic.

All too often farmers markets are deemed too expensive, catering to the upper end of societies eating habits, truth is often they actually aren’t, truth is they often – quite stupidly in fact- compete amongst themselves to be, in many instances, cheaper than the multiples.

Sad fact is Farmers markets have shut out many customers by appearing too ‘elistist’ in their attitudes. This needs to change. Every member of the public is a potential consumer of British farm produce. If this means Farmers Markets merging with the traditional general weekly markets then so be it, if you really don’t want to be seen trading next to the bric-a-brac man have a separate section for local produce, most shows & food festivals can manage that sort of a set up, at the end of the day we are all there trying to scratch a living and provide the customer with choice that doesn’t involve a multiple chain.

Sad fact is many smaller producers don’t actually claim any European farm subsidy money and the prices they charge for produce really do represent cost of production and little else purely because they are stuck on the treadmill of having to trade against the multiples.

Sad fact is farm subsidies have protected consumers from the real cost of producing food – they really do have no idea. In the last week Tescos CE Richard Brasher is quoted ‘he expects farmers and other suppliers to share the pain caused by reduced consumer spending and support ‘tescos’ multi million pound price cutting campaign – aimed at retaining customer footfall and maintaining gross turnover [to the benefit of whom? Shareholders miles away? Who spend their dividend on a holiday – miles away, or a car – built miles away?]

Mr Brasher “ wants farmers to discuss ways of shouldering the cuts which will be partly funded by slashing the number of multi-buy promotions and scrapping double Club card points – but could mean suppliers being paid less too.”

Well we are very sorry Mr Brasher but theUK’s farmers are not in a position to subsidise Tesco’s cost-cutting promotions. Despite the recent lift in the market values of farmgate produce they are still battling against hugely increased costs – especially for feed, fuel, and fertiliser. more often than not they are specialist producers with only a few, often interrelated enterprises and are unable to spread your discounting across a wide range of products like yourselves.

Therein lies the problem, if Farmers Markets committees had been thinking of the bigger picture at this point they could have provided a real alternative to many UK producers, a real alternative to consumers looking for good quality down to earth local produce which supports their local economy and turn away from multiples who refuse to accept the real value & cost of the food they discount, refuse to explain to the customer why food prices are at the level they are in order to cover the basic cost of f***king production, refuse to educate customers on minimising waste and the volume of food thrown away and disposed of because of printed use by dates which serve no purpose other than to give cause to visit the supermarket to restock and spend yet more at the till. Multiples have a lot to answer for, Farmers Markets could have provided a very real trading alternative for British producers, large and small, unfortunately it looks like the ship may have sailed.

Too often we hear people referring to the Farmers Market as a monthly treat, this needs to change, Farmers markets need to become the destination for people doing their weekly food shopping. This can only be achieved by holding markets on a more regular basis. If the service is there customers will use it, they will return. Chances are most stallholders will actually be local producers as the select chosen few with their monthly round of 12 markets in different towns within a 50 mile radius will be unable to attend all locations every week and maybe just put in a monthly appearance, or, heavens above, dare I say it stay closer to home?

Where now for Happy Herefords? We’re off to London, to a farmers market, every week, because were are wanted there, we enjoy meeting and talking to all the different people who use the market, customers are grateful for the opportunity to purchase fresh produce, to talk to the people that produce the food they are buying, they appreciate the time and effort involved in getting into heart of London for them, they don’t all come every week, but they know the market is there every week, many of them try to come every week and buy from different producers every week, its their way of supporting us all and having variety, ensuring they have continued choice, see, it works both ways.

Thankyou to London Farmers Markets for your forward thinking, flexibility and providing opportunities for many producers large & small. Thankyou to London consumers for supporting all markets, in particular Farmers Markets and in doing so helping British Farmers to remain custodians of the countryside. That’s it, point made, rant over.

Gourmet Hereford Beef Burgers at Luton Hoo Pumpkin Gala

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 17:36:08 +0100

Pumpkin and Apple Gala 2011

Luton Hoo Walled Garden

8th October

10am - 4pm

Featuring:

A show arena with falconry displays, dog agility, morris dancers, heavy horse demonstrations and more

GRWE dog show with classes for every kind of canine

A market place with loads of great local artisans and food producers

Live craft demonstrations

An exhibition of 800 pumpkins, squashes and gourds decorated by kids from 30 local schools

A cider tent, hog roast, jacket potatoes, pancakes, gourmet burgers, pumpkin soup and lots of home made cakes

Apple printing, pumpkin shy, bouncy castle, rides for the kids, story telling

Wandering minstrels, pirate fairies and a jedi knight...

Bring your family and friends for a great day out!

£7.50 for adults, £2.50 children 3 -16 yrs, £20 for a family ticket (2 adults and up to 4 children)

Directions: Take the West Hyde Road turning off the A1081 and then follow the signs. Post Code for Sat navs is LU1 4LF.

Happy Hereford Beef at Olney Farmers Market

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 13:01:12 +0100

Happy Herefords will be at Olney Farmers Market this Sunday 9am - 1pm with a range of our locally grown Hereford beef & pork products, including our legendary bacon. Steve the butcher will be manning the chiller and can advise you of the best cuts to suit the dish you want to make. Those of you wishing to order & pay online & collect at the market can do so; cut off time is 4.00am Sunday. No burgers sizzling alongside on the grill I'm afraid - we are expressly NOT allowed to cook! - so what better excuse to take some handmade burgers & hereford beef steaks home with you to cook on the BBQ whilst the last vestiges of summer are still with us....

Happy Hereford Beef at Balham Farmers Market

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 09:16:36 +0100

Chestnut Grove School in Balham hosts a weekly Saturday Farmers' Market and from 24th from September 2011 onwards Happy Herefords will be there with our beef in the chiller and pod cooking our legendary cheeseburgers.

Just a stone's throw from Balham station, The school is a perfect family friendly location for a farmers' market, with lots of space to fill with delicious fresh fruit, juices, vegetables, meat, poultry, eggs, honey, breads and much more.

Only our hereford beef & beef sausage range will be available in our chiller at Balham, customers wishing to purchaase any of our pork sausages or bacon will need to buy on line & choose the 'collect at Balham' delivery option. We will then bring your order with us on the following saturday for you to collect. Please order before 5am on Thursday to ensure we have enough time to prepare your order.

BOFF - Big Olney Food Festival - Happy Hereford Beef on the menu

Thu, 15 Sep 2011 09:10:56 +0100

Now in its third year The Big Olney Food Festival (BOFF) will once again be the main attraction in Olney this saturday, 17th September 2011. 12.00 noon - 9.30pm.

BOFF provides a great opportunity to try a variety of foods from local providers coupled with FREE entertainment and a wealth of shops on the doorstep.

The Happy Herefords team will be in the market place all day cooking our infamous cheeseburgers, sausages & bacon as well as providing one of the main meal choices. All beef cooked & for sale in our chiller on saturday is from Happy Alexander UK288863 700008.

This is a rare local appearance for Happy Herefords - Olney - can you eat a cow? will you join the elite beef eaters in our hall of fame?

Pedigree Hereford Beef at Kington Show

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 23:44:26 +0100

Kington Show - a truly fantastic one day show, Last year it rained...badly...so we let the people of Kington off the eat a cow challenge, this year we are back in a slightly different format with our new roasting oven & Pods allowing visitors to enjoy a locally produced Hereford heifer from Mr Jones of Broadfield Herefords in the form of hot roast beef rolls, our ledgendary gluten free burgers or combined with some locally produceed gloucester old spot pork from Amberley Court Sutton St Nicholas in one of our sausages.. the choice is yours, eat a cow in a day and Kington regains its spot at the top our hall of fame!

This years heifer is light in comparison to most this year weighing in at 275kg dwt, Kington - you can do this with your eyes shut!

Happy Herefords board the Brownstock ship this weekend

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 22:21:47 +0100

Two festival exclusives this weekend - The Brownstock Burger will feature on our menu alongside our Happy Hereford & Happy Volcano Burgers - can it stand the heat we ask ourselves? secondly for the first time ever friday night at Brownstock will see the first ever all girl grill trailer team, slave boy tim is on holiday, tombstone ben is drunk somwhere in Ibiza and chef 2 portuguese minutes luis is wooing his wife on his wedding anniversary... I have been persuaded that this will be the best most efficient team ever - we are up for the challenge Brownstock - are you?

Happy Herefords launch 2 new sausages at Waddesdon Chilli Festival

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 22:14:10 +0100

Visitors to the Waddesdon Chilli Festival this weekend will be able to sample our two newest additions to the Happy Herefords sausage portfolio - bring on Happy Heartburn & Tipsys Revenge! All of our chillies are supplied by local Bedfordshire chilli grower Joanna Plumb of Edible Ornamentals who will also be at Waddesdon this weekend. Thats all the info you are getting on this page - turn up and try them!

Happy Herefords exclusive at Standon Calling

Fri, 05 Aug 2011 23:35:25 +0100

Sole Burger right belong to another concession at Standon Calling this year so for the first time ever Happy Herefords grill trailer team will be cooking sausages bacon & steaks only.

Fear not however burger lovers our beef & caramelised onion sausage contains the same ingredients as our traditional buregers, with a dash of red wine thrown in for good measure, just happens to be in a sausage skin is all. Try it with extra cheese - fab!

For the Volcano burger lovers amongst you we present the Happy Hooligan, this sausage is HOT HOT HOT and not for the fainthearted! try it with extra guacamole & sour cream - amazing!

Our usual pork sausage stalwarts - the herby lincolnshire and the mildly spicy tornado will be ever present.

So Standon Calling can you complete the challenge to eat a cow? Secret Garden Party & Nozstock festival goers did - surely a walk in the park for you guys?......

Happy Herefords at Bicester & Finmere Show 7th Aug

Thu, 04 Aug 2011 13:28:15 +0100

Both the grill trailer & chilled meats events teams will be supporting Bicester & Finmere's biggest summer event this weekend. With entry at a mere £5 per adult & kids under 16 free this really is a recession beating fun day out for all the family.

All proceeds from this fantastic horse & dog show go to support Saddle up for spinal research and The Back Up Trust.

We dont expect you to eat a cow in a day but we have promised the organisers a top up % to our pitch fee if we sell out on sunday. Our gluten free cheeseburgers are becoming legendary so if you havent already tried one this year then get yourselves to the show - the season will soon be over - and so will this fantastic weather! see http://www.bicesterandfinmereshow.co.uk/ for directions

Lambeth Country Show - are you ready for Happy Herefords?

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 23:24:44 +0100

Happy Herefords hits town again and will pay a visit to The Lambeth Country show this weekend, after a stormin weekend in Cambridge the bar has been raised, so Lambeth, can you eat a cows worth of burgers & minute steaks?
Big thankyou to Cambridge City Council for organising the Big Weekend and making us so welcome and ensuring the weekend went smoothly for all concerned, we thoroughly enjoyed meeting you all.

Happy Herefords at Bromyard Gala 2-3 July

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 20:37:22 +0100

The weather forcast is holding good, Happy Herefords is looking forward to journeying west to one of our favourite spots of the country, Bromyard Gala is being held over the weekend 2-3rd July this year and promises to be a fun day out for some R&R for everyone. The local Hereford Breeders Association turns up with some of thier favourite show cattle for you to see up close. This display is totally voluntary and the breeders turn up purely to show and talk to the general public about their Hereford Cattle and showing livestock, they will be happy to answer any of your questions so please feel free to ask away!

The Grill Trailer team will be on site all weekend serving up our finest handmade burgers & sausages, with a good spply of a legendary bacon to hand as well! Many of our foundation cows at Happy Herefords were born just down the road from Bromyard at Knightwick and Sutton St Nicholas so we really are coming home for the weekend, see you there!

Hereford Beef to die for at Petworth House & Colchester Food Festival

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 20:44:54 +0100

Whilst the Grill Trailer team takes its last weekend off till the end of September the chiller team is out & about in the south east this weekend. Take yourselves down to Petworth House, enjoy the sunshine in a beautiful English location and take some mouthwatering English Hereford Beef home with you, we will be well stocked up with our steaks & burgers, so no excuses for not firing up the BBQ - summer comes but one weekend a year....

For those north of the M25 Libby, (Yes, another Jimmys Farm rehabber) will be at Colchester Food Festival with some of our fantastic salt beef on board, perfect as a cold meat on a summers day.

For the residents of Newton Blossomville & Cold Brayfield - beware much cattle movements & hence mooing over the next week, Greenyards Elgar - the Happy Herefords Stock Bull - will see his holiday come to an end when he moves to the spring calving cows, time to get off your butt and do some work lad.... underage heifers will move to the other side of the river, lets hope he doesnt decide to go for a swim....

Happy Herefords at Cereals Event in Lincoln

Tue, 14 Jun 2011 22:25:33 +0100

The annual outing for the UK's arable farmers tis year is being held at Boothby Graffoe near Lincoln, Happy Herefords Grill Trailer will be fired up from 6am ready to serve up our finest home dry cured bacon rolls and handmade burgers, check out the Happy Hereford half pounder cheeseburger, serious value. Dont forget all of our sausages & burgers are now Gluten Free and we do carry a stock of Gluten free rolls for the coeliac visitors to the show, please ask.

Find us by first hunting down the JCB flag and then looking for the CLAAS & AGCO (Massey Fergusson) flags, we are between the two.

Happy Herefords launches 'sausages & Champagne' special

Tue, 31 May 2011 17:20:49 +0100

This weekend sees not only the culmination of our young farmers events in 2011 but also the launch of our 'sausage & Champagne special'. At both the Buckingham Country Show and the Cambridge County Show, both fantastic fun days out for all the family organised by your local young farmers, Happy Herefords grill trailer team will be teaming up with Jarvis of St James Premier Champagnes to present the humble sausage with a glass of the finest Kir Royal champagne all for £7.50 - try it its an amazing combination!

Essex Young Farmers gave us a windy but great fun day out eating us out of Hereford Beef steaks and nearly eating us out of burgers, the gauntlet has been thrown and the challenge set, Bucks YFC, Cambs YFC can you eat more?....

The hungriest young farmers of the three will see an additional donation from Happy Herefords to thier chosen charity for this year in recognition of thier support. .

Our raw chillers team will also be at both events showcasing our new range of gluten free sausages & burgers, our faggots and hereford beef. See you at the weekend

Happy Herefords at Ashby Castle and Audley End this weekend

Thu, 26 May 2011 21:34:43 +0100

Happy Herefords catering teams will be at both Audley End House and Gardens this weekend during the Charge of the Queens Cavalry, a fantastic opportunity to behold the pageantry and excitement of Queen Victoria's army at Audley End this bank holiday. Watch in amazement the galloping lancers and red coated infantry, and for your brave little soldiers there is a chance to try out hobby horse drill training! The Grill trailer team will be on hand serving up our legendary Hereford beef cheeseburgers, the forecast is fine, no excuses come and enjoy the atmosphere at one of Englands finest country houses

Over at the other end of the region on Sunday 29th & Monday 30th our POD team will be serving up our finest Hereford Beef Burgers to the folk of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, taking in the Clash of the Knights! A fantastic opportunity to see medieval knights fighting for their honour in the castle grounds with awesome combat displays! Learn all about the weapons of the time, take part in a hobby horse joust and new for 2011, meet the executioner! see you there!

Happy Herefords at Crick Boat Show 28-30 May

Tue, 24 May 2011 11:15:21 +0100

A marina full of boats, features on waterway heritage and wildlife, boat trips, marquees full of interesting stands, craft and food sellers and loads for the children to do, plus real ales and gourmet food.

Our Events team will be on sight with a mouthwatering selection of sausages, bacon, burgers, faggots, Hereford Beef steaks etc.

Come and find us in the Water Vole Marquee

Happy Herefords challenge to Essex young farmers country show Sunday 22nd May

Tue, 17 May 2011 22:18:42 +0100

Happy Herefords arrives in Essex to support the first of three of our local young farmers shows this year. Young Farmers shows really are worth a day out, usually wholly organized by the young farmers themselves and garunteed to be a lot going on, doesnt look like its going to rain, so no excuses, get out there and support the young guys and girls who will be feeding the nation in the years to come.

Meanwhile Happy Herefords lays down the gauntlet to challenge visitors to essex young farmers country show to 'eat a cow', whichever of our three young farmers events (Essex, Bucks & Cambs) eats the most hereford beef burgers and hereford beef minute steaks from the Happy Herefords Grill Trailer will earn themselves an additional donation to thier chosen charity

Happy Herefords at Waddesdon Spring Fair

Tue, 17 May 2011 22:06:58 +0100

Last chance to pick up some of our amazing lamb sausages this weekend at the Waddesdon Spring Fair - see our events page for further details, we always sell out of these so come along early to avoid disappointment. This is the last of the lamb crop for us this year, the new crop is currently on looking cute duty and busy growing in the fields surrounding Cold Brayfield our gluten free lamb sausages will be available again next January.

Waddesdon is a great place for a family day out, the spring fair taking place this weekend is just one of the many things to do & see, make a day of it and take home one of our gorgeous hereford beef joints for Sunday lunch. Rib on the bone will be in the chiller.

Happy Herefords at Tewkesbury Food Festival 30th Apr - 2nd May

Tue, 26 Apr 2011 17:02:54 +0100

The Cotswolds’ most vibrant food & music festival – join Happy Herefords for a feast in the field over the first May bank holiday weekend! Featuring the finest fresh regional produce, local crafts & micro-breweries. And new for 2011 ’Fine Foods‘ restaurant village; extended kids mini-festival plus specialist chocolate, English wine and real ale & cider festivals.

Happy Herefords will be there with BOTH our Events Teams, selling Hot sausages, Hereford beef burgers & minute steaks for you to eat as you walk around this gastronomic food festival. Visit our Cold stand selling all our wonderful fantasmagorical selection of GLUTEN FREE sausages, bacon, faggots, burgers, Hereford beef steaks for you to take home and enjoy.

Location: Vineyards playing fields, adjacent to Tewkesbury Abbey

Weblink: www.tewkesburyfoodfestival.co.uk

Happy Herefords is gluten free

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 22:35:41 +0100

Changeover is almost complete, from today all of our online Hereford beef and pork sausages, burgers and faggots will be gluten free. The one exception to this will be our Reservoir Hog & Solstice Sizzler sausages which contain ale. Its been interesting times in the butchery of late getting the new receipes right but we have finally cracked it, visit our stand at Headingham Castle this weekend or at Tewkesbury Food festival next weekend and sample the new generation.....

Lamb for Easter now Available

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 11:45:22 +0100

Succulent, flavoursome, delicious, incredible and the best are just some of the words that have been used to describe Happy Hereford's naturally reared lamb.

Happy Hereford's lamb is the ideal meat for this Easter. Lamb is a traditional food for this time of year, but nothing is worse than flavourless, chewy meat. We are confident that you will enjoy our lamb because of the way in which we care for our animals. By ensuring that our animals are reared and nutured using natural methods we can guarantee that our meat wil be delicious.

Each lamb that we sell is individually selected from a small flock of Mules & Suffolk cross ewes that have been grass fed throughout their lives, grazing on the herb rich pastures surrounding Cold Brayfield and Newton Blossomville. Hanging the meat further enhances its flavour and we can supply either whole or half lambs, along with sausages, joints and noisettes.

To buy your lamb for Easter and make your family and friends smile, please click here.

Hereford Beef - Naturally Reared

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 13:47:50 +0000

Hereford Beef is Happy Hereford's speciality. Our Hereford Beef is mouth-watering, succulent and delicious.

The fact that our beef is so superb might be because our cows are reared naturally, living in their own fields, being sheltered in the winter, and having the freedom to roam and graze when they want.

Another reason why our Hereford Beef will melt in your mouth is that we don't limit what our cows eat nor do we limit how often our calves can have a drink from their mums. At Happy Herefords our cattle are raised by their own mothers, not from "artificial" mothers that limit the amount of milk issued to the calves.

So Happy Hereford's beef may be a little bit more expensive than some of the meat found in some supermarkets, but you can be assured that all our animals have incredibly happy lives. We are insistent on high standards of care and hygiene and all our meat is hung for several weeks to enable it to mature and tenderise.

With spring coming, why not treat your family and friends to a Sunday lunch of Happy Hereford's Hereford Beef and taste the difference?

Whole Lamb Now Available!

Wed, 02 Feb 2011 15:01:49 +0000

Our beautiful cut whole lamb is now available from Happy Herefords! These succulent lambs have been naturally reared and you are guaranteed to notice the difference from lamb bought from the supermarket.

We have a variety of cuts of spring lamb available so click here to see our range!

Hereford Beef from Happy Herefords Melts in Your Mouth!

Mon, 10 Jan 2011 12:09:41 +0000

Hereford Beef is tender and full of flavour. Our Hereford Cattle produce fantastically delicious Hereford Beef because they are naturally reared on our farms in Bedfordshire. We know each of our animals by name and look after them from the moment they are born. That's why we are so confident that you will love our joints of Hereford Beef, and our fabulous range of steaks.

From topside to beef on the bone we have ranges of Hereford Beef joints to suit you and your family. All our beef is hung on the bone for a minimum of 5 weeks to ensure that the meat is tender, mature and will melt in the mouth.

So why not take advantage of our range of Hereford Beef joints and treat yourself!

For Sale - Happy Herefords Hereford Stock Bull - Greenyards Eveready

Sun, 09 Jan 2011 20:42:05 +0000

For Sale is my much loved and respected stock bull Greenyards 3 Eveready DOB 16th Nov 2007. A son of 2x Royal Show Breed Champion Greenyards Archie this bull was put to work serving my Traditional Hereford heifers when he was 14 months old, he then went on to serve my main herd of British Polled Hereford cows during summer 2009. Sons & daughters on the ground & can be seen. Reason for sale - own daughters coming into herd this year and I dont have enough breeding cows about to justify keeping two working stockbulls. His replacement is also from the Greenyards Herd of pedigree Hereford cattle. see our livestock section in the online shop for further details.

Happy Herefords Meat for One range online Available now

Fri, 07 Jan 2011 22:56:13 +0000

For sometime our customers have been commenting that a pack of six farmer sized sausages really is a lot to get through for one person or even a couple of people in one meal, as a result Happy Herefords are now delighted to be able to present our 'Meat For One' Range.

Quite simply put and for whatever reason be it single, a couple of OAP's, watching the waistline, or a difference of opinion over what variety of sausages to have for tea tonight we can now sell our entire sausage, burger, Hereford beef steak & faggot range in half size packs, at exactly half the price, no surcharge for the pleasure, enjoy.....

Happy Herefords seasonal freezer Lamb available online now

Tue, 04 Jan 2011 23:11:43 +0000

Nearly halfway through the winter and thoroughly had enough of defrosting water pipes and drinking troughs, grumpy Herefords cows and cranky Tamworth pigs aint got nothin on my own personal ‘issues’ with the weather over the last couple of weeks….one happy thought is we are now at the time of year where our lambs are available in our online shop

This year our lambs are from Farmer Dave who has a small traditional flock of native breed Mule and Suffolk X ewes. The ewes gave birth to their lambs last spring in the fields surrounding Cold Brayfield and Turvey and have spent the rest of the year grazing the herb rich grassland which is currently managed under a Higher Level Environmental Stewardship Scheme.

Our naturally reared traditional Lambs are only available for a short period from January through to mid May as this is the length of time that we feel is needed to produce a carcass with an optimum meat:bone ratio to provide value for our customers and a reasonable cost of production for Farmer Dave

Why not take a moment to browse through our Lamb section in our online shop, we provide a range of options based on a ‘Whole’ or ‘Half’ Lamb. Like our Hereford Beef and Tamworth Pork, Farmer Daves’ Lambs are equally as versatile providing the perfect solution to a midweek meal of lamb chops or shepherds pie or a roasted joint for the weekend

Still cant wait for the BBQ weather to come back....

Faggots in short supply at Happy Herefords

Wed, 08 Dec 2010 22:26:40 +0000

Unexpected demand for our Happy Herefords Traditional Faggots and our spicy 'Great Balls of Fire' Faggots at the BBC Good Food show last week had resulted in our faggot freezer being completely empty.

For our customers who have ordered faggots from our online shop in the last week, please bear with us! we have finally got all the cattle in the shed, the pigs are now in the woodland closer to home so we are all set outside for whatever the weather now chooses to throw at us, and more importantly - we can now get into the butchery to make more faggots! The new batch will be ready for dispatch early next week, thankyou all for your patience!

For those of you who are wondering what goes into a Happy Herefords faggot but have always been too shy to ask: Hereford Beef, Tamworth Pork and a little bit of life support! (heart, liver, kidney!) and handful of rusk and seasonings completes the picture, so there you go not such an awful mystery after all!

Our faggots not only represent fantastic value for money, weighing in at a healthy 200+grams per faggot they are also extremely good for you providing much needed protein and energy to keep you going during these cold winter months.

Hereford Beef Ideal for Boxing Day!

Tue, 07 Dec 2010 10:27:39 +0000

When I was a child it was dinner on Boxing Day that I enjoyed most. I can still see my dear Mum bringing out the roast beef and my mouth watering as the delicious aroma filled the dining room. Beautifully cooked meat, with all the trimmings; never did I feel more festive.

I'm a Mother now, and there is something about those days that I want to recreate for my children. My Happy Hereford's Hereford Beef will be served on Boxing Day, and I know that my kids will have the same excitement that I had when I was a child, when they smell the joint cooking in the oven and see it brought to the table to be carved. There will be Christmas crackers and wine, and cheesy jokes and laughter, making the occasion special.

So much of Christmas has been lost these days to commercialism. We desperately strive to make ourselves happy with stuff, forgetting that what makes life special is not things, but relationships. Having the opportunity to sit down and eat together as a family this Christmas is something that I will enjoy, and knowing that I am serving beef that has been naturally reared, tastes delicious and will be savoured will help to make the experience more memorable.

If you are looking for a gorgeous joint of Hereford Beef for Boxing Day then why not try Happy Hereford's? You won't be disappointed!

Hereford Beef Perfect for Christmas

Wed, 01 Dec 2010 12:31:08 +0000

If you are looking for the perfect alternative to turkey this Christmas, try Happy Herefords' Hereford Beef. Our joints are succulent, full of flavour and sourced from our own cows here in Bedfordshire, that are naturally reared and protected from the snow in our barns at the moment.

We have a range of joints on offer, from Sirloin to Silverside. You will not be disappointed with our meat, and neither will your family and guests!

So make Christmas even more special with Happy Hereford's Hereford Beef.

Hereford Beef at BBC Good Food Show 24-28 Nov 2010

Tue, 23 Nov 2010 22:11:42 +0000

Happy Herefords are busy winding out our extensive range of Hereford Beef and Tamworth pork sausages, slicing bacon and preparing some really stunning Hereford Beef to take to the BBC Good Food Show taking place at the NEC in Birmingham this weekend http://www.bbcgoodfoodshow.com/ for a really fun foodie day out why not pop along and say hello, we will also be cooking out fabulous Hereford Beef Burgers to go

Happy Herefords at Framlingham Castle 20th-21st Nov

Thu, 18 Nov 2010 07:34:45 +0000

The Happy Herefords Pods are taking to the road again this weekend, we are delighted to have been asked to cater at the 'Christmas at the Castle' event organised by English Heritage at Framlingham Castle this weekend

Come and enjoy some festive fun at the castle this weekend. Soak up the atmosphere whilst browsing for Christmas gifts, listen to carols and take part in the family fun trail. Don’t miss the selection of historic market traders, traditional music, festive refreshments, demonstrations and the fun foolery of Peterkin!

As on site caterer Happy Herefords & Tipsy Tamworths will be cooking our traditional handmade Hereford Beef Burgers and sausages as well as the spicy versions to warm even the coldest parts! Mulled wine and mince pies will also be available from the tasting marquee.

Children can also take part in a festive fun trail around the castle grounds and win a prize or make christmas decorations in the Poor House to take home with them.

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/framlingham-castle/

Happy Herefords - RIP ness

Fri, 12 Nov 2010 19:25:45 +0000

Nessie the Happy Herefords farm dog had to be put down this week, at just six years old and well and truly following in Hovis's footsteps none of us expected to be saying goodbye so soon. RIP my best friend.

Meat Hampers from Happy Herefords - Coming Soon!

Sun, 07 Nov 2010 20:07:26 +0000

Autumn calving is almost over, the cows are almost in the shed for the winter, the pigs are happily digging thier winter trenches in the woods... the (more or less) human team are busy preparing for the NEC Birmingham BBC Good Food Show at the end of the month (last chance to sample our ledgendary cheeseburgers in 2010).

We value customer feedback and as a result of this we are busy planning a range of mouthwatering hampers based around general themes: Traditional Hamper, Spicy Sausage Hamper, Breakfast Hamper, Hereford Steak fest, Winter Warmer to name but a few, we hope to launch these over the next couple of weeks along with another exciting new range for the Happy Herefords portfolio.....

British Sausage Week - try Hereford beef sausages for a refreshing change

Sat, 30 Oct 2010 19:24:55 +0100

Many of our customers have commented that they were pleasantly surprised when they tried one of our many varieties of Hereford beef sausage for the first time. Often beef sausages are perceived to be dry and somewhat rubbery, here at Happy Herefords we strive to attain the perfect balance of natural ingredients to produce a beef sausage that is as moist, smooth and flavoursome on the palette as the best pork sausage.

We recommend cooking our sausages in the oven for approx 30 mins on a medium heat in a dish or pan which allows the sausages to cook in thier own juices enabling them to retain thier tenderness & flavours right up until they reach your plate.

Why not break the mould and try a range of our Hereford beef sausages, celebrate British sausage in style!

Look out for our new hot pork sausage made with edible ornamentals finest chillie willies available from our online shop very soon

Celebrate guyfawkes bonfire night with Happy Hereford Beef burgers

Thu, 28 Oct 2010 17:32:01 +0100

Autumn may be well and truly with us but what better excuse than bonfire night and a few fireworks to fire up the BBQ one last time, feed your guests with our ever popular Happy Hereford traditional beef burgers (really perfect with a slice of mature cheddar) or really spice up the evening with some of our Happy Volcano Burgers garunteed to warm you through on even the coldest of nights. Last orders by noon on Wednesday 3rd Nov to ensure delivery in time for the weekend celebrations.

Happy Herefords - follow us on twitter

Sun, 10 Oct 2010 21:42:03 +0100

For all those twitterers, you can now follow us at http://twitter.com/HappyHerefords

Ben, our new team member, is cheif twitterer for Happy Herefords, if the team is in London he will be tweeting about english Hereford Beef!

Look out for Ben at Old Spitalfields Market this week where as well as our usual fantastic Hereford beef cheese burgers he will be cooking up Faggot'n'Mushy Pea Baps allowing us to sample his very own mushy pea receipe!

Happy Herefords at the London Restaurant Festival Old Spitalfields

Sun, 10 Oct 2010 21:28:28 +0100

Happy Herefords will be at Old Spitalfields Market this week flying the flag for english Hereford beef within the London Restaurant Festival Producers Market which will be held Monday 11th October - Wednesday 13th October & Friday 15th October - Sunday 17th October.

We will be there from 12 noon - 6pm each day and from 9.00am - 6pm on Sunday 17th, our selection of sausages and Hereford Beef in the chiller will vary each day so take a trip out of the office or for those of you lucky enough to finish work at 5pm come and get something special for supper!

As always our online order pick up option applies for those of you who know what you want and want to make sure we have it, just let us know which day you wish to collect on checkout. Steve the butcher is always happy to advise, we wont charge you for looking and we wont charge you for asking questions about our produce!

For more information on the London Restaurant Festival see http://www.visitlondon.com/londonrestaurantfestival/ do take a look, there is loads going on this week for foodies in London

Happy Herefords returns to Soho foodlovers Farmers Market and Wellesbourne Market this saturday 25th September

Mon, 20 Sep 2010 21:03:07 +0100

"Refreshed" from our recent tour (thankyou Kington Show for the Glastonbury mudbath! and thankyou Olney for eating me out of faggots!) Happy Herefords will be back at Soho Foodlovers Farmers Market this Saturday, the chiller will be crammed with our usual somewhat eccentric collection of sausages and superb Hereford Beef; slow roasting joints, steaks, stewing steak & mince in abundance this week to celebrate the autumnal weather!

Look out for a special offer when you buy 6 of our Pork apple & cider sausages, these gems are made with olde rats tale cider from Gwatkins, a small family farm business based in the heart of Herefordshire http://www.gwatkincider.co.uk who make some fantastic cider and perry

Chef Luis will also be back at Wellesbourne market with a special 'free cheese with your burger' offer to celebrate the delightful 'third weekend of the month' syndrome

Dont forget to order online before midnight on Thursday if you would like to pick up at either market, earlybirds (before 11.30 am) to Soho will also benefit from a 10% discount off all raw meat purchases, but you must tell us you are a 'Happy Herefords Earlybird'

As ever you are more than welcome to browse, we wont charge you for looking unlike some of our neighbours ;-)....

Happy Herefords at the Big Olney Food Festival Saturday 18th September 2010

Sun, 12 Sep 2010 18:46:27 +0100

Calling all foodie fans!!

Do you want something to look forward to now the summer holidays are over? Then come along to this year’s ‘Big Olney Food Festival’ – or ‘BOFF’ as it is more affectionately known – on Saturday 18 September! This will be a rare opportunity to see Happy Herefords trading and cooking locally, as a main meal provider we will be serving up our infamous handmade faggots with mushy peas & gravy as well as cooking our usual handmade burgers and sausages

Organised by Olney Chamber of Trade, BOFF will take over Olney marketplace from 12 noon until 9pm. A range of local businesses will each have a stall on the marketplace providing food and drink for you to choose from – there’ll be wonderful dishes prepared by Pastures Farm, The Bull Inn, Much Ado Delicatessen, Old Shanghai, Happy Herefords, Four Pillars Tandoori, the Pancake Race Committee, and Teapots. Fine wines and beer will be provided by Bacchus and The Bull.

Simply buy your ticket in advance, turn up on the day at a time that suits you, choose your three course meal from the wonderful menu available and a glass of fine wine or beer, and find a seat in the marquee. Then sit back, relax and enjoy the food and entertainment!

It will be a great day out for all the family. Fun activities for the children include a giant blow-up slide and face painting, whilst cookery demos, wine tasting and live music will appeal to the grown-ups. The singer Luan Hockley will be back by popular demand!

There will also be stalls selling other foodie items such as cupcakes, cheese and icecream.

Last year’s festival was a great success, so don’t delay - buy your tickets for this year’s event in advance to avoid disappointment!

Tickets cost £15 each and are available from selected outlets in Olney (Much Ado, the Bull, Teapots and Bacchus), or online on the Olney chamber of trade website

We will be back at Soho Farmers Market and Wellesbourne Market the following weekend (25th)

Happy Herefords on tour - Kington Show 11th September HR5 3LN

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 13:35:34 +0100

Kington Show will be held again at the picturesque site of The Ovals Farm, Kington, in the heart of the Herefordshire countryside, possibly the last remaining one-day livestock show in Herefordshire.

See the Happy Herefords grill trailer & team at the show, we will be cooking burgers steaks sausages & bacon for visitors & exhibitors alike. This years burgers & steaks come courtesy of a heifer reared by local Hereford breeder Martin Jones, bacon and sausages are from pigs reared locally at Sutton St Nicholas.

Kington Show is a traditional agricultural show with Horse, Cattle, Sheep, Dog and Horticultural classes together with Young Farmers competitions, Shearing competitions and Farrier demonstrations. New Chairman Mr Dick Allford, "this year we have in place something for everyone, for all ages, from a Rodeo Bull and children's rides to demonstrations, competitions, even an after show dance, Kington Show is a social gathering, but more importantly a value day out for all the family to enjoy".

To the people of Kington & Herefordshire - We thoroughly enjoyed being part of last years show, so do come along and join us for what promises to be a truly fun day out, last year we came home with only 60 burgers this year we would like to sell out, are you up for the challenge?, see you all there...

Happy Herefords on tour so no pick up delivery option at Soho Farmers Market or Wellesbourne Market

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 12:08:01 +0100

Happy Herefords are on tour for the next two weeks so we will be unable to offer our usual pick up delivery options at Soho Farmers Market or Wellesbourne Market on Saturday 11th September or Saturday 18th September. Our sincere apologies for any inconvenience that this may cause.

To all our regular Soho burger customers, do try a chicken wrap this weekend from the Fosse Meadow Farm boys, its worth the extra 50p! www.fossemeadows.co.uk

We will be back at both markets on the 25th September, be there early to benefit from our earlybird discounts which run until noon, just tell us you are a 'Happy Hereford Earlybird' to benefit.

Look out for a special offer running at our Soho stall on the 25th as part of the Foodlovers Special Michaelmas & Apples Market