Charcuterie &
Rare Breed Meats
Family farming business producing award winning meat and charcuterie from our own livestock.
The Good Life Meat Company
Based in Staffordshire we are first generation farmers. We are one of a growing number of farmers and food producers, of all scales and sizes, who are looking to farm in a way which produces better quality food within a sustainable farming system which is kinder to livestock, wildlife, countryside and soils.
Farmers
We are a genuinely ‘field-to-fork’ business!
We started The Good Life Meat Company in 2016 out of a desire to produce high quality food for ourselves, from a farming system where we knew how the livestock had been reared and the land had been managed. What started out as keeping a few pigs for the freezer at home has now grown into a small mixed livestock farming system with pigs, sheep, cattle and a few chickens.
Food Producers
We process and make our own products at our small butchery in rural Staffordshire. As far as possible we use our own livestock in our products and our range has evolved to ensure we can make the most from each carcase.
You won’t find any middle men here. We mostly sell direct to the public. This means you get to know us and how we farm. It also means we get to know you and get feedback direct from our customers.
Contract Services
We offer a range of services from contract curing to conservation grazing and support for other farmers to maximise grant income through environmental schemes. Get in touch if you would like to chat further.
Venison & Deer Management
Our venison is sustainably sourced from farms and estates in Staffordshire, Shropshire and Scotland.
With an experienced conservation biologist and a LANTRA certified Advanced Deer Manager we can provide landowners with deer management for herd health, crop protection or as an additional revenue stream. We can also assist with Countryside Stewardship Scheme WS1 deer control funding.
The Good Life Produce
We are a small scale artisan food producer.
We believe time and patience, from the highest animal welfare system, produces the best tasting product.
Traditional British breeds are better suited to our traditional farming system and, we think, they taste better!
We don’t sell lamb – we sell tastier hogget and mutton. Our beef is aged for longer. Our pigs mature more slowly.
No fancy flavours – just good quality tasty products using traditional ingredients and recipes.
All our produce is hand made and wherever possible produced from our own livestock.
A lot of our products, from our beef bresaola to our lomo and coppa and spicy merguez sausages, have won a number of awards over the last few years.
How We Farm
We farm rare breed and traditional British breed livestock. We believe these breeds are better suited to our low input system. Slow grown and traditionally reared in an extensive system, the flavour and quality of the meat produced is better.
Our sheep and cattle graze outdoors all year round and fed on an almost entirely grass based diet. Their winter feed is supplemented by hay which is produced on the farm. We minimise our use of grain and imported feeds, and aim to be 100% grass fed in the next few years as our land thrives from better management.
Our pigs are truly free range. They live outdoors all year round and choose whether to sleep under cover in their arcs or outdoors, under the stars. Whilst the pigs will graze, their dietary needs are more complicated so we use a high quality soya and GM free feed.
Our way of farming may seem old fashioned. But like a growing number of farmers we believe that it is possible, and more sustainable, to adopt a method of producing food which is kinder to livestock, better for the land and enhances wildlife.
How to Buy From Us.
As a small scale food producer our product range and availability changes seasonally.
Join the herd to receive our current order form each month.
We think it’s important to know where our food comes from and how it is produced. We hope you do too and that’s why we sell direct to customers.
We make free local deliveries once a month or you can collect by prior arrangement from our butchery near Sugnall Walled Garden.
You can also order by post if you are on the UK mainland.
Follow Us
Follow us on social media to find more about how we farm. You’ll also find information on farmers markets and other local food events where you can come and say hello.
Any questions? Just ask. Any comments? Let us know.
We love talking all things farming, wildlife and livestock (we can literally talk until the cows come home about our animals!). And we love hearing your feedback, recipe ideas or suggestions.
Get In
Touch
Get In Touch
Get in touch for more information or if you want to receive our order form and newsletter which we send out monthly.
The Farming Team
Andy Dale
Trained as a chef and having worked in Michelin starred restaurants, Andy is the technical genius and Head of Recipe Development!
He’s also pretty handy at fixing pig arks and tractors!
Helen Dale
Chief pig feeder and Head of Lambing!
Her background in managing land for wildlife and biodiversity. With a growing interest in regenerative agriculture Helen is constantly looking for ways to benefit the land and improve animal welfare.
Vince
Vince is an Australian Working Kelpie.
He’s very gentle with the livestock and makes moving animals around a lot less stressful for us and them.
The Good Life Meat Co.
The Engine House,
Home Farm, Sugnall,
Stafford,
Staffordshire
ST21 6NF
T: +44 (0) 7720 638 410
E: helen@goodlifemeat.co.uk
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Questions?
Have any questions about how we farm, our produce or want to know more about our contract curing? Just drop us an email.