RSPCA Good Business Awards

RSPCA announces restaurant and pub finalists in the Good Business Awards 2010

Hooray! The Countryman restaurant in West Sussex has gone and done it again! We have made it to the finals of the RSPCA awards. Recognising the very best businesses in the UK, the Good Business Awards reward companies for their ethical approach to animal welfare. The Countryman is battling it out against McDonalds, Due South in Brighton and The Feathers, Stocksfield, Northumberland. All four establishments were praised by the high profile judging panel for excellence in advancing animal welfare and going the extra mile to include best practice in their ethical business policy.

This is what RSPCA say about us: The Countryman Inn, Shipley, West Sussex: a traditional rural hostelry, this pub has direct contact with its farmers and conducts regular visits to ensure full traceability for all the produce they use. This constant monitoring of their suppliers’ animal welfare credentials extends to using predominantly produce from RSPCA Freedom Food approved farms in its menu.

All businesses of all sizes can follow the same philosphy

“The RSPCA Good Business Awards are a great leveler. When it comes to animal welfare it doesn’t matter if you’re a global chain or a small local pub – putting your heart and mind into improving standards is what the judges will look for,” added Johnson.

One of the judges, TV journalist and presenter Richard Johnson, says: “It is fantastic to see eateries both large and small actively listening to customers and taking huge steps forward for animal welfare. With spending on ethical goods and services showing three-fold growth over the last 10 years, retailers would be foolish to ignore this area.”

The RSPCA Good Business Awards evening ceremony will be held at One Marylebone, London, on Wednesday 6th October.

Farm Shop at The Countryman West Sussex

Due to popular demand, we have started planning to start work on the Countryman Farm Shop. The Countryman Farm Shop will consist of a new area dedicated to showcasing produce from local suppliers. As well as our own homegrown produce there will be fresh vegetables from keen local gardeners, homemade chutneys and preserves, local cheese and cold meat selection, homemade bread and cakes, and fresh milk, cream and eggs from various farms.

Many of the vegetables that you will see are from the same suppliers that we use for our freshly cooked food at The Countryman – the best country pub in West Sussex.

A few interesting facts about Farmers Markets

The first farmers’ market started 13 years ago in 1997 and there are now over 500! This proves the greedy supermarkets haven’t completely won! On the contrary –  these statistics prove that the public want fresh, high quality food and they want to support local farmers and suppliers. Farmers markets are usually held on a weekly or monthly basis – the emphasis being on quality and freshness. When you talk to the stallholder, you will normally find that you are talking to the actual farmer that grew the produce for sale!  Source: Alliance & Leicester Commercial Banking news.

Our Farm Shop will be open every day!

Once our farm shop is open, you will not have to wait a whole month to buy your fresh food, as our shop will be open every day during The Countryman pub opening hours. We will update you on the progress of the our new farm shop regularly.

Brookland White chickens served at The Countryman

We are pleased to announce that we are working with a new supplier called Brookland White Artisan Poulterers who are based in South Godstone.

Brookland White hold old fashioned values of high animal welfare, traditional outdoor rearing and low food miles. They raise and process all their birds (capons, ducks, chickens and turkeys) so you know exactly where the chickens have come from, and that they have had a good life. Brookland White chickens are not the normal ‘Free Range’ chickens that are being mass produced on large units. Instead, the chickens return to past times where traditional methods and home milled feed are used. All the food is GM free including wheat, peas, barley, oats and triticale are home grown on the farm, along with GM free soya, minerals, vitamins and spices to balance the ration. Unlike many other free range chicken producers, Brookland White do not routinely use antibiotics, instead they rely upon helping the birds to develop a healthy immune system.

Birds are naturally shy and if they have food and drink inside will often never venture out of the hut. To overcome this, the feeders and drinkers are outside to ensure that the birds spend as much time in the field as possible. In fact, the chickens have 24 hour access to the field and they are often grazing or sleeping in the moonlight. It almost sounds romantic!

When the birds are ready around about 12 weeks old (shed birds are killed at about 6 weeks) they are killed, plucked, dressed and wrapped on the farm. The birds are hung in the chiller for at least 3 days.

So when you eat chicken at The Countryman, you know that your chicken had the best life a chicken could have.

Call 01403 741383 to reserve your table, or you can click here to book a table through this website.