A Dorset online butcher with customers across the UK is expanding into the premium prepared-food market with a new range of dishes made by professional chefs in the county.
The Dorset Meat Company has launched BISTROT, a collection of large-format prepared meals based around classic French brasserie cooking, as the business looks to build on growing demand for higher-quality convenience food.
The range includes Boeuf Bourguignon, Coq au Vin, Chicken and Wild Mushroom and Lasagna, alongside side dishes such as Potato Dauphinoise and Peas with Bacon. Meals are prepared in Dorset using British ingredients, including ethically reared meat and sustainably sourced fish where appropriate, before being delivered to customers nationwide.
Rather than competing through elaborate packaging, managing director Nick Somper says the company deliberately chose to put more of the cost into the food and portion size.
‘We looked at what was already available in the premium ready meal market and felt there was a better way to deliver value for customers,’ he said.
‘Rather than spending heavily on elaborate packaging, we’ve put that investment into larger portions, exceptional ingredients and chef-led preparation.’
Each main dish comes in a 950g portion, designed to feed at least two people.
The move represents a further diversification for a Dorset business which already sells grass-fed and free-range meat, cheese, deli products and prepared food online, delivering across mainland Britain six days a week.
The Dorset Meat Company was named Online Butcher of the Year in 2023, reflecting the unusual position it has built from its Dorset base: firmly rooted in the county’s food and farming economy, while operating primarily as a national online retailer.
The new range takes that model into another competitive market, using Dorset-based production to reach customers well beyond the county.
thedorsetmeatcompany.co.uk
