Our Suppliers
Turkeys & Geese
We (John Howe Turkeys, at Lotland Farm, Biddenden) have been producing Christmas turkeys for the last 46 years and we are really proud of what we do. Our ethos has always remained the same; to produce the very best turkey possible. An endeavour undertaken by the whole family.
Our turkeys are slow growing, old-fashioned breeds, raised on a natural, cereal based diet, free from antibiotics and growth promoters. Both our Bronze and White Birds are free range from 8 weeks of age.
Our new adventure this year is a flock of free range geese, which we are raising to the same standards as our turkeys. The geese have access to a huge expanse of meadow and exclusive use of a large pond.
Beef
All our free range beef, hand picked by John, comes exclusively from local farms, where the cattle grow slowly on a grass-fed diet, and are finished on barley, to ensure a good covering of fat.
All our beef is matured on the carcass, at our own farm, for a minimum of 28 days, resulting in consistently excellent quality, matured beef with a wonderful marbling.
Lamb
Kent and Sussex farmers have produced premium quality, free range lamb for many generations using traditional methods that have barely altered over the centuries.
We select only the best from our neighbours, who raise their sheep predominately on the Romney Marsh, as well as at Leeds Castle and Bodiam; some are even grazed on our farm, just outside Biddenden. The Salt Marsh diet of natural grasses and samphire produces a unique flavour.
Pork
We are proud to offer free-range pork sourced directly from Gibsons Farm, a multi-generational family farm in Wingham, near Canterbury. Their free-range pork represents the best of traditional Kentish husbandry.
Reared with care by third-generation livestock farmer Jeff Gibson, the pigs roam freely on open pasture and are fed home-grown crops. To minimize stress and uphold the highest welfare standards, the farm uses a local abattoir just two miles away.
The result is exceptionally tender, deeply flavourful pork
Game
We are lucky to be surrounded by beautiful countryside including hundreds of acres of woodland & forest, The Romney Marsh, The Weald and the North Downs. Needless to say we only stock local, wild game.
Poultry
We only supply chicken from British farms and unlike your typical supermarket bird, they are free hormones and aren't pumped with water to reach a goal weight.
If you want something really special, a Bank Farm, Black Label free range chicken is an absolute must!
Our premium range of chicken comes from a farm just down the road from our butcher shop. Bank farm in Aldington take day old chicks and raise them for 80 days which is more than twice the lifespan of a supermarket bird.
The Black Label chicken are fully free range and because they are allowed to reach full maturity there is no need for growth promoters in their feed. The birds are succulant and meaty - they make the perfect classic Sunday roast.