Barlow’s Butchers has been serving the Nottinghamshire community since 1948. Now in its third generation, Scott Barlow is leading the business into a new era, without losing sight of its roots.
“We’re a traditional butcher shop, but we’ve had to diversify a lot,” says Scott. “People want restaurant-quality meals at home, so we’ve developed a heat-to-eat range, and we do the hard work for them.”
To meet that demand, Scott introduced new RATIONAL equipment that’s helped the team cook more efficiently and consistently.
“We cook everything in our iCombi Pro, from boiled hams to roast pork, pies, pastries, breads. They’re running near enough 24 hours a day,” he explains. “Food wastage is minimal, and we’re not getting shrinkage with any of the meats. It’s a better product all round.”
Speed has been another big win. “We do all our pie fillings in the iVario. We've got the chicken pie filling down from a two-hour stove cook to less than 20 minutes, and it was so tender,” Scott recalls.
“Lasagnes used to take hours. Now, pressure cooking in the iVario cuts it down to 20 minutes.”
Scott also appreciates being able to stay in control, even when he’s not on site. “I can sit at home and go on ConnectedCooking and look through recipes. When I find one I like, I just set the program up and send it straight to the unit, it’s instant,” he says. “Also, if there’s a fault in any of our units, our service provider is notified straightaway without us having to tell them! It even monitors cleaning. As a business owner, that’s vital.”
Food safety and staff confidence have improved too. “The HACCP data gives you due diligence. It’s food safety at the end of the day,” he says. “The controls on the iVario are the same as the iCombi Pro. Our team are so confident using it and couldn't imagine going back to scrubbing burnt pans.”
From pork pies to ready meals, Barlow’s Butchers is showing how a heritage business can thrive by embracing change. “It’s been an absolute game changer to the way we do things,” Scott concludes.
