Kinnaird Butcher Shop and Deli Secures Diamond Award for Moroccan Lamb Meatballs
Kinnaird Butcher Shop and Deli in Larbert has secured the Scottish Craft Butchers’ 30-minute Ready Meal Championship, earning the Diamond Award for its “Moroccan Lamb Meatballs with Yogurt Garlic Sauce”. This marks the fifth Scottish Craft Butchers Diamond Award for the McIntyre Avenue shop since owner Gavin Colquhoun launched the business in 2022.
The winning dish, incorporating a “touch of Tangier,” reflects the work of owner Gavin Colquhoun and his team. Colquhoun aimed to present lamb, “not our biggest seller,” in new ways to customers.
Gavin (43) noted the expanding ready meals sector. “Ready meals are a rapidly expanding sector of the butchers business so we played around with Moroccan flavours and different combinations before hitting on the trophy winner,” he stated. Customer feedback was crucial: “We try out all our new products on our customers and if they come in asking for it again – we know we have a winner. People kept asking for these Moroccan Lamb Meatballs after the initial tastings so we thought we would enter them for the ready meals competition.”
Expressing the team’s delight, Colquhoun said, “We’re absolutely thrilled to lift the award for the best ready meal in Scotland – it’s a terrific achievement and I’m delighted for the whole team.” He further emphasised, “We never take winning for granted. The feeling of being judged the best in Scotland by industry experts and members of the public is always terrific.”
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Success, Colquhoun believes, stems from quality ingredients. “You can have all the talent and clever ideas going, but unless you use quality ingredients you will never be the best,” he said. “Every product we put onto our counters has come from the best prime cuts from locally sourced stock. With ready meals, they have to look fabulous, be easy to cook and then taste amazing. We vary from around 15 to 25 different ready meals available at any time and it looks like we’re going to have to up the production of Moroccan Lamb Meatballs when word gets out that they’re the best butchers ready meal in Scotland.”
Scottish Craft Butchers Executive Manager Gordon King praised the product, noting strong judge reactions. “Every one of them said ‘wow’ when they sampled the dish,” he said, adding that “marks were sky high.” King recognised Colquhoun’s innovation: “Gavin Colquhoun has the magic touch when it comes to creating new and exciting products that match the changing demands of the Scottish customer. This time he has given us all the flavours of Moroccan cuisine in a product that suits the Scottish palette – a terrific use of Scotch lamb in an amazing dish that is a very worthy winner.”
Awards sponsors Scotweigh extended congratulations through director Ian McVicar. McVicar said, “Scotweigh are more than happy to support the Scottish Craft Butchers ready meals competition to find the best ready meals in Scotland.” He observed that consumers seek “locally crafted butcher’s ready meals” for convenience and quality, preferring them over “lower quality processed ready meals” from supermarkets. McVicar concluded, “As people are leading busier lives and often want an easy dinner, their local butchers are coming to the rescue with easy to cook, fresh, high quality, delicious ready meals, and Gavin and his team at Kinnaird are leading the way.”
