Bare Earth snacks expand into forecourts

- Published: 30 March, 2010

A Yorkshire meat snacks firm has found its been rapidly growing year on year and expanding into new markets such as forecourt garages, it’s co-founder has said.

Bare Earth, who’s range of Southern African dried meat products is made in North Yorkshire, has received backing from a number of high-profile personalities such as Ray Mears and Liz Hurley and can now be found in a wide-range of outlets from farm shops to delis to Waitrose and Booths.

Director Gary Quinn said: “We’ve been making beef jerky or Biltong for seven years now and we started off up in North Yorkshire but we’ve moved to a larger premises now. The volume of meat is growing, interest for the product is growing but it’s still a niche product. We still only go through maybe two to three tonnes of meat a weak but it is certainly a long way from what we used to go through.”

Quinn said he discovered Biltong through his Botswanean wife Thomo. After Thomo completed a business masters in the UK, Gary and Thomo set out making a living selling Southern African snacks to the UK market in 2003 and have not looked back since.

Bare Earth have expanded it’s range so it now sells Sliced Biltong, Droewors Bites, South African Game Biltong and Boerewors sausages.

Quinn added: “The products have their origins in South Africa, but the factory is in North Yorkshire and it’s all made in the UK. We actually do import some game and ostrich but the rest of it, the beef products are all bought sometimes from Europe, sometimes in Britain depending partly on what’s available because we use only on cut of beef which is silverside.”

Bare Earth is now found in a wide range of outlets from small convenience stores to supermarkets.

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