What started out as a butcher making high-end sausages to sell online has rapidly grown into a well-loved, up-and-coming Dubai cottage industry.
Irn-Bru sausages, haggis or black pudding may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but the range of 18 specialist pork products sold by the British Butcher Shop in Mudon are going down a storm.
Three years since launching, former supermarket boss Mike Barker is now bringing his first plant-based range of burgers and bangers to the UAE.
I took a lot of persuading to launch plant-based sausages but I'm passionate about this now
The Plant-B range will land in Dubai next month – with a UAE production facility for meat alternatives also planned.
“I looked at plant-based recipes and thought we could change the arena for these foods as we have done with pork,” said Mr Barker, a father of two who has lived in the UAE for 24 years.
“There is a market, it is growing and I want to be one of the first to do it here with Plant-B.
“We already make an Irn-Bru sausage, a Cumberland black-pudding sausage and a haggis sausage using spices from Glasgow.
“I’m confident I can carry that innovation forward to the halal side of the business and meat alternatives.
“We want to have a go at making our own meat-free bacon from scratch, but I will only sell it if it is any good.”
What is in a meat-free sausage?
The Plant-B range will include a breakfast sausage, Cumberland sausage, an apple and sage sausage, meatballs and a burger.
They are primarily made from mushrooms, rapeseed oil, water, herbs, spices and breadcrumbs.
Demand for meat alternatives is on the rise, due to health concerns over processed meats rich in cholesterol, carcinogenic substances and saturated fats that can cause cancer and heart disease.
Environmental concerns and animal welfare issues are other factors behind more people turning to plant-based products.
According to market researchers Euromonitor, the worldwide fake meat market is now worth an estimated $20.7 billion (Dh76 billion) and looks set to grow an estimated $3 billion by 2024.
Beyond Meat is the current market leader, with the company’s burger passing a taste test to see how closely it resembled real meat.
Ingredients include pea and rice protein, potato starch, apple and pomegranate extract, vinegar and lemon juice.
It also contains dipotassium phosphate, potassium chloride, titanium dioxide and maltodextrin to retain a meat-like texture.
Mr Barker, from Hartlepool in England, originally dropped out of the supermarket business to start his own sporting events and media company.
When that failed he returned to his passion – the food industry.
An opportunity to set up shop in the pork area of Geant supermarket in Mudon was too good an opportunity to miss and since then his business has taken off.
The British Butcher Shop now has three stores, employing 22 people, with three more due to open this year, including a delicatessen in The Meadows.
“I was fed up buying sub-standard, imported pork products from supermarkets, so decided to sell my own,” he said.
“I am a butcher and meat trader at heart, so I knew what quality to look for and what people wanted.
“When we started, there were just two of us making sausages in a tiny area of this shared hotel kitchen.
“We had to make, pack and deliver the sausages from a chiller in the car park.
“Now we have an office in Motor City and a production area in Jumeriah Lakes Towers. We do everything ourselves with our own trucks, drivers and warehouse.
“I took a lot of persuading to launch plant-based sausages, but I’m passionate about this now.”
The bio
Favourite food: Japanese
Favourite car: Lamborghini
Favourite hobby: Football
Favourite quote: If your dreams don’t scare you, they are not big enough
Favourite country: UAE
UAE v IRELAND
All matches start at 10am, and will be played in Abu Dhabi
1st ODI, Friday, January 8
2nd ODI, Sunday, January 10
3rd ODI, Tuesday, January 12
4th ODI, Thursday, January 14
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The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre V6
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On sale: now
Understand What Black Is
The Last Poets
(Studio Rockers)
McLaren GT specs
Engine: 4-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: seven-speed
Power: 620bhp
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On sale: now
Arrogate's winning run
1. Maiden Special Weight, Santa Anita Park, June 5, 2016
2. Allowance Optional Claiming, Santa Anita Park, June 24, 2016
3. Allowance Optional Claiming, Del Mar, August 4, 2016
4. Travers Stakes, Saratoga, August 27, 2016
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
HOW DO SIM CARD SCAMS WORK?
Sim swap frauds are a form of identity theft.
They involve criminals conning mobile phone operators into issuing them with replacement Sim cards, often by claiming their phone has been lost or stolen
They use the victim's personal details - obtained through criminal methods - to convince such companies of their identity.
The criminal can then access any online service that requires security codes to be sent to a user's mobile phone, such as banking services.
Three ways to limit your social media use
Clinical psychologist, Dr Saliha Afridi at The Lighthouse Arabia suggests three easy things you can do every day to cut back on the time you spend online.
1. Put the social media app in a folder on the second or third screen of your phone so it has to remain a conscious decision to open, rather than something your fingers gravitate towards without consideration.
2. Schedule a time to use social media instead of consistently throughout the day. I recommend setting aside certain times of the day or week when you upload pictures or share information.
3. Take a mental snapshot rather than a photo on your phone. Instead of sharing it with your social world, try to absorb the moment, connect with your feeling, experience the moment with all five of your senses. You will have a memory of that moment more vividly and for far longer than if you take a picture of it.
'Peninsula'
Stars: Gang Dong-won, Lee Jung-hyun, Lee Ra
Director: Yeon Sang-ho
Rating: 2/5
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Directed by Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari
Starring Kangana Ranaut, Richa Chadha, Jassie Gill, Yagya Bhasin, Neena Gupta
Rating: 3.5/5
