Fantastic Fun at the Foodie Fundraiser

We would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who came along to our inaugural #foodiefundraiser tasting evening last week - for helping us raise over £1000 for The RNLI!

The evening was a tremendous success, and as we still have some donations coming in, it looks like the final amount raised will be nearer £1,100.

The food and wine suppliers were delighted with the interest and feedback they were getting for the produce they sampled, and from our perspective, the evening really did open people's eyes to the range of produce we stock in the shop.

There were lots of comments like 'I didn’t know you stocked that' and 'gosh, your malt whisky prices are really competitive' and that’s exactly what we hoped for – people coming in and browsing round the shop with fresh eyes.

For those who want to donate further to the RNLI, you will be happy to know that our goodwill didn't stop at our #foodiefundraiser. Over the next few weeks, customers can continue to show their support by purchasing wines from a specially labelled range, with 50p for each bottle sold going to the RNLI.

Once again, thank you so much to everyone who came along on Thursday evening, it is hugely appreciated.

We would also like to thank those who were not able to attend but made a donation, the Inverurie fundraising branch of the RNLI and of course our fabulous suppliers; Claire Rennie from Berry Scrumptious, Alan, Alan and Fiona from Downies Fish, Gordon and Shona Presly from Presly Butchers, Nicky Groat from Devenick Dairy, Dianne Smith from JG Ross and Pulsetta, and John Chalmers from Enotria Wines.

If you didn't manage to make it along, here's some photos from the event. You can find more on our Facebook page by clicking HERE.

PS. We are already thinking of our next tasting evening – what do you think about a beer or whisky night? Let us know by posting on this blog post or on Facebook or Twitter. 

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Fishin' You a Merry Christmas

Fancy something other than roast turkey this Christmas?

If so, you might like to indulge in some fresh fish from Downies of Whitehills for your Christmas feast!

Downies Fish counter, in-store at the Mitchells Grocery, offers a delicious range of freshly-caught, quality Scottish fish, hot and cold smoked fish, as well as Downies award winning Cullen Skink Soup and Fish Pies.

The members of Downies staff within Mitchells are more than happy to arrange for orders to be taken for any unusual requests, as they pride themselves on being able to source a variety of seafood given plenty of notice.

But as you can see from the picture on your right, you will need to get your hands on an order form before the 22nd Dec.

That's because Downies' fishing boats will not be heading out to sea and the counter will be closed from the 22nd December until the 8th January.

So what are you waiting for? Why not make the most of these great offers and bring something new to the Christmas dinner table this year?

You never know - Downies’ fish could have you converted for life!

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Mitchells' Hits The Headlines Again

As many of you are no doubt aware, Mitchells Dairy hit the headlines earlier this year after we won the Health Promoting Retailer of the Year award at The Scottish Grocer Awards.

Well, our name is up in lights once again, as The Scottish Grocer, Scotland's leading monthly magazine for the convenience retailing sector, has featured us in its jam-packed October edition!

Claire Amber Young travelled up to Inverurie to meet Keith and Judy and find out about Mitchells' history, ethos and passion for fresh, healthy produce.

In the article, which can be read here, Keith explains: "Providing shoppers with healthy, fresh products is something that has always been important to us."

He continues: "It's a big part of our ethos. People are definitely taking more of an interest in what they are eating now. They want products that are fresh, local and good quality."

As Amber Young points out in the article, one recent development has strengthened our increasing reputation as a provider of high-quality, local produce.

Our new fresh fish counter, which is run by local specialist Downies of Whitehills, offers shoppers an extensive range of fresh fish and seafood, as well as expert advice on preparation and cooking fish.

Discussing the fish counter, Judy says: "It is really appealing to our foodie audience and was a natural thing for us to do. We took an underproductive area of the store and we're now driving customers into it."

As the article points out, our involvement in community health and well-being doesn't stop at the shop door. We continue to be a supporter and sponsor of community events like the Gairoch fun run and 5k, 10k and half marathon events, as well as helping out with the local rugby club and local schools.

Since Mitchells was founded in 1928 by Elijah and Agnes Mitchell, we have been committed to supporting the local community and providing the very best local produce.

As the article indicates, that commitment remains as strong as ever.

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An exclusive look into Downie's of Whitehills

Downies of Whitehills are a family owned fish processing business that has been in existence for more than 130 years. Situated on the shores of the Moray Firth, their factory & shop attract customers from far and wide to sample the very best that Downies offer in the way of prime quality Scottish seafood.

Alan Downie, the Managing Partner, goes to the fish markets in either Fraserburgh or Peterhead on a daily basis to bring the best of the catch back to Whitehills for processing in our EU approved premises.

With Alan Downie going to the markets daily, this ensures that we can offer all of our fish products at very competitive prices in comparison to some of our competitors. By undertaking the whole procedure from the market place through to the customer, Downies have the most competitive prices available to all of our customers, even better than the supermarkets with their superior buying power.

To ensure that as many customers have access to these excellent prices, Downies of Whitehills have opened a new retail outlet within Mitchell's Dairy in Inverurie where fresh supplies are delivered daily. The members of staff at our new shop are more than happy to arrange for orders to be taken for any unusual requests as we pride ourselves on being able to source a variety of seafood given plenty of notice.

A recent article in the press about Downies of Whitehills

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Downies of Whitehills launch at Mitchells...

Mitchells are pleased to announce that Downies of Whitehills are opening a fresh fish counter within their Market Place Grocery this week.

Keith Whyte, Managing Partner of Mitchells said "We have successfully sold Downies packaged products from the chill in our shop and cooked their fish in our Tearoom for many years.  This new counter is a natural progression for Downies to offer customers a wider range of their fresh locally landed fish and award winning products. We are delighted that Downies have chosen The Dairy as their location within Inverurie and we very much look forward to working alongside Downies, another long established Aberdeenshire family business, in this way."

Launch Day
To celebrate this addition to The Dairy’s Grocery shop, an official opening of the fresh fish counter will take place on Saturday 29 October at 2.30pm with special offers and tastings throughout the day. Please come along and join in the fun.

Downies of Whitehills offer a huge and delicious range of fresh fish. They have won awards for their outstanding Cullen Skink Soup and Fish Pies, which you will be able to buy in store at Mitchdells. Also, keep your eye out for the 'catch of the day'.

Have your say
We would be interested to find out what your thoughts are about getting Fresh Fish delivered to your doorstep. We plan to introduce this service in our doorstep deliveries. So whether we already deliver to your door or you would just like fish delivered, let us know.

You can contact us by email on info@mitchells-scotland.com or call us on 01467 621389. You can also keep up to date on all our latest news and events on our Facebook page and we would love to hear your feedback so join our online community, we would love to hear from you.

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Love British Food!

If you have been into Mitchells Dairy in the past couple of days you will have noticed that we are celebrating British Food Fortnight which takes place between the 17th September and 2nd October.

Given how proud we are to stock local and British products, we thought we would join in on the tenth national food promotion to celebrate the diverse and delicious range of food that Britain produce.

To mark the celebrations of the Food Fortnight, we will have decorations up in the shop and we are encouraging everyone to buy local, not only for this fortnight but as a matter of habit. There are countless reasons to buy local and to buy British, just some of the reasons can be found here. For more information on the British Food Fortnight check out their website where you can find our everything you need to know about buying British food including what logos to look for on products, where to buy and information about regional and seasonal varieties.

During British Food Fortnight 17th September to 2nd October Mitchells will celebrate all that is good about British, local and seasonal produce. Many of our suppliers produce local produce including:

• Ola Oils 
• Mackintosh of Glendaveny 
• Downies Fish 
• Deans
• Walkers shortbread 
• Baxters
• Hamlyns/Grampian Oat Products
• Barra Berries Oldmeldrum
• Fetternear Fruit

The stew, mince, tatties and skirlie that can be found at the Dairy Tearoom is made from locally produced beef supplied by Preslys Butchers in Oldmedrum and it's locally grown potatoes and oatmeal from Hamlyn/Grampian Oat Products in Banff. 

At the moment we have a great selection of seasonal and locally grown veg including carrots, cauliflower, Romanesque, turnips, cabbage, broccoli. Due to an extended growing season this year we still have locally grown strawberries from Barra Berries and Fetternear Fruit, which grow within 5 miles of our shop!

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