From farm to fridge – Great Sankey couple have high hopes for award-winning business

Snoutwood Trotters on Laburnum Lane has gone from strength to strength over the past few years with their family-run farm, which is home to the Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs.

Rebecca Scott and Liam Tickle, who both grew up in Warrington, opened their free-range pork shop seven years ago selling bacon, sausages, burgers and other pork products and they also specialise in event catering with hog roasts and pulled pork.

Snoutwood supplies several local businesses in Warrington including Casa Coffee in Penketh, Grill on the Square, San Lorenzo and The Treasury on Palmyra Square and they also supply Mamars at The Old Bank on Bridge Street backing the #supportlocal campaign.

Here, in our new feature ‘Food and Drink Heroes’, they tell us what it’s like working together on the farm and running a successful business.

Are you local to Warrington? Did you grow up here?

We were both born in Great Sankey and have always lived here.

Tell us a bit about your business

We are a free-range pork farm shop with a butchery on site. We also specialise in hog roasts for events. It’s simple - we farm it, we produce it, we sell it, and we are both passionate about it. Our on-site butchery allows us both to hand-make all our own produce using unique recipes and natural ingredients. Our farm shop and online ordering system enables customers to purchase our award-winning Snoutwood produce straight from the farm.

We use a local abattoir just a few miles down the road, meaning as low food miles as possible.

All our rare-breed pigs are free-range, pedigree and outdoor reared, spending their entire lives outdoors in their natural environment. This allows them to move, forage and interact with each other in the fresh air, just the way pigs should. We ensure that our herd has full access to muddy wallows in the summer and daily access to clean plentiful water as well as fresh warm bedding.

Our pigs grow at a much slower rate giving a traditional succulent flavour that is lacking in commercial pork farming. We believe that our farming methods of this fantastic, rare breed of pigs contributes to creating the most delicious Snoutwood pork produce, of which we are incredibly proud.

Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs are at home on the farm

When did you open the business?

The Snoutwood shop has been open for seven years but we got our first two pigs nearly 12 years ago.

Why did you decide to open your own business?

We were passionate about spreading awareness of good quality meat. After having our first two pigs and receiving feedback about the meat from family and friends, we knew that there was a market for good quality produce. It was this feedback that really made us push the business forward.

Sausages, bacon and burgers are a real hit with customers

What’s your business background?

Rebecca did a degree in Business Management and Finance, however, upon graduating, she made the decision to pursue Snoutwood rather than furthering her career elsewhere. Neither of us have any sort of business background other than what we’ve learnt through having the business. We learn as we go along.

Having our own business was never really something we were both set on when we were growing up. After having our first two pigs and deciding to pursue the farming further, we developed a passion for what we were doing and everything sort of spiralled from there. It’s been difficult but we wouldn’t change it for the world, and we enjoy every minute of working together. We feel that we are always learning and trying new ideas, which keeps the day-to-day routine interesting and we are now keen to push Snoutwood even further.

Were you open before/during/after the Covid-19 pandemic? How did this affect your business?

During the unprecedented time of the Covid-19 pandemic, we saw an extreme increase in demand for our produce. With us only being a small-scale business, we wanted to streamline our offering to make it as simple as possible for people to order and purchase our products but with enough to be able to accommodate more customers. We increased our opening times and designed a new ordering website. We introduced ready-made packs that people could order on a weekly basis and collect from the farm every Saturday.

A selection of the pork produce at Snoutwood

What sets your business apart from your competitors?

We started with just two pigs many years ago before deciding to produce our own litters and give selling the meat a go on a wider scale. As of March 2018, we both made the decision to take on a full-time role within the business, upon completion of our very own on site Snoutwood butchery.

We are both proud to produce every single one of our products, following homemade recipes that we have found work best in complementing our free-range pork. Our own butchery has gifted us opportunities to expand our product range, enable more flexibility with our produce, increase our knowledge of the meat process and most importantly allow us to have full involvement in every aspect of the business. If anything, it has driven our passion further and we are always looking to improve our products while introducing new ones. All our sausages are handmade using high percentages of pork, simple ingredients and natural sausage casings.

We are one of very few businesses that can truly say they farm, butcher, and sell all their own produce together as a couple.

Why do customers return to your business?

We try to be as honest as possible. Some customers have followed us since day one, several years ago, when we started with a single domestic fridge under a gazebo. We believe the quality of the produce and its taste really does speak for itself.

What do the next few months hold for you and your business?

We do face a challenge of increased outgoings over the next few months. Pig food is the most expensive it has ever been. Unlike cattle and sheep that can be raised on grass, pigs need another food source in the form of a cereal/grain-based feed. Our pig food has tripled in price in the past few months. Hopefully we can ride out this cost over the course of the next 12 months and prices become more stable.

We are looking at new ways for people to access our produce via the website that may not be able to get to us during our opening hours on a Saturday. We have quite a few hog roast bookings scheduled in throughout the rest of the year and will continue to run our catering service alongside the butchery and shop. We have several other ideas up our sleeves for the next few months, so watch this space.

The couple hand make everything that they sell on site (Picture Dave Gillespie)