Among gourmet restaurants and specialty butcher shops recognizing excellence in Belted Galloway meat is the famed Rules in London’s Covent Garden. Rules has long served Beltie beef, calling it “a favorite on the menu.”

Rules is supplied beef from Paul Coppen’s pedigree Belted Galloways raised in County Durham. A recent article in England’s Farmers Weekly notes that “While Mr. Coppen prefers not to reveal the exact price he receives for his beef, he admits he gets a premium/kg which mirrors the rare-breed butcher’s price. Surplus heifers from the herd are sold for breeding and in recent years have been much in demand for hill conservation grazing projects, because native cattle are less selective grazers than Continental types.”

Mr. Coppen maintains 35 cows in his herd and replacements are home-bred. A new bull is brought in about once every six years. Calving is mainly in spring, but steers are finished throughout the year. The herd is run as one group, with the exception of weaned calves, which stay with their mothers until the next calf is born. 

Breeds like the Belted Galloway thrive on extensive, natural systems, Mr. Coppen points out. “It’s no use trying to finish Belties quickly on concentrates, or they will lay down fat. When allowed to mature slowly, they will produce a lean, marbled meat with great flavour and texture. The meat is the opposite of what the supermarkets want. They seem to prefer pink meat with white fat, whereas the grassfed Beltie meat is darker in colour, with yellow fat.” 

Coppen adds, “Other producers are joining environmental schemes and that’s where the Beltie comes in. I believe the breed definitely has a place in the future of U.K. and the uplands.”

Another type of outlet for Beltie beef is The Organic Butcher with locations in Charlottesville and McLean, Virginia which works almost exclusively with a half-dozen or so certified organic farms in the region, including a Belted Galloway breeder. Owner Ryan Ford plans to dry-age the shop’s beef, explaining that this creates a more intense taste and allows the cow’s natural enzymes to tenderize the meat. “Most meat producers don’t do this because they lose poundage,” he says. This high-end beef has a high-end price, but Ford says that by using ‘the whole cow’ he’ll be able to offer cheaper cuts, as well. 
 
Ford offers special orders of Belted Galloway beef, Berkshire pork and other rare and minor breeds’ products. The shop emphasizes that the customer will know exactly where the meat comes from. All selections are identified by farm and how it was raised. He concludes, “It’s about the old-fashioned art of butchery and the new organic trend: raising happy cows on fresh grass and open land.“