Woods the butchers on Princess Street and The Easy Fish Co. on Canute Place in Knutsford are a couple of the companies that are benefiting from the changing trends in dining.

The recession has had its effect on Knutsford restaurants as people tend to be eating in a lot more and entertaining at home instead of venturing out to restaurants.  Woods has seen an increase in demand for prime cuts destined for the dinner party like rack of lamb and rib of beef and The Easy Fish Co. and Woods both say they have been non-stop since Christmas and especially on Valentines Day which suggests that consumers are saving money by dining at home rather than compromising on quality.

In an economic downturn you would expect the cheaper cuts to be more popular as people tighten their belts, but although Woods has seen an increase in these cuts, they do not credit the increase in sales of meats like belly pork to the recession. Instead Woods attribute their popularity to celebrity chefs like Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsey who have championed the cheaper cuts and are making them popular again as more people are experimenting with cooking at home. These forgotten cuts are no worse in quality, they have just fallen out of favour over the years and as people discover how to cook these again, demand is increasing as people experiment more in the kitchen.

Since November 2008 The Easy Fish Co. has also started selling Fresh Fruit and Vegetables in it's store. The Easy Fish Co visit the markets every morning for their fruit and veg and their fish to ensure freshness and quality of products. They decided to start selling fresh loose fruit and vegetables after the closure of Oliver's the Greengrocers last year which was the left Knutsford without a permanent Greengrocer.

Many of you will have noticed that Booths is re-vamping its store in Knutsford and as a result has closed its fresh meat and fish counters which are set to re-open in a few weeks time. Woods has said that there has been a slight increase in sales that they can attribute to the closure of the counter and customers that have made the effort to come into Knutsford are impressed by the variety of cuts, freshness of the produce and quality of the home made pies, sausages and marinated meats and are buying extra products that they would not normally buy from the Supermarket.

The Easy Fish Co. has also seen an increase in people through the door and a few new faces but say that they can't tell if this is a result of the fish counter being closed in Booths.

Both shops hope that the quality and service that they have will change the habits of booths shoppers for the long term once they discover the difference in quality and service that they offer.

Easy Fish Co Photo courtesy of Jonathan Farber.