Located in Aberdeenshire, Neil and Helen are the driving force behind the Hog Roast Aberdeen team. They run the local Hog Roast business from their farm which supplies fresh produce for the team’s events. They are vital for the team’s success as the team’s events rely heavily on the produce of the farm to please their clients at both their small and big events. Some of the produce is sent directly to the customers, some is cooked and served by the team during their events, while some is transformed into new treats, such as cakes, on site at the farm.
On Balnault Farm, Helen and Neil have a wonderful variety of different farm animals to supply great produce. Their farm includes eight hundred breeding sheep, thirty chickens and forty commercial breeding cattle, including two Charolais bulls. These provide meat as well as dairy products while the chickens produce fresh eggs for the business to use. In addition to this, the couple are growing a herd of rare breed Berkshire pigs including 6 sows and 1 boar. The pigs supply pork to local businesses including hotels and restaurants such as The Fife Arms, in Braemar, and The Rothesay Rooms, in Ballater. Furthermore, a large number of local people buy fresh pork sausages from the farm because of their great flavour. In addition, Neil and Helen also sell their free range eggs to their local customers, homemade cakes and sausage rolls.
Neil inherited the farm from his family who have owned the farm for seventy years. He is the third generation to own the farm and has been overseeing the running of the farm for twenty years so he has a good few years of experience under his belt to ensure that the farm can produce a steady production of produce. The farm takes pride in producing great meat and produce to locals and their businesses and also for their own events. All of their produce is home reared and free range so is of high quality and fair treatment of their animals. Without the hard work of Neil and Helen, the Hog Roast Aberdeen team would not experience the amazing success in the food industry that it currently does.