Charles Macleod Ltd

Producer: Charles Macleod Ltd, Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides
Product: Stornoway Black Pudding
Region: Scotland
Category: From the field, artisan
What they do:
Charles Macleod Ltd butchers is a family business dating back to the 1940s. Its enduring success is based on a winning combination of good customer service, attention to detail and the richness of the pastures of the Outer Hebrides where they live and work.
The rich, deep flavour of the Macleod’s Stornoway Black Pudding stems from their commitment to local suppliers of beef suet, oatmeal and pigs’ blood – the principal ingredients of a black pudding – and several generations’ worth of inherited knowledge and skill. Stornoway Black Pudding is now a Protected Geographical Indication product: an intrinsic part of the culinary heritage of a region where harsh winters have demanded dense, highly calorific food.
In the 20th century the pudding came under increasing threat from copycat producers elsewhere in the UK using cheaper alternatives to beef suet and the rough, nutty Scottish oatmeal that is the hallmark of the true marag dubh (as black pudding is called in Gaelic). Charles Macleod Ltd are determined to encourage young people in the business and received an Investors in Young People Award in 2016.
What the judges said:
The judges commended this family-rooted, locally focused business and praised its careful sourcing of Scottish ingredients.

Visit the website: Charles Macleod Ltd