Manifold Valley Meats

[Jamuot]

Further to Kate's post re Natural Instinct and a change of ownership and possibly a change of quality of the food, I have been in touch with Manifold Valley Meats as I have heard a lot of good reviews of their food and thought I would share this for those who may be considering changing their supplier.

Here is a link to their food list:

http://www.manifoldvalleymeats.co.uk/ba ... -products/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

....and their delivery schedule....

http://www.manifoldvalleymeats.co.uk/wp ... e-2013.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I had been a bit concerned that our home postcode was not on the delivery schedule but my husband's work postcode was so the food would sit all day at my husband's work. I noticed though that they go to Taunton and Bournemouth and we are in between and they said the postcodes are not set in stone and if yours isn't on there then phone as if they cross your area to reach another delivery area then they are happy to deliver. This is the case with our address and they have agreed to deliver to our home.

If you are not on one of their 'runs' then they can deliver by Fedex but it is £15 and you are restricted to 20kg only. On one of their runs it is £10 but there is no maximum weight. You need to give them a week's notice of your food order to be part of the monthly run.

I have just costed out a delivery and I have chosen a bit of everything and some of it not the cheapest, such as venison and pheasant, but I will exactly halve the cost of the boys' food for a 54kg delivery, from what I spend at NI!!!! The food arrives in a fat sausage form so you can stack them in the freezer much better and they don't take up so much room. Also not everything has bone in it which i'm pleased about as I was a bit worried that NI mince always has bone in, I think, except for the pure tripe.

Remains to be seen what the quality is like and you don't get the veg and salmon oil in it but I think I can do that myself if I'm saving that much ;) I'm getting an interim delivery next week and then I'll go on the normal monthly run next month so I'll let you know if the boys give it a paws up or not

[Eddie]

I've made this a "sticky" as I think it will interest a lot of members (me included). Make sure you let us know how you get on with your order and if it's not what you expect we can unsticky it.

[Maty]

Interesting, HP doesn't appear on their route but I have found they have a local supplier

http://www.chilterncanines.co.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

May give them a try when I need more for Rodders They also do supplement cubes that contain the oils and things. The one thing I do need to know is how mushy is their mince - Rodders doesn't like NI as it is too mushy

[henrys mum]

We use MVM and the dogs love it esp the meaty bones ;)

[Maty]

What is the mince like Cathy? Is it like worms or more mushed up? Rodders is very fussy about his mince

[Melihoney]

I would be interested in what you think of their produce as I've found a supplier near me.

[Jamuot]

Order to be placed tomorrow and delivery Tuesday, so they say, and I would like to try the boys on the food as soon as possible before I place my main order so I will let you know

[henrys mum]

Sorry Kate just seen your question, the mince holds its 'sausage' shape when defrosted out of the packaging and is quite bloody. It's easier to cut the meat out of the packet when frozen and put into a container to defrost ;) Its not sloppy like NI when defrosted and the range is great

[Jamuot]

Our first delivery has arrived - as it was an interim FedEx delivery, we could only order around 20kgs of minces (one box basically) and this cost us around £30, excl delivery. It is ideal for us as the minces are 454g each, our 3 dogs eat 300g each per day so 2 'sausages' will be perfect. I selected, I think, 14 types of minces incl minced pheasant and venison - going forward we can choose whatever we like, its just we were restricted to minces this time as we could only have one box.

We will defrost some tomorrow night so Thursday will be the first test....here is a pic so you get an idea of the size of the 'sausages' - they take up far less room in the freezer

[the valkyrie]

Thanks for this Samantha, I am always on the lookout for suppliers who do a decent variety
of 'bone in' meat. Finn will not, no matter how I try, eat mince and really hates the NI products.
He will only eat meat with a bone in it (not minced but whole) The only thing he loves from NI is the chicken
wing tips and he just about tolerates the chicken carcases. I don't know how he can tell by sniffing that
what I have put down does - or does not - have a bone. No bone and he walks away. If I hand feed him
him a small ball of mince to encourage him to try it, the look on his face is priceless and he just opens his mouth and
lets it fall out without even attempting to chew it, (darling dog !).

They deliver to my area on the 29th July so I too will try them.

[Jamuot]

Just a quick update on this - the boys are part way through their first mini order and our full order, as part of the monthly run, will be coming out early next month.

They love it, love it, love it

It was a great tip from Cathy re opening the packets when frozen, the plastic peels straight off and then we leave it in a plastic container to defrost. Again, as Cathy said, there is quite a bit of blood but the mince retains its shape and is quite firm. There are quite obvious bits of bone in it so it looks a bit chunkier.

In the motorhome we had to take a freezer box as the NI boxes would not fit in the freezer but the sausages are a much better shape so we could fit a few in the caravan freezer.

When I dished it up the first day, I started getting nervous in case the gang didn't like it and put the bowls down, left the room for a second and Jack was staring at his bowl when I came back. He did a couple of licks of the bowl then stood there and my heart sank - I said go on Jack, give it a try and went to his bowl and it was damn well empty

For any of you going to give MVM a try, if you are on FB, I would 'like' their page as you get special offers posted on your news feed that wouldn't be shown on their website eg 24lbs (almost 11kg I think) of turkey mince (no bone) is on offer for £20 from 1st August. By the way, based on my calculations, my order for the same weight of food as NI will be £100 less this month

[Maty]

Might give the local supplier a try based on that report Samantha

Think it might be a month before we need any though, I seem to have gone a bit overboard recently!

[BeeBee]

It does get good reports on FB, good to hear directly from your quality control department too

[crazydoglady]

I've used MVM for a while now and my 3 love it! They never got on with NI (flatly refusing to eat it or it used to give them really bad tummies!) so I've long been a DIYer. I've found MVM to be great value for money - and I love the variety and the fact that you're invariably choosing things as they're in 'season'. No complaints from my lot here and no adverse reactions!

I don't think their website is the best, so it is probably best to get in contact with them to ask about delivery even if your postcode isn't on the list. Kate - I'm only up the road from you near Leighton Buzzard and they deliver to me.

I have also used Chiltern canines. They too are very good, but you will pay more for the MVM products - I'm guessing they add a bit on for their margin and time. It is great for me if I run out and need things quickly as they do more regular runs than MVM to my address, but it is worth taking it into account - especially when you're buying so much as I do!

For Giant feeders I've found the bones (venison and lamb necks etc) to be brilliant as they are a great size, and for mini owners, the sausages are easy to store, come in such variety that I can mix up the packs with bone, without bone etc. Mine are all chicken lovers too and the bulk wing and necks are a god send!

I can't recommend them highly enough!