Packington Poultry Features on BBC2’s Hairy Biker Series

Packington Poultry, the Staffordshire-based free-range poultry farm is featured

on the BBC2’s Hairy Bikers Food Tour of Britain series.
Staffordshire, UK, August 03, 2010 -- The Hairy Bikers have undertaken a food to
ur of Britain to find the best of each county s larder and meet the local produc
ers who have a passion for keeping traditional recipes alive.
Packington Poultry http://www.packingtonpoultry.co.uk/ the Staffordshire free-ra
nge poultry farm has featured on the programme, with its chickens described by t
he Hairy Bikers as ‘some of the happiest chickens in the country’. Alec Mercer,
the farmer who has pioneered his own method of breeding the free-range chickens
says, ‘It’s inspiring that the Hairy Bikers are so passionate about promoting su
stainable and free range farming and we were delighted to welcome them to our fa
rm and share our passion with them.’
Part of the Staffordshire episode of their next series, due to be broadcast on B
BC 2 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00mgdgr, took them to the free-range chick
en farm to find out how chickens are reared with the best of welfare standards t
o produce the most deliciously succulent chicken out there.
The Bikers, renowned for their travelling kitchen, food-lover informal approach
to cooking, explore the Packington free-range chickens amongst the large grass f
ields bordered with woodland and wild hedgerows. The farm tour inspired a wealth
of questions from the Bikers, keen to know how the chickens were reared, what t
hey ate, the fields they roam in – as well as the spacious barns they are kept i
n at night.
As Alec explains; ‘This is the third generation of the Mercers family that have
been farming in Barton-under Needwood for more than 70 years and we continue to
believe strongly in low density, environmentally sound and welfare orientated fa
rming. All Packington chickens are free range, flock numbers are kept low, they
roam freely and have a healthy natural diet.’
The Packington Cockerel http://www.packingtonpoultry.co.uk/ourcockerels.htm trul
y helps keep traditional recipes alive. Cockerel was popular during Tudor and El
izabethan times and is a great alternative to turkey at Christmas time, as a lar
ge cockerel can grow up to 7 kilos, feed up to 15 people, and is moist and succu
lent; as Alec says; ‘We strive to deliver old fashioned real tastiness that has
long left fast-grown, mass produced supermarket birds - the Hairy Bikers were ab
le to try one of our amazing doorstop chicken sandwiches and the look on their f
aces was enough to see the proof was definitely in the tasting!’
Hairy Bikers will be aired 2nd August 2010 at 5:15pm.
For more information, please email info@creamcommunications.co.uk or call 084538
89584
About Packington Poultry:
Packington Poultry is based in Barton-under-Needwood, Staffordshire, where the f
amily has been farming for more than 70 years. Packington Cockerel is sold in pr
estigious farm shops and butchers around the country, including Chatsworth Farm
Shop and The Ginger Pig in Borough Market, London. This Christmas Packington Coc
kerel are working with local Michelin starred chef Paul Gilmore (Restaurant Gilm
ore at Strine’s Farm), to create a Christmas recipe based on ‘back to basics’ pr
inciples, to let the delicious, natural flavours shine through.
Press Contact:
Carrie Eames
Packington Poultry
Blakenhall Park
Barton-under-Needwood
Staffordshire. DE13 8AJ
0845 3889584
info@creamcommunications.co.uk
http://www.packingtonpoultry.co.uk