Meaty expansion as Yorkshire Balls head South
A family-run specialist meatball brand is expanding further into the UK’s food-retail sector with another supermarket giant now stocking the products.
The Yorkshire Meatball Co.’s “bigger than average balls” hit the shelves of Morrisons last week, bringing father and son, David and Gareth Atkinson closer to their goal of becoming the leading producer of premium meatballs for home-cooking in the UK.
Co-owner, David, who started the company in 2012 after being inspired by New York’s The Meatball Shop, said: “It was full of people eating meatballs and drinking beer, and I thought that looked like an excellent idea – why didn’t we have something like that in the UK?”
The Yorkshire Meatball Co. first launched as a popular restaurant in Harrogate in 2014, but was shut down after it losing its kitchen staff to the series of chain restaurants which surged into the city last year.
David added: “About 50 chefs were required and they didn’t exist so the chain restaurants flexed their corporate muscle and offered higher wages. At the end of August, there were a lot of disappointed customers when we had to close.”
“So this year, we’ve got to overcome the disappointment of losing the restaurant and carry on with the success we had with the brand in the restaurant and see that success translate into retail meatball sales.”
The company’s classic beef and pork Yorkshire Balls and spicy Hot Balls will be stocked in over 140 Morrisons stores across the North, South East and in a selection of stores in London.
These selected Morrisons supermarkets will be the first offer the brand’s range of Balls in the South and South-East of the country and follow on from last year’s success at Tesco and ASDA.
With three retail giants conquered, the brand is looking to target Waitrose and Co-op next in the hope of eventually having its meatballs stocked in 70% of supermarkets.
He said: “We’re trying to create a meatball product that will find its way into many supermarkets and many homes in the UK. But we haven’t forgotten about the restaurant, we’re just waiting for the right time and place.”
