A mother and daughter at the cutting edge of Scotland’s red meat industry share an insight into how they work together to run specialist butchery and grocery store, Aberdeenshire Larder.
Keeping it in the family is what Charmaine and Anne-Marie Bain do best. As the mother-daughter team behind Aberdeenshire Larder, the pair take great pride in providing restaurants and customers from Aberdeenshire and beyond with their top-quality red meat.
Charmaine Bain, 71, and daughter Anne-Marie, 42, spearhead the business, that’s been run by the family for more than 50 years. During this time they have developed close relationships with local Scotch-assured farms to sell high quality Scotch Beef and Scotch Lamb, while also becoming one of only a handful of Scottish Wild Venison processors in the nation.
Working together
Working so closely together in such a highly-pressured environment often has its obstacles, but neither Charmaine or Anne-Marie mind, as they take on different aspects of the business. Charmaine is more involved in the day-to-day running of the factory and shop, while Anne-Marie oversees the back office side of the business, including marketing and product development.
On working so closely together, Anne-Marie notes this Mother’s Day that she counts herself “incredibly lucky” to be able to work with her mum.
She says: “My mum is a very calm person and her day-to-day presence in the business is re-assuring for us all. As a result, there’s not much I don’t enjoy about my job and I count myself incredibly lucky that this is the case.
“Working in a small family business can be incredibly challenging as it’s not like a regular ‘9 to 5’ job where you have a job description. It’s fair to say that my work life is varied, and I think that’s what I enjoy most about it.”
“Like lots of working mums, my days are pretty full and I find myself sending emails at odd hours and working weekends! I know my team who are mums are doing the same, in fact I’m in awe of the mums who are juggling work and home schooling.”
‘Proud mum day’
On working with her daughter, Charmaine noted that “every day is a proud mum day”.
With coronavirus restrictions still in place, Charmaine and Anne-Marie are spending Mother’s Day apart this year but say they look forward to a home cooked meal together when it is safe to do, with some Scotch lamb taking top spot on the menu.
Anne-Marie says: “Our favourite dish, which we will probably have when we can next be together, would be a French Trim Rack of Scotch Lamb – it was one of my dad’s favourites and we still love it as a family.”