Mooneys Butchers set to top 5K healthy meals this January

Mooneys Butchers in Belfast is preparing to cook more than 5,000 healthy meals this January.

The Belfast butcher was flat out ahead of the festive season putting together Christmas meat packages, but finds he is just as busy in the New Year as his customers’ healthy eating resolutions kick in.

Mooneys has long been famed for its sausages , with customers coming to the Shankill Road and Woodstock Road shops from all over the city for them, but owner Stephen Mooney estimates that healthy meals now make up around 50% of his trade.

“Over the years we used to have a big sausage trade. We would have run competitions and also made our own pies,” Stephen says.

“Then people were getting more into healthy eating, so about five years ago I started preparing healthy calorie-controlled meals.

“So then I converted the first and second floors into two full working kitchens, with cooking and preparation areas – we extended up rather than out because we can’t go anywhere else. Healthy ready meals would be 50% of our business now.”

The healthy ready meals range from chicken curry with steamed rice and steamed chicken in curry sauce, to potato based meals, noodle meals, potato wedges, pasta dishes and roast chicken and beef – all home cooked.

“In January we will usually top about 5,000 meals a week – we go through the roof when January kicks in,” Stephen says.