Broad Oak Farm Sausage Company was founded in 1927 by Dr White, a local GP and farmer. This Essex business began by making sausages using Dr White’s pigs and a traditional recipe sourced by the Matron of the local Cottage Hospital from her father, an Irish butcher.
By 1936 the discernible flavour and quality of Dr Whites’ sausages was widely recognised and as a result they were served on board the famous transatlantic liner, the Queen Mary on her maiden voyage, and on many subsequent trips.
In 1939 Jack Carter, an employee of Dr White’s, purchased both the farm and the sausage business.
Meanwhile a young Reg Simons was learning the butchery trade as an apprentice, under the local butcher Mr Hockley.
In 1953 Reg purchased the butcher’s shop on Mr Hockley’s retirement.
Then, in 1966, while England was winning the World Cup, Jack sold his farm and offered the sausage business to Reg, who, despite tough times decided to purchase it amid fears of competition from a rival butcher.
This was to be the start of a legacy of ownership and development by the Simons family, now in its third generation. Reg was joined by his son Roger in those early days and then by grandson Christopher in 2001.
In 2010 the Simons’ family acquired two Suffolk businesses, DP Meats and Country Cottage, who at that time, had been producing quality sausages, bacon and ham in the historic market town of Bury St Edmunds for over 30 years. The combined businesses were renamed ‘The Taste of Suffolk’.
Today, Broad Oak maintains its roots by operating from purpose-built premises in the idyllic village of Hatfield Broad Oak, supported by a loyal and dedicated workforce.
