The Speckled Sow is a successful handcrafted, family-run business made up of husband and wife duo Matthew and Brittany Giesbrecht.
The butchery has recent accolades, and are hoping to continue making their mark on northern B.C.
The Vanderhoof based couple noticed the minimal options for hunters and farmers to have their animals processed, and wanted to do something to change that.
“There was a butcher in town who had retired and had all of their equipment for sale and we wanted to buy it for ourselves to set up our own personal processing shop just because we do our own beef our own moose and elk and all that stuff,” Brittany said.
It was also an opportunity for the couple to make some extra money to help pay the bills.
“We decided to start making Mennonite sausage and attend the farmer’s markets. We ended up starting to sell so much of it that we were like, holy smokes, we really should consider building a shop.”
When the business started back in 2017, everything they were doing was “kind of on the side.” This included cutting and wrapping meats.
In July of 2022, the Giesbrecht’s officially opened to the public.
The Speckled Sow delivers meat across Northern B.C. communities, all the way to Haida Gwaii. Their goal is to provide local areas with real meat that is not processed in a giant factory.
Both Matthew and Brittany were born and raised in Vanderhoof, which has allowed them to learn the ins and outs of the community.
“Our community rocks, we love our community,” Brittany said. “We didn’t wanna leave them. And we have lots of good connections in northern BC in general. There’s so much to be offered down south and we don’t have a lot up here in the north, so we wanted to stick close.”
The butchery recently won the Business Impact Award at the Small Business BC Awards.
The Vanderhoof-based butchery was chosen out of 613 nominees from 84 different communities in B.C.
READ MORE: Homegrown Vanderhoof butchery snags top business award in B.C
When the couple isn’t working at the butchery, they can be seen riding their jet boat in some of the many rivers that B.C. has to offer.
“We love to jet boat. We have lots of rivers here in B.C., and so Matt and I own a jet boat and we really like to go camping and do a lot of fishing.
So lots of river running and rapid exploring and all that fun stuff that gives me a good adrenaline rush,” Brittany said.
With Matthews passion for turning his hard earned game or farm raised animals into something amazing on the Barbecue, and Brittany’s passion for bringing the community together with local goods and festivities, it is no surprise that this small butchery out of Vanderhoof has been awarded as one of the top small businesses in B.C.
“I really want people to know how much we appreciate our community and our local support. Without them we’re nothing. I really just wanna make sure it’s clear that we really appreciate all of our locals and our provincial support.”