FAQ

The best way to defrost chicken is to move it from freezer to fridge one day before you plan to cook it, so it can thaw slowly. Place a plate or tray underneath, to catch any melting ice. However, because our chicken is vacuum-packed, a very handy alternative method is to simply take the item out of the freezer and place it in a bowl filled with cold tap water for 15-20 minutes. P.S. We strongly recommend against defrosting your chicken in the microwave because this could adversely affect its quality, making it very tough!

Yes! Because all our chicken is vacuum packed, the contents of our large 6kg box will fit in a single drawer (59cm x 39cm x 11cm) of a standard household freezer. A medium-sized Meat Box (4kg) takes up ¾ of a drawer! Because our chicken is vacuum sealed, its quality won’t deteriorate when you freeze it for long periods of time — keeping every bit of its taste, texture and tenderness!

You’ll find two expiry dates on each individual packet inside your Meat Box: one for if it is refrigerated and the other for if it is frozen. From the date of delivery, we recommend you consume the chicken within one to three days if you choose to refrigerate it. However, if kept in the freezer, which is how most of our customers store their chicken, it will remain fresh for up to three months. After defrosting the chicken, you can store the sealed packet in the fridge for one to two days.

Otter Valley Poultry chickens are slaughtered and processed at their own certified organic plant (Code: 8019 EC )

Your chicken will be slaughtered by way of a water bath stunner till they are completely unconscious, which is monitored by an official veterinarian throughout the process.

The chickens are all male and between 70-77 days old when they are slaughtered.

All our chicken get delivered to us from Otter Valley Poultry, which is certified organic by the UK Soil Association. The Soil Association has the most stringent organic standards in the world for rearing poultry for the table. The chickens are also free-range and fed a strictly vegetarian pellet. However, Grutto itself does not have organic certification because some of the other meat we sell, while chemical and antibiotic free, comes from farmers who are not certified organic. The only reason not all our farmers are certified is that some prefer to use their own grass instead of certified feed, when in reality, things don’t get more natural than fresh, chemical-free grass!

Ross Thomsons organic chickens is one of the four farms delivering to Otter Valley Poultry they are reared on an organic farm in Devon, where they can roam and forage for red clover and insects with certified organic feed as a supplement, and fine views over the Devon country and ocean! They have plenty of space to forage and scratch. Ross prefers a slow growing strain of Hubbard chicken, because they are more suited to organic free-range rearing practices, giving them a distinctive texture with a slightly gamier flavour to the leg and a significantly sturdier bone structure. Otter Valley’s organic certification comes from the Soil Association, which has the most stringent organic standards in the world for rearing poultry for the table. Their own slaughter and processing plants are also certified organic by the Soil Association. Would you like to visit? Email us at questions@grutto.uk and we'll contact you with possible dates and times!

We ensure that all parts of each chicken we sell are used. From the remainder of the chickens a third party collects the giblets and bones to produce broth, nothing goes to waste.

Once your Meat Box has been dispatched, your parcel should arrive the following working day on a next day service. Delivery is not completely guaranteed in case of unforeseen circumstances which may result in a delivery taking place outside of the estimated hours or the following working day. APC will send you an email and text notification on the morning of your delivery – this will include your consignment number and a two-hour time slot for delivery. You can manage your delivery using your consignment number and postcode on our courier APC’s website. You will find up-to-date information about the progress of your delivery including: Estimated two-hour time slot for your delivery. The driver stop number for your delivery, along with live tracking of the driver using the ‘Pinpoint your delivery’ service. Please note: If your delivery address is in the Scottish Highlands & Islands, delivery may take two working days from the point of dispatch.

To order one of Grutto’s delicious free-range chicken Meat Boxes, simply click on the desired Meat Box on our website. As you will see, different Meat Boxes contain different items, including chicken breasts, thighs, drumsticks, diced chicken, or simply whole chickens. The chicken you order will be part of a batch of chickens. These will only be sent for slaughter once the entire batch has been crowd-purchased. It will leave for the abattoir on a Friday and it will take 6 days to process and package your box before it is ready for delivery. Thus, the average time between order and delivery comes to about two to three weeks. Throughout the process we'll send you updates by email. You’ll receive a message when the whole batch of chickens has been sold.

Next, you’ll be informed when your chicken has been sent for slaughter, at which time we’ll also be able to give you a precise delivery date and you’ll have a chance to change your delivery details if needed.

Finally, the morning your Meat Box is sent out, our trusted courier APC will send you a track and trace code, a link to their online tracker and an estimated two-hour delivery window. We deliver on Thursdays from 8am – 6pm. Please note: Changes to your delivery day / address can only be made up to the Friday of the week before the week of your delivery! After that, if you find you are unable to be home at the time of the delivery, we ask that you arrange for the Meat Box to be stowed in a safe place of your choosing or to have it delivered to a neighbour.

Poultry delivered through the Grutto platform is processed by Ross Gardner at Otter Valley Poultry. Animal welfare and exceptional quality are the mainstays of the business. You will find Otter Valley Poultry nestled on the banks of the river Otter in the Blackdown Hills AONB of East Devon, where their family business has produced the finest quality free range and organic poultry for over 40 years. Ross heads up a network of like minded farmers and growers like Ross Thomson all whom are organic farms across Devon, they work together to produce the finest organic chicken, turkey, geese, duck and Guinea Fowl in the entire country. We are justly proud of the excellent quality, texture and taste of our produce and we are 100% sure you will enjoy it too.