Saffron Alley Arvostelua 

I write this review having just watched a FB post about their new higher welfare chicken product. Unlike their customers, I have visited saffron Alley fridges and seen firsthand what products are being bought in and sold on to their customers so feel obliged to highlight concerns.

Through the use ‘humanewashing’ words and phrases that sound more appealing and ethical but lack concrete definition or enforceable standards customers are led to believe that the meat products they sell are somehow more ‘ethically reared’ then what is generally available, and so are sold at inflated prices.

For transparency please see pictures of the cases of meat products from their fridges below and feel free to look up the EEC numbers for their sources. Some of their portioned chicken they buy in from Europe for instance are literally some of the cheapest, most mass-produced chicken products being sold in the marketplace. [Saffron Alley have disabled pictures being added to Trust Pilot reviews so images of their fridges mentioned may not appear here on this review platform. A bit crafty?]

What is particularly alarming is they choose to begin their latest post by saying the ‘halal industry is cooked.’ Unscrupulous traders such as Saffron Alley, now in the online halal space, are the problem. A cursory look at the labels from the fridges show that vast majority of their chicken product for instance is from Europe and is machine slaughtered. It’s not regulated by HMC or HFA or even stunned and then hand slaughtered, these are machine slaughtered. If you can’t get that right, why are you here? Saffron Alley is not solving any problem. Their likes are making the problem faced by the Muslim community worse, by delegitimising certified halal slaughter, and now trying to capitalise on higher welfare products. The consequence of which is genuine certified halal producers that the Muslim community need are being forced out. Without labouring the point, this is not a small matter, as once forced out, the prejudiced bureaucracy against halal slaughter will not allow them back. Decades of work is being undone and is playing into the hands of the anti halal campaigners all to make a profit.

I also feel the constant coercion through offering monetary discounts to customers to write positive reviews on their behalf to skew perception and to gain a firmer foot hold a little disingenuous and ‘inorganic.’ Frustrated customers have also made mention of this in their google reviews.

I distrust Saffron Alley as I have observed them to be misleading such that I even doubt any new products shown would even be what customers end up receiving based entirely on their track record. I encourage all to verify independently the views expressed here.

Note:
Please also refer to the “Facebook Adlibrary” and search for Saffron Alley for references to claims:

• They claim to check every supplier’s animal welfare standard and also abattoir halal compliance, keeping in mind they buy in produce from 3rd party retailers who in turn buy in from various producers and slaughterhouses across Europe.

• That we are to safely ‘assume’ all the products are ethically reared and of a higher welfare standard than what is readily available elsewhere.

Faced a problem with my order, so I contacted the customer service and it got resolved quickly and easy by Christopher David.

I am very pleased with the customer service provided. Placed an order but I put in a wrong delivery date so emailed them to bring it forward to earliest date. Christopher David managed to get it arranged for next day delivery fuss free, so very pleased. I have received all food items in perfect condition and all still very cold due to good care and packaging. Saffron Alley never fails to deliver and I strongly recommend them.

Placed an order with Saffron Alley on Sunday 15 March, late night. Didn’t realise I scheduled the delivery for the wrong date (mum brain). Christopher David helped reschedule the delivery for me. Much appreciated.

Have ordered a few times, different meats and always 100% satisfied with the quality. Would highly recommend. Recently I got the wrong date on my order but Christopher David was kind enough to efficiently change without fuss!

I already loved this company (the meat is exceptional), but when you get it combined with fabulous, helpful customer service… it’s even better :) Thank you Christopher David for rectifying my addressing error with absolutely no trouble whatsoever…. It’s so appreciated:)

I had a bad experience with a piece of Smoked brisket that I bought from Saffron alley. This was my 3rd purchase of this smoked meat. Normally this would come in at about 2.5 - 2.8 kg costing about £130. Well worth it as it is smoked for 16 hour.
The last piece I bought for the same price weighed 1.4kg and cannot cover more than 4 people, where their ad says 12.

I sent Jawwad , their customer service agent an email and complained about this, and he was very responsive and helpful. He replaced me with another brisket for free no questions asked. I have been buying all my meat and poultry from them for many years, and their service and quality of products are phenomenal
Thank you Jawwad for your exceptional service

I bought 1 kg diced meat. 379 grams of it was fat that I threw away. So we threw away almost half of our money.”

Cleanliness is something I’m very careful about, and I have serious concerns about this. The packages were covered in oil, and my hands became very sticky.

Love Saffron Alley, from the online shop, delivery, service, to the meat quality, everything is always spot on.
I have had most cuts of most meats from here and never a bad one alhamdulillah. Everything always so fresh.
I got a duck which i cooked for a family iftar gathering ( along with a shoulder of lamb) and even though ive never cooked duck before and was quite anxious, it was a massive hit. Family couldnt get enough of it, it turned out so tender, juicy and delicious. Next time, i will do 2 ducks, instead of one for my family of 8, as theres not loads of meat except the 2 breasts and 2 legs. Its much tastier than chicken or turkey and i got 2 jars of duck fat from it for roasting potatoes etc. Highly recommend.

Keep getting silly emails asking tp review the order and het a discount code. Ehen you try to use the discount code it says already used! They said its a once in a liftime discount snd but the emails are continious and they cant or will not stop the emails?

The meat is fresh delivered straight to your home and great customer service both online and when we visited the store.

Saffron Alley is my go to for halal meat. The antibiotic and hormone free meat is genuinely the highest quality, you can really taste the difference. I sent a steak box as a gift to a friend and her and her family were thrilled. I also recommended the meat to a colleague who is now a regular customer of Saffron Alley. Huge variety and growing trust with every order and I can’t see myself going back to ordinary butchers May they go from strength to strength Highly recommended!

Great tasting food with reliable delivery and the contents were perfect

It's a second time I order from these people. Both time I was amazed by the quality of meat. Quality and Quantity both were perfect.

Very high quality products and smooth delivery!

Good service and products

I have been ordering from Saffron Alley weekly for the past 11 weeks. They offer a good variety of meats and poultry, and the quality has generally been very good. The meat and poultry are usually fresh, cleanly cut, and you can even request how you would like your items prepared, which I really appreciate.
Ordering from Saffron Alley has helped me provide fresh and tasty meals for my family. However, my last two orders have not been quite as good as my previous experiences. In one order, in one pack of 1kg it was not cut as cleanly as usual and I had to trim bits off myself, as I prefer not to cook poultry that contains visible veins.

In my most recent order, I unfortunately had to throw away a full 1kg of chicken due to a strong unpleasant smell when opening it, this still had 4 days of use( opened on 5th March and use by date was 9th March I understand that some products can have a slight smell when first opened, but in this case the smell remained quite rancid even after it had been left open for a while.

I do appreciate that demand may currently be higher due to Ramadan, so I will continue to order and monitor the quality before deciding whether to discontinue purchasing from Saffron Alley.

Overall, they have usually provided good quality meat and poultry, and out of the many products I’ve ordered over the past 11 weeks, I’ve only had two items that I wasn’t happy with and I would still recommend to family and friends.

Meat was delivered on time, no issues, got exactly what I asked for!

Easy to order, lots of choice, good quality meats

Saffron Alley always delivers great quality ethical products, having used them for a number of years we as a family enjoy the produce and also the variety of options. Highly recommended.