You can now buy local Manx meat at two of the island’s Spar shops.

The stores, at Castlemona, Central Promenade, and Cushag Road, Anagh Coar are the latest retailers to support Isle of Man Meats’ ’Make Sure It’s Manx’ shop local campaign. They now stock Isle of Man Meats’ minced and diced beef products and pork loin steaks.

To celebrate the launch on Friday, shoppers at the Castle Mona store were able to sample beef stew and burgers cooked up by chef Maciej Mierzejewski.

Phil Parsons, plant director at Isle of Man Meats, said: ’We have invested in processing and packaging machines at the meat plant in order to offer minced and diced products as part of our commitment to respond to consumer demand, and grow the market for high-quality Manx meat.

’Shoppers want the convenience of buying from stores which are on their doorstep and at the heart of the local community, with the confidence that comes from knowing they’re buying locally produced, traceable, high quality meat.

’This is the first time that any of our products have been available in Spar, so this is great news for their customers who want to "Make Sure It’s Manx".

’We’re already working on plans to extend availability to other Spar stores around the island - so if you can’t get Isle of Man Meats products from your nearest shop right now, please look out for news in the months ahead.’

Jonathon Kermode, operations manager at Mannin Retail, said: ’Spar is delighted to partner with Isle of Man Meats to offer a quality local meat range to our customers. We will extend the offer over the coming months across our stores in the heart of communities across the island.’

Chef Maciej Mierzejewski cooked beef stew and burgers to celebrate the launch