Oxford Freshmarket store opens in Hillcrest

OXFORD Freshmarket’s official opening in Hillcrest on Friday 11 October at 8.30am, promises to take fresh food shopping back in time.

The brand new 1700 square-meter retail store, which has been eight months in the making, opens this week in the new Oxford Village with a traditional-style butchery, a massive green-grocer, a bakery and grocery hall all dedicated to fulfilling the specific and individual needs of customers.

The Hillcrest Oxford freshmarket store, which is the second store for the brand, is a smaller, temporary ‘pop-up’ version of the final store which is due for completion in 2014. The first Oxford freshmarket opened in May 2012 on the Bluff.

Oxford freshmarket Hillcrest will boast the most advanced in-house processing butchery with the latest state-of-the-art facilities possible within the retail sector.

With a focus on producing the best quality meat in the most hygienic environment possible and with separate cold rooms each for lamb, beef, chicken and other meats, this butchery is like no other in the retail environment.

Six fully-qualified butchers, each with a minimum of seven years experience, headed up by fully-fledged fleischmaster Gavin Gons, will service the butchery at all times.

Going back in time to when a customer could choose the weight, size and cut of their meat of choice no matter how uncommon, the Oxford freshmarket butchery will be based on these ‘old-style’ butcheries.

The butchery deli will specialise in well-matured meats with both wet-matured and the old method of dry-matured cuts on offer. The range will include A-grade hand-selected beef, lamb, mutton, free-range and fresh chicken, ostrich and venison at times. Future plans for this exclusive butchery include the in-house production of Oxford freshmarket’s own home-made bacons, salamis, hams etc.

A sliced and diced and pre-prepared range will also be introduced to the Hillcrest store providing fresh and convenient vegetables and an organic range is also on the cards for the store in the near future.

The bakery will provide a selected range of specialty breads as well as an extensive range of rolls and buns. The opening weekend of the Hillcrest store promises not only to be a treat for the lowest priced shopping experience around but a great one for the taste buds too.

The 1000 Hills Chef School will be positioned in the Rose Garden for the weekend cooking up tasty treats and showcasing the finest produce available in the fresh market. Kids can expel some of their boundless energy on a jumping castle and have their faces painted too.

Owner of Oxford freshmarket, Brett Latimer, said the new store is a compact and comprehensive store that will take care of most peoples’ needs.

The launch of the Hillcrest store follows closely on the heels of the first Oxford Liquors which opened on the lower level in August.

More Oxford freshmarket stores are to be opened in Pinetown, Chatsworth and Amanzimtoti within the next two years, with plans on the cards to open stores in Richards Bay, the Western Cape, Port Elizabeth and Gauteng.