It might be past 3pm on a sunny February afternoon in Edinburgh; but the lunchtime rush is showing no signs of slowing at Oink on Victoria St.

Indeed, the queue is almost out the door as customers squeeze in to order their signature Scottish hog roast rolls- from the “piglet”, “oink” or “grunter” with sage and onion stuffing or haggis and selection of homemade sauces, right up to the “hog in a box”– using the pulled pork and crackling on display in the window.

But Farmers Journal Scotland is here to meet Adam Marshall and Sandy Pate, the two farmers from the Scottish Borders behind the brand, who admit that their success has not come easy.

“We’ve had a lot of good ideas… this is the first one that has worked out!” quips Adam.

First, a little background. The Marshall family have farmed in Berwickshire since the early 1900s, but started the original pig enterprise in Slighhouses in 1956.

“The pig enterprise got to 60, 70 sows in the early ‘70s, which I suppose was a very small unit even then,” says Adam, who joined his father after completing his Higher National Diploma in agriculture, slowly building up to around 120 sows.

Today, however, he farms with his sons, Adam Jr and Charlie, and five years ago, he invested in a new piggery and genetics by phasing out the old unit in favour of the DanBred pig.

“They’re very prolific breeders and finishers,” says Adam, “so we’re producing 150 pigs a week with only 200 sows.”

Sandy, meanwhile, is the fourth generation of the Pate family to farm at Redpath in the Lammermuir Hills, with 1,300 breeding Greyface and Blackface ewes, as well as 100 cows, with a mix of Simmental and Simmental Angus crosses.

While their farms are only about 19 miles apart as the crow flies, Adam and Sandy became friends – and future business partners – through playing rugby with Kelso.

“It started as usual in a pub over a beer or two,” smiles Sandy. “Pigs were pretty poor at the time, sheep weren’t doing great, so we said we’d try something different.”

This little piggy went to the market

However, it took a few years to find the right formula.

Their first venture was a meat cutting plant on Adam’s land, as well as a farm shop, but while the concept proved popular initially, the foot and mouth outbreak put paid to that.

“Our new customers were someone else’s old ones and we hadn’t had them long enough to honour our new concept,” explains Sandy.

Their next idea was to buy an existing butcher business called Fairbairn’s to sell their own meat direct to the consumer, with the pair going on to run three shops in total. Once again, however, external forces put the business under pressure; this time, the squeeze coming from a number of new supermarkets in the area.

With Oink, however, there were no grand plans initially.

Indeed, Adam explains how the concept started as a “wee bet”, before they decided to invest in a trailer with support from their local enterprise board and trial selling hog roast rolls at Edinburgh Farmer’s Market in 2002.

While the days were long – often starting at 1am to get the oven set up – it was the perfect opportunity to get face to face with the customer and test the product.

“We’re both pretty sociable kind of guys, so that bit was relatively easy,” says Adam of his and Sandy’s transition from farmers to foodies. “We liked talking about the product. We knew it better than anybody else.”

Before long, Oink had built something of a cult following, and by 2008 Adam and Sandy felt ready to take the next step with a retail unit on Edinburgh’s Victoria St (which, fact fans, is one of the streets that inspired JK Rowling when writing Harry Potter.)

Not that it was without its risks, however.

“There were no food outlets on this street,” says Adam, who admits they were looked upon “nervously by the neighbours” who were not entirely convinced by their concept.

“They were very wary of us initially, not now… they love us now!” he says.

Pig in the city

Of course, the opening also coincided with the economic crash, though as Sandy explains, the climate actually worked in Oink’s favour.

“This was quality food at a reasonable price,” he says, adding that the business has enjoyed steady growth since, with a second Oink opened on Canongate Street along the Royal Mile near Holyrood Palace and parliament buildings in 2013, and a third branch on Hanover Street in Edinburgh’s new town in 2017.

And while most of Adam’s pigs are still sold to the bacon market through Scotlean Pigs in Carlisle, Oink goes through on average about 35-40 a week, with Adam explaining how the DanBred pig is perfect for this product.

“They have a marbling through the muscle, which is fantastic: basically perfect for Oink,” he says; though jokes that they can be diva-esque, as pigs go.

“They’re very needy individuals,” he laughs.

Of course, one of the most unique things about Oink is that the full pig is displayed in the shop window, and pulled as the day goes on.

While Adam and Sandy admit this has caused issues in recent times with the vegan community, it is a huge attraction for customers.

Moreover, they believe it’s important in connecting people to where food comes from.

“I think we made a huge error way back in the ‘40s, ‘50s and ‘60s in this country by disconnecting ourselves from the public as farmers and the farming industry,” says Adam.

“When you go to France on holidays or Spain, you see hares and pheasants and rabbits, tongue and everything sitting in the windows for everybody to see. I mean, that’s life. This is what it’s about.”

Bringing home the bacon

Apart from their own efforts, both men credit family support for Oink’s success (as well as Adam’s sons on the farm, Sandy’s daughter Alex runs the office, while their other children help when needed), as well as their dedicated staff.

They also believe that engaging local company, Bright Light Marketing, has been key.

“It still staggers us,” says Sandy. “It was really about the social media aspect and getting people engaged with Oink.”

Looking towards the future, Adam and Sandy believe that franchising is the way forward, and while it’s early days, they have even received interest from as far as Ireland and overseas.

“I think Edinburgh is our limit, so if we want to take it elsewhere, I think franchising is the way to go,” says Sandy.

As for advice for other farmers who are thinking of diversifying, they say do your research, know the risks and be ready to work for it.

“Imagine how hard it’s going to be and multiply it by five,” says Adam.

But it seems that this little piggy will be part of Edinburgh city for a long time to come.“It still sort of surprises us that people haven’t had enough of it yet.”

Visit www.oinkhogroast.co.uk