The Brits have cottoned on to our culinary delights! Packets of biltong are now found in many corner cafes and petrol station cafes all over the UK. Even the Royal Marines packed biltong packets for a gruelling expedition to the South and the North Poles last year. Some of the UK's biggest biltong makers aren't even South African and haven't set foot in this lovely land!
Colin Parker, as British as fish and chips, and with no South African family history, is amongst the top biltong producers in the UK, along with his partner, Andy Parry, who is also sans any South African genes. Their business, Coan Biltong, produces 5 tons of biltong each month. Colin was introduced to biltong 10 years ago by a South African girl, Paula, that he met on holiday. His business used to sell chips and nuts, before he introduced biltong. Three years later, he opened a biltong factory.
Probably the oldest biltong maker in the UK (business-wise), is Larry Susman, who's been making biltong for more than 30 years in Newhaven, south of London. Nowadays, he's the sole provider of biltong to Harrods and Selfridges. Amongst his other regular clients are a few English rugby players and Premier League soccer players. Larry moved to the UK from South Africa in the 1970s.
