A butcher shop has skyrocketed to fame after going viral on TikTok – and is now set for its “biggest Christmas ever”.
The Fat Butcher was founded by Darren Fenton and has been around for 13 years, but after they started filming clips for TikTok, business has boomed.
There, the page boasts 55,000 followers and features larger-than-life team members Steffen and Mason as they share deals on their meat boxes for customers to snap up.
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With videos showcasing premium cuts, Christmas meat hampers, and behind-the-scenes prep, the Newcastle-based The Fat Butcher went viral.
In fact, the business has seen a 600% spike in orders in just one week after launching on the platform.
Head of Marketing, Mason, 24, regularly appears in most of The Fat Butcher’s TikTok videos and LIVEs – alongside ‘The Fat Butcher’ character, played by Steffen, who features in nearly all content.
It was his idea to make a TikTok page.
He said: “At first, Darren and the other butchers thought TikTok was just about people lip-syncing and dancing, not realising the sales opportunity TikTok Shop brings.
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“They weren’t convinced – until they saw the numbers: a 600% spike in orders in a single week, over 400,000 viewers, seven million likes, and more than £40,000 in revenue in just 28 days this November on TikTok Shop.
“We’ve also built a community of customers who not only support us but are genuinely engaged with our business.
“We even have customers coming into the shop asking if Steffen’s or if I am there, as they’ve seen us in the TikTok videos!”
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And now, it looks like Christmas 2025 could be the biggest on record for the business, thanks to the online success.
Mason told What’s The Jam: “We’re definitely buying more meat in at the moment because we have demand for more Christmas hampers, and more customers are coming down to visit the shop.
“We’ve been on TikTok Shop for almost three months now, and we’ve almost hit 3,000 sales on the platform – and within those sales include our big discount hampers.
“So, it’s not just single meat products we’re selling: that figure includes our hampers, and so the volume of meat required for those hampers means we’re increasing the amount of meat we turn over per week.
“We are seeing extra orders on our app and our website, plus more people coming into the shop to collect theirs than before, as well as with the extra outlet of the TikTok Shop.
“We’re very close to hitting 400 orders, so I can say that we’re definitely going to have sold over 400 of our Christmas hampers on TikTok Shop this year, as well as many in the app and in-store.
”It is set to be the biggest Christmas we’ve had yet!”
It’s a far cry from how things looked when it operated purely as a bricks-and-mortar business.
Mason said: “When I joined, the business relied on paid Facebook ads and traditional email marketing.
“TikTok Shop was my idea – I’m a 24-year-old certified doomscroller, while Darren was adopting more traditional marketing, like emails and Facebook.
“I knew that live shopping has always been effective on platforms like TV, and I realised the same concept could work on social media. Seeing TikTok’s rapid growth, I thought, ‘This has to work,’ and we decided to give it a go.”
Darren, 45, from Newcastle in Northern Ireland, added: “When Mason first suggested TikTok Shop, I’ll be honest – I didn’t fully get it.
“It’s a different world from what I’m used to!
“Very different to the usual marketing we were used to, like emails and word of mouth.
“But Mason understood the platform in a way I didn’t, and he made a strong case for live shopping and how the whole industry is shifting online.
“Once he showed me the potential, I thought, ‘there’s no harm in giving it a go’, and I’m so glad we did.
“It’s completely transformed how we connect with our customers.
“It feels like the modern version of regulars coming into the shop, and that’s something I never expected from social media.”
TikTok Shop LIVE sessions have become a key part of the businesses’ success – with Mason and the team jumping on stream to answer questions and include festive bundles and weekly offers.
Followers get a real look into the craft behind each order.
This transparency has built a highly engaged community – with customers tuning in not just for deals, but for the friendly, down-to-earth personality of the team.
The Fat Butcher is taking part in TikTok Shop’s wider ‘Shop Local’ initiative, a scheme offering £750,000 in support packages to help a selection of small and medium-sized local British businesses set up and start selling on the platform to reach new customers.
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