New £1m farm shop business opens in south Warwickshire village
A NEWLY opened farm shop and restaurant is offering fresh produce in its store and on customers’ plates.
Field to Fork, which opened in Wootton Wawen on the 30th November, includes a butchery, bakery, grocery and restaurant.
A huge selection of fresh fruit and vegetables from avocados to apples, berries to bananas and potatoes to sprouts is on offer.
And as well as fresh produce, the market shop stocks a wide variety of deli goods such as pasta sauces, chutneys, jams, mayonnaise, tea and coffee.
The butchery department features produce from master butchers Eric Lyons, including pies, hand-made fresh daily. The large cheese counter features a selection of local and UK cheeses plus crackers and dips, while the dairy includes a selection of milks, creams and yoghurts.
A frozen food section stocks seafood, fish, ready meals, puddings and ice creams. And there are also wines, beers, lagers, ciders and spirits as well as gifts and fresh flowers on sale.
The 40-seater restaurant, The Orchard, serves coffee, cake, sandwiches, pastries, breakfast and lunch and has a large outdoor seating area.
Field to Fork is the brainchild of Mark Tate and his brother Paul, who have decades of experience in the business as they run wholesale fruit and vegetables business George Perry in Birmingham plus several fruit and veg shops.
Mark said: “We’ve built relationships with suppliers and farmers over many years and those relationships are very important to us.”
The project came about after they happened to come across the site where the farm shop now is a few years ago.
Mark explained: “I drove past the site and saw a hoarding saying ‘to let’ and was intrigued.
“Unknown to me, my brother had also driven past and had exactly the same idea.
“We basically knocked it down and started again, from scratch and built a new farm shop and restaurant complex at a cost of £1m.”
Field to Fork has a 25-space car park and is on the X20 bus route.
Mark and Paul worked with Jim Clark at the Coventry and Warwickshire Growth Hub, who supported the pair through the years it took to turn their concept into reality.
Despite a difficult business climate, Mark and Paul are confident their offering will be well received.
Mark pointed out: “People are looking for alternatives and we’ve noticed that people want to buy local and shop local more.
“Our produce is fresher than many other competitors, because our food chain is a lot shorter and we can offer better savings and value.
“We see our customers as being with us 24/7, every day of the year, so our way is not to dazzle them with big promotions.”
He said the enormous publicity surrounding Diddly Squat farm shop near Chipping Norton run by TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson, has also helped raise awareness of farm shops and restaurants.
Mark added: “We have so many ideas including inviting mother and toddler groups, and we are fully dog-friendly so already popular with dog walkers.We’ve also had great feedback from cycling clubs, ramblers and local residents as they’re excited to have a new destination, especially the cafe and garden centre.”