Steve and Heather Tucker have a passion for home-grown food, and they want to share it with others. It's perhaps this fact, and their underlying love of the family farm, that has made White Row Country Foods the success it is today.
Since Steve's parents bought the farm in 1964, it has been producing arable crops and pigs. The ownership and structure has changed over time, and at its peak sow numbers topped 500. However, a prolonged spell of low pork prices in the 1990s nearly spelled the end for the farm. "It was so demoralising," Steve said. "We had five years where pigs were not making any money. We wanted to stay on the farm, so we had to do something.
"We're next to the busy A36, so thought we had to make the most of it and decided to go down the farm shop route," he added.
The pig herd had fallen to 200 sows by this time and two of the empty farrowing houses were converted to get the shop going. "Planning at the time was relatively straightforward; we applied for permission in January 2000 and opened in July," he said.
"It was very basic when we started," said Heather. "We made a lot of the products ourselves and family helped in the shop. But we've always wanted to produce as much of what we can ourselves."
That ethos hasn't changed, unlike the scale of the shop. Since opening, it has expanded considerably and now incorporates a butchery, fish counter, delicatessen, café and garden shop, employing 45 local staff. It attracts about 3000 people a week, with an average spend of £16-£17 a basket. Total business turnover last year was more than £1.8m and is predicted to increase to £2.18m this year after extending the shop.
Sow numbers have been reduced to 40-45 head, which is just enough to meet the shop's requirements and provide a focal point for visitors. A range of salad crops, potatoes, carrots and brassicas are grown on the farm, alongside feed wheat and oilseed rape. "Whatever the supermarkets do, they'll never be able to offer the freshness and provenance we can," Steve said.
"We source what we can from our farm first, then look to local producers, then go further afield."
That passion for fresh, local food is something Steve and Heather are keen to pass on to younger generations. White Row supplies vegetables to 6-10 local schools and the pair want to do more to educate children about food. Indeed, Steve has been featured on the BBC's CBeebies and his cousin was behind the children's cartoon character, Tractor Ted. "I'd like to open the farm up more to the public, plus we'd also like to set up a commercial kitchen and cookery school where people can learn how to use local produce," he said.
The farm's website will play an important part in this education process and Heather is eager to see it developed as an information resource. "We've just started the website, but want to get a lot more information on there about what's in season and what's going on at the farm," she said. "We don't sell anything through it as we're not geared up to do that."
Steve added: "Our vision for the future is to keep producing good-quality, seasonal, home-grown food, with the emphasis on educating customers and their children about the importance of food and where it comes from."
Farm facts:
- 90ha (220 acres) arable crops, vegetables and grass
- Most soil Grade 2-3, some Grade 1
- 40+ Large White pigs crossed with Duroc and Landrace breeds
- Farm shop opened in 2000
What the judges liked:
Lee Woodger, head of food chain unit, NFU:
- "I admire the fact the Tuckers have built up their shop slowly from a struggling family pig farm."
Doug Wanstall, FW Local Food Farmer of the Year 2008:
- "They had had some luck with the road but everything else was created by them. It was obvious that Steve had huge respect from his staff and a great working relationship with them."
Three achievements:
- Strong business attracting large number of customers
- Aim to produce as much as possible of what they sell
- Passion for local food and keen to share with others