The Dann family of North Tuddenham in central Norfolk, Geoffrey senior, his son Simon and his wife and family of three, weren't desperate (get it?). But they did realise they must either expand their acreage or generate more income if they were to keep all the elements of their family farm together.
Lack of availability and rising values made the land option pretty unlikely. So they looked around for retail opportunities. A few years ago they heard of a Dutch franchise company that was wanting to extend its activities into Britain. They went to Holland, liked what they saw, did a deal, and the rest is history.
Three years later, last Thursday to be precise, after jumping through seemingly endless planning hoops and eventually building an icecream manufacturing plant along side the milking parlour and inside a traditional Norfolk barn, they were ready for the official launch of their new business. NFU President, Peter Kendall, did the honours and about a hundred friends, neighbours (including me) and potential customers gathered in the barn for the occasion.
It was a great evening in front of a big crowd. There had been just enough rain to stop combines working and virtually everyone invited turned up. We all tasted the many flavours, mostly derived from Norfolk produce, and pronounced them very good. Fourteen farm shops in the area beat us to it and are already featuring Pound Farm icecream in their offer.
All there felt sure the business, that has cost £200,000 to set up, would succeed. That feeling was encouraged by the fact that the entire family, including the two girls and one boy of the latest generation, were enthusiastically behind it.
I thought, as I stood in that converted barn, that here was an example of one type of farming enterprise that was likely to survive the rigours of market forces. Those who are able to expand their operations to an industrial scale and thereby cut their unit production costs to the bone would be among the rest who would probably make it.
But I wasn't sure what would happen to those who declined or were not able to do either of those things. And that still includes a worryingly large proportion of UK agriculture.
Comments (1)
Great! thanx alot Dustbiter
Posted by | January 22, 2011 9:19 AM
Posted on January 22, 2011 09:19