Finalists for the farm retail Awards from the National Farmers’ Retail & Markets Association have been selected. There is a shortlist of twenty farm shops going through to the next round to arrive at one winner in each of six Awards categories, to be proclaimed on 25 February 2014.
For the past 11 years, the FARMA Awards have singled out some of the UK’s top farm shops as winners, including Chatsworth Farm Shop in Derbyshire and Daylesford Organic Farm Shop, Gloucestershire. The criteria for the Awards include excellent business management, provenance and customer service as well as presentation – and winners have included small, family run enterprises like Church Farm Shop, South Scarle, Nottingham, winner of Best Small Farm Shop in 2013.
The FARMA Awards judges are now on their visits to make their final assessment of the candidates which will be presented in Kenilworth, Warwickshire on 25 February 2014.
FARMA is a member-owned co-operative, representing around 500 farm shops in the UK. Association secretary, Rita Exner, said, ‘The FARMA’s are judged by farm retail experts and former winners who are looking for enterprises where the farm’s production complements the retailing to create an outlet that’s exciting and unique. It is not about the biggest farm shops, we’re simply looking for the best.’
The finalists for 2014 are:
Farm Retailer of the Year
Blacker Hall Farm Shop, Branch Road, Calder Grove, Wakefield
Cheerbrook Farm Shop, Newcastle Road, Nantwich, Cheshire
Garsons Farm Shop, Winterdown Road, Esher, Surrey
Keelham Farm Shop, Brighouse & Denholme Gate Road, Thornton, Bradford, West Yorkshire
Millets Farm Shop, Kingston Road, Frilford, Nr Abingdon, Oxfordshire
Welbeck Farm Shop, Welbeck, Worksop, Nottinghamshire
Best New Farm Shop
Apley Farm Shop, Norton, Shifnal, Shropshire
Kilnford Barns, The Glen, Dumfries, Dumfries & Galloway
Oakes Farm Shop, Balsall Street, Balsall Common, Coventry, Warwickshire
Best on-farm Butchery
Blacker Hall Farm Shop, Branch Road, Calder Grove, Wakefield, West Yorkshire
Cheerbrook Farm Shop, Newcastle Road, Nantwich, Cheshire
Essington Farm Shop, Bognop Road, Essington, Nr Wolverhampton, Staffordshire
Harker’s Farm Shop, Blackberry Farm, Clipston-on-the-Wolds, Nottinghamshire
Hopetoun Farm Shop, Newton, Broxburn, West Lothian
Rob Royd Farm Shop, Genn Lane, Worsbrough, Barnsley, South Yorkshire
Best on-farm Café or Restaurant
Blacker Hall Farm Shop, Branch Road, Calder Grove, Wakefield, West Yorkshire
Castleton Farm Shop, Fordoun, Laurencekirk, Aberdeenshire
Drewton’s, The Drewton Estate, South Cave, East Yorkshire
Rob Royd Farm Shop, Genn Lane, Worsbrough, Barnsley, South Yorkshire
The Suffolk Food Hall Cookhouse, Peppers Lane, Wherstead, Ipswich, Suffolk
The Own & Local Award
Cedarbarn Farm Shop & Café, Thornton Road, Pickering, North Yorkshire
Hopetoun Farm Shop, Newton, Broxburn, West Lothian
Rob Royd Farm Shop, Genn Lane, Worsbrough, Barnsley, South Yorkshire
Welbeck Farm Shop, Welbeck, Nottinghamshire
Best Small Farm Shop
Manor Farm Shop, Baythorpe, Swineshead, Lincolnshire
The Rhubarb Triangle Farm Shop, Green End Farm, Carlton, Wakefield, West Yorkshire