Local Farm Shop large retailer Ludlow Farmshop has entered into the Farm Shop & Deli Awards 2020 and are looking for support from the community.
The Awards, in partnership with The Grocer, are highly respected in the industry for playing an important role in supporting, and celebrating, the UK’s independent, specialist retail market. Each entrant will be judged on the many factors covering speciality retail including the highest levels of service, product knowledge, initiative, innovation and community involvement.
Chair of judges, Nigel Barden, will be joined by leading speciality retailers and key industry figures to bring a wealth of knowledge to the judging process. The judging process will include mystery visits and public votes from consumers via the Awards website.
Public votes form just one part of the process to be crowned Farm Shop large retailer of the Year and online voting is open until 31 October 2019.
The aim of the Awards is to highlight highly driven and passionate local businesses, like Ludlow Farmshop, and to generate the coverage they deserve.
Nigel Barden, chair of judges and food & drink broadcaster commented: “I am delighted to continue to be involved with the Farm Shop & Deli Awards. It’s a fabulous initiative for the sector and offers the best way to recognise and reward excellence for the UK’s local, artisan and high street speciality retailers.”
Local produce and creation
Part of the Earl of Plymouth’s Oakly Park estate, half of the shop’s produce is created onsite in the Centre’s production kitchens.
Jon Edwards, Managing Director at Ludlow Farmshop, says they have a lot to offer: “Our 8 production kitchens are visible from the shop floor where our dedicated, skilled employees work hard to produce some 800 products.
“Each morning, our dairy manager collects milk produced by the Holstein Friesian cows on our dairy farm less than 2 miles away. Then makes cheese, butter, ice-cream and dairy-desserts.
“We have a coffee roasting room buying ethically produced/sourced coffee beans. These are blended, roasted and ground in small batches, by our in-house coffee expert Julie. Coffee is then packaged for our shop-floor or sent over to be freshly ground by Baristas at our Ludlow Kitchen café and Clive Arms.
“Our butchery uses livestock from our own farm, slaughtered only 7miles away to minimise stress on the animals, under the watchful eye of our award-winning head butcher, John. John has a close relationship with our farmers ensuring he can be involved in selecting the best livestock when needed.
“Our team create a full range of counter cuts truly tempting customers and also supply other departments and areas of our business. As a whole-carcass butchery, customers often find unusual cuts or as a feature on The Clive’s menu. To maximise the value from each species we also have an on-site smoker and charcuterie operation. The kitchen produces from scratch a vast range of products for our deli.
“Our bakers start at midnight each-day 363 days a year to bake our bread, biscuits, cakes from scratch, using locally milled flours/ingredients. Our jams and pickles department produce over 70,000 jars of our own recipe jams, preserves, marmalades, chutneys, oils, rubs, sauces, pickles.”
How to vote
Vote for Ludlow Farmshop online via the 2020 ‘Entrants’ web page at: https://www.farmshopanddelishow.co.uk/awards-directory-2020.
Voting closes on Thursday 31st October 2019 and one lucky voter will be entered into a draw to win a food hamper.
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