Somewhat late this week, however I blame Christmas for that – the place did all these prospects come from?!

We heard final week that Rumwell Farm Store, Taunton is the primary store within the UK to obtain The Real Personal And Native (GOAL) certificates from the Farmers’ Retail & Markets Affiliation (FARMA).

The accreditation is awarded to outlets promoting their very own farm produce, and was launched to assist customers establish ‘actual’ farm outlets. Clearly this can be a very worthwhile trigger and positively not an “own-goal” by FARMA. There are a number of imposter “farm outlets” which have sprung up inside the final yr or so, even because it was introduced that farm retail was the quickest rising retail sector within the UK at 17%. So there’s most undoubtedly a must recognise the real farm outlets primarily based on a farm and promoting their very own produce, whether or not that be meat, fruit and veg or herbs.

Nevertheless, is that this scheme actually price spending cash on? I’d have thought that the common farm store buyer would have sufficient intelligence to recognise what’s a real farm store and what’s not. Noticing tractors and animals when driving as much as the farm store are usually a little bit of a giveaway, as are indicators pointing to pick-your-own fields. Conversely a backyard centre surrounded by roses, fushias and different herbaceous issues on the market having a “farm store” simply earlier than the checkout is perhaps a clue that the merchandise bought there aren’t grown or reared within the backyard centre! Possibly we must always credit score our prospects with a bit extra intelligence. These customers with out the intelligence to recognise a real farm store are in all probability at dwelling mendacity on the couch, ingesting Stella, consuming their prepared meal watching Eastenders, so in all probability don’t darken our doorways anyway!

I perceive FARMA wanting to guard its member’s pursuits and their motives are extremely commendable. Nevertheless, we ought to not be too harsh on these unbiased meals halls which might be bobbing up everywhere in the UK. Okay, a few of them are calling themselves farm outlets, and that is in all probability ill-advised. Let’s say to them, name your self a meals corridor, however as a supporter of farm outlets, I’d not need to discourage locations like this from opening up. In any case they’re in all probability promoting real produce from native farms (despite the fact that it won’t be their very own) and different connoisseur meals merchandise which might be of far larger high quality than the merchandise on the native grocery store. I, for one, would by no means need to knock an unbiased meals store that by its very nature can be educating customers of their meals alternative just by present.

I’m penning this every week earlier than Christmas Eve – so the busiest week of the yr for nice meals retailers. You might be so busy that you simply won’t have time to learn this, however Completely happy and Affluent Christmas to you anyway!