Hampshire Deli Named Farm Shop of the Year
A new Hampshire business started in lockdown, and just two years old, has been awarded the title 'Farm Shop of the Year – Hampshire' in the UK Business Excellence Awards 2022. This new business is a farm shop, deli, and coffee shop, and grew out of a good deed carried out for the local community in response to the pandemic.
In late March 2020 Justine and Barry Walker were at a farmers’ market, selling their own award-winning Hampshire Salami charcuterie, when neighbours asked if they could provide food boxes of good quality local produce as Covid-19 was affecting supply chains and stock availability in supermarkets.
Barry Walker recalls: “That weekend, as Hampshire Salami, we delivered four deli boxes of produce from the farmers’ market, and posted about this service on a local Facebook group. The next week 35 boxes were ordered and delivered. Following this 50 and then 60 boxes were ordered and delivered weekly to residents in surrounding villages.”
The business morphed into a Pop-Up Deli and Farm Shop, held every Saturday at their salami factory at Wolverton Park, selling a great selection of products from award-winning artisan producers across Hampshire.
Now the business is firmly established, the Hampshire Deli & Farm Shop focuses on sourcing and stocking the best British, local and seasonal produce. On the deli counter are 65 plus cheeses, which are now all British. For their Deli and Farm Shop they make their own award-winning pies, sausage rolls, quiches, charcuterie, and homecooked hams, which then go on the menu in the new Coffee Shop.
Barry Walker continues, "After we delivered those first four boxes, it just went nuts. We have been astonished that our customers want British and local products. This has been an amazing journey, made only more special by the fact we didn’t really plan any of this.
"We wanted to support local, providing seasonal products from producers who, like us, struggled at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. We add new products each week and hope our customers like what we do and want to ‘Stay loyal, stay local’! We hope our customers continue to support those producers and small independents who, like us, throughout the pandemic worked tirelessly to keep their communities fed."
For more information visit @HampshireDeli on Facebook or the Deli & Farm Shop, Wolverton Park, Ramsdell Road, Wolverton RG26 5RU. Open 8.30am-3.00pm Thursday and Friday, and 8.00am-2.00pm Saturday.