Company History
FROM SHEEP FARMERS TO SHOP KEEPERS
As new entrants into farming Helen and Jim Cherry met at Harper Adams Agricultural College, Shropshire in 1991. After travelling and working on farms in Australia and New Zealand the Cherry’s were determined to farm in their own right in England. Taking an opportunity to share-farm in a dairy herd at Milton-under-Wychwood, Oxon, they bought their first 13 heifers. With the media exaggeration and poor government handling of the BSE crisis, the Cherry’s never expanded their dairy enterprise. From this demise an opportunity arose for Helen to start her own flock of sheep on the farm. The flock quickly grew to 250 ewes.
| When Helen heard about the proposed Farmers Markets in Warwickshire, she decided that they should add value to their crop of lambs. Luckily, at that time, there was still a small abattoir in Milton-under-Wychwood village, which could prepare the lamb for them. The Farmers Markets were a great success, but highlighted the many misconceptions the consumer has about meat production. Helen said, “Many people assumed that our lamb was organically produced, but after we had explained our simple production methods they were happy to buy”. |
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It became obvious that the customers wanted access to a complete range of local foods on a more regular basis than the monthly markets offered.
Due to a move back to South Warwickshire and starting a family, the flock was sold and Jim went to work with his friend Nigel Everett, a dairy farmer in Cherington.
An opportunity to open a shop, with the chance to sell purely local and British foods, presented itself when the former butcher’s shop in Long Compton became available to let. The Cherry’s took it on and kitted it out themselves with help from a small Vital Villages grant, and Farm Fresh was opened in June 2001.
The shop was a huge success from the start with custom from local villages and people passing on the busy road. With the original intention to provide the fullest variety of British foods, new products were sourced and the range of foods doubled. The business was developing at a great pace, which enabled Jim to get involved full time. After two successful years as Farm Fresh, the name was changed to Taste of the Country Ltd. A second prominent shop in Shipston on Stour is now open where they make on site a huge range of delicious bakery foods, cakes, lunch time treats and dinners. All made to the highest spec using top quality ingredients with no nasty additives or preservatives to be found.
Their persistence in quality and traceability of the range of foods on offer, backed up by impeccable customer service, was recognised quickly and Taste of the Country soon became one of Rick Stein’s Food Heroes, runner-up in the BBC Radio 4 Food and Farming Awards and many other accolades. On a more local theme, Taste of the Country won the Best Food Retail Stand Award at Moreton-in-Marsh Agricultural Show upon their first year of entry in 2004.
At the Long Compton shop they are constantly sourcing new cheeses and expanding their extensive range that covers; cows, ewes, and goats cheese; hard to soft; from pasteurised and un-pasteurised milks. Jim says; “We now have more cheese producers in Britain than they do in France, and interest in the small scale cheese producers from Britain is at an all time high.” He is also keen to develop a service for cheese and wine functions where Taste of the Country will provide the cheese with tabletop information. Jim is also available to do a talk about the cheeses provenance.
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