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<\/p>\nThere are pumpkins everywhere. Pumpkins in wheelbarrows, pumpkins in piles, pumpkins being clutched by toddlers staging sit-ins. Around me, families are navigating the autumnal obstacle course with the sort of military precision usually reserved for airport security.<\/p>\n
Perched perilously on the only stool left in the place, sipping \u2013 yes, you guessed it \u2013 a pumpkin-spiced latte and eying up an artisan sausage roll, I\u2019m doing my bit for serious investigative journalism. \u00a0Although the line between market research and middle-class retail therapy is becoming worryingly blurred.<\/p>\n
The place, high on the hills in North Yorkshire is packed, because the farm shop has become less of a place to buy potatoes and more of a lifestyle statement. It is where you go to purchase a \u00a34.50 jar of chutney while quietly judging people who buy ketchup. <\/p>\n
Everything must have provenance. The eggs are from happy hens. The sausages are made by a man called Giles who has \u201cbeen doing it for generations\u201d. The cheese has a story. The honey has a story.<\/p>\n
And then there is the coffee shop, where the real action happens. There will be a menu offering \u201cartisan\u201d something-or-other, usually involving sourdough, poached eggs and a price that makes you briefly wonder whether they have included a free tractor.<\/p>\n
Farm shops have their own economy. A normal supermarket trolley contains milk, bread, washing powder and biscuits. A farm shop basket contains \u00a38 eggs, three chutneys, a packet of pork scratchings, a candle called Hedgerow<\/em> and some suspiciously expensive heritage tomatoes.<\/p>\n I never leave with what I went in for. I go in for potatoes. I come out \u00a374 poorer with a Christmas pudding, two pies and a rosemary plant – convinced I\u2019m supporting British agriculture.<\/p>\n Which, to be fair, I probably am. Because beneath the pumpkins, sourdough and seasonal lattes lies a serious business story.<\/p>\n It\u2019s been estimated that Britain\u2019s farm retail sector generates more \u00a31.4bn in annual sales and employs tens of thousands of people, illustrating the scale of a sector that has moved well beyond selling the occasional joint of beef to passing motorists.<\/p>\n For farmers, diversification can mean adding a caf\u00e9, bakery, butchery counter, online shop or family attraction to the original retail operation. The idea is to bring more people through the door, keep them there longer and persuade them to spend beyond the price of a bag of spuds.<\/p>\n The challenge is making the numbers work. Staff, energy and food costs do not become any less painful because the building has exposed beams and the eggs are free-range.<\/p>\n At Blacker Hall Farm, near Wakefield, the evolution from working farm to destination business has taken place over more than a quarter of a century.<\/p>\n The Garthwaite family has farmed the land for generations, with its roots dating back to 1901. The farm shop opened in 1999, initially as a way of selling meat from the family\u2019s own livestock.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was an aligning of the stars,\u201d says Edward Garthwaite on how the business came together. The family understood farming, but retail was a different proposition. Producing food and selling it directly to customers required a new set of skills.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were farmers,\u201d he says. \u201cWe had to quickly learn how to get good at that.\u201d The early shop focused on ingredients, with a butchery counter at its heart. A bakery and locally sourced vegetables broadened the offer, giving customers more reasons to visit while building on the business\u2019s agricultural roots. Then came the caf\u00e9.<\/p>\n \u201cThat made us then attractive to a whole different set of customers,\u201d says Edward \u201cAnd that\u2019s probably when we became more of a destination.\u201d<\/p>\n It is a distinction with commercial consequences. Someone arriving to buy meat for Sunday lunch may be in and out in minutes. Someone meeting friends for coffee or bringing the children for a day out is likely to stay longer \u2013 and may leave with rather more than a joint of beef.<\/p>\n Blacker Hall now combines its shop and butchery with a bakery, food production, caf\u00e9, online sales and corporate catering. A farm trail, introduced around three years ago following the pandemic, provides another reason for families to visit.<\/p>\n The business employs about 125 full and part-time staff, attracts around 7,000 customers a week and has annual turnover of roughly \u00a38m.<\/p>\n Those are substantial numbers for a business that began by selling the family\u2019s own meat. But Blacker Hall has not abandoned its farming identity in pursuit of visitor numbers.<\/p>\n Edward\u2019s sister and her husband run the farming operation alongside her husband. Much of the meat comes from the farm itself, while other products are sourced from suppliers in the surrounding area.<\/p>\n Lamb comes from near Holmfirth, poultry from local suppliers and seasonal vegetables from nearby growers. Strawberries are picked several times a week during the season, while wholesale markets in Leeds and Sheffield help fill the gaps.<\/p>\n A farm shop cannot supply everything from its own land if it wants to offer customers a broad range throughout the year. The trick is extending the choice without losing the credibility that makes it different from a supermarket.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople attach value to the story,\u201d says Edward. \u201cThe story\u2019s got to be real.\u201d<\/p>\n It is a useful distinction in a market where local, artisan and sustainable can be liberally applied to almost anything. Provenance is not just a marketing line; it needs to be supported by the products and the people behind them.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s this connection between lovely farm animals and food,\u201d says Edward. \u201cFor us, it\u2019s important for the next generation of customers.\u201d<\/p>\n Seasonal attractions, including pumpkin picking and Christmas events, generate excitement and draw in visitors who might not otherwise make the trip. But they remain a relatively small part of the overall business.<\/p>\n The core is still food. Blacker Hall has resisted turning itself into an amusement park. The attractions support the wider offer; they are not the main event.<\/p>\n That matters because every extra attraction brings its own costs and complications. A caf\u00e9 needs staff, equipment and stock. A farm trail requires management. Diversification can increase spending per customer, but it can also make the business considerably more difficult to run.<\/p>\n Corporate catering has grown from a straightforward buffet offer into a premium service, while online sales allow Blacker Hall to reach customers beyond those who can easily visit the site.<\/p>\n Its location on a busy commuter road helps, too. Regular customers come from a radius of around 10 to 15 miles, with visitors also travelling from further afield, including York and Sheffield.<\/p>\n Yet a loyal following and multiple income streams do not make a business immune to the pressures facing retail and hospitality.<\/p>\n Customers still have household budgets to manage. They may trade down, buy fewer extras or change their spending habits when prices rise.<\/p>\n Nor is the sector automatically recession-proof. Food is an emotional purchase, says Edward, and customers may choose to spend differently rather than stop altogether. They might eat at home instead of going out, for example, while still treating themselves to something special from the farm shop.<\/p>\n For the business, the challenge is absorbing higher costs without pricing customers out.<\/p>\n The commercial balancing act is to invest in the experience without allowing the experience to become more expensive than the business can support. A destination needs to give people a reason to visit, but footfall alone does not pay the bills.<\/p>\n For Blacker Hall, the original purpose remains clear: keeping the family farm viable. Selling only its own meat would not provide the scale or range needed to support the wider operation. Diversification is not a distraction from the farm; it helps make the farm sustainable as a business.<\/p>\n There is also the question of succession. The next generation is beginning to think about the future, with Ed\u2019s nephew Thomas interested in farming and his daughters, aged 19 and 17, also showing an interest. One has occasionally helped serve customers on a Sunday.<\/p>\n But family ownership does not make succession simple. Running a modern farm shop requires commercial, retail and hospitality skills alongside an understanding of farming.<\/p>\n Leadership must be earned, Edward suggests. It is about having the right capabilities, \u201cnot just the right surname\u201d.<\/p>\n That may be one of the biggest changes since the shop opened in 1999. What began to sell the family\u2019s own meat has become a complex business balancing agriculture with retail, food production, hospitality and family experiences.<\/p>\n The growth of Blacker Hall is one route into the modern farm shop business. Robertshaw\u2019s Farm Shop offers another: expansion through acquisition, backed by external finance.<\/p>\n James Robertshaw has spent more than a decade in the sector, building the business around its Thornton site in Bradford. In March 2025, he opened a second outlet at the former Keelham Farm Shop site near Skipton, following a \u00a32.85m funding deal with NatWest and its asset-finance partner Lombard.<\/p>\n The site had closed under its previous operator in 2024. Robertshaw\u2019s took it on and reopened it as a destination combining a farm shop, restaurant, takeaway and children\u2019s play area. More than 100 full- and part-time jobs were created.<\/p>\n It was a substantial step up in scale, and the latest accounts show the impact. For the year to 31 January 2026, Robertshaw\u2019s Farm Shop group turnover of \u00a320.7m, up from \u00a311.3m. Pre-tax profit more than doubled to \u00a3650k from \u00a3274k while operating profit rose to \u00a3800k from \u00a3333k. Average employee numbers increased from 125 to 218.<\/p>\n The figures underline both the opportunity and the commitment involved in growing beyond a single site. The funding package helped Robertshaw\u2019s take on and open the Skipton operation; the bigger group now must make two substantial retail destinations work commercially.<\/p>\n The Skipton site also demonstrates how far the proposition has moved beyond the traditional image of a small shop selling meat, vegetables and preserves. As at Thornton, Bradford, the offer combines food retail with places to eat, and facilities designed to attract families.<\/p>\n But turnover growth is not the same as a return on investment. Robertshaw\u2019s has significantly increased its profit, but it is also carrying a much larger operation and workforce.<\/p>\n A second site can open a larger customer base and create economies of scale. It also brings a major financial commitment; more staff and more moving parts to manage. The countryside may provide the backdrop, but expansion still depends on sales, margins, costs and cash.<\/p>\n For Blacker Hall, diversification has largely meant developing the original operation and giving customers more reasons to visit. For Robertshaw\u2019s, Skipton shows how an established operator can use that experience to build a second destination.<\/p>\n Both demonstrate the breadth of the modern farm shop. The challenge is ensuring that the experience customers enjoy \u2013 from the butcher\u2019s counter to the caf\u00e9 and children\u2019s attractions \u2013 translates into a business that can keep growing.<\/p>\n The pumpkins may be temporary. The commercial logic is not. A modern farm shop needs more than a rustic setting and a basket of expensive vegetables. It needs a convincing story, products customers want, reasons to return and a firm grip on the costs behind the charm.<\/p>\n And if it can persuade people to come for a pumpkin, stay for a flat white and leave with \u00a374 of chutney, pies and other things they never intended to buy, so much the better. British agriculture, after all, has bills to pay.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" From pumpkin patches and artisan coffee to butchery counters and family trails, farm shops are selling much more than food. But can the feel good factor deliver a healthy return?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":271992,"featured_media":2181139,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[137137,47995],"coauthors":[137100],"class_list":["post-2181138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-analysis","category-retail","tag-featured-story","tag-yorkshire"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/_files\/images\/Frame_18_28-300x274.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/_files\/images\/Frame_237_3-300x233.jpeg\")
The farm trail helps make that connection, bringing younger families onto the site and giving children a better understanding of the relationship between animals, farming and food.<\/p>\n