Author: wvashjk2

Reflections before the rush

It feels like we have only just sent the children back to school and finished juggling rotas to fit everyone’s holiday in and now we are taking Christmas orders!

We have had a good summer, with noticeably more footfall in Alford during the warmer months.  We developed our range of barbecue food, which has sold well.  We were very pleased to supply several hundred burgers and sausages for the August bank holiday craft market at the Manor House.  We have provided food for a few other events, including the Retriever Club Area Championships which was hosted on our farm this year.

As people have tried and enjoyed our pies and ready meals I am starting to be asked to provide ‘scaled up’ versions for people hosting events.  My favourite commission was a 5 tier savoury pie for a wedding, photographed above.

We had received one or two comments from people who were struggling to find our shop, so we decided we needed a more striking wall sign.  I found a traditional sign writer, Tim Fry, who is based in Woodhall Spa and he produced a gorgeous sign which manages to be very eye catching whilst still being sensitive to our conservation area site.

 

Yesterday was a very exciting day for the business as we supplied our products to other shops for the first time.  Our sausage rolls will now be available in the Spar shop at Bilsby, along with a small range of fresh meat and ready meals.  We are delighted to be working this local business and hope to roll out to their shops at Ulceby Cross and Partney Pumps shortly.

 

 

 

Blimey, where did those six months go…

I have been absolutely rubbish at updating the blog, but fortunately we have been harder at work in the shop!  Well December was quite a month.  We opened on schedule on 1st December and had a fabulous first few days.  We were over the moon at how many people trusted us with their Christmas dinner, and feedback suggests we didn’t disappoint.

Our Christmas counter, complete with holly.
Our deli section

We had been warned that January and February would be a struggle, and they were steady.  We were getting great feedback, and earning some loyal customers, but we could have done with a few more of them. We used the time to develop our product ranges and tweaked the layout of the front of the shop.

 

 

Our chilled ready-to-eat counter featuring our award winning pies

March saw a very nervous morning making pies for the National pie Awards.  I didn’t tell anyone I was entering as I didn’t expect any awards, but I was over the moon to receive 2 silver and a bronze medal from our three entries. This would have a big impact on our business and gave us some credibility quickly. We also ran a promotion for British butchers Week and again this got some new faces through the door.

Easter was busy and now, at the end of May, the weather is finally warming up.  We have started producing more summery products in our raw counter – burgers and kebabs for the barbecue, and a beef stir fry.  These are going really well, but I have been really surprised at how many pies and ready meals we continue to sell.

Our counter looking fabulous in May

I have been delighted at how well our little team has come together.  As you can see from the picture above our fantastic head butcher Jon continues to grow in confidence and skill. He has also done a great job of mentoring our two part time staff, who have both really added to their already strong skill sets. It’s lovely going to work in a happy team.  Jon has also managed to squeeze in getting married this spring, so congratulations Jon!