FOOD + DRINK
FRASERS , EGERTON SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS OF THE YEAR 2022
LOCATED IN THE HEART OF THE KENT COUNTRYSIDE , FRASERS IS AN AWARD-WINNING SMALL PRIVATE ESTATE AND ECO-VENUE SET ON AN IDYLLIC 300-ACRE FARM . A RESTAURANT-WITH-ROOMS AND BOUTIQUE WEDDING AND EVENTS VENUE , FRASERS RECENTLY WON SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS OF THE YEAR AT THE 2022 TASTE OF KENT AWARDS .
Congratulations on your Sustainable Business of the Year win at the 2022 Taste of Kent Awards ! What do you think made you a worthy winner ?
We are overwhelmed at winning , and that our hard work has been recognised . To receive such recognition of our business will ensure that we continue to strive towards carbon neutrality . The whole farm is run with a sustainable ethos both environmentally , socially and economically . We seek to reduce resources via the utilisation of renewable energy techniques , thereby reducing our carbon footprint .
What are your goals for the future ?
Our aim for the business is to be carbon neutral by 2025 . Our established environmental and sustainable initiatives currently being executed ensure that this will be achievable . Any negative environmental impacts and subsequent carbon production will be offset and negated by our lowintensity grassland , wetland creation and renewable energy going back to grid .
How do you educate your guests about your sustainable practices ?
Our menus are changed monthly to maximise seasonality of ingredients . For example , October to the end of January menus are focused around game sourced from the farm , thereby minimising food miles by utilising ‘ wild food ’.
We pride ourselves at Frasers in offering all our staff and visitors an insight into our sustainable and environmentally sound ethos . Visitors are encouraged to take guided walks across the farm and we actively seek to empower and educate . This year we launched an exciting collaboration with ‘ Simple Life ’ who will host guided tours around the farm allowing visitors to reconnect with nature , the focus being to promote mental wellbeing ; this is particularly important as we emerge from the worldwide pandemic .
Purchasing from local suppliers enables the business to support other businesses and maximises the financial benefit to the local rural economy . For example , our dairy products are purchased from Hinxden Farm Dairy . They have added value to their produce by producing their own range of cheese and butter . Our room consumables are handmade by the Kentish Botanical Company and all packaging is biodegradable . We support other artisan businesses too – currently we purchase from at least 50 other local suppliers .
We have a talented wildlife photographer who takes pictures of all the amazing wildlife on the farm . He is a valued member of the team at Frasers and is to host wildlife photography courses this year for the first time .
We hope that visitors to Frasers will see the work we are doing , enjoy the fantastic local produce we use to feed them , and take a little of our ethos home with them to apply to their everyday life .
We are proud to showcase what the Kent countryside and its communities have to offer . We are very conscious that the core to ensuring a healthy natural environment is by educating people . With a growing urban population , providing the opportunity for people to get out into the countryside and experience nature is so valuable . After all , when people understand and value something , they tend to look after it .
What do you think similar businesses in the hospitality industry can take from your success ?
We have taken the challenges of an unpredictable agricultural market and future-proofed our business by creating sustainable diversifications , which have repurposed existing buildings while continuing to work with the farm .
We are now a thriving business that is environmentally , economically and socially sustainable . We feel that we have provided a balanced approach to diversification creating a business which shows genuine commitment and responsibility to the local community , local suppliers and businesses and our natural environment . With changing agricultural and environmental policies , we are proud to demonstrate that this ethos does and can work for other rural and agricultural businesses .
www . frasersegerton . co . uk
114