The Farmers Mart Apr-May 2020 - Issue 68 | Page 35

HEADINGLEY FARMERS’ MARKET 35
He then set up the dairy,
initially buying second-hand
equipment, starting with a 1000
litre vat. This was in February
1992, a particularly important
point in time, as his grandfather
Charles passed away in the June
but was able to see the birth
of the next stage of the family
farm’s development.
Simon’s research and prep
paid off, his cheese was an
instant hit, he started by selling
it via the local cheese shop and
such was demand that custom-
ers were initially rationed to ¼ of
a pound each! This early success
led to Simon taking on a full-time
cheese maker, Richard Tagg.
In 1995, with the cheese
business growing and Richard
and Simon seeing the potential
future very much away from
pure dairy and more into cheese
production, they decided to sell
Richard’s early shrewd invest-
ment of the extra 1200 acres
along with the 500 head dairy
herd. The money was invested
into creating a much larger dairy
in one of the delightful old farm
buildings. They do say that
timing is often a key element
of success in business. Well in
1995, Lincolnshire Poacher won
Supreme Champion at the British
Cheese Awards. This could have
not come at a better time and
really spurred them all on.
As production increased,
Simon looked for a larger outlet
for the farm’s cheese., He set
up a deal with Parkview Farm
Food Ltd of Market Rasen, who
were wholesalers in the cheese
and egg trade. Apart from
local shops and the farm gate,
Parkview now took most of their
production.
Tim’s route into the business
was completely different to
Simon’s. Not being a farmer at
heart,unlike Simon he pursued
a more academic route, going
to university to study econom-
ics, then working in London
as a market analyst. Prior to
his return to Lincolnshire, he
worked for the mighty Britvic
empire as a senior analyst. Tim
had no real intention of leaving
London, however the family
business was progressing and
clearly had greater potential
to be realised, so the oppor-
tunity and time felt just right.
Tim coming in to manage and
develop the business side meant
that Simon could focus on the
farm and on developing the
cheese-making.
With Tim on board, they
remained with Parkview for
another two years; however,
for the long term and with Tim’s
marketing skills, it just didn’t fit
in with the evolving strategy
and ideas. A key change that
Tim orchestrated, was the
use of Farmers Market which
they started right at the start
of Farmers Market’s popularity
in 2000. Today they distribute
through 32 markets, all within the
viable 2-hour distance from the
farm. This means they go up to
West Yorkshire – thus Headingly
for one, and down to London as
well. One bonus that they didn’t
see coming was that the Farmers
Markets were great places to
test new flavours. People will
be honest with you there and
then. Markets also got them into
more shops, as people were
buying at the markets then going
to the quality cheese shops
expecting to be able to buy
more. One notable success was
award-winning La Fromagerie in
Marylebone. It was somewhere
they had struggled to get into,
and lo and behold some of their
customers had been shopping
at a market around the corner
and asked why they didn’t stock
Lincolnshire Poacher! Boom
- Success!
Continues on page 36