We don’t really go in for medals and awards but, as members, we always enter a few lines (and a shop) in the Food Drink Devon Awards. We normally come away with something and this year, that something was platinum for last year’s Discovery Apple Juice. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to make any this year, but much more satisfying was the gold award given to our Totnes shop. As many of you will know, Charlotte, Karen and the rest of the team do a fantastic job and the customer service they offer is second to none. Compared with today’s norm, it’s almost a little retro but it really seems to work and the figures never fail to impress. But it was the judge’s comments that really brought tears (of joy) to my eyes.
The judges’ overall summary said: ‘Ben’s Farm Shop offers an incredibly comprehensive range of local food and drink. You could happily get everything that you need for a weekly food shop and all of it is of an excellent quality. We loved the time and effort that has clearly gone in to finding the best local produce and using the most sustainable packaging possible. We were really impressed by the labelling and detail provided about provenance. It made it really easy for us to shop from that point of view but it was hard to limit ourselves to just a few items because there was so much to choose from. We would highly recommend a visit to anyone who loves outstanding local produce. We will definitely be back to try a few more things and to revisit some of the favourites we enjoyed from this visit.’