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FARMA Local Food Awards 2008

The FARMA National Awards are unique.
They reward excellence in a number of different categories related to farm retailing and direct sales and, in order
to enter them, FARMA members put in a great deal of effort. We ask about business performance, staffing and training;
about marketing and publicity; what they are doing as a business to reduce their environmental impact; and what
they believe they contribute to their community. These are not everyday questions but they are questions that FARMA believes everyone involved in farm direct sales should be asking of themselves and their team.

For the retail categories listed below all entrants were visited by a mystery shopper, recruited by Shopper Anonymous, whose reports provided valuable additional insights for the judges’ deliberations. A shortlist of finalists for each category was drawn up; finalists received a further visit, this time from the judges, and they were invited to submit more detailed information under a number of headings. The presentations received were excellent, truly impressive and a credit to those businesses. It was almost a pity therefore, in October, to have to assess the finalists to reach a winner for each Award and, as you will see in the following pages, the judges could not decide between candidates for one of the Awards so the honours are shared.

The 2008 Award categories are:

• Farm Retailer of the Year rewards all-round business excellence (sponsored by Tyrrells Potato Chips)
• Certified Farmers’ Market of the Year rewards business excellence in farmers’ market management (sponsored by FARMA)
• Own & Local, a new award designed to reward a high proportion of own & local products sold (sponsored by FARMA)
• Best Newcomer rewards a strong business performance from businesses with less than three years trading history (sponsored by G7 Computer Services Ltd)
• Pick Your Own Farm of the Year (sponsored by Tozer Direct)
• Best Bakery is a new award this year, looking for distinction in farm shop bakeries (sponsored by Mantinga)
  Best Butchery is another new award this year, rewarding own production, on-farm butchery skills and presentation (sponsored by Bizerba UK Ltd)
• The FARMA Environmental Award speaks for itself, identifying best-practice in reducing environmental impact in addition to low food-miles (sponsored by Canby)
• The Marketing Award rewards promotional activities linked to strategic objectives, which have a demonstrable impact on the business (sponsored by Reddipak)
• In addition, there are two occasional, individual Awards presented by the FARMA Council, one is for Lifetime Achievement and the other is called Community Spirit. Both are presented this year.

Thank you to everyone who entered the Awards this year, it was wonderful to receive so many entries of such a high standard. Thank you too to the sponsors whose support enables these Awards to achieve a professional standard. And finally thank you to the judging team, headed by Gordon Wilson, supported by Sally Jackson, James Dart, Gareth Jones and the FARMA team, who put in a huge amount of time, travel and thinking throughout the summer months.