Our story – Bennetts Farm Shop

We recently wrote a bio about us and our journey and thought it would be great to share here! We opened our farm shop doors in March 2022. The farm shop is the most unique of its kind in the area. We utilise high tech, easy to use self service vending machines. This offers an innovative way to offer local produce to the consumer.

It’s our creation, Simon and Tara Best. We’re first generation beef farmers, business owners and young entrepreneurs who have been growing our grass fed Aberdeen Angus beef herd for many years. We always wanted to establish an option to offer our high welfare beef direct to the consumer, in a way that will stand out in the area and work alongside the running of our other businesses. 

Where to find Bennetts Farm Shop

The shop is situated on our working farm. Visitors have the opportunity to see our beef cattle for themselves. We manage every aspect of the beef herd, from the breeding through to the finishing of every animal. We own two pedigree Aberdeen Angus bulls that run with our herd of 70 Aberdeen Angus cows. This enables us to produce an animal that fits the requirements when selling direct to the consumer.

Nutritionally, we know exactly what has gone in to producing this quality grass fed beef. The beef is reared in a sustainable manner, utilising the diverse grass mixtures planted on the farm. The unique Cotswold soils lend themselves very well to grazing cattle. This supports the ethos behind what we’re trying to achieve and how the cattle are reared.

Bennetts Farm Shop also offers additional produce from other local farmers, growers and producers. You will find seasonal fruits and vegetables, as well as dairy and meat products, kitchen staples and convenience foods. There is also a milk vending machine offering freshly pasteurised whole milk from the neighbouring farm in the village. The beef and milk on offer is so local, it’s food metres, not food miles! 

The journey before we opened our farm shop in March 2022

Bennetts Farm Shop is situated at Bennetts Farm, in Leighterton. We moved to Bennetts Farm in November 2020, happily remaining in the county of Gloucestershire. We knew we wanted to sell our beef products, that we had been rearing for years, direct to the consumer in a way that worked alongside our busy lives.

As soon as we found out that we were the successful new tenants of this farm, we started the planning process to convert a disused farm building into the farm shop you see today. We undertook many renovations to get the farm shop, its car park and the farm entrance to what it now is. We’ve both always been local and dreamed of opening our own farm shop in the area. We even both studied at The Royal Agricultural College (now University) in Cirencester, although it was a fair few years ago now!

Together, we have a unique combined skillset. We feel this has really helped with the successful launch and opening of our farm shop. Simon has vast knowledge and many years experience of successfully growing high quality grass here in The Cotswolds. This has enabled him to establish an Aberdeen Angus beef herd that can be reared solely on a grass fed diet. The product of this offers a great texture, delicious flavour and many benefits to human health and to the environment. Tara has many years experience within the business growth, PR and marketing sector. She has been running her own business in this field since 2015. This has proved vital in the launch of the farm shop and continual development of the marketing and brand awareness. 

We really offer the true farm to fork journey

We are truly able to promote what we offer right through from farm to fork. Through the rearing of the beef on our farm, the promotion of what we offer through our social media and the offering of the finished products in our shop, we really are able to combine it all.

Farm -> Marketing -> Your fork.

It’s a simple supply chain, with little involvement or requirements from others. This enables us to continually produce the quality product, market the quality product and then sell the quality product. This really embodies what farm to fork is all about.

We’re nearing our one year anniversary since opening. We have been truly blown away by the kind words and feedback since opening in March 2022.

Before we opened, we spoke to many of the local community, to gauge interest of our plans. The shop in the village closed its doors permanently in the early 1990’s and hasn’t re-opened since. This has caused villagers to travel further afield to buy their wares. As you can imagine, the interest and anticipation was high.

A convenient way to shop

Our vending machines offer a convenient way to shop. They display the products excellently in the individual glass-doored lockers. Our machines are controlled by a large touchscreen. This shows all key product information, an image of the product, weights, allergens and pricing.

Customers can create a basket of products, pay by card and then await the opening of the locker doors of the lockers that have their chosen products in. It’s even an exciting way to shop! The farm shop also benefits from extended opening hours that we are in total control of, including on Sundays and Bank Holidays. 

We love to work with local independent farmers and producers to source quality products. Offering those alongside our own grass fed Aberdeen Angus beef to our customers at affordable prices really aligns with our brands mission. We try to source unique products that you won’t find in supermarkets or high street stores, which we then pay our producers for at a fair price. 

We’ve also recently collaborated with The Tetbury Community Fridge; a local project to help prevent food going to waste. This is a valuable outlet for any vegetables, cupboard staples and sweet treats that are just past their best and therefore not suitable for sale, although are perfectly good to utilise.

What we’re doing for the environment

We are committed to doing what we can for the environment, including working towards producing beef that is carbon neutral.

Firstly, we have moved to planting diverse grazing swards which contain a mixture of legumes, native grasses and herbs. This sequesters a significant amount of carbon out of the atmosphere. This also allows us to graze cattle throughout the year reducing our reliance on needing to buy feed in for them. We have grass on every acre of our farm, which also supports this transition towards being carbon neutral. You will also find plots within our fields that have been planted with wild flowers. This creates a natural habitat for pollinators and ground nesting birds throughout the year. During the winter months, we also provide supplementary feed for birds, during their hungry period.

Sustainability isn’t something we’re only interested in from the production of our beef. We also work with producers that are working towards a similar ethos and who possess similar values to that of us. In utilising local producers, we can ensure we are offering food that is of low food miles, produced in an environmentally sensitive manner that is then available for the people of Gloucestershire and the surrounding counties.

There is such an abundance of great producers in Gloucestershire that we really do pride ourselves on supporting them where possible.

Future plans for our farm shop

While we have only been open for nearing a year, we already have great plans for the future of our business.

• Host a farm walk for the Gloucestershire County Council Councillors
• Host a walk for local young farmers groups
• Hold another open day this Spring. We will also be partaking in Open Farm Sunday in June. These are both great events for engaging the local community, showcasing what we do and educating on the farm to fork process. We’re excited to say we have plans to extend our vending machines. We wish to include a frozen option, which will enable us to offer an even wider selection of local produce. We’re also looking to collaborate with local schools, so that we can start the education process of the next generation from an early age.

We are so proud of how far we’ve come in our first year! And, we are super excited for the future of Bennetts Farm Shop.