Customer Spotlight: Farm Fresh Market

Each month we will be doing a focus piece on some of our wholesale customer and hopefully giving you all a bit more insight into the amazing variety of customer we have.  

For our very first spotlight, we caught up with the guys at The Farm Fresh Market, based right here in Nottingham and born out of the global pandemic; read their inspiring story below.

 

Tell us a little about your story... 

We were born out of lockdownfurlough gave me more time on my hands, I decided to deliver fresh veg boxes in the local area to those who were shielding. I’ve always worked in farming, so used my local contacts so I could focus the business on local produce delivered to your door.  

I was driving the breadth of Nottingham delivering our boxes, using the garage and a borrowed van to do it all and every day the sales increased. 

With summer approaching and the shelf life of veg diminishing, we asked the local pub landlord if we could 'pop up at the front of the pub whilst he was closed at the end of each week to sell off any excess stock. He agreed, shared it on his social media, and our first pop up was a sell-out. That's when we started to realise that this could be something more than veg boxes... 

 

Our first store opened three months after we delivered our first box in the stable at the front of the pub where we had the pop up - The Royal Oak in Watnall - and we expanded our remit to then offer coffee, brownies, bakery items and cakes. With people doing lots of walking and our store being on many walking routes, it quickly took off, and our social media following just kept growing... 

In December, we agreed to a lease on our second property and opened that in February of this year, offering fresh 200 Degrees coffee and lots of new independent brands and dried flowers. It's been a fantastic success, and we have loved watching the business grow!  

 We are now working on our back garden, ready for when people can meet up outdoors and re-fitting our first store in Watnall, ready to add ice creams and summer treats into the mix! 

 What made you choose 200 Degrees? 

Our business's premise is to bring together the best local and independent businesses, so 200 Degrees was a no brainer! We love your coffee, and Tim helped us set up and work out what we need in our store. We still get comments from customers about how good it tastes - even more so now that we have the barista machine in our Kimberley store! 

 

 How have you staying positive over the last twelve months? 

We feel fortunate that we have had something to focus on and something to break up the day for our customers, which can say that we have a real positive to come out of this whole situation. We're very proud of how the business has evolved - from delivery boxes to physical stores, supporting Marcus Rashfords campaign for free school lunches, supporting local business in such a tough time as well as meeting the most amazing people - whether that be customers or other local businesses. We really feel like part of our local community, and that in itself feels pretty amazing.