A look around futuristic farm shop
SUPERMARKET convenience coupled with the best local produce can be found at a much-loved Derbyshire farm shop that has had a modern makeover.
Instead of counters laden with produce, Betty’s Farm Shop has selfservice vending machines, making it what is believed to be the biggest venture of its kind in Europe.
It is a reprieve for the popular shop, in Willington, amid fears it had closed for good last year when the couple running it left.
Customers were devastated to think they had lost it but the good news is Lucie Bowler, her brotherin-law Stewart Adams, and farm worker Greg Marsh have joined forces to save the farm shop and bring it into the 21st century.
Lucie’s father John ‘the Egg Man’ Bowler built the farm from scratch nearly 20 years ago, naming it in honour of his mother, Betty. A big lover of fresh, quality produce, the farm shop is the perfect match for what was her ethos.
Vending machines lining the barn walls are filled with freshly-laid eggs from free-range hens roaming in a field just metres away.
But it’s not just eggs – there’s jam, honey, cakes, bread, vegetable and fruit boxes, meat, milk and cheese.
The touch-screen shopping system couldn’t be easier. Trialled by a six-year-old and a 101-year-old, both managed to use it problem-free.
Customers simply scroll through, tapping the items they want, before hitting pay and using a card or contactless. They then help themselves to their goods when the vending doors pop open.
On the first day of opening, after a long time coming due to Covid-setbacks, Lucie said: “We have completely rebuilt the site and spent the last year working on it. We wanted to be something different. It’s a clean and simple shopping environment. Our main aim is supermarket convenience but with local produce.”
The honey is produced from a farm a few miles away. Lucie said: “The beekeeper believes the bees come on this farm as they roam ten miles and a lot of people believe local honey is good for hayfever.”
Fruit and vegetable boxes are delivered daily, with produce such as broccoli, potatoes and leeks, most grown nearby in Lichfield.
Baking kits from Busy Baking in the village come with a tin and ingredients for making chocolate brownies, tea loaf and cookies. Or if you just want a sweet treat to eat without the effort, there are slices of Bakewell tart and brownies, which are both gluten-free and vegan-friendly.
The Loaf in Crich supplies the bread – at the moment sourdough, white batch, pumpkin and rye and a four-pack of cobs – as well as croissants and cinnamon buns.
Chicken, lamb, beef and pork are kept chilled in refrigerated lockers. Supplied by Melbourne-based Tori and Ben’s.
Burgers, sausage and bacon also fill the vending machines along with milk – from skimmed to full fat – and cheese. Bluebell Dairy ice cream – another Derbyshire institution – will be added soon.
Greg said: “We are farmers by trade and we don’t necessarily have all the time in the world. But what it does give us it saves on some labour so we then have more time to interact with customers and tell them the story of where the food comes from, not that it’s just local but that it’s farmed in the right way and it gives us chance to get that message across. That’s the big benefit.”
Stock will be replenished as it is sold and the number of items for sale will increase once customers and the owners have found their feet with the new system.
The farm shop’s current opening hours are 7am to 6pm Tuesday to Saturday and Sundays from 10am to 4pm but eventually it will be seven days a week and stay open until later in the evening.