Couple harvest success of farm shop venture

Aberdeenshire piper Norman Fiddes and his wife Robina have opened a farm shop and country store on the outskirts of Aberdeen, at Birkhill Farm, near Dyce.

The farm was once home to more than 200,000 broiler chickens housed in four sheds across a three-acre site. However, its poultry operations came to an end after meat processing giant 2 Sisters Food Group restructured its operations in the north and northeast resulting in the closure of dozens of broiler units.

Mr Fiddes said it would have been too costly to convert the 50-year-old sheds into units for egg production and instead a completely different business stream was found.

Although in its infancy, the country store has proved a success. He said a key draw to the shop was the farm’s collection of five vintage tractors. The shop carries a range of local produce, including potatoes and vegetables grown on the farm, homebaking by Robina and a selection of gifts and cards.

“I have been a member of the Grampian Food Forum for many years. We have used all our contacts through that to find suppliers for the shop,” said Mr Fiddes.

The couple want to create a ‘harvest your own’ concept, similar to pick your own fruit, but instead people would harvest their own vegetables.

Mr Fiddes He said he was also looking into the possibility of butchering some of his own animals.

The farm has the 17-cow Birkhill fold of pedigree Highland cattle and also buys in around 200 ewes with lambs at foot for finishing every year.

Picture: Colin Rennie. Norman and Robina stock a selection of home-grown produce.