Farm shop owner drives business with bold adaptation in pandemic
LIKE MANY working in the rural economy, Rob Copley admits the past few months have been a “rollercoaster” of emotion amid the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic.
But Mr Copley, who runs Farmer Copley’s Farm Shop and Cafe in Pontefract, stressed he believes the crisis has helped form new habits for shopping local and cooking from scratch.
Mr Copley, who had been in Switzerland when the lockdown was imposed, walked into his business the day after getting home and thought that within two weeks it would be shut.
The cafe closed the day before Mother’s Day, a busy day in the calendar, in line with government guidelines which Mr Copley admitted was a major blow. But he was optimistic that demand in the farm shop would rise and decided to set up a delivery service.
He said: “We said we would start small with 30 orders but we suddenly realised that while that may not sound a lot it takes a long time to select and pack different food orders. It was the most horrendous week of our lives.”
But with the stress of ensuring the business kept going, Mr Copley said he began to feel the intense strain.
He added: “I am not a depressive person, but it was awful. Then I remembered a talk I been to by The Resilient
Farmer, Doug Avery. He said ‘ if you can change what is going wrong, then do’ and I realised I could.”
After speaking to a friend who had changed his farm shop into a drive- through operation, the team at Mr Copley’s business set about converting the cafe. Customers were buying veg, fruit and butcher boxes, and Mr Copley found people were enjoying the experience of making meals from scratch.
“We tried to put a few different things in the boxes and give people some inspiration with recipes. When we had aubergines we asked chef Steph Moon to put together a Yorkshire Moussaka and she did a video as well showing how to make it.”
The drive- through was in operation during April to June and was a major benefit.
“We were 300 per cent up and it covered the loss from the cafe,” Mr Copley said. “I definitely think it created new habits as we were living that way for so long.
“But I also think the pandemic has given people an appreciation of those, like farmers, who make life tick along.”
We tried to give people some inspiration with recipes. Rob Copley, who runs Farmer Copley’s Farm Shop and Cafe.