THE family behind a well-known local farm shop and restaurant are celebrating after being crowned winners of the UK’s Best Farm Shop at a national awards ceremony hosted by celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

Strawberry Fields is run by the Mounce family, local farmers who have grown their business since starting back in 2002 with a two-acre strawberry patch. Their business has grown from strength to strength, now employing 130 local people in a complex which is a popular stop off for locals and tourists alike.

Strawberries are still grown here, along with other fruit and vegetables, both of which are available to buy in the shop and go into creating meals in the recently-revamped restaurant, very popular locally.

The family were up against 350 farm shops and farmers’ markets nationwide. Laura Mounce, who runs the business with husband Adam and parents in law Jo and Roger Mounce, said she was ‘well chuffed’ to win. She added that farming was still very much at the core of the business.

‘We are very true to our roots still,’ she said. ‘We started off with growing strawberries and we are still growing them and selling them and using them in the kitchen. We also still do pick your own — that is why we are called Strawberry Fields! We are a real farm shop. There are wellies by the back door, we are growing veg and have our own meat and eggs.’

He added: ‘The awards are run by the Farm Retail Association, a body for farm shops, every year so in the farm shop world this is the biggie. We had to do a written entry and a video entry and it was open to all the farm shops in the country. They had lots of entries and it was whittled down to five finalists and we were one of them. Then the judges came and did a visit making sure we have got a handle on things and then looking at the bigger picture, how we run the business.

‘We have got a few celebrations planned with the team and we are going to have a big party to say thank you and well done to everyone because it is a team effort and we couldn’t do it by ourselves by any means. We are really proud of everyone.’

Judge Adam Burton, from Malcolm Scott Consultants, praised the way the shop is ‘full of wow factor and theatre at every turn’.