FARMA 2010: Food service has 'great potential'

So said Guy Whapples, head chef at The Farmers Cart farm shop restaurant in North Yorkshire, as he addressed delegates attending the session examining the food service sector towards 2020.

“The main course at your farm shop restaurant must never, ever, be priced above £10,” he advises.

A new development at Newlyns Farm Shop, near Basingstoke, Hampshire, has been the introduction of a successful cookery school.

“We recently staged an event at the farm restaurant with chefs from Nobu Restaurant, London, who cooked demonstration courses for about 50,” says Abby Janaway of Newlyns.

Other trends identified in the workshop included groups of young mothers meeting for lunch at farm shop restaurants, group bookings, and paying in advance for dinner on a Saturday or Sunday night, priced at £15-£20 per head for a three-course dinner.

Staff costs should be no more than 30 per cent of total costs, while staff training was very important. Communicating home-grown food excellence through menus and PR was vital.

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