SHOP TALK IF I’D KNOWN THEN WHAT I KNOW NOW... RICHARD CLIVE, owner, Clive’s of Cropthorne, Cropthorne, Worcestershire Our family has owned the site at Cropthorne since the 1980s. Back then it was a commercial fruit farm. In 2003, we stopped packing apples – we couldn’t compete with the big operators. We continued growing for our juice business, but the cold store and packing shed stood derelict. We’ve had a thriving farm shop at nearby Upton-Upon-Severn for nearly 70 years, so in 2018, we decided to transform our Cropthorne site into a second farm shop. Essentially, we took the best parts of our Upton shop and replicated – or even improved on – them here. We wanted to make Cropthorne more of a ‘destination’. We have a bigger restaurant here – 50 covers – and we focus on cooked lunches and breakfasts, whereas at Upton the menu is limited to cold food and cakes. Both shops have the same broad selection of fresh produce and, as apple juice is a major part of our business, both have a large display dedicated to our juice and its story. Operating two shops has its advantages. We can use the same local suppliers, and we have found that we are being better looked after since we started purchasing in larger volumes. That said, we only buy fresh fruit, veg and meat jointly; there is too much variability in ambient sales patterns between the two sites. We have core staff at each location and staff who float between the two. We also try to spread the workload across both shops throughout the year, doing PYO strawberries, raspberries and cherries at Upton and PYO pumpkins at Cropthorne, for example. What is interesting is how different the clientele is, although the two shops are only 12 miles apart. Average basket spend is slightly higher in our Cropthorne shop. We put this partly down to its location closer to the Cotswolds. Our Cropthorne shop was a year old when COVID hit and then put us on the map, as people started shopping local. Our model was flipped on its head as we went from running a farm restaurant to operating a delivery service. We bought two vans and closed the restaurant. This gave us a chance to double the size of the kitchen. The ‘old’ kitchen hadn’t long been installed but it became apparent during our first year that it needed to be bigger if we were to realise the restaurant’s full potential. We are looking at expanding the restaurant side of the business. We have a temporary marquee with 30 covers and are considering building a more permanent timber-framed structure. We are also looking forward to harvesting our first asparagus, which we planted during lockdown. Interview Lynda Searby Photography Stuart Key
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March 2022 | Vol.23 Issue 2
