Stuart Gooderham, the owner and founder of Goodies gives an insight to the history of the farm shop.

One time in the 1980’s potatoes were only selling for £20 per tonne and my father (who recognized and always encouraged my entrepreneurial spirit) said that if I was to take a tractor and trailer, loaded with bags of potatoes, to a nearby lay-by then he would give me 50p for every bag that I sold. It was not the most pleasurable work standing about in the cold weather but fortunately I was selling between 6 and 8 tonne every weekend and more importantly for me I was meeting customers and listening to what they wanted.

Soon local suppliers wanting to supply me approached me; I also started sourcing suppliers for customer’s requests. From new potatoes to strawberries and asparagus to bedding plants, if someone asked for it I would find the finest quality locally and make it available for my customers.
My knowledge of supply and demand was gained in the invaluable early days of the tractor and trailer and I always listen to my customers who teach me everything I need to know about what they want (and what price they want to pay).

Eventually after many requests I added a refrigerated unit to the trailer and was supplying butchered pork alongside the other produce. This was the beginning of Goodies; and the rest… is history.