13/04/20 Success and struggle in the Covid-19 era

Farming Today

• Episode: 13/04/20 Success and struggle in the Covid-19 era
• Website: Farming Today
• Feed URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qj8q/episodes/downloads.rss
• Duration: 00:11:27
• Published: 2020-04-13 07:00

Easter Monday should be one of the busiest Bank Holidays for farm shops and cafés - but Easter 2020 will always be remembered as the year of the coronavirus lockdown. Anna Jones talks to farm retailers about how their businesses are coping, and the changes they're making to survive the crisis. Rupert Evans has transformed his 100 seat café in Staffordshire into an Amazon-style warehouse. Click and Collect, 'drive thru' style shopping has proven to be the saviour of his family business. Butchery sales have quadrupled, fruit and veg are flying off the shelves and demand for beer and wine has doubled. Rupert believes shoppers are returning to local food - and they're here to stay. But not every business is having such a positive and profitable experience. Cheese maker Selina Cairns of Errington Cheese in South Lanarkshire makes award-winning cheese from a flock of 300 sheep and 100 dairy goats. 80% of her cheese was destined for restaurants or farmers’ markets – but now has nowhere to go. Faced with a massive backlog of cheese - and the constant supply of milk - Selina frantically set up an online shop, but is struggling to attract enough customers. Anna brings in farm retail consultant John Stanley, a chestnut grower in Western Australia. John offers tips on making the best out of the Covid-19 era in the hope businesses like Selina's will still be here next Easter. Produced and presented by Anna Jones.