HILLERS farm shop has put its centenary celebrations on hold – so it can carry on serving the local community through the pandemic.
The business, at Dunnington near Alcester, was established in 1920 and has remained in the same family ever since.
Its 100th anniversary was to be celebrated with the planting a 100-tree orchard and a tasting day showcasing local produce.
Children from Dunnington School were due to help with the planting but 80-year-old managing director Richard Beach has completed the job during lockdown, as the implications of Covid on the business hit home.
At the same time, staff at the business, which is on part of the Ragley Hall Estate, turned from a leisure and shopping destination to a lifeline for local people.
Emma Taylor and Sally Haines – Richard’s daughters who now run the business – implemented a call and collect system so local people could access fresh food.
Emma said: “We have very loyal customers but almost overnight we were transformed very much into a vital service.”
Chefs from the restaurant became product pickers and arrived at 4.45am five days a week to ensure the call to collect orders were ready.
Five members of team became customer call staff taking orders, while the casual under-18 workers arrived at 5pm when the farm shop closed to re-stock the shelves for the following day.
The firm also had a Covid-relief grant from Stratford District Council as well as benefiting from rate relief.
“The call and collect service is still running but is down to about 80 orders a week as people have got used to life in lockdown,” said Sally.
“We are now hoping we can celebrate our 100th next year and to reinstate events such as the taster weekend which draw in around 2,000 people, but everything is still very uncertain.”
