Maker Spotlight: Roves Farm

Roves Farm has been beloved by the public for years, thanks to their popular visitor centre. After launching their farm shop in 2017, they’ve gone from strength to strength, proving that farm-fresh produce doesn’t have to be out of your budget.

We caught up with Aaron Drury, the Farm Shop Manager over at Roves Farm, to find out more about the passion that goes into the meat, veg and baked delicacies they produce, as well as the benefits that farm shops bring to the local community. 

How did you join the Roves team? 

I come from a retail background and specifically a farm shop background. Being from Swindon myself, Roves has always been part of my life growing up, it’s been around for over 30 years now. I used to come to the visitor centre when I was young, along with my friends. When I saw there was a farm shop manager position available at the farm, I was instantly interested as that is very much my forte. 

I’ve always loved good food and the point of difference between a supermarket and something a bit more local, along with the people who really care about the food they’re producing, that really appeals to me. 
 

What’s the biggest challenge when it comes to working in the farm shop?

Letting people know that there’s a farm shop here and you don’t need to visit the farm for the day to pop in! We really care about all of the produce we stock, and about everything we make and grow on the farm. While more and more people are starting to realise the quality is better and the difference in price between us and the supermarkets isn’t that much, we’d love more people to know about what’s just down the road from them. 

We want more people to realise that farm quality food isn’t out of reach – you’re getting meat from animals that are really looked after, and fruit and veg that’s fresh off the field, and that’s what we’re all about. It isn’t rock bottom prices, because it can’t be, but it’s still very reasonably priced for what you get. 

What do you sell that comes directly from Roves Farm?

We rear a wide variety of animals, which we butcher here – lamb, pork, goat and of course, our beef. And as well as selling the meat in the farm shop, we use it in the café to make most of our meals, as well as our pies, sausages and savoury pastries. So you can trust exactly where the ingredients have come from, whereas with supermarkets, it’s a lot more difficult to trace. We pride ourselves on offering a real field to fork experience. 

You also sell things that are from local businesses – how far away does that tend to come from? 

Our general ethos is to get the best quality goods as locally as possible. Sometimes, things come from a little further away, say 30–50 miles in terms of dry goods, but we can pack quite a lot into that 50-mile radius. We've got a lot of areas around here that make really good beers and ciders, excellent cheeses, and unique rubs and seasonings. 

What’s the most popular item in the farm shop?

Our beef, lamb and pork products are customer favourites and fly off the shelves, in particular our sausages which are available in a host of flavours. The next most popular would be our Roves Farm honey – we work with a beekeeper who has hives on our field just a quarter of a mile away from the farm shop itself and he harvests incredible honey.

Are there any hidden gems people should know about?

At Roves, we have a ‘Wonky Veg Club’, which is a community garden project where people are welcome to come along and learn more about gardening and growing. It’s free to join, it’s very relaxed, and all of our volunteers work incredibly hard to get as much fresh produce onto the allotment. We then sell any of the excess they produce, and it’s all fantastic veg.  

What’s next for Roves Farm? 

The farm shop is going to be expanding over the next few months, so once we’re done, it’ll be 50% bigger than it is now, with lots more for people to try out. We’re also adding a lovely new seating area for customers to relax and enjoy a barista drink, slice of cake or a meal from the café. We’re also incorporating a new entrance, so it’s easier to come in and head straight to the farm shop instead of through our visitor centre.

What does it mean to be a member of the Wiltshire Marque? 

For me, it’s the ethos of the Marque. It’s nice to know that there are other people – businesses and producers – who are all part of this scheme and promoting fantastic food. The Wiltshire Marque is a great one-stop shop for people to go to and get all the information they need, and to have something like that raising awareness of the amazing things producers in the county are doing is great. 

For more information about Roves Farm’s shop, visit their website. You can also learn more about the Wonky Veg Club on the Roves Farm site. 

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