BOXING CLEVER WITH FRESH LOCAL PRODUCE (April 2007)

Locally-grown organic produce, including fresh meat, milk and vegetables, is now winging its way around Newcastle, Sunderland, Morpeth and Hexham, thanks to a regular weekly box service set up by a new family-run business on Tyneside.

Tracy and Ken Holland, who until recently ran a farm shop at High Gosforth Park, have decided their future lies in meeting the growing public demand for top quality organic food delivered direct to a customer’s own door or left for collection at local food stores.

Already their business, North Country Organics, based at Kingston Park within the shadow of supermarket giant Tesco Extra, has signed up around 250 customers, or club members, who can choose from a shopping list of organic food currently produced within a 100-mile radius of Newcastle.

Prominent among the suppliers are two members of Northumbria Larder, the regional food group – Northumbrian Quality Meats, of West Woodburn, Hexham, and Acorn Dairy, of Archdeacon Newton, Darlington.

Organic hill-bred beef , Blackface lamb and pork from rare breed pigs are on the menu from farmer/producer Steve Ramshaw , who runs Northumbrian Quality Meats, and the Tweddle family, of Acorn Dairy, supply organic milk, cream and butter for the grocery boxes.

North Country Organics have also linked up with Joy and Andrew Forster, of Thornton Park Farm, Berwick-upon-Tweed, who specialise in organic eggs under the trading name of TPF Organics. The 300-acre farm stands alongside the A698 between Berwick and Coldstream. The eggs business was set up two years ago and the Forsters now have 520 organic layers which provide them with a useful diversification from the main task of arable farming.

Newcastle University’s Nafferton Farm enterprise in the Tyne Valley is supplying organic potatoes, to be followed by cauliflowers in season.

For tropical fruits North Country Organics is relying largely on Yorkshire-based Suma Wholefoods, which claims to be the UK’s largest independent wholesaler and distributor of quality vegetarian, fairly traded, organic and natural foods.

Produce comes in two box sizes, standard (£12) and family (£22), with free delivery. Typically, an all-organic grocery box will contain fruit, vegetables, three litres of milk, a dozen eggs, a joint of meat, sausages or possibly steak.

Tracy Holland, who used to be in retail management, says that no air freight is involved in getting the produce to Newcastle from its country of origin. Methods of payment for customers are cash on delivery, an invoice, standing order or debit and credit cards. North Country Organics will also shortly have its own website.

The business has been going only for a matter of weeks and already, says Tracy, the demand for its services is “ nearly overwhelming.”

“We ran a box service when we had the farm shop and it became apparent that we had to find a bigger place because of all the orders that came flooding in. Now the box service is the mainstay of the business although we still have a counter at Kingston Park where we serve callers to the premises,” she said.

Tracy’s father, Alan Purvis, and her brother Mark, are both involved in packing the boxes.

Ken Holland says: “Our target is 500 customers and we are well on the way to achieving that figure. After that, we’ll have to consider the next stage. At present we are delivering in an area that covers Newcastle, Sunderland, north to Morpeth and west to Hexham, using two vans.”