Pembertons Farm Shop Lytham enjoying its best build-up to Christmas yet as shoppers vow to support local business

New research from rural insurer NFU Mutual shows shoppers are planning to ‘give the gift of local’ this Christmas to support British farmers and independent businesses.

While 38 per cent of those surveyed said they planned to spend less this Christmas, seven in 10 said they will still shop with independent retailers.

When it comes to Christmas dinner, 60 per cent said they would like to buy meat from a local producer or farm shop, while 20 per cent sought fresh local vegetables.

Fresh, quality produce was the main reason why people chose to visit farm shops, followed by support for British farmers, boosting the local economy and shopping experience.

Among the farm shops attracting brisk festive custom is Pembertons at Lytham, which opened in 2017 and is run by fourth-generation Andrew Pemberton, his wife Ailsa and son Tom.

The Pemberton family has been retailing its milk since the 1950s and has been delighted with the success of the Farm Shop.

“The quality and localness of our meat is the main seller and this Christmas we are seeing more customers than ever which is fantastic considering we are still growing the business,” said Andrew.

"Product sourcing and service is extremely important to us, it is vital we look after our customers, from helping them find a certain product in store to carrying their basket or box to their car after checkout.”

Andrew added that the farm shop accounts for every sprout, every potato and every pint of milk and good health comes from having access to good, nutritious food.

“Our farm shop helps support Lancashire’s farming community as buying local not only reduces food miles but the time between the farm and your fork, so it is less likely nutrients will be lost from fresh food,” he said.

“There is also a unique assurance that comes from buying from the farm where your food comes from, and we take our responsibility to our customers seriously.

“Now more than ever it’s important to support local food producers as many go through a tough time and feeling the impacts of the cost-of-living crisis on top of other industry challenges.“Investing in local is a reciprocal relationship as you not only invest in local produce, but local people, the local countryside and the local economy. And they in turn will also invest back.”

Looking ahead the Pembertons would like to include a farm shop café plus space for customers to view the farm animals to help them learn about the food production cycle.

“The success of the business is not only down to family dedication but the support and help of our farm shop staff,” added Andrew. “We can only be as good as those we employ and we are very lucky to have such a wonderful team.”

Tom has also gained an incredible following on social media, with more than 507,000 followers on YouTube and 125,000 on Instagram, sharing videos depicting his daily life on the farm.

“It has massively helped the farm business as people also come to the farm shop in the hope of seeing us,” said Tom, also now a TV presenter and author.

“All the money made from the social media side of the business is reinvested into the farm and its diversifications to push them forward.”