IN the middle of summer what better time to launch a new business based on strawberries and cream.

That's the idea of young farmer Tom Houlbrooke of Siddington Farm, Leadington , near Ledbury, who has just launched The Strawberry Stop as a diversification project to run alongside the family farming enterprise.

He explained: "The Strawberry Stop's aim is to be diverse and totally flexible, so we take the strawberries and cream to various shows and food festivals throughout the summer months, such as the CLA Game Fair, Ledbury Poetry Festival, Gloucester Quays Food Festival and the Hereford Food Festival, along with various farmers markets. We are also looking to target the wedding market and hope to cater at some private parties.

"Our product is very simple. However we like to think that our take on the traditional strawberries and cream adds a vibrant twist, as every Strawberry Stop pot is filled with our very own strawberries, picked straight from the farm. Our creams come fresh from a Herefordshire dairy farm, where they’ve been flavoured with seasonal ingredients to create indulgent flavour combinations. We then finish it off with fun, gourmet confectionary toppings."

There's already a website thestrawberrystop.co.uk and as Mr Houlebrooke added: "Farmers sometimes have to think outside the box in order to make a living from an increasingly difficult industry, especially one which is so dictated by supermarkets."

T