Aden Foster and his wife Rosario have been nominated as Farming Heroes, but to many people in their community they are Covid heroes.

The couple had just opened a shop to sell their farm produce when the coronavirus pandemic forced the UK to lock down.

All their business plans went out the window as suddenly they had a new task – providing a vital service to local families struggling to food and supplies.

The pair launched a free delivery service and expanded the range of products they sold as people told them they could not get to the supermarkets, or they supermarkets did not have what they needed.

“It was very busy,” says Aden. “We were working from 3am to 10pm preparing meat, organising orders of fruit and veg, and also and buying in general groceries like cereals, oli and flour.”

“They were wonderful and vital through the lockdown,” said nominator Marie Lloyd. “And there meat is wonderful.”

Second to the terrible human toll, Covid has put many firms out of business, but for Weobley Ash Meats at Presteigne it has actually accelerated their business development and built them a large customer base much more quickly than they expected.

First of all there is the loyalty issue. People remember what they did during the lockdown, delivering food, going the extra mile, and all at normal prices. “We weren’t interested in a quick buck,” says Aden.

Demand for quality

But the other thing that happened, he says, is that it changed people’s buying habits and work many up to the environmental issues around how we produce our food, and the quality of the food on the plate.

Aden and Rosario keep pigs and Sheep at Nash and the shop was set up mainly to sell pork, bacon, hogget, mutton etc.

It’s meat from outdoor reared, grass fed, native breeds. And the taste has left an impression.

“After lockdown was eased customers came back and told us it was because of the taste.”

Now they sell a lot of meat boxes which contain some prime cuts of meat and vegetables that last for several days.

And from a business that sold about 40% of its produce to restaurants and caterers, they now have 90% going out via the shop on the Presteigne Industrial Estate.

The shop has been opened just two weeks when Covid caught them ‘on the hop.’

It was a real strain on the family – son Cole and daughter Jayme pitched in to help through the long hours – but it’s had a silver lining for the business.

Aden does not want to see a second wave. But if there is, he says they are ready for it – to keep on serving local people.

  • Do you know worthy recipients of a farming award?

Entries are open now and to nominate just go to https://www.herefordtimes.com/awards/tcf/ and fill out the online form.

The awards ceremony will be in digital format this year– because of coronavirus.