LOCAL FOOD HEROES - FEN FARM DAIRY
Jonny Crickmore with the Fen Farm Montbeliarde herd
In the last ten years we’ve witnessed the blooming of some incredible food and drink producers along our little strip of the Waveney Valley. Nationally there’s a renaissance in local food and drink production of high quality and provenance, and many of our friends and neighbours are receiving some highly deserved attention as a result.
Perhaps one of the best known and leading the way in innovation and creativity is Fen Farm Dairy - a longstanding family-run farm managed by Jonny Crickmore.
In an age where dairy farming is facing more challenges than ever, Jonny, with his family and first class team, has taken the business into new, exciting and rewarding directions. This is a new era where farming is having to adapt at lightning pace not just to fit with customers shopping baskets but their increasing environmental awareness and interest in where their food comes from. Of this fact, Jonny is well aware and reacting accordingly with great results. Leading by example, Fen Farm’s actions have inspired many, many other dairy producers around the British Isles to think about things a little bit differently… and that’s never a bad thing.
Who are you and what’s the name of your business?
Jonny Crickmore of Fen Farm Dairy.
Where are you based, what do you do and how long have you been in business?
Our farm and dairy is on the Flixton Road just a couple of minutes southwest of Bungay.
We are dairy farmers/cheesemakers/butter-makers and most recently yoghurt-makers too!
Our recent diversification into adding value to milk started in 2011 when we opened up our shop selling raw milk. The family farm has been in business since the late 1940's.
Jonny Crickmore with a handful of ‘Rocket fuel” - the lush, rich marsh grass his cows graze every day though the spring and summer months.
Tell us the story of why and how you started…
We started selling raw milk by the roadside inspired by freerange hen farmers selling their fresh eggs in honesty box-style sheds. We questioned why didn't dairy farmers sell their milk direct to the public anymore and thought ‘what can we lose?’. £1000 later we had a garden shed painted up with stylised cow markings, a secondhand fridge off eBay and an honesty box.
The raw milk proved a huge success and as every idea and opportunity came along we took it. We bought the very first milk vending machine in the UK which then went on to inspire countless other UK dairy farms to do likewise. Then we went on a mission to make the first raw milk brie cheese in the UK which later became our famous Baron Bigod. We changed our herd of Holsteins to the French Montbeliarde breed which produce great cheese-making milk.
After great success selling the cheese around the UK we then started a new mission to make a butter to rival the French Normandy Butter. Bungay Butter was born and again, being original in creating a cultured raw butter which nobody else was making, picked up a loyal following. This is now used by many top delis/farm shops and restaurants around the country.
In 2019 we went on a trip to Iceland to track down the famous Skyr yoghurt producer Thorgrimur and learn from him how to make the finest skyr style yoghurt in the UK. I'm very pleased to say we are launching this product in the next month.
Inspecting the latest batch of maturing Baron Bigod brie…
What would you normally be doing at this time of year and how is it different under the current lockdown situation?
Normally, for myself, it would be several food and drink festivals and markets at the weekends. More travelling around the UK and Europe speaking to our wholesale partners. Instead I'm spending much of my time changing our business model on where we sell our products. Because of the restaurant closures this has killed well over 50% of our sales. Instead we are focusing on home delivery services and online orders through our own website and through our wholesale and retail partners.
What challenges have you faced and how have you met them in order to keep business moving?
The biggest challenge by far was losing so much of our customer base over night. We tried giving away cheese wedges to many of our local customers as a goodwill gesture. I got in touch with several food journalists, presenters and celeb chefs to bring awareness of the problem the farmhouse cheese industry was facing and thanks to the amazing public response have turned our cheese mountain around. We are now in an amazing position of selling all the cheese we are making 2 weeks ahead of it being mature enough to be sold.
Just a tiny handful of the orders for Baron Bigod being processed since the lockdown began
Have you discovered any benefits or positive effects of this new way of thinking about your business?
Yes I think firstly our team on the farm have been amazing and the spirit of the people who work at Fen Farm has been the most enjoyable part for me. I'm very lucky to have so many great people put their all into farming and making dairy products at Fen Farm. We have seen a great many more followers on our social media platforms and many more sales on our website.
Personally I’ve enjoyed seeing my children at home more often. The other thing I’ve really enjoyed is the quiet weekends. Going out for a walk with my family with a packed lunch has been fantastic!
What are you looking forward to most when this ends?
Going out for a meal with the team at the farm to celebrate the hard work we have all put in.
Keep an eye out for the launch of Fen Farm’s brand new range of skyr yoghurt in the next few weeks!
Jonny Crickmore outside the Fen Farm Dairy Kiosk
All photographs were taken observing strict social distancing and hygiene measures.