6 of the best farm shops in Essex

Essex might be better known for its seaside towns and its proximity to London, but the county has a plethora of farm shops selling quality homegrown meat, fruit and vegetables for consumers who are keen to support local producers and enjoy the finest food and drink. Discover Speciality Food’s selection of just a few of the establishments showcasing the brilliant local produce the county has to offer.

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Blackwells Farm Shop

Location: Coggeshall, Colchester
Shop hours: Monday-Friday, 8am-5:30pm; Saturday, 8am-4pm; Sunday, 10am-3pm

Situated at Herons Farm, near Coggeshall in Essex, Blackwells Farm Shop has been farmed by the Blackwells family since the 1930s. The family-run business is best known for its poultry, with chickens, geese and turkeys reared to traditional methods. 

According to Blackwells’ Nicole Forster, the shop’s driving ethos is supporting local famers and producers. In fact, more than 90% of the produce they sell is sourced within a 30-mile radius. “Our butcher’s counter is fully stocked with traditional cuts of meat, roasting joints, and weekly changing specials,” Nicole says. “We dry-age our beef for a minimum of 28 days for the very best of tenderness and flavour.” Blackwells’ grass-fed beef is one of its best-selling products in the shop, alongside their homemade pies and succulent birds.

Christmas is always a highlight for the shop, as free-range turkeys, geese and chickens and Aylesbury ducks are reared on the farm for the occasion. Blackwells has reared turkeys for 40 years, and they never give antibiotics or hormones for growth promotion.

The fully stocked cheese counter is another highlight of the shop, as are the homemade ready meals, which are made fresh every day by the in-house chefs, using their own seasonal produce. Blackwells’ talented team also make sweet and savoury treats for the shop. “Our in-store chefs and bakers make some delicious fresh baguettes, sausage rolls, summer BBQ bites, and cakes and brownies!” Nicole says.

Their vast selection also features hand-picked local producers, including local dairy products from Bradfields Farm Dairy and charcuterie from Dingley Dell Pork, drinks from Peter Watts Winery and Two Birds Spirits, plus Maldon Salt, Laura Rose Candles and Temp’rd Chocolates.

In addition to all this, the team are committed to upskilling others in the community, and they offer monthly butchering courses, including sausage-making classes and pork and lamb butchery courses. These make for fun and educational experience days for anyone 18 and older, Nicole says, with no experience necessary. 

Calcott Hall

Location: Brentwood, Essex
Shop hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 8:30am-5:30pm; Sunday, 10am-2pm

The McTurks have been farming a range of crops like sweetcorn and strawberries at Calcott Hall for more than 45 years. With 120 acres, the former dairy farm has grown significantly since the farm shop opened in 1975. In the 1980s, the family renovated an old Essex barn to expand the shop, and they’ve used that as their base ever since, gradually refurbing new areas over the years as demand for the shop has grown.

The farm shop sells freshly picked fruit and veg grown to traditional farming methods with minimal pesticides. They also carefully source quality local produce, working with more than 40 regional suppliers and producers, many of which are based within 50 miles of the farm. Their large range of products includes Longley Farm creams and yoghurts, pies from The Real Pie Company and Essex-based butchery Quality & Excellence and smoked fish from Pinneys of Orford. They also sell Suffolk ham and salami from Lane Farm, Tiptree and Tracklements jams and pickles and chutneys, local honey from Hoyles Farm, Fieldfare frozen food and fresh bread from Scrumdiddly Bakery, Shepherds Bakery and Ravens Bakery.

The shop’s cheese counter opened more than 10 years ago and includes a range of British and European cheeses, from national favourites like Colston Basset Blue Stilton and Cheddar Gorge Cheddar to Dutch aged goat’s cheese Gouda and Brebirousse D’Argental ewe’s milk cheese from France.

The butchery is run by Neil Risdon and fresh fish from Star Fishmongers is also sold. In addition to the shop, the farm runs a ‘pick your own’ pumpkin event in the autumn and is home to The Barnyard Café, offering coffee, teas, cakes and fresh lunches.

The Green Barn Farm Shop & Cafe

Location: Benfleet
Shop hours: Monday-Saturday, 9am-5pm; Sunday 10am-4pm

The Green Barn Farm Shop is owned by brothers John and Robert Lyon, whose family has been farming in Essex for more than 130 years. The shop has now been trading for several years. “We are unique in that all the beef we sell in the shop has been bred and reared here on this farm,” says Julie Keeling, the farm shop’s manager. “We also sell our own rapeseed oil, which our customers can bring back and refill their bottle for half the original price paid.”

In addition to its Aberdeen Angus beef, the farm shop sells a wide range of fruit and veg that is bought from local suppliers wherever possible, depending on what’s in season. One of the shop’s favourite local producers to work with is Flour and Spoon artisan bakery, which is based in Chelmsford and Leigh-on-Sea and frequently wins national baking awards.

But the farm shop isn’t all the operation has to offer. “Two years ago, we added a café to run in conjunction with the shop,” Julie says. The food on the café menu can also be purchased from the shop, offering a valuable upselling opportunity. “Our most popular item on the menu is our Farmer’s Breakfast,” she continues, which includes a hearty mix of thick-cut bacon, fried egg, sausages, tomato, mushrooms and thick-cut toast with butter and a side of beans.

Always innovating, this year the team also planted a Maize Maze in the field next door to the shop. “We are looking forward to welcoming the younger generation, and hopefully we can help educate them on the importance of supporting local farms,” Julie says. 

Lathcoats Farm Shop

Location: Galleywood, Chelmsford
Shop hours: Monday-Saturday, 9am-5pm

This fourth-generation family fruit farm grows more than 40 varieties of English apples as well as offering a wide variety of ‘pick your own’ summer fruits. The farm shop and The Bee Shed Coffee House showcase the farm’s produce alongside locally sourced meat and veg.

As one of the few remaining fruit growers in Essex, Lathcoats Farm Shop boasts its own fruit and apple juice as well as home-baked bread. The shop also proudly showcases the best food and drink the region has to offer in what was once “little more than a shed”. After expanding and refurbishing in 2000 and 2012, they have achieved their goal of shining a spotlight on other local and family producers, including Latchingdon lamb, farm-made ice cream, Suffolk salami, vegetables from Brentwood, wine and beer from Essex, cider from Suffolk, artisan bread from Danbury and more. Fresh fish is also available from Wednesday to Saturday, and locally reared meat is ordered in ahead of the busy Christmas season.

With sustainability at the fore, the shop also features a packaging-free refill section for dried food staples, household products and Fieldfare’s loose frozen fruit, vegetables and pastries. The on-site cafe, The Bee Shed, which opened in 2013, offers coffee, light lunches and afternoon tea, and the homemade cakes are a must. If you find the café is rammed in the afternoon, The Bee Shack nearby sells takeaway cold and hot drinks and cakes.

In addition to fantastic food, the farm hosts numerous events and even alpaca treks and farm animal visits. However, it is best known for its apples, growing tried and true favourites like Cox as well as Essex’s own varieties: Chelmsford Wonder from Chelmsford, Queen from Billericay, D’Arcy Spice from Tolleshunt D’Arcy and Discovery from Colchester. 

Mitchell’s Farm Shop

Location: Elmstead Market, Colchester
Shop hours: Monday-Saturday, 9am-4pm

Selling an array of the finest local and regional food and drink products, Mitchell’s Farm Shop in Elmstead Market is a family-run business that has been farming the Essex land for more than 100 years. The Mitchell family has been an institution in the local area for the past century, and Ian and Christine now currently run the operation.

Despite its longstanding reputation, the farm has changed significantly over the years, from rearing livestock to growing fruit and now its current stock of potatoes and mixed arable crops. Selling the farm’s own produce in the farm shop is one of the family’s more recent developments, having only established this part of the business in 1995.

In addition to their own products, like delicious, fresh asparagus, customers can find a range of fantastic brands, including both well-known and lesser-known gems – and the team is always on the lookout for more. Current suppliers include Lakenham Creamery ice cream; Cook ready meals; frozen fruit from Williamsons Farms in Manningtree, Essex; local beers from Colchester Brewery, Mersea Island and Adnams in Southwold, and pork and buffalo meat from Sunnymead Farm – so close that Mitchell’s boasts you can see the fields from the shop.

Sustainability is important to the team, and as well as offering paper produce and biodegradable bags, they also reuse egg boxes and encourage customers to bring in their own plastic containers to fill with their shopping.

Deersbrook Farm Shop

Location: Braintree
Shop hours: Tuesday-Thursday and Saturday, 9am-4pm; Friday, 9am-5pm

Having only opened in 2018, Deersbrook Farm Shop and butchery is a newer face on the Essex farm shop scene, but the family are in their third generation of farming, and they are passionate about local produce and are proud to offer a farm-to-fork experience.

Deersbrook’s butchery is supplied with the farm’s own native, grass-fed beef and rare breed pork, as well as Herdwick lamb, free-range chicken, turkey, goose, duck, wild venison, rabbit and game. The home-produced beef is a real highlight of the shop, with the farm’s herd of native Sussex cattle being their prime focus. The cows are reared on mature grassland and dry aged and matured naturally on the bone for 28 days to develop their flavour and texture before being prepared by the local, traditional butcher.

The team are committed to producing the best possible meat with the highest welfare standards – a win-win-win, they say, for the livestock, environment and consumer. This includes grazing their cattle on meadows all year round. They were even named Essex’s first 100% grass-fed cattle producer as certified by the Pasture for Life Association.

The farm sells a monthly meat box, available for collection in the shop or for nationwide delivery, which includes products like beef mince, beef burgers, steaks, brisket and more. Customers can also buy veg boxes, dinner kits and more from the shop’s ever-changing selection.