organic is better
We specialise in what is organic, fresh, seasonal and local: vegetables, fresh from our kitchen gardens; award-winning handmade cheeses from our organic Creamery; breads, pastries, cakes and biscuits from our organic Bakery; foods from the chefs in our kitchens; fresh meat from our organic estate in Staffordshire; and, of course, you can dine at our restaurant and Café at the Farmshop, where you will find everything under one award-winning roof.
our philosophy
Over twenty years ago, we began to turn our family land in the Cotswolds and Staffordshire over to sustainable, organic farming. It was the start of a passion: to grow crops naturally, and rear healthy animals, for local people; and to feed our children better. We had joined a mission to reverse the industrialisation of our food, and the pollution of the land that nurtures it. At Daylesford Organic we are dedicated to growing, producing and cooking real food, organically. It must be fresh, and full of texture, succulence and flavour – with the full complement of vitamins and minerals that can only come from natural food that is eaten at its best: in season. In accordance with this philosophy, we practice organic, sustainable farming without using dangerous pesticides and herbicides on our crops. We do not use artificial growth promoters, antibiotics and drugs on our animals. We can prove that when people eat natural organic food, they can taste the difference. All Daylesford Organic products have full certification from the Soil Association.
a different kind of store
The rich organic milk from our herd of Friesians – a different taste entirely from more industrially produced milk – seemed to entreat us to build a Creamery beside the milking parlour, where we could make fine cheeses by hand, the traditional way. Selling what we produced on the spot was the next step. We opened our innovative Farmshop at Daylesford in 2003. Starting on ‘small is beautiful’ lines, we wanted it to be not just a retail store, but a food community, in which as much as possible happens on the spot. Vegetables, fruit and herbs are picked early each morning in the kitchen garden, to go a few yards into the shop and to the chefs in our organic kitchens; flour milled from our own organic grain is used each day in our bakery; organic milk from our Friesians goes straight from the milking parlour to the Creamery next door, where we make traditional cheddar and other organic cheeses by hand. Skilled artisan cooks work alongside organic gardeners; cheese-making is practised next door to willow basket-weaving, dry stone walling and other traditional, precious country crafts; people working together, sharing a vision.
ensuring the survival of the artisan
Many of the goods we sell are the products of small artisan producers: craftsmen and women who practice skills – often ancient – to a high degree of beauty and excellence. We are dedicated to helping promote the survival of local communities, both at home and abroad. No man is an island, especially in these times of globalisation: we also practice the sensitive sourcing of goods from overseas and from developing countries, conscious always of the effects of our custom on the producer as well as the customer. We are passionate supporters of the Slow Food Movement, bringing back a food culture which revolves around family eating, and paying food and cookery the respect they deserve, as central to our lives.
education: the heart of what we do
We produce detailed information on our products: there is a story behind every item and we like to make it available to you. We encourage school children to visit us to see a farm at work, so they can understand the link between what they eat, and where it comes from. We sponsor organic food for the school meals at our local primary school, and we run activities to show that good food, and learning to cook, can be great fun. We try subtly to introduce children to the value and pleasures of eating a healthy diet. For us as adults, too, there is always an opportunity to learn. Our yoga, complementary therapy and holistic classes and treatments are enormously popular; we believe they are vital to well-being. We hold cookery demonstrations, country craft classes and community activities, throughout the year. We also celebrate the seasons, keeping local customs alive.
taking the wider view
Members of our staff are given thorough training, so that they can help you to make an informed choice. They care about what we produce, and believe in our stand against mediocre, degraded food. They share a whole-hearted commitment to quality and purity. It is early days for us: to achieve many of our objectives, we still have a long way to go. But everyone at Daylesford is committed to demonstrating that even in small ways, we can each make a difference.
into the garden
The Garden at Pimlico is there to inspire, excite and advise those who want to adopt the organic approach in their own gardens – whether on a tiny patio or rolling acres. Here you will find seeds and plants to attract butterflies and insects, to help maintain the hedgerows, birds and countryside; naturally made, simple products and tools of the finest, lifetime quality; our own organic compost, heritage organic vegetable seeds – and even organic wild bird seed, a felicitous by-product from the organic grain we mill for flour. We have launched a range of gardening wear and practical accessories: each is a work of pre-eminent craftsmanship, as beautiful and practical and useful as it can be. We want people to enjoy our own organic hide gardening gauntlets, their hands protected from thorns – or dig with a perfectly-turned and weighted spade, ergonomically designed to ease one’s back; to plant healthy bulbs, or use a trowel that will feel good in the hand, for decades to come.
fresh from the field
Respect and nourish the land, and it will nourish you. Sustainability means producing food without depleting the earth’s resources, or polluting the environment. Our crops and livestock are raised in ways that are, like nature, self-sustaining. It promotes bio-diversity, recycles plant nutrients, protects soil from erosion and conserves water. It attempts to halt and reverse the devastation that industrial-scale methods of production have caused to the water and the soil.
