Pictured above: Roy and Ron Bartlett
Lichfield vegetable growers R&RW Bartlett have gone for Gold
by launching a new brand of parsnips to promote the county of
Staffordshire.
Father and son partnership Roy and Rod Bartlett, who farm over
700 acres in the Lichfield area of Staffordshire, have decided to
promote the county, famed for its light, sandy soil that is perfect
for growing root crops such as parsnips.
Staffordshire Gold - Parsnips grown by R&RW Bartlett - will
take the county name throughout Britain as the 8,000 of tonnes of
parsnips harvested yearly on the land in Shenstone and Whittington,
are sold from Lands End to Jon O'Groats.
"As people become more and more conscious of what they are
eating they want to know where their food comes from and how it is
grown. A good butcher boasts that he can tell you exactly where his
meat comes from - well I can do exactly the same with the parsnips
we grow!
"I was born in Staffordshire and I am very proud of the county.
We have been looking for a way to promote the localness of our
product for some time so when a great hoard of Saxon treasure was
discovered just down the road I thought 'Staffordshire Gold' - the
decision was almost made for us," explains Roy.
Seventy-five-year-old Roy has been farming since his teens when
he and his mother took over 50 acres of land had been owned by his
grandfather. Roy moved into the present base at Shenstone Park in
1976 and son Rod became a full partner in the business in 1983.
The Bartletts supply all aspects of the food industry, including
supermarkets, multiple retailers and wholesale markets as well as
the food service and food processing industries.
Quality and freshness are of paramount importance for food
producers such as R&RW Bartlett, so they ensure that no
part of their land is further than ten miles from the packing
house. That means the daily harvest can be started around 5am
and can be washed, graded, hydro-cooled, packed and ready for
distribution by 9am.
"Four hours from field to delivery wagon is a tough target but
it's one we manage to hit almost 100 per cent of the time. We are
proud of our product and we hope Staffordshire Gold gets our 'grown
local - sold fresh' message across," explains Rod.