L-R: Denstone Hall Farm Shop and Café staff member Lucinda Wilkes, owners Rupert and Emma Evans and staff member Ryan Liesch proudly display the awards received at the Taste of Staffordshire Good Food Awards Tuesday night
A Staffordshire farm shop and café was singled out for special praise by judges in an annual awards ceremony after it became the first-ever outlet to achieve a faultless inspection report.
Denstone Hall Farm Shop and Café, in Denstone, near Uttoxeter, picked up the Judges Choice Award at this year’s Taste of Staffordshire Good Food Awards, which were held at Uttoxeter Racecourse on Tuesday (Oct23).
Denstone Hall was also picked up the Farm Shop of the Year award – for the third time in its history – but received the Judges Choice Award because it had gained an unprecedented 100% score in its inspection report.
Representatives from the awards, which are organised by Enjoy Staffordshire, carry out mystery shopper visits to local food and drink outlets and suppliers as part of the judging process, looking at their service and produce as well as a host of other criteria including social media, telephone manner, shopping experience and use and promotion of local food and drink.
The judge’s report on Denstone Hall failed to find a single thing wrong with the outlet, which opened in 2007, awarding it top marks across the board in its Service Excellence Report, which details everything right down to whether or not staff are friendly and establish eye contact with their customers.
It also credited Denstone Hall for its colourful displays, map of local producers and its current expansion plans, which will enable it to stock more food in the future.
In the report, the judges concluded: “It was almost impossible to find fault with Denstone Hall Farm Shop. If you were to imagine what the ideal farm shop should be like, then Denstone Hall would pretty much encapsulate it.”
Owner Rupert Evans, who runs the outlet with his wife, Emma, said: “To score 100% across the board is a wonderful and extraordinary achievement that we are immensely proud of and the fact that it was achieved through a mystery shopper visit makes it even more special.
“Just when we thought our staff have done everything they can to exceed our expectations, this award proves that they are reaching ever-higher standards every day and we are incredibly grateful to them.
“This is a busy time of year for us with Christmas on its way and customers getting in touch to place their orders and visiting the new Christmas section in our gift shop, so we thoroughly enjoyed taking time out to attend the awards and returning home with such a prestigious accolade.”
