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Last month, a second Flourish Food Hall opened in Norton St Philip, after the owners bought the Farleigh Road Farm Shop site in July and completed renovation works.
Work on the Somerset site was done with the shop still open, expanding the retail area and café with a larger kitchen, a new deli and butchery counters and a bigger car park.
The new shop, Flourish at Farleigh Road, is 12 miles away from the original location in Saltford. The first Flourish Foodhall & Kitchen opened in 2021 as a physical outlet for sustainability-focused wholesaler and sister business, Cotswold Fayre.
The shop promotes and share the B-Corp company’s values of sustainability, being ethically-driven and community-led – and sells its products, a portfolio which now includes more than 4,000 products from 400 brands.
As well as wholesaling and retailing, Cotswold Fayre runs B-Corp workshops, helping retailers and producers achieve the accreditation, with the larger aim of supporting small-scale farmers; championing seasonal produce; connecting people with the local and organic products, reducing their environmental footprint and promoting healthy eating habits.
As the wholesaler’s catalogue has grown, so has the retail operation: the Saltford shop has expanded twice already, with a Home & Lifestyle addition in 2022, and a Pottery Painting Barn in 2023.
The shop hosted the Flourish Food Festival in June, a two-day event including live music, craft activities and workshops. It was shortlisted to win a Farm Shop & Deli retailer award earlier this year.
Managing director of both sites Paul Castle said it had been an “incredibly challenging” time, opening a second site with both locations still trading.
“But to see it all come together makes it all worth it. The team have been amazing to continue to serve during this period and I can’t wait for more customers to be able to experience Flourish in this new location.”
This article first appeared in the December edition of Fine Food Digest