When the Fodder food hall in North Yorkshire closed its doors earlier this year for two months to undertake its biggest-ever refurbishment, a key objective was to better promote local products and farming.
It has certainly achieved that aim, even creating a wall of photos dedicated to its producers and suppliers. Further photos are displayed throughout the shop and on tills to keep the local businesses front and centre.
The revamp came 16 years after Fodder was established to help and support the local farming community.
The business, which is sited at the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate, shut its shop on 10 January after its busiest-ever Christmas. The Fodder café was also closed for a time during the refurbishment, although food and drink continued to be served from a converted 1960s Airstream caravan throughout.
During the closure, Fodder maintained its profile by partnering with Your Harrogate Radio to host the Fodder Fridays Breakfast Club. This weekly show ran for over nine weeks and featured 27 producers and suppliers, who talked about their businesses and connections to Fodder.
The Fodder team also used the refit period to visit suppliers across Yorkshire to see how their products are prepared using locally grown ingredients.
“We have really close relationships with our suppliers and producers,” says Fodder general manager Vanessa Pitt. “We work with them on special promotions and pay them fairly, and so putting them front and centre of Fodder is really important to us.”
Fodder, now renamed Fodder – Great Yorkshire Food Hall, was reopened last month by TV presenter Christine Talbot and Peter Wright from The Yorkshire Vet, together with Pitt and Yorkshire Agricultural Society CEO Allister Nixon.
The business now has a more modern look designed to offer additional space for dining and better highlight the local produce. It features permanent tasting tables where visitors can meet suppliers and sample their products.
The refurb includes a new logo that completes a full rebrand for the various businesses across the showground: The Great Yorkshire Events Centre, Harrogate Caravan Park and the Great Yorkshire Show.
“This is a new era for Fodder to take it into the future with a contemporary feel while retaining its warmth and connection to Yorkshire producers,” says Nixon.
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