From modest beginning as a self-service trailer with an honesty box, the Marshall family has built an award-winning multi-faceted business with home-grown produce and great service at its heart.
Marshall’s Farm Shop & Kitchen in Aberdeenshire was founded by Kenny Marshall and his wife, Moira, three decades ago. It remains very much a family business as the couple work alongside daughters Christine, Julie and Shona.
Located 10 miles west of Aberdeen, on the main A96 route between Blackburn and Kintore, it includes a farm shop, butchery, restaurant, drive-through and dog-walking fields. It’s a successful and innovative mix that last year secured the accolade of Scottish regional winner in the Farm Shop & Deli Retailer Awards.
Originally a mixed farming operation producing dairy, livestock, potatoes and arable crops, the business diversified into retail in the 1990s, selling spuds from a self-service trailer. The retail side later expanded into portable buildings on either side of the A96, selling vegetables and free-range eggs.
A step change came in 2007, when Kenny decided to focus on retail, dropping the dairy side of the business because it had become uneconomical. In 2010, the family opened a purpose-built farm shop and 40-seat café, with the aim of selling their own produce.
“We have made it our priority to offer what is not available in the supermarkets and to market our own produce directly to the customer,” says Christine, who is the farm shop’s buyer and oversees the drive-through, gift shop and sweet bakery team.
“Our main values are to produce top-class customer service to every customer that walks through the door, while providing good value for money.”
Julie is responsible for HR and payroll. She also looks after the restaurant and the properties side of the business. Shona splits her time between the farm and running the butchery department and deli bakers. Kenny remains in charge of the farm, Moira oversees the farm shop, and the couple look after the finances together.
For all the changes over the decades, the farm is still at the core of Marshall’s Farm Shop & Kitchen. It provides much of the produce sold in the shop and used in the restaurant and drive-through. A 450-strong herd of cattle – mainly Aberdeen Angus – supplies beef. A rare pig herd produces pork, and eggs come from a flock of about 2,000 hens. Thirty-five acres of land are planted with eight varieties of potato, turnips, carrots, cabbage, cauliflower, beetroot and kale.
Each year, the business grows 800 acres of barley; 70% is processed for malting and the remainder is kept for feed. Wheat has been re-introduced into the crop rotation so 70% of all hen and pig feed can be produced on the farm.
Marshall’s Farm Shop & Kitchen ensures customers are aware of its home-grown produce by, for example, clearly marking the use of farm ingredients on the restaurant menu.
“Our Sunday roast dinners are made with 90% home produce, including our home-reared pork, lamb and Aberdeen Angus beef. Even the Yorkshire pudding is made with the farm eggs,” says Christine.
The restaurant, butchery and shop combined now account for half the farm’s turnover, she adds, The farm now gets paid for its produce immediately, rather than having to wait months for payment from trade customers. “In addition, we get to decide the prices of our produce, it isn’t stipulated by the larger supermarket giants, as we have completely cut out the middleman by selling direct to the consumer.”
In November 2021, the original premises was expanded with a new shop, in-house butchery and restaurant. It has since added a gift shop and children’s play park, too. The most recent innovation was the launch of two Muddy Paws-branded fields for dogs to exercise in.
“This is expected to grow further this year with another dog park location and the launch of our dog grooming facility,” says Christine.
The drive-through opened in February 2023, although its origins go back to the pandemic, when a heated shelter was built to enable the business to serve diners outdoors. This evolved to include a drive-through barbecue, which helped Marshall’s trade during later lockdowns.
“The support from locals was incredible, and this led to the decision to make it a permanent addition to our new expansion,” says Christine. Today, the drive-through menu includes breakfast items such as rolls and wraps, and meals including Aberdeen Angus steak burgers.
“This was another chance for us to showcase our quality produce direct to the consumer. We believe it has huge potential to grow further – with an increasing demand for convenience, this suits the ongoing trend without having to substitute speed for quality.”
There is further development in the pipeline, including a conservatory to provide additional restaurant seating and expansion of the gift shop and butchery.
Like much of what the family does, such plans are likely to be shaped by customer feedback.
“When we first opened, we encouraged customers in the restaurant to take time to fill out our feedback forms,” says Christine. “The forms were studied daily, and decisions were made to change processes, menu options as well as efficiencies in all areas.”
Family members take every opportunity to speak directly to customers. Although the shop has 90 staff, including kitchen porters and chefs, shop staff, bakers, butchers and restaurant workers, the Marshalls remain very much hands-on.
“Alongside a brilliant staff and management team – we couldn’t do it without them – the five of us all play a huge part in the day-to-day running of the business,” Christine says. She adds that members of the family can be seen behind the shop counter, in the restaurant, merchandising stock, serving at the drive-through window or on the butchery counter. “This allows us to speak directly with our customers which we believe is so important. We all very much ‘muck in’ where it is required – this builds good working relationships with all the staff too.”
It also gives the family an opportunity to see how their hard work has paid off.
“There is nothing quite like us in the whole of Aberdeenshire – all of what we have to offer under one roof,” says Christine. “Our location has provided the perfect opportunity for creating a destination spot, truly representing the very best in modern Scottish farming.”
No comments yet