FODDER, the award-winning farm shop and cafe next to the Great Yorkshire showground in Harrogate, celebrates its fifth anniversary next week.

The shop is the only one of its kind in the country and has proved a runaway success.

Its total turnover since opening on June 17, 2009, is expected to reach £10m this year – and a second Fodder could be on the cards. The Yorkshire Agricultural Society (YAS) established Fodder after the footand- mouth crisis decimated farming and saw millions of farm animals slaughtered.

The twin aim was to give the county’s farmers and artisan food producers an outlet to showcase their produce, and to show the public that they can afford locally-sourced food and support agriculture.

Today, it has 327 suppliers and 49 staff, including five butchers and five chefs.

All profits go to YAS – organisers of the Great Yorkshire Show – to plough back into its activities and work in supporting rural life and communities and its education programme.

Fodder also donates its leftover produce to the Harrogate Homeless Project.

It has been recognised in national awards for its approach to retailing and for the green credentials of its building.

YAS was about to build its £5.1m Regional Agricultural Centre, which brought rural organisations together under one roof, when farmers asked if a permanent outlet for their produce could be included as it always sold well in the Great Yorkshire Shows food halls.

Heather Parry, YAS deputy chief executive, embarked on an intensive tour of farms and producers to decide what the shop should sell.

She said: “We were very passionate that what we did here was a celebration of absolutely the best of Yorkshire.

“The only way to do that was to go and see people and understand what they were making, how they were making it, and where it was from.

“Seeing them gave us a real insight, so we could be real, passionate champions of everything we sell.”

Fodder struck a chord with shoppers increasingly keen to know where their food comes from. All meat sold by Fodder is fully traceable back to Yorkshire farms, where livestock have been kept to the highest welfare standards.

Ms Parry said there had been a real surge of interest in local food. “It’s about people knowing where to get it, and also about making it affordable.

“There was a perception it was very expensive, but actually it shouldn’t be any more expensive.”

Fodder’s rapport with its suppliers is vital for both the shop and those who produce its food.

It’s now possible that a second Fodder will open its doors in Yorkshire, but where and when have not been decided.

Ms Parry said: “If we can help more suppliers by doing more in different areas, it’s all to play for. I think in the next couple of years there’ll be another one, but we need to be very careful because we don’t want to damage any independent shops or farm shops in another area.”