Well-known Aberdeenshire piper Norman Fiddes and his wife Robina have recently opened a farm shop and country store on the outskirts of Aberdeen.
The couple’s new venture, named Birky’s Country Store, is located at Birkhill Farm, near Dyce.
The farm was once home to more than 200,000 broiler chickens housed in four sheds across a three-acre site.
However, its poultry operations came to an end after meat processing giant 2 Sisters Food Group restructured its operations in the north and north-east resulting in the closure of dozens of broiler units.
Mr Fiddes said he originally purchased the farm 20 years ago due to the scale of its poultry operations.
Since ceasing poultry production, he has secured consent to change the use of the sheds and a number of companies are now using the buildings for storage.
He said it would have been too costly to convert the 50-year-old sheds into units for egg production and instead a completely different business stream was found.
“We have recently managed to secure change of use permission to use the sheds for storage and distribution which has opened up another side of the business,” said Mr Fiddes.
“At the moment we are in storage and we will probably branch out into distribution. We will be renting out to bigger companies that do the practical side of things.”
He said the departure of the birds was also an impetus to launch a farm shop – something he would not have been able to do previously due to the stringent biosecurity measures required on poultry units.
Although in its infancy, the country store has proved a success since its initial opening between Christmas and New Year last year.
Mr Fiddes said the shop was benefiting from the farm’s location on the busy B997 link road between Bridge of Don and Parkhill.
He said another key draw to the shop was the farm’s collection of five vintage tractors – two Massey Fergusons and three Fordsons.
The shop carries a range of local produce, including potatoes and vegetables grown on the farm, home-baking made by Robina and a large selection of gifts and cards.
“I have been a member of the Grampian Food Forum for many years. We have used all our contacts through that to find suppliers for the shop,” said Mr Fiddes.
Local produce sold in the shop includes: cheese from the Devenick Dairy; jams from Isabella’s Preserves and Huntly Herbs; honey from Turriff; and oatcakes from the Sorrie family’s Ola Oils.
Eventually the couple hopes to create a ‘harvest your own’ concept, similar to the idea of pick your own fruit, but instead people would harvest their own vegetables.
“We are growing some, but not all, our own vegetables. This year we are going to extend into other things and we are hoping to grow brassicas like cabbage,” said Mr Fiddes.
He said he was also looking into the possibility of butchering some of his own animals.
The farm is home to the 17-cow Birkhill fold of pedigree Highland cattle and Mr Fiddes also buys in around 200 ewes with lambs at foot for finishing every year.
* The farm shop officially opens on Sunday, April 30, at 11am.
