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Fountain Violet Farm - Arguably the Finest Eggs Money Can Buy.
A Food & Drink feature (July 2008)
The general impression I have of egg producers is that they don’t welcome public scrutiny of their operation with open arms and the chances of being invited to take a look at their chicken sheds are about the same as Kylie calling to invite me out for a spot of lunch. So I was pleasantly surprised when Edward Jones of Fountain Violet Farm in Kingswear said he’d be very happy to talk to me about his business. Of course (with a nod to M & S’s masterful ad. campaign) these are not any old eggs; these are free range, organic, Colombian Blacktail eggs; and Edward is very, very proud of the standard of care received by the hens and the quality of the end product.
Edward’s grandfather bought Fountain Violet in the 1950s although the land was let to a tenant. Had you met the young Edward as he holidayed there as a boy and had you asked him what his ambitions were, ‘Egg Producer’ would probably not have been on the list. His early career in the hotel and catering industry took him all over the world, and in 1992 he was managing restaurants in London for Forte; but not enjoying it at all. Then came the decision to move into farming, despite having no background and no knowledge.
As an apprenticeship he worked for eighteen months on a potato farm in Somerset, including grading potatoes for a pittance. The experience didn’t put him off and three years at Seale Hayne Agricultural College in Newton Abbot provided a grounding in the technical knowledge necessary to run a modern farm. The initial plan was to convert to organic and raise South Devon Beef and that’s exactly what happened. The flaw in the plan was that the scale of the operation, with only enough grazable land to raise 40 cattle, the rewards were pretty meagre.
Two weeks before taking over the farm Edward met his future wife Emma at a party. She is a self-confessed city girl with absolutely no background in farming either, so I can only guess that it was Edward’s enthusiasm for the challenge he had set himself that persuaded her to join him in the venture. They now have three children enjoying an idyllic upbringing but it was the arrival of their first child, Oscar, that forced a decision about giving up on the farming lark and getting a ‘proper’ job or rethinking the whole plan. As far as the proper job idea was concerned Edward had ‘been there, done that’ so research was undertaken, agricultural schemes explored and experts consulted. It looked like organics were booming but organic egg capacity was not meeting demand, this could be the gap in the market. An exclusive agreement with Waitrose to provide eggs produced to the highest of standards sealed the deal as it removed some of the financial risk as well allowing Edward to farm in a way that met his principles of animal welfare.
These things don’t just happen overnight and Oscar was two before the first flock arrived on October 15th 2004. I doubt very much that the birds appreciate the spot they inhabit but with views across Start Bay, over to Dartmouth and up to the moor this is prime real estate. The hens here really do have the sort of life we’d like to think all chickens could have, with acres of grassland to explore and spacious huts for roosting in. Their welfare needs are second to none and the farm is regularly inspected by the Soil Association, British Lion, Freedom Food (RSPCA) and DEFRA. All of this is necessary if Edward is to maintain the standards required by Waitrose for them to continue buying and will have helped Waitrose become the winner of a Compassion in World Farming Good Egg Award.
When I asked Edward what the favourite part his job was he said, “seeing a healthy flock of hens thriving on this land”. That tells you everything you need to know about a farmer who puts welfare before profit and has a real sense of being part of the environment rather than exploiting it.
The results are wonderful; eggs perfect for every culinary use with a rich, orangey, yellow yolk, a firm white and delicious flavour. Although he sells the bulk of his eggs directly to Waitrose, Edward can sell a few locally and they are available in Kingswear Village Shop. Otherwise look for Colombian Blacktail Organic Eggs next time you pass a Waitrose and get a taste of arguably the finest eggs money can buy.
First Published July 2008 By The Dart