Hopetoun Farm Shop moves up pecking order

HOPETOUN Farm Shop, near South Queensferry, is celebrating an award from the “Oscars” of the food industry.

The farm, which has already secured five stars from Visit Scotland two years running on top of the FARMA rising star winner for 2012, has been given a coveted 3 stars from the Great Taste Awards for its free-range chickens. Only 123 products were honoured with this rating, out of 8800 entries.

Farm manager Mike Eagers said: “The Hopetoun farm team are delighted that our chickens have been commended for their taste, texture and succulence. What is our recipe for success? Happy chickens. We feed them well and make sure they have plenty of space to roam around.”

Judges this year included Masterchef winner and restaurateur Mat Follas, restaurant critic and Masterchef judge Charles Campion and more than 300 food buyers from leading food halls, delis and farm shops including Harrods and Selfridges.