This week we donned our (metaphorical) wellies and got chatting with quinoa farmer, Stephen, for this weeks Amazing Artisan feature. After hearing about his business, The British Quinoa Company, we were really keen to showcase Stephen at Kitchen Table Projects, giving a slightly different view on the foodie world. In the interview, Stephen sheds some light on the life of a farmer, and talks about how he got his unique business concept off the ground (if you’ll excuse the pun!)
Tell us the story of your business. How did you come up with the idea?
I came up with my business idea in 2006 [whilst] studying for a degree in agriculture. I had read a magazine article about quinoa and its nutritional properties and as a vegetarian I felt that I should try it to see if could increase my protein intake. It turned out that I really liked it and wondered if it would be possible to grow it in the UK. After several years of trialing quinoa production on our family farm, we concluded that we could indeed grow a great crop of quinoa, hence ‘The British Quinoa Company’ was born! It’s not been an easy journey though, we’ve had many successes and failures along the way, but everything started to come together once we found the right variety of quinoa for the British climate.
What was your motivation for starting your own business?
The motivation for starting my own business came from my passion for producing alternative British crops that can both help us to lead a healthier lifestyle and reduce our reliance on imported foods. I really enjoy being able to take an idea from scratch and to develop it over several years to fulfill a specific market. I think that in my decision to start a new business, I tried to play to my strengths and resources, so creating a new product on our family farm made total sense.
What's the most exciting thing about being an entrepreneur?
The most exciting thing about being an entrepreneur is being able to do something unique, where I can make my own decisions and try to push the boundaries of what crops we are able to produce in the UK. Additionally, I really enjoy having great relationships with our customers and consumers who we so often share very similar passions too. I love being able to finally see my product on the shelf and to feel that it was my own hard work that got it there!
What challenges have you come across?
Our biggest challenge has been trying to grow a crop in the UK that has never been grown here before, as there is no established crop agronomy, that is, no basic recipe to follow. We’ve had to learn how to sow the crop, how to fertilise it, how to control weeds, and how to harvest it.... all of which has taken us several years. Along the way we have had to battle against pest damage, extreme weather and machinery breakdowns, but we’re getting there slowly! Our biggest challenge at present is how to scale up our project, so that we are able to plant increasing areas of quinoa each year to allow us to fulfill growing consumer demand.
What advice would you give to someone thinking about starting their own business?
The advice I would give to anyone wishing to start their own business is to find something that can make your business unique. Being unique can help you stick in the memory of your customer, as well as attracting media attention to help promote your business. It’s a great idea to ensure you have sufficient finance agreements in place before you start your new business so that your cash flow is not stretched to breaking point.
What kind of business support do you want to receive or wished you had received?
I received the best kind of business support...help from my parents! They were great, from offering free manual labour in the field to assess new quinoa varieties, to helping count weeds in our weed control experiments. It would have been great to have received more business support at a local level, such as a mentor who could provide detailed business advice from invoicing to branding...but perhaps that’s being a bit wishful!
What would you like to see in a food hub that showcases new producers?
I would love see communication between new producers and the more experienced existing producers, so that advice and experience can be shared.
What do you think about our big ideas and what we are trying to achieve?
I really love what Kitchen Table Projects is trying to achieve. It’s a great way of getting to know other small producers who would otherwise remain fairly unknown. Good luck and keep going, I’m really pleased to be a part of it!
You can find Stephen tweeting from his Shropshire farm, here @BritishQuinoa.
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