our growers

Co-operative Organic Farmers

When Eostre was established the founder members (all organic farmers and growers) realised that they had to offer customers a year round range of high quality organic fruit and vegetables if they were create a sustainable business. Quite clearly we just can't grow oranges and bananas in East Anglia and these have to be brought in. In addition there are times in the year, most notably the 'hungry gap' (April and May), when local produce is thin on the ground, and in order to offer a consistent service Eostre imports from partners overseas. Unlike the major supermarkets our ethical concerns are genuine, and as such we operate to a strict zero air freight policy - all our food from overseas is transported by road and sea.

Obviously our main focus is on local, seasonal produce and for this we turn first to our grower members. Grahame Hughes works with Eostre's members to plan production and cropping for the year. We're lucky in that our members are quite widely dispersed over the Eastern Counties, this means we benefit from a wide range of soil types and micro-climates - from the deep, black soils of Simon Steel's farm in the fens to the heavier Suffolk soils to be found at Wakelyn's Agroforestry.

When we can't source produce from our own members we turn to associates members in East Anglia or buy from known partners in the UK. Many of these growers have known and traded with Eostre members over many years.

Finally we turn to our overseas partners. One of Eostre's full members, El Tamiso, is based in Padova giving us a unique link to Italy's finest organic produce, with absolute traceability - indeed Eostre and El Tamiso growers regularly meet and share their ideas and experiences. Aside from El Tamiso we trade with a growing network of organic producer groups, this is like minded group is in the process of being formalised into a Europe-wide co-op called 'ECCE Bio'.