Fresh experiences: Farm Shop of the Year 2021

The Vorsee farm shop from Wolpertswende in Baden-Württemberg, the Thomahof farm shop from Königsdorf in Bavaria and the Wiedemann farm from Vechelde in Lower Saxony are the winners of the Farm Shop of the Year 2021 award. 75 farms applied for the award. Fresh, regional, sustainable - this is what direct marketers live every day in their farm shops, with great ideas, enormous commitment and a lot of heart and soul. This is what the trade magazines HOFdirekt and top agrar, which have announced the farm shop of the year for the third time, appreciate. It doesn't get any fresher than this.

First place goes to the Vorsee farm shop from Wolpertswende-Vorsee in the Ravensburg district of Baden-Württemberg. Take your basket and knife to the farm shop and harvest fresh vegetables from A for artichoke to Z for courgette in the adjacent farm garden, then buy homemade specialities in the farm shop and drink a delicious coffee in the farm café. The mother-daughter team Christa and Rosi Knam offer their customers a very special experience. www.hofladen-vorsee.de

Second place goes to the farm shop Thomahof from Königsdorf in the district of Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen in Bavaria. Heidi and Florian Seidl are meat experts. Cattle, pigs and farm goats come from their own farm. They process the meat into all kinds of specialities, e.g. barrel-aged ham from the whisky barrel or Boarish BBQ from the home-made smoker. At the meat counter in the farm shop, the focus is on advising the customers. Transparency and openness are also important to the family - the barn doors are always open. www.thomahof-brandl.de

Third place goes to the Wiedemann farm. Sabine and Maik Wiedemann bought an old farm a good ten years ago and converted the barn into a farm shop with a café. It was important to them to preserve the charm of the old building. Potatoes, strawberries and other fruit and vegetables, eggs, fruit spreads and the cakes for the farm café come from their own farm. Those who cannot come to the farm shop are supplied directly at the front door via the farm's own sales van. www.hof-wiedemann.de

HOFdirekt is the trade medium for the growth market of direct marketing. Six times a year, the magazine provides specialist information and practical tips for direct agricultural marketers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The magazine for agriculture in the German-speaking region top agrar brings concentrated knowledge on all topics of agriculture every month. Both magazines are published by Landwirtschaftsverlag Münster. Together they presented the Farm Shop of the Year award for the third time this year. 75 direct marketers from Germany and Austria applied for this award. Test purchases and on-site visits were made to 13 of these businesses, on the basis of which an expert jury selected the three award winners. The winners received their Farm Shop Award 2021 during expodirekt in an online event on Wednesday, 17 November 2021. Videos of the award winners and the nominees can be seen at www.hofladendesjahres.de