Country markets - making millions on the quiet

In market towns across England, Wales and the Channel Islands, you can sometimes a small orderly queue outside a town hall or assembly room - this is often a sign that a country market is about to open. I spotted one on a bright Wednesday morning in the small Suffolk town of Eye. Expectation was in the air; food was at stake and, when the doors to the imposing Victorian town hall were opened, the canny customers would pour forth knowing they'd find top notch food only hours out of the ground or oven, produced by local people, at low cost. 

I wasn't witnessing a fashionable farmers market, thronging with urban shoppers looking for a slice of the countryside. This was a country market - country markets being the forerunners of farmers' markets. They are mostly led by lady volunteers with scrupulous, exacting standards. In 1919 the Agricultural Organisation Society sponsored the setting up of markets to sell surplus fruit and vegetables grown by farmers and former soldiers, experiencing the post-war pinch. Until the mid-90s country markets were known as Women's Institute Country Markets but the two organisations have now gone their separate ways.

Today, nationally these markets, of which there are over 400 nationwide, are still going strong and have an annual turnover of £10 million of which £9 million is returned to producers. The mothership: Country Markets Ltd, with its headquarters in Derbyshire, has been overseeing these markets for nearly a century and has just been awarded £500,000 by the Big Lottery Fund to explore ways to promote home-produced country market food through retail outlets such as community shops.

Inside the hall at Eye, volunteers in bottle-green aprons assembled lines of produce. A tower of gleaming jars of sumptuous chutneys drew customers looking for expert home-cooking at reasonable rates. Yellow marrows, orange pumpkins, purples of beetroot and chard nestle next to pies and pastries and even arts and crafts.

'Mrs Foley's marmalade and chutneys are things you dream about,' says a customer making a beeline for the object of her desire. Eye Country Market recently found itself on the shortlist of this year's Radio 4 Food Programme annual awards and word of the place is spreading.  Liz Foley has been producing chutneys and jams, breads and crumbles for two different Country Markets in Suffolk since her husband died. 'I try to make my own versions of recipes and encourage people to try them with food other than the usual cheese and biscuits.  My Orange and Chilli Chutney's lovely with Pork; Lemon and Pineapple Marmalade is lovely with chicken stir fry; the Gooseberry Mint Jelly is fabulous with hot meats.'

Run as a co-operative, country market producers deliver their goods each week, clearly labelled in accordance with strict rules and regulations. 'We're gifted amateurs,' says Jean Urban who specialises in puddings and cakes 'Our things really are made at home in our kitchens yet we are as highly regulated as farmers markets.' No preservatives or additives are allowed in any of the food made and whilst organic status can rarely be afforded by the producers, old fashioned chemical-free gardening is the norm. At each market, producers aren't allowed individual stalls; instead volunteers who seem to know the provenance of everything on their section make the sales. 

Country markets are entirely dependent on seasons and locality; you'll find various trestle tables: local meats and fish, a table of ruby red soft fruits, aromatic quinces and jamming strawberries, vegetable and flower plants, savouries and cakes, juices and eggs. At Eye, Jean Chambers' honey buns, Sue Millburn's locally-renowned scones and Amy Weiss' shortbread (which is known to draw local office workers away from their desks and into the hall with high expectations for elevenses). 

At the end of the month, sales are totted up, with producers receiving all but 10% (which is kept by organisers to cover running costs such as hall hire). The return to the producer can be high, and many extol the virtue of not paying a fixed fee upfront for a pitch. But goods are priced exceptionally cheaply, often at less than a fraction of their commercial value so that customers snap them up in minutes. 

The market in Eye has just celebrated it's 35th birthday and on the day I visited baskets and bags brimmed with honey and eggs, mackerel paté and chickpea salads. One producer, Betsy Doubleday, who makes pies and savoury tarts for the Eye market explained. 'It's a way of giving back to the community,' A lot of elderly men, probably widowers, come along, stocking up on nutritious, home-cooked food for the week ahead.

But markets like this, the length and breadth of the country, have struggled over the years to inject new blood and encourage the one-stop supermarket-shop generation through its doors. It is, however, possible that the recession will bring them back into the nation's mindset and make them more popular than ever.

Find your nearest country market 

How to become a country market producer

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