We are 2 today! Happy Birthday Us!!

Two Years In: A Milestone Worth Celebrating

Today marks 2 years since we opened the doors of the new Chettle Village Store, and what a journey it's been. We crossed a threshold sometime in October that we thought would take a little longer to reach – turning over £1,000,000 in a single year. Now, before anyone gets too excited, the reality of retail means that while a seven-figure turnover sounds impressive, we're working on incredibly tight margins. Every penny counts, and every decision matters.

The Real Story Behind the Numbers

But here's what really excites us: the story behind that million-pound turnover isn't about selling more pies (we sold 39,300, a tiny increase from 38,500 in 2024). It's about something far more meaningful. We're seeing people doing their weekly shop almost entirely with us, and telling us they've given up the supermarkets altogether.

This shift is happening for reasons that matter deeply to us. People are waking up to the realities of ultra-processed foods and how supermarkets push them. They're understanding the health implications of pesticides – both for their own bodies and for nature. They want to support local farmers and local food, and they simply can't do that at a supermarket. They're also finding that supermarkets are overwhelming, and there's something valuable about the personal connection you get in a village shop.

Yes, we can't compete on price – not even close. But what we can offer is transparency, traceability, and food that's grown and produced with care.

Other New Things That Happened in 2025

In June, we launched our second-hand clothes stall, run by members of the community and located in the barns opposite the shop. It's unmanned and we're now selling quite a lot of clothes every month. We're just in the process of adding a bric-a-brac and books section, and eventually, we'd love to expand to white goods and furniture. It's another step toward creating a circular economy right here in the village, where as little is sent to landfill as possible.

Our fish lady started coming in on Fridays with fresh catch straight off the day boats on the South Coast, and that's been a game-changer for customers wanting to do a proper weekly shop with us.

But perhaps our biggest success story started just three weeks ago: Chettle venison. We're bringing in a whole carcass every Friday and we're virtually sold out by Tuesday. The response has been phenomenal, and we've just started selling venison sausages too, and we hope to launch our own venison pies very soon. What makes us particularly proud is that we've managed to price the venison cheaper than supermarket beef whilst paying the stalker around 3 times as much as they were getting when selling to restaurants and the game dealer. 

Chettle Grown Produce

Ali (aka the Veg Lady) has had another stellar year - she’s campaigned for ‘Universal Basic Income for Farmers’, done talks to other growers and industry bods, started a veg box scheme, added more infrastructure and kit to her arsenal, expanded her team, started growing on another 2-3 acres AND got pregnant and had a rather beautiful and large baby in September! Welcome to the world Veg Baby!!

Via us she has sold over 4,100kg of produce, more than a tonne up on last year. It's a constant balancing act trying to keep her incredible organic veg affordable without pushing her to simply grow more and more to chase economies of scale. Fortunately, her produce is so good and genuinely organic veg is so hard to come by that customers understand its value.

The loss of our egg production when Lizzie from Leaf & Feather moved to Cornwall was a blow – we haven't found anyone who matches her passion for animal welfare and closed-loop systems. But 2026 might be the year we resurrect the chicken tractor and maggot house to get the eggs going again.

And we are so proud of our other Chettle producers who sell via the shop - Steph from Dyppe (soaps and facial oil), Catherine Rowe (our Chettle resident who does a lot of our beautiful artwork), Sam from Chettle Charcoal, Tess Morrish (homeopathic flower remedies) and the orchards, woodlands and the community for providing and picking apples, pears, plums and wild garlic to sell. 

The Road Ahead

As we head into year three, we're making a significant change to how we run the shop. Last Monday, Scott started as our new shop manager. For the past 12-18 months, David has been working very much 'in' the business rather than 'on' it – typically putting in 50-60 hour weeks. Scott's arrival means David can step back a little, work something closer to a normal 40-hour week, and have time to help Alice with running the Estate. It's the kind of change that only becomes possible when a business reaches a certain level of maturity.

The next major challenge Alice is setting us is perhaps our toughest yet: drilling down even deeper into supply chains, being even more rigorous about provenance and ethics, while somehow not making the shop prohibitively expensive. It's a tough ask, but if the venison pricing proves anything, there are creative solutions to be found.

It's been a challenging year in some ways – staff illness tested our small team – and we're hoping for a happy and healthy 2026 for everyone. But we're so grateful to the 75,000+ transactions from customers who chose to shop with us, to our 500 new Chettle UP! members, and to everyone who believes that how we grow, source, and sell food actually matters.

With gratitude, David, Scott & Alice