The Leckford Estate, the Waitrose farm in Hampshire, will open the doors of its new farm shop for the first time on Thursday (8^th August).

Selling over 1,000 products, ‘The Farm Shop, Leckford Estate’ will have a strong emphasis on high quality, and locally and regionally sourced food, according to Waitrose. The Estate has worked with Taste of the South East and Hampshire Fare to identify high quality local producers, and the shop has already established supply from over 60 suppliers from the area, helping to boost the local and regional food economy.

It has also been designed to showcase the wide variety of food produced on the Estate. Situated in Leckford, on the River Test, the 4000 acre Estate is a working farm producing arable crops, including rapeseed for the farm's own rapeseed oil and high quality bread making wheat which is used to make a range of flour.

The farm also supplies milk, apples, pears, apple juice, cider and chestnut mushrooms as well as Leckford free range chickens which are already sold in Waitrose branches.

Iain Dalton, Head of Leckford Estate, said on Thursday, "Waitrose is in a very fortunate position to have its own farm, and the new shop, which is totally unique for Waitrose, can showcase not just the food produced on the Estate, but allow outstanding local and regional food producers to flourish. The shop will sell the highest quality food and if something proves popular, there is the potential for it to be sold more widely."

The new shop is housed in a purpose built unit situated on the Leckford Estate.