Market Link. Issue 15. February 2004 Producer Profile: Emma Goss-Custard By Lucy Galvin Success is a piece of cake for Emma

Success can be problematic for small producers. The drive to make more and more can pull them away from their roots; mass production is the antithesis of hand-made.
But at the thriving farmers’ market at Poundbury in Dorset there’s a stallholder who sells to supermarket giants as well as her regular customers.
Emma Goss-Custard of Honeybuns is as committed to the farmers’ market as she is to John Lewis: “We would never let our farmers’ market go, never, we love it. It’s where we came from.”

Emma started in business selling sandwiches and cakes around Oxford in 1998 from an old grocer’s bike. Things took off and she moved into a unit, producing a mouth watering range of cakes to sell in farmers’ markets around Surrey.
With her partner she then moved down to Dorset, to a farmhouse, the unit in Surrey having been ‘horrifyingly expensive’.
Throughout the life of her business, farmers’ markets have been ‘a fantastically good schooling’. Poundbury continues that: “It’s fantastic fun to go out and meet customers direct – you can’t buy it. You learn about the customers and you learn about the product.”
As well as providing valuable market research, it is an important source of revenue: “This is not a cash rich business so we’re always struggling for revenue. At a market you get your money straight away, which is good.”
“ I also like to do my shopping there – all my delicacies as well as things like olives, fresh vegetables, cheeses, chutneys and smoked trout.”

Emma has seen a variety of farmers’ markets, having traded at Milford, Guildford, Barnes and Wimbledon. It was Ian Lynch of Waverly Borough Council who played a pivotal role in that area: “He was very open and receptive to new ideas, and did great work on marketing and publicising the markets.”
In her experience, a good market is about balance: ”It should be possible to do a sensible shop, so as well as specialities there should be staples. And it should be fun – the stallholders should be enjoying themselves and there should be a relaxed atmosphere.”
She is under no illusions about potential problems: “You can get quite intense rivalries – pitch warfare does exist! But that is a mistake because at the end of the day it should be a free market, open to everybody.”
“ I have a strong feeling that people ought to be welcomed in. To be healthy and robust, markets need a competitive edge, tempered with people getting on well with each other.”
The future for farmers’ markets is also about finding a balance; in recent years they have been fashionable and “an awful lot of markets have started and faltered, and now they are finding their own level – some have very loyal followings.”

At Poundbury the Honeybuns stall has a honeybee theme, and is “as rustic as possible.” There’s a miniature beehive which holds brochures, a plain cheesecloth as a tablecloth and an eccentric assortment of deliberately mismatched plates. The samples are cut up on a wooden chopping board and handed out in cup cake cases.
Giving samples is another positive aspect of markets, and has a huge impact on sales: “There’s no obligation to buy but it really does work.”
Emma’s passion is quality baking – with an increasingly popular focus on gluten-free cakes. Quality means never compromising on ingredients – for instance, using only butter, when less scrupulous cooks would cut costs with margarine.
Honeybuns follows a buy local policy wherever it can, with Dorset Farmhouse Butter, honey and jam from a local supplier, and local free range eggs: “If we can buy it in Dorset, we will: even our design is done locally, where we are well served by talented people. Wherever we can we buy our ingredients from small producers.
“ We seem to have caught the imagination of buyers who are looking for a more genuine, authentic handmade product. There’s nothing magic about what we do – we take time and are not driven by the bottom line.”
A good illustration of Emma’s zest for ingredients is her experience with a different kind of zest – the citrus variety. Honeybuns used to zest their own oranges and lemons – a time consuming process, so they looked around for an alternative. There is a hand zested product available, which is better than mechanically made zest, being less bitter – but also 25 times more expensive. It is the hand-zested version which goes into Honeybuns cakes.
“ We could cut corners left, right and centre, but we won’t. And we have noticed that buyers are becoming a lot more discerning. When I started in 1998 people thought that using butter all the time was excessive and luxurious. Now it’s accepted.
“ As life becomes more and more hectic, few people have time to lovingly mix a cake by hand. The second best thing to doing that is to buy one.”
Customers are also willing to pay for creativity: Honeybuns develops its own recipes, sometimes reworking and refining old favourites: their Bakewell Shortbread uses pure almond oil, undyed French glace cherries and Mrs Pooks’ honeyed jam (see Market Link Dec/Jan for more on Mrs Pooks’ Kitchen).
A bestseller is the Brownie, which is almost truffle like, and uses no flour, just ground almonds. It sells for £1 a slice, with a take-home freezable tray for £5.
All this creativity and enthusiasm have led to a flourishing business, with 18 staff on the books, 12 core full time. Being in business has meant some hard decisions over the years. She is at present in the process of restructuring: “We have realised that we can’t deliver as well as make the cakes. We know we are good at making nice cakes, but we haven’t taken a salary for five years!”
Transport and delivery networks and costs are the problem. “At the moment, we work with couriers – but they are not really designed or priced for foodstuffs like ours.”
But working out a way through the profit maze you sense will not be too daunting a challenge for Emma, armed as she is with good sense and enthusiasm. In the future she has plans for a teashop for visitors to drop by and try cakes and discuss recipes. True to her idealism, access will be by sustainable means only. Walk or ride to her farmhouse, and reward yourself with a slice of perfect cake……….

Committed to quality… some of Emma's range of cakes.

Emma’s ideals • Never compromise on quality – a sausage maker in Oxford gave me that tip when I was starting out. • Never fully trust an idea that you haven’t thought of yourself. Have faith in yourself and don’t be convinced by what other people are saying. • Treat everybody as you would want to be treated – what goes round, comes round. • Don’t be frightened by bureaucracy, red tape and regulations. There’s often a solution – talk to people face to face. You could get bitter, but if you are willing and co-operative they will work with you. If you politely but firmly explain your position they will often join you in your interpretation of the law!

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