Heygate Farms in Swaffham named best potato grower in UK at 2023 National Arable and Grassland Awards
A West Norfolk farm has received national recognition for its own brand of potatoes.
Swaffham-based Heygate Farms has been named the Potato Grower of the Year at the National Arable and Grassland Awards.
The Heygate family first set up the business around 50 years ago, with current manager William Gribbon taking on his role two decades ago.
Since then, he has been nominated for a number of accolades - including at the Farmers Weekly Awards - but this is the first time it has won this specific prize.
As well as manufacturing the successful Norfolk Peer brand of potatoes, staff at Heygate also champion sustainability.
On the award win, Mr Gribbon said: “It’s brilliant. It’s good for the company, the Norfolk Peer brand of potatoes and for the team in Swaffham.
“I think the Norfolk Peer brand sets us apart from the rest, because we supply Tesco but also the wholesale and catering industry as well.
“We’re big on sustainability. We try to cover food miles back by putting up a cold store.”
The team has put down its own reservoir to catch water from the roofs of the Cley Road facilities, and then use that for spraying throughout its fields.
They also regularly plant trees and hedges, and use green diesel - which they coin “waste cooking oil” - to power their tractors.
This results in their overall emissions being cut by 80%.
To mark their success, Mr Gribbon and his team of 10 farmers travelled to London for a glittering awards ceremony.
“I did take them all up there, and it’s all thanks to them. I only steer the ship - they’re the guys on the ground,” he said.
“They all enjoyed it anyway. That’s the main thing.
“There’s a lot of negatives in things at the moment but we seem to be ticking the box at the moment for everything from the environment to sustainability.”
Mr Gribbon started in his position after taking over from his own father, who held it beforehand.
The farm is also now spearheading a project with the Breckland Farmers Wildlife Network which will see Heygate Farms link up with others across the country to create “wildlife corridors for flora and fauna to flow between farms”.