Gregg and Sally Berger from Much Wenlock, and Gregg's sister, Angie Dimmack from Telford have spent nearly 3 months stripping out and refurbishing their shop, 'The Green Cow' at the livestock market, Tasley Road in Bridgnorth.
Angie, who will be cooking in the Green Cow's kitchen for the café and providing food for the shop said "it has taken us nearly 3 months and lots of hours of hard work to change the unit, but finally seeing it come together when we put the shelving and equipment into place was a very poignant and scary moment - our dream had finally turned into a reality".
Gregg, Sally and Angie decided to open 'The Green Cow' because of their shared passion for food. Angie continued "we felt that Bridgnorth was lacking a venue where people could shop for a huge range of local produce all under one roof with parking right outside the door".
Sally said "it has been wonderful meeting local suppliers who are all so passionate about their products." Sally, whose role will be overseeing the shop and deli continued "many of the suppliers have such personal and individual stories of their journey and success - it's been really great to get to know them".
The Green Cow's ethos is to offer locally grown and sourced food, wherever possible at a reasonable price but of superb quality. Local suppliers include Bings Heath Smokery who specialises in smoked salmon, smoked meat, smoked poultry and smoked game: Bridgnorth based chocalatiers, Chocolit, which is run by 18 year old Louis Barnett, and also Mahorall Farm Cider which comes from Hope Bagot, Nr Ludlow.
Gregg, who is Angie's brother and Sally's husband, will be managing the administration of the business and said "the majority of our suppliers are from Shropshire; we want to support local businesses wherever possible." Gregg continued "we've also used many local tradesmen for the shop refurbishment"
'The Green Cow' will be opening on Saturday November 14th at 9am with a special open day event to include free samples and tastings as well as free biscuits for shop sales over £10!
Many local companies will be providing samples for this special event, including Chase Vodka from Herefordshire who use traditional methods to produce artisan vodka, and also Buttercross Farm from Market Drayton who supply free range home reared pork, bacon, sausages, hams and black pudding. Also at the open day will be Mike's Homemade who make their own chutneys, pickles, preserves and marmalades.
