WHEN your business is synonymous with high quality produce and great tasting food, you know you’re onto a winner.

Liam Tickle and Rebecca Scott bought their first two pigs nearly 12 years ago and they couldn’t have predicted what would happen next.

But Snoutwood Trotters on Laburnum Lane has gone from strength to strength and the Great Sankey couple are looking forward to reopening their doors this weekend and welcoming customers to their farm shop once again.

Liam and Bex and some of their rare breed pigs

Liam and Rebecca and some of their rare breed pigs

The free-range pork farm shop first opened seven years ago selling bacon, sausages, burgers and other pork products.

The rare breed pigs are free-range, pedigree and reared outdoors, which means they spend their lives in the natural environment with access to muddy wallows, clean water and warm bedding.

Rebecca said: “The pigs grow at a slower rate giving a traditional, succulent flavour that is often lacking in commercial pork farming.

“We believe our farming methods contribute to delicious produce and we’re extremely proud of it.

“It’s simple: We farm it, we produce it, we sell it and we are passionate about it.

“We use a local abattoir just a few miles down the road, which means as few food miles as possible, and our onsite butchery allows us both to hand make all our own produce using unique recipes and natural ingredients.”

When Covid-19 hit, Liam, who is 33 and 31-year-old Rebecca were forced to close the shop doors and had to come up with another way of running the business during lockdown.

Rebecca said: “During the unprecedented time of the Covid-19 pandemic, we saw an extreme increase in demand for our produce.

“With us only being a small-scale business, we wanted to streamline our offering to make it as simple as possible for people to order and purchase our products.

“We increased our opening times and designed an ordering website as well as introducing ready-made packs of different products that people could order on a weekly basis and collect from the farm every Saturday.

“We set up a Covid-safe drive-thru so orders could be collected without people having to leave their cars and we took socially distanced payments before placing orders in car boots.

“We wanted to ensure optimum safety for both ourselves and our customers.”

From buying their first two pigs in 2010, Liam and Rebecca soon decided to produce their own litters and give it a go selling the meat on a wider scale.

In March 2018, they both made the decision to take on full-time roles in the business when work on their onsite butchery was completed and they are joined by a hardworking team of friends and family members at the farm.

Snoutwood

Snoutwood

The shop doors will reopen on Saturday, July 9 and customers will once again be able to purchase the fresh produce over the counter.

Rebecca said: “It feels very strange thinking about re-opening after so long especially when the drive-thru has been such a success and we really feel our customers have enjoyed it.

“However, with Covid restrictions now easing, we need to restore some kind of normality and we are looking forward to people being able to pick produce for themselves and engage with us on a one-one basis.”

Snoutwood supplies several local businesses in Warrington including Casa Coffee in Penketh, Grill on the Square, San Lorenzo and The Treasury on Palmyra Square and they have recently started supplying Mamars at The Old Bank on Bridge Street backing the #supportlocal campaign.

They also specialise in hog roasts for weddings and other special occasions.

Rebecca said: “We have a few ideas up our sleeves for the next few months but we’re committed to running our catering service alongside the butchery and shop.

“The support we have received from customers since we started the business has been amazing, especially during the recent difficult times.

“We appreciate every single one and their support inspires us both.”