Award-winning delicatessen celebrates 47 years in Ludlow town centre

Opened in 1977 by Cy and Stan Jones with three sacks of flour and oats ‘fetched’ from London, Broad Bean Wholefoods, as it was then known, took over a shop that had houses a specialist pork butcher which produced its own pies on site.

Under the Jones’ ownership, the site at 60 Broad Street was developed and the range of products grew with the husband and wife team celebrating 20 years in 1997.

Fast forward to today, the business is owned by Evans and Daughters.

Since May 2016, current owner Ian Evans has redesigned the layout, adding more environmentally friendly fridges and revamping stock that focuses on local producers and that supports the slow food movement.

Ian said: "When we took over Broad Bean it was always with the end goal of creating a great place to buy food and drink. The history of the shop had screamed out 'proper delicatessen'. By that I mean the sort of exciting and enticing places that I remember being on high streets during my childhood, places with an evocative smell, visually pleasing but not overwhelming.

"A place that inspires you to cook, bake and eat with friends and family, not just on special occasions but every day. We now have more than 100 suppliers where, on the whole, we can hand-select products from people and businesses with the same passion as us. This makes it so much easier to pass on that passion - with our own twist."

This approach has seen the team winning numerous awards including the Slow Food Deli of the Year and Best Small Retailer in the Midlands category at the Farm Shop and Deli Retailer Awards.

Cy and Stan remain loyal customers to the business that they started and are “Thrilled to see that the business they started has evolved and withstood the test of time.”

By Jodie Deakin - Contributor