'Mister, how much one box?'
19th January 2012
Categories: News
Dennis Ford told me that if he has been asked this phrase by the Chinese community of the North West once, he has been asked it a 1000 times.
Stephen Wundke writes
You see, Dennis Ford grows high quality Chinese vegetables right in the heart of Cheshire, at Norley, and has been delivering his vegetables for over 30 years to the Chinese trade. Every time he pulls up to deliver his goods a new Chinese business owner sees what he is unloading and utters the same words: “Mister, how much one box?”
Its been a long haul for Dennis, since the early days of 1972 growing bedding plants and Chrysanthemums to perfecting the technique of growing Chinese vegetables in the heart of Cheshire, but now Dennis – at the age of 72 – reckons he knows more than most and not as much as some about his trade, as he explained.
“When we started back in the late 70’s we grew Mouli and then followed it with the white Pak Choi and the green Bok Choi, now we grow some seven different Chinese varieties and at times have had as many as 15 different vegetables on the go. It’s fair to say that the quality that we produce now is considerably higher than those early days and that is simply down to learning the tricks about each variety. The balance of water, sunshine and warmth, mixed with our sandy soil creates our unique and special flavour.”
When Dennis started marketing his Chinese vegetables his first customers were two small Chinese supermarkets and one restaurant, known then as the Little Yang Sing; in fact he has now been supplying “Harry” as he refers to him at what is Manchester’s premier Chinese restaurant, now known as just “The Yang Sing” for 30 years. A testimony to both the quality of his produce and his customer service, as Dennis said: “Harry is not just a customer, he is a friend. We both work long hours and have regularly talked through the night about how we can make better vegetables for the Chinese market. I value his opinion and he recognises the passion we have for our product.”
Dennis Ford now supplies premier restaurants and supermarkets right across the North West and is growing vegetables for ten months of the year. He explained to me that in the height of a good summer it can take as little as 23 days from planting to cutting but of course in the winter that time can be as much as three to four months. So the planning of the supply side takes a lot of work to satisfy the demand.
The Fords have just over 1.5 acres undercover in their mixture of green houses and poly tunnels at Norley and whilst Dennis still has the appetite to expand the business he recognises that the demands of this labour intensive product take their toll. “It’s back breaking work as everything happens at low level and I’m not getting any younger.”
Dennis Ford is unique in the Cheshire vegetables business, a niche market supplied with care and a top quality product to boot. He is yet another Taste Cheshire hero.
Featured in Live Cheshire Magazine - February 2012
