GOOD quality local food - that is the ethos of the new Corner Shop in Harome run by Star Inn owners Andrew and Jacquie Pern.

Offering a wide range of locally produced food including meats, cheeses, vegetables, dried produce, eggs, honey and much more, the shop is very much an outlet for local produce.

At the opening of the shop last week, some of the local producers were there to talk about their wares.

Ian Rook and Paul and Janet Talling run Loose Birds Harome Ltd from the village. They produce game and poultry for the Star Inn restaurant and are now selling it in the shop.

After a hard year with the foot and mouth crisis, Mr Rook said the small scale production of birds is a diversification from his regular farming. Mrs Talling said the business started after they supplied birds to friends who said they were fantastic.

This is the first shop of its kind they supply to and they are now hoping to supply to Christmas markets and local butchers.

"We are trying to make a business out of what we started," said Mr Rook. "The shop is very very good for the village, it's helping with village life."

Barry Sunley, of Farndale Free Range Eggs, said he wanted to sell his high-quality eggs in a high-quality shop.

The hens Mr Sunley rears are fed on organic grain and no artificial chemicals or pesticides are used.

Mr Sunley only produces eggs for the local vicinity supplying to Hunters in Helmsley and local shops in Kirkbymoorside.

"I don't try and sell nationally; eggs aren't very suitable for mail-order," he added.

Judy Bell, of Thirsk-based Shepherds Purse Cheeses, will be one of the cheese suppliers at the shop. "Andrew cooks with them in his restaurant, I'm passionate about his food," said Mrs Bell. "This venture is going to be tremendous for the region."

She said she hoped visitors and locals alike would buy from the shop and go away with lots of local regional food.

Another interesting supplier calls himself a "cheese detective". Peter Papprill is a regional food merchant for Pendrill, who travels nationally looking for the best cheeses to supply to chefs.

"A cheese detective is looking all round the British Isles for the best regional cheese," said Mr Papprill. "And here in Yorkshire I have come accross Mrs Bell's Blue and Buffalo Blue cheeses. I read a region by its food and its recipes and its flavour."

Lamb is supplied by a producer from Spaunton, Robin Wingate-Routledge. All the lambs he produces are GM free and treated with homeopathic remedies rather than antibiotics.

"I think the shop is a fantastic idea," said Mr Wingate-Routledge.

"I think people are a lot more conscious in what they are purchasing in terms of pesticides. People are asking more questions."

Harome honey producer Susan Hall is now specially producing her honey just for the Star Inn and the Corner Shop. "Ryedale is super for beekeepers," she said because of its trees and ancient hedges. "I think the shop is super for all the local producers."

Updated: 11:12 Thursday, November 29, 2001