Farm shop's fun 'cow to cup' video celebrates local food chains

Charlotte Gurney, of White House Farm in Sprowston, said the idea for the creative "cow to cup" YouTube video came while she was frantically packing boxes for customers during the first lockdown of March 2020.

She said she was struck by the community value of short food chains, and wanted to find a way to show a wider audience the importance of shopping locally.

Her "chipper little narrative" sees milk zipping down a wire from Nortons dairy in nearby Frettenham, through the villages, over the Broads and culminating in a latte in the White House Farm cafe.

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"Having worked so hard through the pandemic supporting our local community, we wanted to make something fun that would bring a smile to our followers, highlighting what local food really looks like," said Mrs Gurney, who runs the business with her husband Oliver.

"Through the pandemic, we liaised with so many partners like Nortons dairy who worked their socks off to supply their local community in the hour of need.

"I had the 'Cow to Cup' concept in my mind, but it has taken the work of Luke Billing and his creative team at Meantime Media, a local business, to bring the concept to life."

Mrs Gurney said she felt "incredibly lucky" to be able to work with a dairy with its own Norfolk heritage.

"With a herd of 80 Brown Swiss cows, Nortons are third generation farmers with a few farming stories to tell," she said.

"Given our location on the edge of Norwich, I wanted to fuse farming with the familiar latte or flat white that is so integral to the bustle of city life.

"Going the extra mile and using Nortons' milk obviously has a price implication and I believe sadly, that we are one of the few farm shops to make this connection in the country.

"But to me, it really matters that we assimilate what we stand for as a farm shop, serving our local community with the freshest milk around."