Watts Farms

Watts Farms’ story begins with Donald Watts in 1952, among rhubarb, strawberries, and farm work in Kent. His wife Joan sold part of the harvest by the roadside and later ran a produce shop in Petts Wood. That connection between growing and selling remains visible in a family business now combining its own production, professional distribution, and a food shop for households.

Avril, Donald and Joan’s daughter, took over the farm after her father died in 1980. She began trials with parsley and coriander and, with Mike Gray, who knew London’s wholesale markets, expanded crops and sales. Joe Cottingham joined in 2000 and contributed to productivity improvements. In 2009, Mike and Ed Gray developed the restaurant supply division.

The company describes a farming operation spread across ten farms in Kent and Essex, covering more than six hundred hectares and around one hundred crops a year. It sells what it grows and adds foods from other British growers and imported products. That combination explains why the selection is broader than the local harvest and why each origin is identified with its corresponding product.

The shop supports a weekly grocery order with vegetables, fruit, fresh herbs, mushrooms, potatoes, and salad ingredients. There are sections for berries, fruit and vegetable boxes, and Wonky produce. Seasonal offerings include Kent strawberries, rainbow chard, broad beans, and purple sprouting broccoli, alongside fruit and other ingredients sourced outside the UK.

Foods selected from other suppliers complete the basket with meat and poultry, fish, eggs, dairy, cheeses, bakery items, and pantry products. Olives, pasta, spices, sauces, and drinks bring ingredients for different meals into one order. Local, organic, vegan, or gluten-free collections have their own sections; those characteristics do not apply to the entire catalog.

Home delivery began in 2020, when Ed Gray launched the online shop during the temporary closure of many trade customers. Orders are organized around delivery slots and can also be collected from Unit 14, Quarry Wood Industrial Estate, Mills Road, Aylesford, ME20 7NA. An order number identifies the pickup; household delivery options are distinct from supply to hotels, restaurants, and wholesalers.

The company explains that its delivery vehicles and warehouse are temperature-controlled. Its distribution system includes returnable crates handed back to the driver, alongside certain compostable containers. Recipes, farm videos, and news complete a shop that introduces both the foods and the agricultural work behind part of the range.