Farmer's anger at customers 'scoffing strawberries' during pick-your-own event
A farmer says he feels 'disheartened' after customers are eating more strawberries than they are paying for from his 'pick-your-own' event.
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Joe Hamer is the fifth generation in his family to manage Arscott Farm near Shrewsbury and offers pick your own Christmas tree and pick your own pumpkin events as well as the fruit picking sessions throughout the year.
The farm features four polytunnels of strawberries and has run the pick-your-own strawberry event for the second year.
The farmer says that he expects people to 'sample' or have some 'tasters' as they go around, but has found that people are "having more than one or two".
Joe said he recently discovered a family that had eaten most of the strawberries they had picked before they went to pay, and presented a smaller quantity at the till so it didn't cost them as much.
The Arscott Farm boss was keen to emphasise that only a small minority of his customers are eating more than they pay for, but feels disrespected by some customers' actions.
"It's really disheartening because I've worked so hard to build the business that we've got at Arscott Farm and it's cost me so much money to build," said Joe.
