Prince Charles`s Veg Shed closes
Baku, May 8 (AZERTAC). Some may sneer at his proselytising zeal and love of all things organic, yet the Prince of Wales`s Duchy Originals brand has been a commercial success.
But now Charles has suffered his first business setback. He has been forced to close his loss- making farm shop selling home-grown organic produce after admitting that it simply wasn`t financially viable.
The Prince opened the Veg Shed, as he called it, at Highgrove, his Gloucestershire home, eight years ago. It sold freshly picked fruit and vegetables, as well as meat from his ecologically raised cattle.
The store became famous for its `wonky carrots` — perfectly edible, but irregularly shaped produce that would normally be rejected by supermarkets on aesthetic grounds.
The Prince was so passionate about this farm-to-table project that he ploughed several thousand pounds of his own money into the venture and was photographed eating one of the wonky carrots straight from the earth of his Home Farm estate.
Three years ago, it was moved from Highgrove to nearby Close Farm at a cost of around £100,000. But despite Charles`s enthusiasm, the Veg Shed was never a huge success. It finally closed its doors last weekend.
The failure has been put down mainly to the fact that the shop was off the beaten track and local and tourist trade was simply never enough. Prices were also, inevitably, higher than those of nearby supermarkets.
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