Love pasties? Want to learn how to grow them? Cornish pasty-maker, Ginsters, is offering one lucky pasty enthusiast the chance to spend some time on one of its partner farms in Cornwall, to help grow ingredients for its famous Cornish pasties, such as onions and potatoes, and learn how to make the nation’s favourite Cornish Pasty.
The once in a lifetime one-week work experience opportunity at Hay Farm, will see the lucky applicant collaborate with the team there to sow and cultivate the veg that goes into Ginsters pasties, as well as find out about the more “innovative” farming techniques demonstrated by Ginsters’ farmer character Merryn – who is inspired by the real-life farmers Ginsters works with – in its new TV ad. This includes singing lullabies to crops, being a human scarecrow and managing a ‘team’ of worms to ensure only the best quality soil.
The new team member will stay close to the farm and get the chance to observe and learn about the field-to-fork process which sees locally sourced vegetables baked into delicious Cornish pasties, including an exclusive, private pasty-making workshop with Ginsters Senior Development Chef Will.
Ginsters won’t be hiring just anyone for this important job though – the pasty-maker is specifically looking for a motivated and enthusiastic individual who is passionate about vegetables and is eager to learn all about farming, food and the cultivation of great quality, British ingredients. What’s more, the successful applicant also needs to be keen to get their hands dirty and someone who doesn’t have stage fright when it comes to singing lullabies to an audience of veg.
The new role follows research by the brand which found that many city-dwellers would love to get their hands dirty down on a farm growing vegetables, with over half (56%) loving the idea of escaping to the countryside and quitting the day job in favour of a more ‘wholesome’ life.
The poll of 2,000 adults found almost one in five (37%) love the thought of growing their own produce and over a third (36%) would like to get closer to nature and truly understand where their food comes from, from field to fork.
Furthermore, 41% per cent believe that farmers are one of the hardest-working professions, with 37% not sure they have got the skills or knowhow to enable them to thrive while working to farm vegetables.
Sarah Babb at Ginsters said: “With the opening of our unique Pasty Farmer role with our partners at Hay Farm, we’re hoping to give the lucky applicant the chance to get stuck into farming life and experience firsthand the effort that our amazing Cornish farmers put into producing our locally grown veg – something that Merryn embodies in our new TV ad. One thing is for sure – the lucky candidate will most definitely know how our veg is grown once their time on the farm has ended.”
Do YOU have what it takes to be the Ginsters Pasty Farmer? The team is on the lookout for an individual who exhibits:
- An interest in farming, agriculture, and the outdoors.
- Strong work ethic, reliability, and ability to perform physical tasks in various weather conditions.
- Excellent teamwork and communication skills to collaborate effectively with farm staff.
- Willingness to learn and take direction from experienced farmers and mentors.
- Attention to detail and the ability to follow instructions accurately – including learning lyrics to vegetable lullabies.
- Adaptability and a positive attitude in a dynamic and ever-changing farm environment.
- Willingness to get hands – and other areas such as arms, face, knees, and toes – dirty on a real Cornish farm.
Applications for the unique Pasty Farmer work experience will open on 9th October 2023 and close at 23:50 on 23rd October 2023. The work experience itself will be for one week in the Spring of 2024. To apply for the Pasty Farmer work experience, visit www.ginsters.co.uk/pastyfarmer.
