This morning, I did my shopping in a farmshop – in a white van.
I discovered the clean white van on top of Brownhill Road.
It is an amazing mobile farmshop. It stops on Brownhill Road every Wednesday from 10am to 10.30am.
I entered the van and I was astonished to find an excellent selection of food and household products.
I stopped to have a chat with the owners, Bob and Rudi Snoswell. They told me they have visited Chandler’s Ford in their van for 28 years, and every Wednesday they would stop at Brownhill Road. When I was there, their customer June was also enjoying her shopping in the van.
They sell fruit and vegetables, soft drinks, cakes, household products, biscuits, sweet nuts and flowers. Their cheese and salad are kept fresh in the fridges. They also sell Bistro Ready Meals.
Bob and Rudi do not knock on people’s door to sell. They simply park their van on the road, and their royal customers would come to their van, have a good chat, and do their shopping.
Bob and Rudi are friendly and their service is very personal. I really like that.
Rudi told me that their service is important especially to elderly people, who find shopping in supermarket difficult.
The biggest advantage of buying from this mobile farmshop is that you can buy exactly what you need. Rudi said, “Some old lady who lives alone might just want to buy 5 Brussels sprouts.”
However, if you would like to order from them, they are very happy to deliver what you need to your door. Just contact Bob and Rudi on 07980 080 409, or email: sn02y@msn.com.
I love the van as it has also been personalised. A few black and white pictures on display were appealing. Bob told me he was the baby boy, surrounded by his twin sisters. There is also a picture of a dashing young man in sunglasses. That was a young Bob.
My childhood memories
Bob and Rudi’s van and the personal touch they give remind me of my childhood memory.
Growing up in south Malaysia, I used to buy breakfast, roasted nuts, or everyday vegetables from street stalls or carts. My favourite childhood breakfast was a Tamil dish called Putu mayam. A wrinkled Tamil man who stopped outside our house in his bike would add fragrant grated coconut and palm sugar to the vermicelli-like noodles. This dish was eaten with hands, and licking fingers afterwards to devour all palm sugar was pure joy.
We used to buy vegetables from a Chinese man in his tricycles. Bunches and bunches of green leaves vegetable. My mother was brilliant in bargaining. She would always walk away with freebies, such as a small bunch of spring onions or one extra chilli.
In the afternoon, we kids drew comfort from more Indian crunchy snacks from a man on his bike, with the most delicious snacks called Kacang putih, including salty nut, chilli nuts, chick pea, broad beans, Bombay mix, tapioca chips……
Before supermarket changed how we shop and modified our lifestyle, I wonder how people in this country used to do their shopping? What are your childhood memories?
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In our village in the 1960’s we had a ‘fish man’ who called on Fridays, and a greengrocer, Mr Keen, who called two or three times a week. His nickname was ‘cheap and good’ because he would say, “Do you want any tomatoes, missus – cheap and good?” There was a butchers in the village which delivered to some people.