The Goods Shed celebrates 18th anniversary
The Goods Shed, Canterbury’s local farmers market, food hall and restaurant, will celebrate it’s 18th year this week.
The Goods Shed market
Founder Susanna Sait started the business in 2001, transforming a Victorian railway goods shed next to Canterbury West station into a flourishing community of passionate producers and Kentish foodies.
Her inspiration is drawn from her childhood as a farmer’s daughter: eating the seasons directly from the farm and pulled that day from the garden; recreating the nostalgia of her mother’s kitchen table; and reliving the bygone days of good, honest food with little fuss or waste.
The market is jam packed with local produce, available six days a week - from the cheesemaker’s, to one of the only fresh fishmongers in East Kent, to the nose-to-tail butchery and more*.
Sussana Sait
The restaurant is widely regarded by critics and guides across the country and has been led by chef Rafael Lopez since the earliest days, creating his twice-daily changing menu from no further than the produce in the market.
After these 18 years of business together, both Susanna and Rafael reflect on the journey:
“Our vision was to inspire customers with an antithesis of the corporate, shiny capitalist world, and provide a different way that truly values local, seasonal produce and small businesses. Our core values are still intact - sustainability, utmost respect for the produce and who makes it, and for our amazing, knowledgeable vendors with the character and the colours they’ve brought to this experience!
“After 18 years, you hit a rhythm: when you’re new and shiny everybody wants to visit and then you hit a plateau where the real work begins and having to sustain something is a whole new beast. We’ve never tried to expand or change dramatically - we’ve kept it as it is to really dig deep with the challenges here and grow with them.
“We’ve always tried to make everything ourselves and curiosity has driven this whole thing taking a raw product that’s inquisitively handled with freedom, experimentation and time. That’s the essence in the kitchen! I’m not sure there isn’t anything that comes through our doors now that we can’t work with. Our team is intuitive and totally equipped to react with nature - it’s our experience and ability to respond to that that makes everything really exciting. We think we at the ripe age of 18 we can say the future is beautifully confident.”
At the Goods Shed
The Restaurant
Nose-to-Tail Butchery
The Fishmongers
The Veg Stall
Wild Goose
Gill’s Cafe & Delicatessen Cheesemaker’s of Canterbury Jonnie Sandwich
Murray’s General Stores Docker
Enzo’s Bakery
Patriana Charcuterie
Press Wine Services
For more information visit https://www.thegoodsshed.co.uk