How Covid Helped Us Adapt, Says Cider Farm Owner

Covid Spurred Cider Farm to Diversify

The owners of La Robeline cider farm in St Ouen say they had to expand beyond cider making to survive.

Originally focused solely on cider, the business now offers outside catering and runs a barn restaurant — launched during the pandemic — which operates from April to September, before the barn returns to cider production in October.

“If you’d told me 10 years ago where we’d be now, I’d have laughed,” said co-owner Sarah Matlock. “Covid, in some ways, did us a favour, though it didn’t feel that way in 2020.”

Doug Richardson, of Richardson’s Jersey Royals and the Jersey Farming Union, said diversification brings “fresh ideas” but is easier for small and medium farms. He warned that the economic drive for cheap food makes it essential for survival.

“Farmers are creative by nature,” he said. “We’re constantly adapting.”