A HERB grower which celebrated its 25th anniversary last year has thrown open the doors to its North Yorkshire greenhouses for its annual farm open day.

Herbs Unlimited grows herbs, salads and edible flowers on its 120-acre farm at Sand Hutton, near Thirsk, supplying the catering, hospitality, food manufacturing and wholesale sectors nationally.

Founded in 1992, the business employs 65 permanent and seasonal staff and has a £5 million turnover.

The open day showcased the versatility of herbs and edible flowers, demonstrating innovative ways of using them. Visitors were given a guided tour and were treated to a specially created menu featuring the farm’s fresh herbs and flowers, devised by award-winning chef Stephanie Moon.

Philip Dodd took over as managing director of Herbs Unlimited from his mother Alison in January.

He said: “Despite other challenges within the sector, mother nature continues to have the largest impact on us as a business.

“We had a wet start to the season, but the recent dry and sunny spell means that we are almost back on schedule and we loved showing our customers around the farm.

“Brexit has brought uncertainty, but it has also renewed interest in reducing reliance on imports within the hospitality and food sectors and the sector is generally more buoyant.

“We’re a successful family-run company producing a premium speciality product based in a region blessed with a wealth of fantastic food producers.

“While costs are increasing, we are working on ever innovative ways of producing our product. To extend our growing season, we’ve invested more than £65,000 in new polytunnels this year.”