Warren and Ellie Goff joined Ellie's parents in the family business -

M0NACH FARMS, when Ellie had completed her degree at Leeds University and found a husband (Warren) in 2000. They made the decision to try to run the small farm at Abberton near Colchester. They had the vision of expanding the long-established goat herd and diversifying into 'on-farm dairy production and processing'.

 

The farm had unimproved grassland but no house and no outbuildings, so it really was a case of starting from scratch. Planning permission was

eventually gained for two barns, a milking parlour and a mobile home. The

decision was taken to move the majority of the milking herd to Essex while

keeping a few show animals and young stock in Cambridgeshire. Ellie &

Warren then had to prove financial viability of the goat business in order

to obtain a permanent dwelling for themselves. This eventually happened in 2005.

 

In the meantime they have built a Farm Shop, incorporated the village Post

Office where they sell a wide range regional food, home produce and our

traditionally reared meats. They also sell goat meat, which has proven to

be a popular, healthy alternative to the more traditional meats. Most

significantly of all Warren & Ellie have developed their own product

'CAPRILATTE' Farmhouse Luxury Dairy Goats Milk Ice Cream.

 

Warren has a passion for ice cream and saw an increasing demand for a wider variety of healthy alternatives to cow's-milk products. Assured in the

knowledge of the high health status of our goats and their milk, we felt

that we had the recipe for success. So in December 2004, surrounded by

local & national media interest, Butterfly Lodge Dairy and Farm Shop

presented Caprillate to the public in sixteen flavours from Mexican Vanilla

to Belgian Double Chocolate, from Honeymoon pie to Mint Choc Crisp! Special flavours are made at Christmas such as Stollen cake, Christmas pudding, and cinnamon & spiced apple. We now produce specialist flavours for weddings and Birthday Parties: orders such as Raspberry Pavlova, Turkish Delight, and Fruits of the Forest.

 

We are pleased to have been awarded two diploma's for ice cream.

 

 

 

 

In Summer Warren and Ellie attend numerous regional and national food

events, and have experienced enormous interest in the Goats Milk Ice Cream, and have worked hard to dispel the general public's misconceptions about Goats Milk. This has made for a very busy summer, and has seen booking for events and corporate functions flood in for 2007.

 

Warren has developed each recipe using the finest natural ingredients and

the Caprilatte flavour list now boasts over 36 luxurious flavours. In 2007

we plan to introduce Caprilatte Ice Cream Cakes, and Goats Milk Frozen

Yoghurt Ice Cream.

 

 

 

Not only is the ice cream sold in our own Farm Shop at Butterfly Lodge, but

also many local pubs and restaurants have found it popular too. An

increasing quantity of ice cream is now being distributed throughout the

region and into London by Tastes of Anglia Table  a regional delivery

co-operative network. None of this development would have been possible

without the financial assistance of DEFRA's Rural Enterprise Scheme which

part-funded the Farm Shop and the Ice Cream Processing Unit. The

Countryside Agency's Community Services Grant Scheme helped to fit out the Farm Shop and the WayMark Essex Rural Business Support Grant share-funded a disabled toilet for customer use. New in 2005, the Farm Shop has been expanded to include tea & coffee facilities, and a grassy picnic area. Ellie now organises and runs regular Educational Access farm visits for local nurseries, schools, and societies as part of our DEFRA Countryside Stewardship scheme. These visits are based around educating people about how a dairy goat unit is run, and integrated in to a small livestock unit. The visitors are taken on a tour to see our dairy goats,and milking parlour. They enjoy a talk on goat husbandry and keeping healthy milking goats.

 

As part of our educational tours, Ellie has developed core curriculum based

work sheets and rural arts activities, so that visiting groups can tailor

their visit. To top off their visit, they get to sample some of our Ice

Cream, locally produced cheeses, and fresh milk.