Our story began in 1976, when Peter Barfoot, a fifth-generation farmer, started growing a single crop in the unique micro-climate of the Hampshire Basin in the south of England.
Today, Barfoots looks very different. We are still a family-owned business but now we grow, process and pack a range of semi-exotic vegetables at farms and facilities around the world.
1950
Peter Barfoot is born in Botley, Hampshire, into a family with a long tradition of farming.
A young Peter picking strawberries at the family farm
1976
Peter and his father, Victor Barfoot, go into business together and form VH Barfoot and Son.
Victor Barfoot picking runner beans at Abshot Farm
1994
Peter buys Sefter Farm in West Sussex, which becomes Barfoots’ main site.
Sefter Farm
2000
Barfoots opens its first integrated production line to supply de-husked, pre-packed sweetcorn.
Sefter sweetcorn production line
2002
Barfoots España is established in Almeria by Jo-Anne Barfoot, which expands the company’s winter growing capacity.
Jo-Anne with one of Barfoots España’s key crops…courgettes
2005
A new purpose-built sweetcorn packing facility, featuring state-of- the-art automated equipment, is opened at Sefter Farm.
Peter with his beloved sweetcorn!
2006
Barfoots Senegal is founded. The joint venture in partnership with Michael Laurent of Société de Cultures Légumières (SCL) helps ensure the year-round delivery of high-quality produce.
Senegal butternut harvest
2007
Barfoots begins growing premium vegetables, including asparagus, chillies, Tenderstem® broccoli and baby corn.
A premium vegetables packing facility is opened in Leythorne, West Sussex, to cater for this growth.
Leythorne production line
2010
Barfoots builds its first anaerobic digester. It produces enough green energy from the waste generated at Sefter Farm to power the entire site. It also creates organic fertiliser for Barfoots farms.
Anaerobic digesters
2015
Barfoots España invests in 10 hectares of covered production in southern Spain.
Barfoots España site
2019
New £15m state of the art sweetcorn factory ‘Sefter South’ is completed, increasing our production capacity by 100%. A new record of 4.5 million cobs packed in one week.
Inside Sefter South
2017
Barfoots enjoys a record-breaking sweetcorn season in the UK. Over 35 million cobs are harvested at the company’s farms in Hampshire and West Sussex.
Sweetcorn harvesters
2021
500 acre Heasley Farm acquired, on the Isle of Wight. Barfoot Farms grow speciality vegetables across 9,500 acres of the South Coast of England.
Heasley Farm in the Arreton Valley on the Isle of Wight
2020
Peter Barfoot awarded a CBE for Services to Sustainable Farming.
Sefter South New sweetcorn processing facility commissioned.
Peter receiving his CBE from Anne, Princess Royal at Windsor Castle in 2021
2022
Our water treatment facility is built…cleaning and converting all our factory waste water into irrigation water for our crops. It can treat 300 cubic meters a day, enough to fill an Olympic sized swimming pool in a week!
Water treatment tank pre filtration
2023
Sweetcorn kernelling operation commissioned, running exclusively during the UK season, providing kernels for freezing. 1,000,000 sweetcorn cobs processed in 24 hours for the 1st time.
Geoff Faulkner, Head of Factory and Technical in the kernel factory
2024
5,464 solar panels installed across the Sefter and Leythorne operation sites.
Reverse Osmosis system commissioned converting wastewater to potable water.
Barfoot Farms wins prestigious ‘Hampshire County Farms Championship’ competition.
A record 6 million cobs packed in a week!
Today
We are a global farming business, working 1000’s of acres and employing 1000’s of people, striving for advancements in fresh produce excellence.