Travel & Tourism

The farm shop adored by Molly-Mae Hague, with pick’n’mix cakes and a wall of cheese

A day out disguised as a farm shop

Daisy Jackson - 14th August 2026

There are farm shops, and then there is The Hollies.

The Cheshire institution has been around since 1959, when it began life as a humble roadside vegetable stand with an honesty box.

More than six decades later, it has evolved into the sort of place where you can arrive intending to buy a few vegetables for dinner, and leave several hours later with a basket of fancy crisps, a wedge of local cheese, a candle, a house plant and a pumpkin sculpture on legs.

And if the name sounds familiar, you may remember it from the rather sizeable Molly-Mae effect it experienced in 2023.

The influencer and former Love Island star visited The Hollies with her sister Zoe and daughter Bambi, filming a vlog around the farm shop and declaring that ‘everything in here is just unreal’ – and huge queues followed within days.

But visit now and it becomes immediately obvious why this place has become such a destination in its own right, because this isn’t just somewhere to pick up a locally grown cabbage.

The first thing that hits you is the produce. There are mountains of fruit and vegetables laid out, including marrows the size of your thigh, grapes in paper bags, and punnets of strawberries you can smell as soon as you walk through the door.

The Hollies says its farm shops stock seasonal produce alongside goods sourced from more than 70 local suppliers, as well as products from across the UK and further afield.

The food hall is where a normal farm shop trip – and your weekly budget – starts to spiral.

You’ll find jars of beans that look suspiciously like they belong in an extremely well-dressed pantry, Gymkhana cooking sauces, colourful pasta for people who like to photograph their dinner, and some of the poshest crisps outside of Harrods.

Then there’s the bakery, where alongside fresh bread loaves is a range of treats from local Cheshire business Allison’s Kitchen, including one particularly brilliant idea: a pick’n’mix cake (a full cake made of four slices, like an edible pie chart).

One of the most impressive sights is the wall of cheese, which showcases plenty of local produce from soft and blue cheeses through to big, punchy cheddars.

Nearby, the deli and salad bar turns the whole thing into something approaching a countryside version of a very glamorous food hall.

There are fresh pies, pasties, quiches and sandwiches, alongside all the ingredients needed to put together a very respectable picnic.

And then there is the wine. A huge wine selection.

At this point, your original plan to ‘just pop in for some fruit’ is looking increasingly unrealistic.

And then The Hollies is so beautifully put together, it’s hard to tear yourself back outside – the olives are displayed on a softly lit table beneath an olive tree, and root vegetables sit beneath an acorn tree, like walking through a series of carefully designed little sets.

I’ve never been so inclined to take a picture of a potato before.

If you think you’ve finished once you’ve conquered the food shop, you’re very much mistaken. The Barn is the gift, retail and lifestyle side of The Hollies, and it feels like autumn has been given an unlimited budget.

There are seasonal decorations, pumpkins and orange leaves alongside Jellycats and other soft toys, greetings cards, candles, mugs, bags and fashion.

Finally, there’s The Friesian Rooms, where you can sit with a coffee and cake or grab some lunch, on a sunny terrace that feels (on a good day) very akin to Soho Farmhouse.

The Hollies has taken the humble idea of buying good food directly from the countryside and turned it into a full-blown Cheshire day out – one with exceptionally good cheese, extremely photogenic vegetables, and just the occasional influencer wandering through…

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Featured image: The Manc Group