Ginsters is hiring a Pasty Farmer - how to apply for role

The company is looking for one person to become its pasty farmer who will spend some time on its partner farms in Cornwall and help grow ingredients for its famous Cornish pasties, such as onions and potatoes, and learn how to make a Cornish pasty.

The week-long work experience will take place at Hay Farm and the successful candidate will sow and cultivate the vegetables that go into a Ginsters pasty and they’ll find out about the more “innovative” farming techniques demonstrated by Ginsters’ farmer character Merryn in its new TV ad.

This includes singing lullabies to crops, being a human scarecrow and managing a ‘team’ of worms to ensure only the best quality soil.

Merryn features in the new Ginsters TV ad (Image: Ginsters)

The new team member will stay close to the farm and get the chance to observe and learn about the field-to-fork process and they’ll take part in an exclusive, private pasty-making workshop with Ginsters Senior Development Chef Will.

Who would be the ideal candidate?

Ginsters is looking for someone who is:

• Motivated
• Enthusiastic
• Passionate about vegetables
• Eager to learn all about farming, food and the cultivation of great quality, British ingredients
• Keen to get their hands dirty
• Happy to sing lullabies to an audience of vegetables

Ginsters is searching for someone who also exhibits an interest in farming, agriculture and the outdoors and has a strong work ethic.

They want to find someone who is reliable and has the ability to perform physical tasks in various weather conditions.

Excellent teamwork and communication skills are also required.

The work experience is a paid position and will take place over a week in Spring 2024 (Image: Ginsters)

A willingness to learn and take direction from experienced farmers and mentors is also necessary.

Attention to detail as well as the ability to follow instructions accurately, including learning lyrics to vegetable lullabies, are also important.

Adaptability and a positive attitude in a dynamic and ever-changing farm environment are also needed and the successful candidate will need to have a willingness to get hands, and other areas such as arms, face, knees and toes, dirty on a real Cornish farm.

How to apply for the Ginsters role

If this sounds like your ideal job role, here’s how you can apply.

Applications for the Pasty Farmer work experience are now open and if you’re interested in applying, you have until 11.50pm on October 23 to submit your application.

The week of work experience will take place in Spring 2024 and it is a paid position (equivalent £35k per annum).

To apply for the experience, you can visit the Ginsters website here.

The new role follows research by the brand which found that many city-dwellers would love to get their hands dirty down on a farm growing vegetables with over half (56%) loving the idea of escaping to the countryside and quitting the day job in favour of a more ‘wholesome’ life.

The poll of 2,000 adults found almost one in five (37%) love the thought of growing their own produce and over a third (36%) would like to get closer to nature and truly understand where their food comes from, from field to fork.

The successful candidate will act as a 'human scarecrow' (Image: Ginsters)

Furthermore, 41% believe that farmers are one of the hardest-working professions with 37% not sure they have got the skills or knowhow to enable them to thrive while working to farm vegetables.

The research of 2,000 UK adults was carried out by OnePoll between 21/8/2023 and 24/8/2023.

Sarah Babb at Ginsters said: “With the opening of our unique Pasty Farmer role with our partners at Hay Farm, we’re hoping to give the lucky applicant the chance to get stuck into farming life and experience firsthand the effort that our amazing Cornish farmers put into producing our locally grown veg – something that Merryn embodies in our new TV ad. 

“One thing is for sure – the lucky candidate will most definitely know how our veg is grown once their time on the farm has ended.”