JandJ Alpacas farm in Dry Doddington, near Grantham, celebrates 20 years of owning alpacas

A family of farmers are celebrating 20 years of success — and over 90 alpacas — after deciding to broaden their horizons.

In 2005, Martin and Clare Stanger, like many other farmers at the time, were looking to diversify the business, and the couple wanted something that the whole family would enjoy.

And so, four Huacaya alpaca females named Mississippi Moonlight, Luminaria, Coco Chanel and Skylark were delivered to the family farm.

JandJ Alpacas, located at the farm in Dry Doddington, was born using the couple’s children’s names — James and Jessica.

Within a year, the family decided to specialise in coloured alpacas and bought eight black pregnant females as they said alpacas were “addictive”.

The Alpaca Centre and Coffee Shop, built on the family’s 23-acre farm, opened to the public in December 2018, made using four one-trip shipping containers to offer a unique dining experience with the view of the alpacas.

“Our undercover and outdoor seating has a very calm atmosphere as you're able to hear the alpacas humming and munching grass,” Jessica said.

“The pregnant alpacas give birth in the paddock just outside the coffee shop windows/outdoor seating area, and many customers have witnessed an alpaca birth!

“It's an exciting, magical experience — you wouldn't be put off your coffee and cake.

“Back in 2005, alpaca experiences and a coffee/gift shop were never on the cards, but we absolutely love the business we have created, the people we have met along the way, our dedicated team and lovely customers.”

When asked for their favourite memories over the last 20 years of owning an alpaca farm, Martin said that opening the farm to the public in 2018 and sharing their herd with visitors is what he loves the most.

For Clare, it was seeing her alpaca Skylark give birth for the first time to a female cria, named Raven.

James said that having won the Black Huacaya Female Championship at the Northumberland Show with Talia and Octavia is his best memory, while Jessica’s was attending the Destination Lincolnshire Tourism Awards, where the business was named as finalists in two categories — Experience of the Year and Small Attraction of the Year.

Five-year-old Hallie has now joined the family business, and despite her young age, she said that her favourite memory of the farm is training and showing the alpacas in the young handlers class.

The family said that their customers’ reactions when visiting the centre are ‘fantastic’ and described most people walking through the front door and expressing their excitement at being able to have such a good view of the animals.

Jessica added: “It's a challenging industry to be in, but we work well as a family, adore our beautiful herd of alpacas, and have the next generation lined up to continue J and J Alpacas.”

The alpaca centre will host a 20th birthday celebration on Saturday (July 26) from 10am until 5pm, with a craft fair, face paintings, pizzas and potentially a live singer.

Jessica added: “We are all super happy to be celebrating 20 years of our alpaca adventure.”

The farm currently offers a range of alpaca experience such as meet and greet, chat experience, trekking, adoption, group visits, parties and weddings.

In the future, the family plans to expand the coffee shop, and are looking forward to seeing plenty of alpaca babies born and also want to offer new animal experiences.