Fife family cheesemakers rack up 17 medals in a golden run
St Andrews Farmhouse Cheese Company, run by the Stewart family at Falside Farm in the East Neuk of Fife, has picked up 17 medals across five UK cheese competitions this year, including three golds at last week's International Cheese & Dairy Awards for its Cheddar, Anster and Whisky Barrel Smoked Cheddar. The family has been hand-making raw-milk cheese since 2008, using traditional animal rennet and heritage starter cultures from their own Holstein Friesian herd - a reminder that quietly getting on with the job can still win at national level.
Source: foodanddrink.scot
Comber Earlies dug fresh as Northern Ireland's taste of summer arrives
The traditional Comber Earlies harvest is under way in County Down, with grower William Gilmore - continuing 75 years of family potato-growing near Newtownards - reporting good tuber size and "excellent" eating quality after a kind growing season. Packer Wilson's Country gets the potatoes into shops within 24 hours of lifting, a small but telling example of the short, local supply chains behind this much-loved seasonal delicacy.
Source: farminglife.com
Twickenham gets its bakery back after a 15-year gap
A new independent bakery has opened on Twickenham's London Road, taking over a long-empty unit and giving the town its first proper independent bread shop since Belmont Bakery closed in 2011. Co-owners Fawzi Ghani and Riad Zaik, drawing on French pastry training, are baking with premium French flour and no unnecessary additives - classic croissants and brioche alongside more playful pistachio buns.
Source: swlondoner.co.uk
Three Welsh food names join forces for a bara brith ice cream
Ebbw Vale ice cream maker Sidoli's has teamed up with Denbigh bakery Henllan Bread and wholesaler Harlech Foodservice to launch a bara brith-flavoured ice cream as part of a new "Proudly Welsh" range, alongside flavours built around Halen Môn sea salt and Ferrari's Coffee. It's a nice example of small, family-run Welsh businesses - one baking since 1908 - pooling ingredients and reputation to back each other up.
Source: businessnewswales.com
Welsh farms turn milk and pork into new artisan lines
A clutch of small Welsh farms - including Ty Tanglwyst Dairy in Bridgend, Charcuterie Môn on Anglesey and Trefaldwyn Cheese near Montgomery - have used the Welsh Government's HELIX support programme to move into food and drink production, from a new chocolate milk to outdoor-reared charcuterie and certified farmhouse cheese. A useful reminder of the groundwork behind the finished products that end up on farm shop shelves.
Source: businessnewswales.com
British raspberries are having their sweetest summer in decades (although probably still not sweet enough for my liking...)
British Berry Growers reports that this year's raspberry crop is registering sugar levels up to 50% higher than the historical average, thanks to a cool, dry spring followed by a warm May. If they go up another 200% maybe I could revise my stance on berries! Angus Soft Fruits' Lochy Porter, who has grown raspberries in Scotland for 35 years, says he's "rarely seen Brix readings like this," while grower George Beedell at WB Chambers in Kent notes the berries are arriving larger as well as sweeter. It follows a record-breaking May for British strawberry sales too.
Source: freshfruitportal.com
Pembrokeshire creamery cleans up at the world's biggest cheese show
First Milk's Haverfordwest Creamery has taken four major trophies as part of a 26-medal haul for the farmer-owned co-operative at the International Cheese & Dairy Awards, the world's largest cheese competition. The Pembrokeshire site picked up top honours for its Double Gloucester, extra mature and medium creamery block Cheddars, in a year that saw record entry numbers across the cheddar classes.
Source: pembrokeshire-herald.com