This week marks the start of British Food Fortnight, the biggest national celebration of British food and drink. The annual event highlights the health benefits and the importance of eating quality, fresh, seasonal and local produce.
When we launched our eco hand-cooked crisp brand, sourcing ingredients as locally as possible was just as important as our compostable packaging. We wanted to celebrate provenance and the true flavours of Herefordshire, keep our food miles low, and support our local community.
The potato was an easy start! Founders of the brand, Mark and Sean, are both potato farmers, so although they knew they would be using their own potatoes, there were plenty of ingredients still to find.
Our Hereford Hop Cheese & Onion crisps are made using a well-known cheese of the same name. Made on the family farm a mere 20 minutes away, we knew it would be the perfect fit for our crisps! Hereford Hop, beloved across Herefordshire and beyond, was first created in 1987 by renowned cheesemakers, Charles Martell & Son. A hard cheese made with cow’s milk and encrusted with toasted hops, it has a distinctive and truly delicious taste which comes through beautifully in our hand-cooked crisps.
Cheese completed, our next challenge was to find a suitable salt. When we first set out with the intention of using the most locally sourced ingredients we could find, we did not think for a minute that we would be lucky enough to have an artisan salt producer on our doorstep… However, the folks at Droitwich Salt are just over the border in Worcestershire and source their salt from one of the oldest and purest springs in the world – the brine has been underground for thousands of years and is purer than seawater and with no contamination. The brine from the spring is dried using renewable energy, then delivered to us to sprinkle over our crisps – we couldn’t be any happier with our find!
We always knew we wanted to team up with family-run Herefordshire meat business, Tudges, so when it came to perfecting our latest meat flavour, Hereford Sausage and Mustard, we knew where to look! The Tudge family has been rearing Berkshire pigs for over 20 years and is well-known across Herefordshire and its neighbouring counties. Championing low food miles, high-quality products, and a commitment to sustainable production, they couldn’t be a better fit for Two Farmers! The pigs are free to roam outside, dig around and wallow in the mud – and this is reflected in the taste. The Berkshire meat is tender, and although the pigs carry more fat than commercial breeds, this adds to the flavour of our latest addition to our range.
We also are lucky enough to grow our own onions for our Hereford Hop and Onion crisps, along with making our very own apple cider vinegar from apples grown in Herefordshire orchards to flavour our Salt and Cider Vinegar crisps. Sourcing local ingredients is incredibly important to us, not only to keep our food miles low – but to champion the tastes of this fantastic county in which we are proud to farm and produce our crunchtastic range of crisps for our customers to enjoy. Head to our website to view our full range, including five delicious flavours and 3 convenient size formats
Happy crunching – and don’t forget to show your support for British Food Fortnight by buying British and local where you can!
