Buy local: Some of our favourite

Let’s buy local and support our Island

Here at Style of Wight Magazine we are proud to support Island business and its circular economy. This is intrinsic to everything we do – our very ethos and reason for publishing is how proud we are to live here. So when we heard about the Buy Local scheme it resonated deeply and we thought you, our reader, would like to know more. We are collaborating with Wight Marque and Natural enterprise so look out for more news in the next few editions.

Your mission is simple: eat up for your Island, and enjoy the wonderful produce that’s on our doorstep. Natural Enterprise, in collaboration with Wight Marque, are challenging you to switch up your shopping every week and ‘try something new’. If you can eat it or drink it, and it comes from the Isle of Wight, then give it a go! Island food is a favourite with chefs and we think your family will love it too. Swap one of your usual brands for an Island brand and we’re sure you’ll taste the difference. There’s so much to choose from, as we’re lucky enough to have easy access to the freshest food and gourmet delights from the Island’s artisan makers, bakers and brewers.

Island freshness

There’s freshness… and there’s Island freshness. Our food is sent all over the country, to top restaurants and fancy stores – but we’re the lucky ones who get the first pickings. That means that the milk could be in the cow in the morning – and in your tea in the afternoon. The fruit and veg is so fresh that it practically leaps out of the field and into the farm shops. Island quality

Many of the producers have won Great Taste awards – and it takes a lot of work to make food this good. That’s why the meat is hung for longer than usual. The coffee is roasted in small batches. The salad dressings use foraged ingredients. The cheese is made with milk that’s fresh from the cow. It takes time, effort and passion.

Island innovators Some of our favourite Island producers tell their story

“You can taste the Island freshness” – Nuala Grandcourt, Wild Island

Nuala Grandcourt is the Founder of Wild Island, based in Newchurch. Her Fine Oils, Dressings and Fruit Vinegars have won four prestigious Great Taste Awards.

She uses Island ingredients including rapeseed oil and foraged wild garlic...

“We’ve noticed that during the coronavirus crisis, people are buying more online and trying different flavours as they’re getting more experimental in their cooking.

“One of the predominant ingredients in our oils, dressings and marinades is rapeseed oil from Merstone, known as Oil of Wight, which has a distinct golden colour and slightly nutty flavour. It’s cold-pressed, and made without chemicals or heat, so you can taste the lovely fresh rapeseeds.

It really complements other local flavours. For example, try adding a little Chilli Cherry Drizzle over local crab fishcakes on a bed of rocket and tomato salad.

“Our Spiced Fig dressing, which has a punchy kick to it, goes really well with the delicious Halloumi from Briddlesford, Island cherry tomatoes, and Isle of Wight lamb. We use it pretty much all the time on the BBQ! Our Salad Dressing goes really well with Isle of Wight asparagus, potatoes and poached eggs – the rapeseed oil ties everything together. “We like to play around with seasonal ingredients for our oils and dressings, like blackberries when they’re in abundance. Or at this time of year, we might go out collecting elderflowers, and wild garlic. We’re always trying new recipes and make everything ourselves.

“The brilliant thing about local produce is that you can see it growing, so you can be sure of its provenance. And

Image: Jonathan Cherry

you can taste the freshness – the taste is remarkable!

“Wild Island is an Island business and it’s important for us to use local suppliers, including graphic designers, printers and dispatchers. We employ people who are also part of the community, for example, our production manager is a volunteer for the RNLI. So many people benefit when you shop locally – and the quality’s there for you too!”

Try something new...

“Try eating asparagus just after it’s been picked – the taste is incomparable, it’s so delicious.”

“You’re not just buying coffee… you’re helping businesses to stay afloat” – Dan Burgess, Caffé Isola

Dan Burgess’ family have been supplying the Island with caffeine for over 20 years. At Caffé Isola and The I.O.W Espresso

Company, they roast their own coffee and produce their own tea...

“Ours is a family business. It started out when my dad bought a catering trailer, put in an espresso machine, got a pitch on the industrial estate and started selling coffee alongside bacon rolls – we’ve come a long way since then and now have a roastery producing around 35 tonnes of coffee a year and a flagship retail café in

Newport, Caffé Isola, which is also home to our smaller profiling roastery and coffee training centre.

“During the coronavirus crisis, our business has been operating at around 5%, and all our staff have been furloughed, apart from myself and my brother. It’s a strange situation but effectively our business is paused with just retail web orders for free Island doorstep delivery (post for the mainland), keeping my brother and I going. “I’d urge Islanders to take this opportunity to shop locally, as many producers are offering free delivery right now, to keep the money going around the Island, you will really be making a difference to the livelihoods of local businesses. Maybe try a new Island product once a week? It might cost a little bit more but you’ll be getting much better quality. For example if you open a supermarket teabag, you might see dust. If you open one of our Wight Label tea bags, you’ll see tea leaves, and that makes all the difference to the depth of the flavour.

“Our Island Roasted coffee isn’t the same either. The big coffee chains and supermarkets need such large volumes of coffee and are always driven by price so have to use lower grade coffees to get some level of flavour consistency, but at the cost of quality. We can buy small batches of speciality coffee, and support smaller farms with ethical work practices and celebrate the amazing work they do. That means that we can focus on the grade and the flavour, and our customers are getting an artisan exclusive product that can’t be found elsewhere. A fine example of this is Leidy Chinchilla from Honduras who produces just 15 sacks a year of her Finca Los Mangos speciality coffee exclusively for us. “Smaller businesses can also work more quickly, which benefits the customer. A big brand might roast their coffee and then have it with customers within 3 to 6 months. We can get it out there the next day and that makes a huge difference to the coffee’s quality in the cup. Freshly roasted coffee is more vibrant, with a nice silky crema for espresso, and a rich flavour for filter coffee.

“Particularly now, it’s important for us all to support the Island, so try something new! You won’t just be buying a lovely cup of coffee or a packet of tea – you’ll be helping local businesses to stay afloat.”

Try something new...

“Try the milk from Briddlesford Dairy – it’s so fresh you can get it on the day it’s been milked. Their Guernsey herd produces amazing creamy milk that’s perfect for frothing micro foam and latte art.

Try Fruit Bowl Jams – they come in a wide range of flavours and use traditional fruits. At the start of the lockdown we added their jams to the Island Roasted website and they’ve been selling well.”

“Your leg of lamb is generating jobs for your community” – Andrew Hodgson, Isle of Wight Meat Co.

Andrew Hodgson owns the Isle of Wight Meat Co. which started offering meat directly to the public during the coronavirus pandemic. His 730 acre farm is based in Shorwell, up on the Downs, with spectacular views over the coast... “I’ve always said that my animals need fresh air and sea views – and the farm is in an area of outstanding natural beauty, which I’m sure helps the meat to taste good! “Cheverton, where we’re based, is a very public farm – some farmers’ attitude is ‘get off my land’ but that’s not us at all. There is open access through our fields and we like to come out, meet people, and talk about our animals, because we really care about their welfare and want to tell everyone what we’re doing.

“We used to supply restaurants and pubs, but that stopped overnight when coronavirus hit. It took us two months to set up so that we could reach the public directly – we had planned to do this anyway, but had given ourselves a year! Now it’s pretty much all we’re doing. Although we can’t meet our customers right now, we like to keep connected and show people what the farm is doing through our website and Facebook.

“Our farm is all about the community and many of our customers have a personal connection with us. When they buy meat from us, they might think – ‘I know the farm, I walk my dog near it’, or maybe they know someone who works here. When you’re buying your leg of lamb, you’re generating jobs for your community. Since putting in our new meat plant, we have created seven new jobs and been able to keep the farm going. Plus you get the environmental benefits of low food miles.

“Our Island meat is good quality and good value. Our beef is hung for 40 days, whereas the standard is 14 or 21 days. We’ve also got a Himalayan salt chamber, as well as a bespoke computerised chiller. The time it takes makes it more expensive to produce but most importantly enhances the flavour. So although you could find cheaper elsewhere, it won’t taste as good!”

Try something new...

“Buy the best meat you can afford, as close to the source as possible!”

“Our milk could go from cow to cup in a day!” –Paul Griffin, Briddlesford Lodge Farm & Dairy

Paul Griffin is a partner at Briddlesford Lodge Farm & Dairy. He urges Islanders to shop locally to support the Isle of Wight rural economy – and enjoy the freshest and tastiest food...

“Our milk could be in the cow in the morning – and in your tea in the afternoon! We process it on our farm, so it can be in the shops just hours after milking. The freshness comes through in the depth of flavour of our cheeses too.

“Coronavirus has had a dramatic effect on our business but we are lucky to have been able to mitigate the pressure and keep most of our

30 staff in work. We had to shut the café but our head chef now makes all kinds of products and ready meals for our farm shop, including custard, milkshakes, chillis, cottage pies and pizzas. We used to supply the catering trade with lots of fresh cream, but when that stopped overnight, our chefs started work in our dairy, using the cream to make more butter instead. Our café manager is now multi-tasking. She runs our home delivery service and organises PR across the business. We’ll carry on like this as long as we need to, as we’ve been getting good feedback, and we don’t know when the crisis will end.

“Local businesses are there for you when you need them and we’ve demonstrated this during the crisis. If a shop says they’re running out of milk, then we’ll be straight over with it, if we can. We have developed strong relationships with our customers in this way, but also because they know they can rely on us for quality. “When you shop locally, you’re supporting your rural economy and putting money back into the Isle of Wight. You’re protecting Isle of Wight jobs, and investing in the beautiful countryside. Without farming, the fields would revert to scrubland and you wouldn’t see livestock. If we don’t support our farmers, they will go out of business and we’ll need to import more food.

“A crisis like this one has shown us what can happen if our supply and distribution networks come under pressure, but local suppliers can always provide what we need when we need it. So let’s buy local – you’re supporting the Isle of Wight, you can feel good about yourself, and it tastes so good too!”

Try something new...

“Try Briddlesford Mac and Cheese! It’s in our new ready meal range and uses all four of our cheeses: Cheddar, Gouda, Halloumi and Feta. Try The Fruit Bowl homemade jam range – it’s sold in the shop and used in Bluebell’s with our cream teas. It’s made in Newchurch, where nearly all of their fruit is grown.”

To register for Style of Wight exclusive local supplier offers please email us office@styleofwight.co.uk To find out more about the Let’s Buy Local initiative visit letsbuylocal.org.uk