The Source

Mike and I come from large families that enjoyed cooking and eating and we seem to have passed this down to the next generation. Having a big (party-headed) family ourselves meant that we spent much of our time (and still do!) cooking good and largely unprocessed family meals on a budget. We had a few years living abroad when the children were small which made us realise how much we missed British food….so all in all, perhaps it’s only natural that we developed a food business!

Having a love of food is important when it comes to selecting tasty, quality products for our hampers. Like many people, we’ve become more and more interested in where our food comes from. It also helps that I’m coeliac. Diagnosed about 20 years ago, I consider myself quite an expert now when it comes to choosing gluten- free foods. We have regular tasting sessions for our products, and I have a lot of fun sampling the gluten- free ones. They tell me I’m a picky one too (!) so you can guarantee the products in our wide range of gluten- free hampers are amazing!

Living and working in beautiful rural Lincolnshire, we’re lucky to be surrounded by food artisans who work hard to make the wonderful products you see in farm shops, delicatessens and markets.

By artisans, we mean independent producers who use traditional methods and tools to make small batches of food, not mass-produced, using just a few traceable ingredients. You’ll find them passionate about the quality and hence taste of their food. All over the UK our countryside bustles with small producers who desire to showcase the best of British produce, and we heartily support their efforts! Our British seasons allow such a variety of foods to be grown, why not use them?

In our search for good British foods to fill our hampers, we have met some inspirational artisans.

Take our cheeses, for example. We have two that are local to us, one from nearby Nottinghamshire and one from Somerset.

Lincolnshire Poacher is made by the Jones family on their farm in the Lincolnshire Wolds using their own herds’ milk. This delicious and popular cheese is said to be a cross between a West Country Cheddar and a continental alpine cheese.

Cote Hill Red cheese is made by the Davenport family, just down the road from us. An award-winning cheese, it has a sweet, nutty and semi-hard texture.

Over in Nottinghamshire we found the loveliest Blue Stilton cheese, made by the Skailes family who have been running the Cropwell Bishop Creamery for over 160 years.

From Godminster in Somerset comes the tasty Vintage Organic Truckle. This mouth-watering cheddar comes from an organic dairy herd on a small farm and we’re proud to include it in our hampers.

We have an interesting selection of gift hampers that include these cheeses, and they all come paired with artisanal sweet and savoury nibbles and/or fine wine. Our British Cheese and Treats hamper is a perfect and neat mix of cheese and delicious sweet and savoury artisanal treats, to suit all palates. Our award-winning Picnic Celebration Hamper includes Poacher cheese, a cream tea, smoked salmon and an English Rose, for picnic perfection!

Down in the West Country we found a passionate family of artisan confectioners who make the most out-of-the world buttery fudge. Infused with tiny flakes of sea-salt, it’s delicious AND it’s gluten-free! Hand-made Caramel Sea Salt Fudge is included in many of our hampers.

Also here in the West Country works the skilled artisan chocolatier, Willie Harcourt-Cooze. He uses 100% natural ingredients! Milk, dark and white chocolate, these sublime Bean to Bars make wonderful additions to our hampers. In fact, we have the ideal hamper for chocoholics which contains these and more from other talented British independent chocolatiers, the Divinely Decadent Chocolate.

From the West Country we travel nearly 1000 miles to the Outer Hebrides where artisans are busy at work baking the crispiest, tastiest, savoury biscuit ever! Our Scottish Water Biscuits are made by traditional methods and pair very well with our cheeses but, being so popular, can be found in many of our hampers.

Tea lover? Even our teas are blended by artisans, on our doorstep in Lincoln! A family-run business, they blend the most perfect teas and coffees in small batches. We have full- flavoured breakfast tea, delicate refreshing Earl Grey tea and medium-bodied 100% Arabica coffee.

We’re coming up to Christmas, so let’s talk about chutney!

Fruity, spicy and seasonal, our Christmas Chutney is made in the heart of Essex by a family, using traditional methods and with no additives or preservatives. Great for the festive season but actually good all year round!

Our list of great tasting artisanal foods for our hampers is endless! We focus on provenance, never ceasing to be amazed at the passion and hard work that goes into creating the products. We’ll never tire of our journeys around Britain in search of the best; indeed we enjoy them!

We celebrate British food artisans and we’re proud to include their products in our hampers.