As Britain’s supermarkets boom this spring with unprecedented demand, there has never been a better time to discover and support our home-grown businesses. Highlighting the finest produce from across the UK that can be safely delivered straight to your door, here is our pick of the brands that should be on your radar to ensure self-isolation satisfaction.
Yorkshire: Tame and Wild
The beautifully playful design of these quench-thirsting, botanical infused drinks will immediately grab your attention. The brainchild of English fruit farm maker and beekeeper, Annabel Makin, each creation has been made with natural ingredients from the fields, hedgerows and gardens of Yorkshire. Perfect for the whole family to enjoy at home, Tame and Wild can be enjoyed solo or with an accompaniment – from a lunchtime treat for little ones, to mocktails for teens, to adding some Friday night flair to your G and T. Each drink also comes complete with added health benefits, including our favourite flavour combinations – strawberry, cucumber and lime flower (helps to reduce stress and anxiety levels), and rhubarb, elderberry and rose (the elderberries are packed with antioxidants, helping to boost the immune system).
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Phone: 0113 286 2631
Website: tameandwilddrinks.co.uk
Tame and Wild drinks are £2.98 and can be purchased across the UK through their website.
Isle of Wight: The Tomato Stall
If you’re struggling to find fresh fruit and vegetables, look no further than The Tomato Stall: beautifully fresh British grown Isle of Wight tomatoes can be delivered directly to your doorstep anywhere in the UK. Grown in the rich and fertile Arreton Valley for over 30 years, the island’s unique maritime climate and southern location results in some of Britain’s tastiest tomatoes. The best part? They have a brand-new offering of four hand-picked boxes of speciality tomatoes. We went for the brand’s family box which includes a mix of the finest Isle of Wight tomato crowd-pleasers: plum, beef, cherry, cocktail vine, golden classic vine and heirloom – all of which are the first crop of the season and can be made into multiple mouth-watering recipes to keep immune systems healthy at home.
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Phone: 01983 866907
Website: thetomatostall.co.uk
Dorset: The Artful Baker
These fine biscuit activists have an utterly delicious flavour combination to suit every taste and occasion, injecting indulgence into snacking at home. Created in the fine food suburbs of the South West, each biscotti has been handcrafted by a bespoke team that aren’t afraid to think outside the box. With both sweet and savoury ranges, drool over our favourite options: Belgian dark chocolate with almond, or Valencian orange with pistachio and cardamom biscotti thins – perfect for dunking in your morning coffee or topping ice cream and desserts. Ditch lacklustre crisps and peanuts for sweet thai chili and lime or wild garlic and chive biscotti nibbles, paired with your chosen tipple or to bring a little extra excitement to any dip, cheeseboard, soup or salad.
Factbox
Phone: 07715 322868
Website: theartfulbakers.co.uk
The Artful Baker products start at £1.99 and can be purchased via Ocado and Asda via their websites.
London: Paxton and Whitfield
London’s leading and oldest cheesemonger for over 200 years, the iconic Paxton and Whitfield continue to deliver exceptional cheeses across the country. A favourite of the royal household and Winston Churchill, their cheese board selections are perfect for virtual dinner parties or indulging in post-dinner with a bottle of red. Much to our self-isolation delight, we tried the ‘British Essentials’ artisan cheese box, a delicious concoction of three British staples. Sourced from all corners of the UK, the first, 300g of Cote Blue Hill, is an award-winning, wonderfully buttery blue cheese made in Lincolnshire – devoured with whole-grain crackers. Next up, a deliciously creamy and earthy Westcombe Cheddar, the flagship cheese of 129-year-old Westcombe Dairy based in the heart of Somerset, was easily washed down with a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon. Last but not least, the pièce de résistance was a strikingly orange Sparkenhoe Red Leicester – the only Leicester to be made on a farm with raw milk in Leicestershire – the cheese is full of flavour without any aggressive acidity, much-loved by the whole family.
Factbox
Phone: 01451 823460
Website: paxtonandwhitfield.co.uk
The Paxton’s ‘British Essentials’ box is priced at £35 and available to order on their website.
London: La Tua Pasta
Fresh pasta connoisseurs La Tua Pasta pride themselves on creating their pasta and fillings from scratch, following only the most traditional Italian recipes. Satisfy stomachs at home with easy to cook, high-quality pasta and sauces which can now be ordered online via their just-launched home delivery service, which aims to reach customers in London overnight, and within two days to the rest of the country. Devour their delicious menu which includes over thirty filled and plain pasta options such as black truffle and burrata tortellini, pappardelle pasta with slow-cooked wild boar ragu and scrumptious pistachio cream gnocchi, perfectly paired with a fresh glass of prosecco. If there’s not more of a reason to taste La Tua Pasta – for every order placed on their website, the company will also donate one meal to the NHS.
Factbox
Phone: 0208 961 8024
Website: shop.latuapasta.com
La Tua Pasta can be ordered to London and the rest of the UK via their website with free delivery on orders over £25.
London: Solo Coffee
Elevate mood and mornings working from home with the ultimate caffeine fix: Solo Coffee. This uber-cool, straight black cold-brewed coffee will keep you fueled for hours with their chocolatey and nutty tasting notes. Served up in a slick, ready to drink, 3-litre bag-in-box format, the single-origin coffee from the Minasul cooperative in Brazil has been brewed for 16 hours to create a naturally sweet taste. Subscribe online for cold brew news and save 10% when ordering online.
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Website: solocoffee.co.uk
Shipping for one box of Solo Coffee within the UK is £19.95 and can be made via their website.
Norfolk: No1 Food Prep
No1 Food Prep, the sister company of Europe’s leading fitness retreats No1 Bootcamp, is serving up expert nutrition across the UK with their hand made 7-day and 14-day meal options created using only the highest quality, locally sourced ingredients from Norfolk. The perfect, convenient antidote for self-isolation – every dish is packed full of gut-friendly nutrients, minerals and vitamins to help build immunity and white blood cell count. With their organic meat sourced from the Queen’s personal butcher and their poultry and fish from trusted local suppliers, you’ll be able to hand-select tailored meals for the whole family to safely enjoy at home.
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Phone: 07493666079
Website: no1foodprep.com
No 1 Food Prep’s meal packages can be viewed and order via their website with a full week’s meals including breakfast, lunch and dinner direct to your door for less than £18 per day.
Gloucestershire: Cotswold’s Dry Gin
Perfect for sun-fueled Easter bank holiday drinks, the award-winning Cotswold Dry Gin has been distilled with nine locally sourced botanicals including lime, lavender and freshly hand-peeled grapefruit – serving up the stunning taste of the Cotswolds straight to your glass at home. The gin is non-chill filtered which allows the oils to be retained, resulting in a beautiful pearlescent cloud to appear when mixed with ice or tonic – aka ‘The Cloudy G and T’ as it’s called by those in the know. Balanced, crisp, and elegant to taste, there’s a good reason why this gin sits behind the best bars in the world.
Factbox
Phone: 01608 238 533
Website: cotswoldsdistillery.com
A bottle of Cotswold Dry Gin is £34.95 and can be ordered via their website.
Somerset: The Wild Beer Co
Unconstrained by stylistic guidelines and led by flavour, The Wild Beer Co celebrate traditional techniques whilst embracing a sense of modernity in their brewing. With an aim to share a truly memorable drinking experience whilst altering perceptions of beer – whether it’s hoppy freshness, stout sweetness or sour and refined barrel-aged flavours that you’re after, rest assured The Wild Beer Co have you covered. The wild nature of their beer is seen in the use of alternative fermentations, unorthodox yeasts, seasonally foraged ingredients and the use of esoteric and exotic produce from far and wide. Set against the backdrop of the Somerset countryside, they are a true farmhouse brewery.
Factbox
Phone: 01749 838 742
Website: wildbeerco.com
Their creative portfolio of beers start from £1.95 for a 330ml can and can be directly ordered from their website.
Kent: Lost Sheep Coffee
While the coffee shops are shut, get barista quality coffee in your own home with Lost Sheep Coffee. A prominent element to Kent’s growing coffee scene, with their pioneering with speciality coffee – their motto is ‘be different, drink different’. The Lost Sheep Coffee roastery in Whitstable is made up of a 12kg coffee roaster, coffee training areas, coffee cupping area and most importantly an ambient temp controlled room for the storage of the speciality green beans. This ensures the Lost Sheep Coffee roastery is well equipped and stands proud as the exclusive Speciality Coffee roaster in Whitstable.
Factbox
Phone: 01227 230444
Website: lostsheepcoffee.com
Kent’s favourite speciality coffee roastery, is offering free delivery on orders over £15 from its website.