The Lure of the Local

One sector of home production showing growth, is the British food and drink sector, comprising regional and micro-breweries, and small, independent food producers.

BMFQ promotes anyone in Britain who manufacture something to trade and sell, thus strengthening our country's economy.

In sometimes culturally-sterile surroundings, it is reassuring to see British loyalty proclaimed by our local beer-makers, pie-makers, bakers and butchers. Britain’s oldest brewery is Shepherd Neame founded in Kent in 1698, and the county has also given birth to Westerham ales, Goacher's, and the new Kent Brewery.

In the South Downs near Lewes, a gentleman named Peter Hall makes some of the finest wines you will ever taste. Breaky Bottom is his vineyard, and it is reassuring to know that under the last Government, at least, Mr. Hall’s delicious Kir Royal was ordered in quantity by Whitehall's mandarins.

In the West Country, Doom Bar is brewed on the North Cornwall coast, Tinners hails from St. Austell (a reminder that this was once an industrial country). In Herefordshire, a ‘Real Scotch Egg’ company is making a considerable impact in the market towns and at farmers' markets; whilst in Wales the red dragon, a red kite, and a rural cleric (The Rev. James!) proclaim Welshness.

In East Anglia, Greene King beer and Aspall cider add a sense of mediaeval heraldry to the locals, whilst at Southwold on the coast, Adnams brewery stands – a beacon of Britishness.
So what does the style of these regional and proudly local industries tell us? They revel in the use of symbols and ideas that suggest loyalty, county and country. They appeal to all of us who seek variety and reality, taste and flavour, and national preference. They are quintessentially BRITISH and proud of it!

So next time you are planning a company event, or party, buy British - buy English wine, Cornish ales, and Herefordshire Scotch eggs! Put home-produced drinks on your supermarket’s shelves. The rest of Europe does it ‘in spades’ for their home and tourist markets.

BMFQ supports our home-grown brewers, vineyards and food-makers.

Will you?

by Stuart Millson