Bangers, spuds and toms – customers vote for local favourites in Producer of the Year Awards

Members and customers of the East of England Co-op have voted in their thousands to nominate their county champions in the East of England Co-op’s Producer of the Year Awards 2015.

Over 13,500 votes were cast online, by post and in-store in the annual awards which celebrate the quality and diversity of more than 140 growers and producers who contribute to the Co-op’s ‘Sourced Locally’ range.

Today (28th February), the East of England Co-op has revealed this year’s County Champions, who between them received almost 9,000 votes and now go forward to compete for the title of Producer of the Year. They are:

Essex


•Fairfields Farm of Wormingford – growers and producers of potatoes and crisps

Norfolk

•Cornerways of Stokes Ferry, Kings Lynn – growers of tomatoes


Suffolk

•Taste of Suffolk of Bury St Edmunds – producers of sausages and cooked meats

The votes were hotly contested by the other shortlisted candidates: Hadleigh Maid in Suffolk, Ken Green Fish in Essex and The Norfolk Brewhouse who achieved over 1,604, 1,677 and 1,570 votes respectively.

Kevin Warden – Local and Fresh Food Products Manager said, “Congratulations to our county winners and runners-up who have all done an outstanding job in providing our customers with high quality, great tasting products.

“We enjoyed huge support from our customers this year which just goes to show how much they value the opportunity to buy local from growers and producers who have such a passion for good quality food. We now wish all three county winners the best of luck for the final round.”

Essex County champion Robert Strathern of Fairfields Farm grows around 11 different varieties of potatoes in and around the Colne Valley on the Essex/Suffolk border. In 2006 he began producing hand-cooked crisps and is believed to be the only privately owned business in the country to grow, grade, store, wash, hand-cook, fresh prepack and distribute its own potatoes from one farm. This year, three of its crisp flavours won Great Taste Awards - ‘Sea Salt & Aspall Cyder Vinegar’,‘Farmhouse Cheddar’ and ‘Sweet Chilli’ - all created with locally sourced ingredients.

Robert said: “We are delighted to have been voted as Essex supplier of the year. It’s really satisfying for all members of our team on the farm, production and sales to gain recogniition for all the hard work they put in on a daily basis. A big thanks also to the East of England Co-op for organising a really worthwhile showcase of local food producers.”

Suffolk Champion The Taste of Suffolk is run by Roger Simons who started helping out in his father’s butchers shop in Essex when he was just 8-years-old and began working full time in the family business when he was 15. Roger acquired The Taste of Suffolk four years ago and immediately began supplying the East of England Co-op with three sausage recipes: Pork and Honey, Pork and Bramley Apple and the ever popular Craske sausage – famous throughout Norfolk and which Taste of Suffolk has the exclusive rights to produce.

Roger said: “I was overwhelmed to top the polls in the customer votes and delighted that our products are enjoyed so much – so thanks to everyone who voted. Sourced Locally gives a great boost to businesses like ours and these awards help remind everyone of the amazing array of food and drink being produced on our doorstep here in East Anglia.”

Norfolk winners, Cornerways Nursery of Stoke Ferry near Kings Lynn, is home to the UK’s largest single glasshouse which produces 140 million tomatoes every year - all hand-picked and packed on site. It became a Sourced Locally supplier in 2013 and now supplies almost fifty East of England Co-op food stores.

Thanks to its unique location beside British Sugar’s factory at Wissington, the tomatoes make the most of the warmth and extra CO2 to gain size and flavour. More than 240 miles of piping carries waste hot water from the factory’s Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant around the glasshouse, and carbon dioxide is pumped into the glasshouses to be absorbed by the plants. The site also harvests the rainwater from the giant glasshouse roof; over 115 million litres are collected annually to irrigate the plants.

Patrick Harte, General Manager said: “We are delighted to have won the Norfolk category; there are some great suppliers to the East of England Co-op’s Sourced Locally programme and for us to be recognised by our customers is fantastic. It is even more exciting as we are just about to pick our first tomatoes of the year and our products will be available over the next few weeks.”

Now a distinguished panel of judges will deliberate on which County Champion deserves to be crowned Producer of the Year. Lady Caroline Cranbrook, a tireless campaigner on rural issues; Galton Blackiston owner and chef patron of the Michelin starred Morston Hall in Norfolk; Terry Hunt Editor of the East Anglian Daily Times and Ken Crowther – BBC Essex presenter and gardening expert will select the winner to be announced at the East of England Co-op’s Supplier Supper on 19th March.

The lucky winner of the East of England Co-op’s Prize Draw open to all who voted was Ms Laird from Suffolk who receives a £100 East of England Co-op shopping voucher.