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Yorkshire Food Christmas Gift Guide 2023

This gift guide brings together a selection of unique and delicious Christmas food from some of our Yorkshire Mark artisan producers.

🥩 Warrendale Wagyu – Treat your family and friends to the finest British Wagyu beef this Christmas! From their two or three bone in Rib joint, Sirloin joint to their Wagyu sausages, order your favourites with guaranteed delivery for Christmas.

🍽️ Reet Yorkshire Food – Upgrade your Christmas table with Reet Yorkshire’s festive jams, sauces and preserves. Whether as a complement to your Christmas dinner or a gift set of three for your favourite foodies, these jars are packed with the festive tastes you need!

🍫 The Yummy Yank – The Yummy Yank’s delicious Christmas brownies and Brownie Snaps are available in a range of flavours! As the perfect stocking filler, you can give as a gift or treat yourself this festive season.

🧀 Cryer and Stott – Cryer & Stott’s incredible selection of over 700 British cheese and range of pies, charcuterie and chutney are perfect to enjoy over the festive period with everything you need to create a show stopping cheese course!

🍪 The Biskery – Add a personal touch to your Christmas gifts with The Biskery’s artisan bespoke biscuits. Personalise any of their range to share with clients, staff, family or friends! Whatever your vision, they can turn it into a delicious Christmas gift!

 

Sustainability Top Tips from our Yorkshire Fam

Many people are becoming increasingly aware of how their actions affect the health of the planet, and are keen to adopt a more sustainable way of living by seeking products that are produced sustainably, from companies that have sustainable values at their core.

Inspired by The Climate Coalition #ShowTheLove campaign, this February we have been rolling out a ‘Sustainability Showcase’ of our incredible Yorkshire Mark members who are already leading the way in sustainable and ethical practice.

Take the time to learn how to live a little more sustainably by reading the roundup of our #yorkshirefam’s sustainability Top Tips:

  • Using water in the kitchen to feed plants. Save the water from boiling veg and pasta from going down the drain. Once it’s cooled it can be used to water plants inside the house (or outside), allowing plants to benefit from the nutrients in the food we cook (just remember, the water must be unsalted!).
  • Be mindful of the products you choose. Looking for a unique gift for a friend or just need to stock up on some everyday household items? Opting for zero-waste, plastic-free products, which you can find in online stores like McGowan Realm, can help our planet little by little.
  • Buy from local, independent businesses. Locally owned businesses make more local purchases, requiring less transportation and reducing food miles. Alongside boosting your local economy, supporting independent producers can help you eat more seasonally and supports more sustainable production methods than mass-production companies. Finding a fantastic choice of unique Yorkshire food, drink, hampers, gifts and experiences created across the region, couldn’t be easier with our online directory. Check out the wonderful Yorkshire Mark community and start supporting businesses local to you.
  • Reuse & refill your empty bottles. Reusing your bottle reduces the number of bottles produced – which is great for the environment! Making the most of Refill Schemes like those York Gin and Cooper King Distillery have in place, is great for the planet and for your pocket!
  • Composting – did you know? As well as food waste, natural sponges, loofahs, along with other organic waste like wine corks, can all be composted at home – reducing your greenhouse emissions from sending these items to landfill and creating a compost full of variety in nutrient rich items.
  • Buy Yorkshire Pasta… You’ll never guess which Yorkshire Mark producer offered this top tip! Made using solar energy, British Flour from farms an average of 24.5miles from their local mill and packaged in 100% plastic free and recyclable paper bags, Yorkshire Pasta is a tastier, more sustainable choice to your mass-produced supermarket alternative!
  • Ask questions. To ensure your money is spent well, don’t be afraid to ask questions to help get beyond any potential green washing. Businesses with a genuine green ethos will only be too happy to discuss their initiatives, their achievements, and the areas they still need to improve.
  • Sustainable swaps. Rather than using one-use plastic or paper straws, keeping a metal straw in your bag wherever you go will help to reduce your waste every time you eat and drink out! Use toilet paper made from recycled paper, swap to a green energy provider…once you start down the path of trying to live more sustainably, you begin to question everything. Then the fun begins!
Learn more the Yorkshire Mark members we showcased throughout the month:

SeaGrown: SeaGrown are pioneering the growth of sustainable, carbon-rich Yorkshire seaweed, which not only make for nutritious food seasonings, but absorbs tons of carbon from the atmosphere and releases oxygen into the surrounding water, creating new habitats allowing marine life to flourish.

York Gin: Fuelled by their ambition to be a ‘Net Positive’ business, York Gin are powered by 100% green energy and through their partnership with Forge Recycling, are committed to zero-waste production. With their shop refill station, water saving system and use of plastic-free bottles & packaging made sustainably in Yorkshire, York Gin are dedicated in their mission to be sustainable, responsible and efficient.

McGowan Realm: With a passion to support their local community, reduce unnecessary waste and see less impact on our environment, McGowan Realm stock fantastic quality products from a selection of small, local businesses with rich heritage, in their zero-waste online shop. Founded by keen conservationist John, 5p from every product sale goes to wildlife conservation, reducing plastic use at the same time.

Cooper King Distillery: Producer of England’s first carbon-negative gin, Cooper King’s use of 100% renewable energy, plastic-free postage, recycled glass ‘bottles for life’ & refill scheme, and dedication to planting 1sqm of Yorkshire Woodland for every bottle sold, places them as true pioneers in sustainable spirit production.

Yorkshire Pasta Company: Using only the best quality locally milled wheat flour and water, Yorkshire Pasta utilise traditional, plastic-free methods of production and 100% recyclable paper packaging to sustainably produce their authentic, premium pasta right here in Yorkshire.

Yorkshire Salt Maiden: Starting from principles of sustainable sourcing and low impact, the Yorkshire Salt Maiden hand-harvest local sea water, use natural sunlight to form pure salt crystals and package into plastic-free, eco-friendly packaging.

Introducing our new Yorkshire Mark Ambassador – Ben Thorpe

We’re excited to announce that acclaimed blogger and food critic, Ben Thorpe, owner of York on a Fork, is joining our growing family as a Yorkshire Mark Ambassador.

After working in financial services for several years, Ben made the decision to turn his passion for the York restaurant scene into a blog, ‘York on a Fork’ focusing on the thriving food and drink outlets in York and the surrounding area, and it is now one of York’s most trusted sources of information for high quality food and drink content. As a renowned critic, Ben has been invited to experience hundreds of restaurant and dining experiences across Yorkshire, promoting and championing the best of the best. Working with a strong network of food industry contacts, Ben also offers consultancy to local businesses, helping them understand what it means to open and sustain a successful food business and how to find their voice and stand out in a crowded sector.

Ben is a regular on the food award and festival circuit, working with the Guild of Fine Food, Azets, the official York Tourist Guide and York Food & Drink Festival, helping the broad range of food & drink businesses in the region.

Ben will be helping us to champion the Yorkshire Mark brand and all our brilliant members across Yorkshire. We’re absolutely delighted to welcome him to our community. Here’s what Ben had to say:

“I’m delighted to be joining the Yorkshire Mark community and support an enterprise that clearly shares my values around supporting businesses in the region. I’m looking forward to being mutually supportive and championing the best the region has, together.”

Managing Director of Cryer & Stott awarded MBE for Service to the British Food Industry

We are proud to share the news that Richard Holmes Managing Director of Cryer & Stott Cheesemongers, our fabulous Yorkshire Mark producer and supplier to leading restaurants, sporting stadiums, hotels & gastro pubs across the UK, has been awarded an MBE for his services to the British food industry.

Richard’s passion to work with small artisan producers to bring exciting and unique products to businesses as well as building a product range focusing on innovating traditions has gained him this prestigious award.

Richard shares “I’m so proud & humbled to be given an MBE in King Charles’s first ever New Year’s Honours List. I would like to thank my wife Clare & children Samuel & Valentine for supporting me. The honour is an accolade for all the Cryer & Stott family who have worked by my side to make Cryer & Stott the success it is today.”

The honour comes as the family-run business celebrates it’s 25th year in business, a huge milestone after what has been a testing few years.

Achievements at a glance:
• Creating and growing one of the most successful cheesemongers/producers of fine foods in the UK, successfully building the company from scratch into a multi-million-pound concern.
• An innovator and pioneer, Richard has created several products that are completely unique, such as ‘Duke of Wellington’ blue cheese and ‘Ruby Gold’, winning international awards for his work and putting Yorkshire on the map as a food centre of excellence.
• Championing small, local producers and working closely with them to successfully drive their products to market.
• Representing Yorkshire and the UK on the international stage, serving his unique products to royalty, ambassadors, and foreign dignitaries.
• Building – and maintaining – an impressive list of first-rate clients, from restaurant chains to Michelin-star restaurants, to the London 2012 Olympics.
• An inspiring and well-respected leader, Richard has provided meaningful employment for 25 local individuals – training, mentoring, and nurturing their skills.
• Maintaining strong links with the local community and raising money for various charitable initiatives in the Yorkshire area.

We are delighted for Richard and the Cryer & Stott team!

Cooper King Distillery celebrates tree planting milestone

Our fantastic Yorkshire Mark producer Cooper King Distillery is celebrating an exciting milestone in its support of environmental charity Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust (YDMT). As the partnership reaches its fourth year, the sustainable distillery has supported the planting of more than 2,000 native UK trees – over 20,000 square metres (enough to create nearly three football pitches of new woodland!).

Since August 2018, Cooper King Distillery have pledged to donate at least 1% of their gin sales towards YDMT’s tree planting work, with over ÂŁ20,000 donated to date. They were also the first distillery in Europe to join the environmental initiative ‘1% for the Planet’, the first in the UK to offer a gin refill scheme, and the first in the country to produce carbon-negative gin. All the wheat and barley for their spirits is sourced from Yorkshire farms.

Sarah Hodgson, Development Manager at YDMT said: “We’re really grateful to be partnering with Abbie, Chris and the Cooper King team, and are appreciative of what they have done for woodland creation across the Dales.

“Planting trees is vitally important not only to mitigate the impacts of climate change but also to create habitat for some of our most vulnerable wildlife. Cooper King’s support will also enable us to work with local communities to plant even more trees, employ two woodland trainees and establish community tree growing nurseries.”

Each bottle of Cooper King’s international award-winning Dry or Herb Gin sold contributes to the creation of one square metre of woodland in the Yorkshire Dales and surrounding areas.

Chris added: “Producing flavour-driven sustainable spirits is at the heart of what we do, because we believe drinking good spirits needn’t cost the earth. Partnering with YDMT has been a wholesome and rewarding process, ensuring this vision becomes a reality.”

“A huge thanks is owed to not only YDMT, but to our customers who continue to support our mission, helping to conserve and protect the environment. We’re looking forward to heading out to the Dales in January to get more trees planted!”

We are so proud to have Cooper King Distillery in our Yorkshire Mark Family!

Online coverage for The Yorkshire Mark and Uniquely Local’s #shopyorkshire campaign

It’s fantastic to be collaborating with Uniquely Local encouraging people to #shopyorkshire this Christmas and support small businesses.

We are delighted that our wonderful campaign has led to some great national online press coverage in Bdaily, featuring Uniquely Local owner, Rachel Marshall, and our very own Brand Manager at The Yorkshire Mark, Georgie Harmer.

The article shares what the #shopyorkshire social media campaign is all about and encourages people to join in and support local Yorkshire businesses this Christmas.

You can read the full article from Bdaily here.

Find out more about Uniquely Local and browse their full range of gift experiences here.

White Rose Coffee Roasters welcomes new stockist TEST BAR!

We’re delighted for our Yorkshire Mark producer White Rose Coffee Roasters who have welcomed TEST BAR as a new stockist of their award-winning coffee!

The cocktail bar and adjoining distillery, by the award-winning John Roberts Botanic Request, opened its doors to the people of Farsley and beyond on 5th November at the iconic Yorkshire mill complex, Sunny Bank Mills.

TEST BAR serves the popular Cattle Market blend, White Rose Coffee Roasters signature espresso blend. This blend has a heady mix of Brazilian and Honduras Arabicas, roasted dark to Second crack to give a punchy espresso that will cut through milk drinks.

Co-founders of TEST BAR, Ben and Emelie, shared why they selected the Cattle Market blend, stating that it’s the right roast for their signature espresso martini, and lends itself well to the botanicals within their gin. Chosen for its chocolatey, nutty profile, Ben and Emelie also mull a coffee liqueur using the blend.

Find out more about White Rose Coffee Roasters here.

The Yorkshire Mark joins forces with Uniquely Local to encourage people to #shopyorkshire

We are delighted to be collaborating with Uniquely Local to encourage people to #shopyorkshire in the run up to Christmas this year!

Our joint social media campaign will build on the ‘30 experiences under £30’ launched by Uniquely Local in October and looks to promote the huge variety of value for money Christmas gift options available and offer a range of ideas to suit all budgets.

Georgie Harmer, Brand Manager of the Yorkshire Mark said: “With consumers being more conscious than ever of finding great value, high quality food and drink, whether for themselves or as gifts for family and friends, the variety of locally produced options we have across the Yorkshire Mark and Uniquely Local networks is fantastic. We’re absolutely delighted to be collaborating with Uniquely Local to help spread the word about the rich source of wonderful food and drink businesses we have on our doorstep, all of whom take immense pride in being from Yorkshire. You really don’t have to go far to enjoy the best tastes at great prices.”

Founded by friends Rachel and Ema, both full-time mums living in North Yorkshire with young families, the idea for Uniquely Local came from their own desire to find interesting, memorable experience gifts that they’d love to receive, whilst promoting the provenance of the region and supporting all the fantastic independent businesses based in Yorkshire.

Rachel Marshall, Owner of Uniquely Local said: “We have developed close friendships with all our experience providers over the years and more than ever want to encourage our customers to support these local artists, producers and manufacturers so we don’t lose them in what is set to be a challenging time ahead. Food and Drink is our most popular gifting category and we are delighted to be collaborating with Yorkshire Mark to help discover and champion the next generation of food and drink entrepreneurs.”

If you are looking for inspiration and want to support local Yorkshire businesses this Christmas, make sure to follow the campaign on The Yorkshire Mark and Uniquely Local social media channels using the hashtag #shopYorkshire.

For more information and to see their full range of gift experiences available visit: https://uniquelylocal.co.uk/

The Yorkshire Mark sponsors Best New Food Product category in Azets Yorkshire Food & Drink Business Awards 2023

Azets have launched their Yorkshire Food & Drink Business Awards 2023 and The Yorkshire Mark is thrilled to be sponsoring the Best New Food Product category!

The Awards aim to celebrate those businesses that have continued to excel and shown resilience, adapting to the difficult economic conditions created by the pandemic, looming recession and uncertainty of recent months. As a high profile and widely promoted event, the Awards provide a platform to showcase and celebrate achievements, creating visibility and valuable publicity for those businesses involved.

The awards are open to all businesses from start-ups to established companies, small and large, across all sectors of Yorkshire food and drink. The entry process is simple – businesses provide a 300 word (max) entry demonstrating their key achievements and reasons why they should win their chosen category along with any additional supporting documents before the deadline.

Tony Farmer, Head   of   Corporate   Finance   at   Azets   in   Yorkshire   explains: “I am delighted to announce the launch of our Azets in Yorkshire Food & Drinks Business awards which is now in its fifth year. The awards have proved to be a great success and this year’s awards will be our best yet.  Our awards celebrate the creativity and grit of the people and businesses of Yorkshire that are striving to help our economy to grow and prosper. We’re here to showcase the county’s successful businesses and show other UK businesses that positive outcomes can be realised even in the most challenging economic conditions.”

Susan Kay, Partnerships Director, The Yorkshire Mark, commented: “These awards are the perfect place to turn the spotlight on the amazing producers we have in Yorkshire and we’re excited to be continuing to work with Azets by sponsoring the Best New Food Product category.  We encourage all local food producers who have launched a new product recently to enter, and tell us how you developed it, how you created your branding, how you’ve launched it and how it’s been received by consumers.  We can’t wait to see the entries and be part of this celebration of Yorkshire food and drink!”

The award categories are:

  • Personality of the year
  • Rising Star
  • Best Hospitality
  • Producer of the year
  • Retailer of the year
  • Manufacturer of the year
  • Best new food product
  • Best new drink product
  • True Yorkshire Grit
  • Overall Winner

The deadline for entries is 27 February 2023. A shortlist will be announced in mid-March on the Azets website and through social media accounts. Winners will be announced at an awards event on 27 April at York Racecourse.

How to enter

For further information on the Azets in Yorkshire Food & Drink Business Awards and to enter your business now visit https://discover.azets.co.uk/azets-food-and-drink-awards-2023 or email yorks.awards@azets.co.uk

The Yorkshire Pasta Company celebrates success at The Yorkshire and Humberside Family Business Awards

We are delighted that our wonderful #yorkshirefam producer, The Yorkshire Pasta Company have been announced as the winner of the Emerging Family Business category at The Yorkshire and Humberside Family Business Awards!

Dave Clarkson, Awards Co-Founder commented, “As this was the very first of our Family Business Awards to be held in Yorkshire and Humberside, we wanted it to be a really special occasion and we’re delighted with how it came together on the night. There is a huge wealth of talent, entrepreneurialism and passion that exists here, and the awards will help to profile and champion that.”

Showing the UK the difference between mass manufactured supermarket ‘pasta’ and beautiful, sustainable, artisan pasta, The Yorkshire Pasta Company combines traditional techniques with locally milled wheat flour and striking sustainable paper packaging to create their award winning premium British pasta. A sustainable approach to a classic product, Yorkshire Pasta HQ is run on solar energy, is plastic free and all their products are vegan and vegetarian friendly.

Kathryn Bumby, the founder of The Yorkshire Pasta Company shared: “To be recognised for this award is overwhelming, we are a small family business, a team of three, we love creating our artisan pasta here in Malton and the knowledge that families up and down the UK are sitting round dinner tables enjoying our pasta together gives me such a special feeling. The last two years really have been a whirlwind for us and our British pasta – This is another very proud moment for us!”

The Yorkshire Pasta Company have made their mark across Yorkshire and the wider UK, now supplying over 450 farm shops, delis and restaurants across the country, and have featured on James Martin’s Saturday Morning ITV show, Davina McCall’s podcast and in The Sunday Times. Yorkshire Pasta is even stocked in Harvey Nichols, Selfridges and has recently hit the shelves at Harrods!

For more information about the awards and the full list of 2022 winners, click here. (www.yorkshireandhumbersidefamilybusinessawards.co.uk)

Browse The Yorkshire Pasta Company’s full range and get inspired by the delicious recipes they share on their website here. (https://www.yorkshirepasta.co.uk/)