The WFJ's Directory of Somerset Producers

A jolly big and continually-updating list of food and drink producers in Somerset bucking the mainstream

A world-class pork producer? A burgeoning wine scene? An accumulation of small market gardens able and willing to serve their communities hyperfresh chemical-free veg?

You might not believe it, but there’s a heck of a lot more to Somerset than cheese and cider.

All this is reflected in this here directory, put together for people seeking to lower their food miles, better connect with the people making their food, and help regenerate their local economies. And as it comes from me — farmers’ market manager, food journalist, food network founder, and regular local food buyer. I’ve tried the things (not all them, mind), I have a decent idea of what’s good, I trust the people who make it.

On that note, there’s a bit of ‘curation’ involved with the following. To give you an example or two, the cheddar maker Barber’s — a huge presence in Somerset and the rest of the UK — makes a respectable cheese by normal standards, but it’s pasteurised, made on an industrial scale, and as such doesn’t offer anything extraordinary in terms of flavour, nature-friendliness, or story. In the same vein, Thatcher’s (based outside Weston) makes the biggest-selling cider in the country. But that doesn’t make it the best, nor among the most representative of traditional Somerset ciders.

Also bear in mind this directory is the very start of something living, and will be updated every few months. I expect it’ll never really be complete. If you’d like to make a suggestion, paid subs can do just that at the foot of this post. Where reasonable, I will update accordingly.

Starting with a focus on primary (raw) producers, then moving onto not-so-essential categories such as wine, cheese, kimchi, and vinegar, I give to you the first iteration of what’s already amounting to a comprehensive catalogue of food and drink producers in Somerset.