Dorset Food & Drink members’ evening
Thanks so much to John Grindle from Dorset Foodie Family who wrote this great follow-up piece following the Dorset Food & Drink members’ evening at Ford Farm last week.
Collaboration: the action of working together with someone to produce something – cooperation, alliance, partnership, joint effort, team work.
I witnessed all of these at the recent Dorset Food &; Drink Members networking event, held at Ford Farm, Ashley Chase Estate. (Dorset Food & Drink is a not-for-profit organisation bringing together the very best of Dorset food & drink)
Ford Farm is one of their founder members and it is an award-winning PDO West Country Farmhouse Cheesemaker located on the Ashley Chase Estate in Dorset’s beautiful Bride Valley. Varieties include Cave Aged Cheddar: a cloth-bound West Country farmhouse cheddar aged in the caves at Wookey Hole. Coastal Cheddar with its rich, full flavour and characteristic crunch as well as local favourites such as smoked Dorset Red.
We were all welcomed by a small team from Ford Farm in a recently built function room, that had stunning views over West Dorset and overlooking their cave!
Attending was a wide range of Dorset Food & Drink Members, from a one man team all the way up to international producers. There was a buzz about the room as Members discussed old & new partnerships on projects that was helped with teamwork to achieve their goals.
Mike Pullin (Ford Farm MD) gave a potted history on Ford Farm (for more details read our review – click here) Then it was time for us to don fetching hair nets and high vis jackets, ready for our guided tour of the factory. Did you know that they produce a million of those waxed Cheddar truckles every Christmas.
After the tour Members enjoyed a selection of Ford Farm’s cheese, with wine from Morrish & Banham or Palmers Beer. Cheesy nibbles by Crab Apple Catering and not forgetting the quiche with onion chutney made by Ajar Of – delicious.
As the evening wound down there was still time for exciting new alliances and one amazing offer of free help from one large producer to a smaller one.
If you are reading this and your business is food or drink related in Dorset and you are not a Member – then you really must email Katharine to request an application form and join the team TODAY hello@dorsetfoodanddrink.org
w: www.dorsetaonb.org.uk/food-and-drink