Suffolk Food and Drink

The variety and range of food and drink produced in Suffolk will surprise and delight you! We are fortunate to have many world class food and drink manufacturers, and some seriously well established family firms that have produced top quality Suffolk produce for generations. Also, we're delighted to see some younger companies starting life in Suffolk too, like Paddy and Scott's who produce 20 different types of gourmet, hand-roasted coffee and supply over 250 outlets throughout the UK, from their base in the lovely village of Earl Soham. Read more about them below.

You'll be able to find most of this delicious Suffolk Food and Drink produce in our local Farm Shops and Farmers Markets in Suffolk so come and visit us soon!



Focus - Halesworth & Southwold
Focus, set up by Juan Suarez and partner Pippa Bergson, is not one, not two but three lovely shops, based in both Halesworth (2 shops) and Southwold. Focus Organic in Haleworth, as its name suggests, stocks a fantastic range of high quality, organic produce such as fresh fruit and veg, award-winning meats and cheeses, locally baked bread, and fair-trade wines & juices.
They also have a tempting deli and cafe on-site. The stock is huge - including 150 lines of organic dried fruit, pulses, rice, flours and oils - so you are sure to find everything you were looking for, and then some!



Focus Organic in Southwold, like the previous shop, has a massive range of organic staples to stock your cupboards with, and also has a yummy selection of chocolate (including Green & Blacks) and sweets, plus a great choice of Organic, Vegan and Gluten-free ice cream (sold in gluten-free and organic cones), which is great for grabbing on your way to Southwold Beach!
For full details of these three fantastic shops and to visit the website, please see Focus - Halesworth & Southwold.

Paddy and Scott's
Although we have been trading for less than 18 months, in that time we have developed a very strong proposition and consumer demand both through our retail and our foodservice offerings, which include Milsom’s group, Le Talbooth and Great Foster’s in Egham.

We believe that our brand has a unique point of difference by offering the following:

1. Independent, British owned and operated, based in the beautiful Suffolk village of Earl Soham.

2. A modern, trendy personal brand with a strong British feel

3. Gourmet traditional hand-roasted coffee – Commercial blends are roasted (actually toasted) for less than 5 minutes, whereas hand-roasted beans are roasted over a flame for 10-15 minutes resulting in a smoother tasting coffee.



4. Specific occasion-developed blends – Instead of developing ‘strong’, ‘medium’ and ‘weak’ or by ‘country of origin’ blends, Paddy & Scott’s have produced a range of blends suited to the time of day, i.e. Our Morning Coffee, Our All Day Coffee and our After Dinner Coffee. Together with a Swiss Water Filtered decaffeinated blend and Espresso Beans.

5. Ethical Buying Policy – Working with both Rain Forest Alliance and Fair-trade, but also working directly with small fincas which invest proceeds directly into local initiatives as well as guaranteeing a fair price to the grower.

6. Environmental Credentials – The Aluminium free bag, which is better for the environment.

You can find out more about this fantastic coffee, and where you can buy it on Paddy & Scott’s website: www.paddyandscotts.co.uk Be sure to ask for it by name!

Stark Naked Foods is THE home of fresh pesto! Victoria Starke's family have been growing herbs for generations and today are one of the largest herb producers in the whole of Europe. Victoria realised that there was demand for fresh, yummy pestos so in 2000 she set up Stark Narked Foods. Find out more about the range of delicious fresh pestos, where you can buy them and what you can do with them here - Stark Naked Foods

Look for the logo -


Suffolk has a range of fantastic dairy producers and some of them do more than just produce milk (lovely though that is!). Suffolk Meadow is a family run firm based near Framlingham, and they produce speciality ice cream from their herd of cows who also supply Marybelle Dairy milk products. Fresh, local ingredients and time honoured techniques are blended with the finest Marybelle milk from award winning local cows to make nutricious premium ice-cream and yoghurts. Suffolk Meadow produce many flavours of ice cream to suit every taste, including a milk-free sorbet and ice cream made to a diabetic suitable recipe. Flavours include all the traditional favourites plus Mocha Coffee, Choc Chip and Creme de Methe. Find them in local farm shops and markets.



Palmers, Haughley, have been supplying bread and confectionary to the local community since 1752! They are still using the original brick ovens - formerly heated by faggots, then coal, and now gas, the bricks still retain that mystical flavour that is unique to ovens of this type and cannot be matched by today's modern bread ovens. So drop in to Palmers when you're in Suffolk for fresh bread and confectionery made by craftsmen using traditional methods and local ingredients.



Suffolk Pork - Suffolk is well know for its pig rearing, and despite the trials and tribulations of the Pork industry in recent times, you can still find excellent Pork in Suffolk. One of our leading producers is Blythburgh Pork whose pigs are born on the sandy soils of Blythburgh along the Suffolk Heritage Coast. The piglets remain with their Mothers in insulated arcs for nearly four weeks until they reach a healthy size and strength to be weaned off milk onto solid food. This system is quite common in the UK, however, it is when the piglets are weaned that their unique free range system comes into play which is what improves the meat quality. Fortunately for those that can't come to Suffolk in the near future, Blythburgh offers special pork boxes which can be delivered direct to your door from the farm.

See their website for great pork recipes, learn more about their traditionally reared pork that has flavour, succulence and tastes the way pork used to taste - Blythburgh Free Range Pork.

If chicken is more to your taste ask for poultry from the family firm of J.W. Diaper & Sons. The firm dates back to 1911 and is now run by the fourth generation of Diapers. However some things haven't changed and the Company is still driven by the adage “Quality not Quantity”. They have won many awards for their chickens and you can find out where to buy their chickens from their website - Diaper Poultry.



Another long established local Company, (1822) Huntley & Palmers still produce a delicious array of sweet and savoury biscuits at their base in Sudbury. They have recently introduced delicious Chocoloate Olivers, and of course their Christmas pudding continues to be a favourite. Please see Huntley & Palmers

To wash all this fooddown with, have a look at Suffolk Breweries and Beer which will give you a flavour for some local falling down water!

Talking of strong, Jules and Sharpie make the hottest preservaments which are original, full of fruit and flavour and deliciously different. The jellies and chutneys are perfect accompaniments to hot or cold meat, game or poultry and are really tasty with cheese or in sandwiches.


Try the jellies too in salad dressings, marinades, dips, sauces, gravy and casseroles or even in fruit salads. There are 11 products in the range so you'll be spoilt for choice, and they include hot pepper jellyvery; jellyhot redcurrant; and for the really brave, hot mmmarmaladevery! See their website for more details and catch their products at local farm shops and deli's in Suffolk - Jules and Sharpie, Leiston.

Suffolk is proud to have been the birthpace of Lady Eve Balfour who founded the Soil Association in 1946 as a result of her strong belief that food quality influences health and itself depends on the health of the soil in which it is grown. To read more about her work see Organic Suffolk
Maple Farm Kelsale is a small family run Organic farm that produces a range of top quality vegetables, flour, honey, eggs......see their display for more details - Maple Farm Kelsale

Every year we have a Feast East Festival to celebrate local food producers.

Feast East is Tastes of Anglia's showcase annual food and drink event. It is the largest regional event and celebrates produce from all the six counties of the Eastern Region. It is a fantastic show with cookery demo's, competitions and over 80 stands exhibiting. All exhibitors are producer members of Tastes of Anglia. If you're interested in good, fresh, local, seasonal, traceable, some organic, low food miles.......FOOD this is the place to be. Please see Tastes of Anglia for more information

Please also see our Shoppers' Guide to Suffolk and details on Fine Dining in Suffolk.