eat like a local
APRIL 2020 bbcgoodfood.com 145The BBC Food
& Farming Awards
is back for its 20th
yearand is once again on the
search for the best UK food and
drinks producers, farmers, street
food and shops, as well as the
very best new food ideas taking
the world by storm.
Nominations open on Sunday
26 April in a special edition
of The Food Programme on
BBC Radio 4 and the winners
will be announced at the 20th
Anniversary Awards ceremony in
London on 28 October.
For more information on all the
categories and how to nominate,
visitwww.bbc.co.uk/foodawards.BBC Food and Farming Awards
Each month we meet the winners and nominees in BBC Radio 4’s Food and Farming
Awa rd s. T h i s t i me, ra i se a g la s s to t he fi nest d r i n k s ma kers wordsBARNEY DESMAZERY
Best drinks producer
&
Listen toThe Food Programme
on BBC Radio 4 at 12.30pm on
Sundays or 3.30pm on Mondays.
Or, catch up on BBC Sounds.T
he Johnson family has
been growing apples and
pears and pressing them for
cider and perry since the 1930s
on Broome Farm in Peterstow.
Father-and-son team Mike and
Albert produce an extensive
range of ciders and perrys using
traditional methods to reflect
their unique collection of heritage
apples and pears.
Albert explains, ‘Although cider
is associated with orchards, not
all producers are orchard-based.
Fewer still have the commitment
to expressing the individuality ofAnd the winner is...
Ross-on-Wye Cider & Perry Company
1
st
Best of the rest
Northern Monk
N
orthern Monk is a
Leeds-based brewery and
refectory founded in 2013
after Russell Bisset saw a gap in
the market.
‘After doing a lot of travelling
and discovering some of the
very first US craft beer imports,
we thought there was a clear need
for a brewery that was embedded
in the North, but inspired by the
global beer scene. I started the
brewery in my mum’s cellar and
inherited £5000 which I used to
bring the brand to life. Within
three months we attracted
investment. In 2014 we opened
our own brewery and tap room
in the heart of Leeds.’
So what does the future hold
for Northern Monk?each variety, but that is at the
core of our philosophy. We want
cider drinkers to have as much
knowledge and appreciation for
varieties as wine drinkers do, or
even as we are seeing in modern
beer with hops. We are producers
of high-quality, clean, dry, pure
juice, wild fermented cider and
perry, and where possible, we
present our apples and pears
as single varieties. We grow
over 40 varieties of pear
and over 100 varieties of
apple.’rosscider.com
@rosscider‘2020 is going to be
a big year for us. We’re
currently in the
process of another big
expansion that will
enable us to increase
our total capacity, and we’ve also
got some exciting leads for a
potential London site. We’re
putting the groundwork in to
start our own wild beer project,
and we’re looking at widening
our distribution further.’
northernmonk.com
@northernmonk