Local, seasonal, and sustainable

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Where our food comes from

Dingley Dell Pork was established in 1999 in the beautiful Deben Valley in Suffolk. Chalk Stream Foods are based just outside Romsey, their farms are on the world famous Chalk Streams.

Dingley Dell Farm

Dingley Dell Pork was established in 1999 by brothers Mark and Paul Hayward on their farm in the beautiful Deben Valley in Suffolk.

Their aim is to produce superb tasting, welfare friendly pork with impeccable provenance. The environment at Dingley Dell is geared towards the welfare of the animals and they are proud to have been a member of the RSPCA's Freedom Food scheme for over 15 years now.

Mark said: “You are looking at animals that will live a stress-free life. Tastewise; absolutely fantastic. It’s about welfare of the animal. It’s about innovations and partnerships and we’re delighted to be working with Sodexo on a variety of things, from taste to sustainability. “For us to be part of Freedom Food scheme is fantastic because it gives us that independent accreditation.

“What you need as a farmer is an end user who can respect and see value. In effect, Sodexo are paying for these animals to have this lifestyle.”

Chalk Stream Foods

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Chalk Stream Foods are based just outside Romsey, where the founders, Arthur Voelcker and Hugo Hardman are proud to fish in what they call ‘Hampshire’s secret larder’. It’s all about the trout – specifically Chalk Stream trout. Their farms are on the world famous Chalk Streams, the Test and Itchen, often described as being ‘gin clear’.

As Arthur explains ‘it is this clean and constantly flowing water that provides the perfect habitat for our trout to grow. With around two tonnes of water entering the farm every second our trout are always swimming giving them great muscle structure as well as being very lean’.

Fish husbandry is led by Pete Ware, known as the ‘fish whisperer’. He is on site every day, feeding the trout right through to when they are harvested. Each fish is sorted by hand to check for quality by Pete and his expert team, and each one is harvested to order to ensure absolute freshness. With hand fileting and smoking done locally, Chalk Stream Foods are able to get their prized fish from water to waiter in 48 hours.