Our Favourite Local Food Suppliers
We know where to find the best local food suppliers in the Lake District. It's part of our commitment to be sustainable, to use provisions sourced locally. And something we're very proud of. So we'd like to share with you our regulars, the best local food suppliers in the Lake District.
Game On: Cartmel Valley Game
All of our breakfast meats and fish come from Cartmel Valley Game. So that's Cumberland sausage, bacon, black pudding, smoked salmon, smoked haddock. They also provide the smoked salmon for our very popular afternoon tea. Cartmel Valley also supply the Morecambe Bay potted shrimps and smoked mackerel for our supper platters.
Cartmel Valley Game Supplies and Smokehouse is based in the lovely village of Cartmel not far away. It's run by husband and wife team, Jonathan ("Stotty") and Susan Stott. They've been running their business since 1994, processing and providing locally-sourced high quality game and home-smoked products. HQ is their home, alongside their fully registered game plant, working with a team of highly qualified and dedicated staff.
We know it's a successful formula, and so do our guests, who love what we serve to them.
Wild About Jam: Wild and Fruitful & Claire's Handmade
The strawberry jam we serve for afternoon tea comes from the wonderfully-named Wild and Fruitful. They're based at the Lingholme Estate at Portinscale near Keswick, home of one of our favourite cafes, the Lingholm Kitchen. They also supply some of the other jams and marmalades that we serve at breakfast time.
We like their philosophy as well as their jam! They have developed strong relationships with local Cumbrian growers, reducing food miles by using fresh local country produce. So that might be a local fruit grower, an allotment producing vegetables, or a hedgerow packed full of plump blackberries. It's now under the direction of award-winning Keswick chef Jake Winter, who's Cumbrian born and bred. Strawberries are home grown by Cochranes Nurseries in Longtown, in the north of the county, while from the other end of Cumbria, their damsons come from the beautiful Lyth and Winster Valleys. Fruits and vegetables in season also come from the Walled Garden on the Lingholm Estate.
Other jams that we use come from Claire's Handmade based up in the north of Cumbria at Wigton, one of the smaller local producers.
Relish the Chutney: Hawkshead Relish
But it's one of the big names among the best local food suppliers in the Lake District where we turn for relish, chutney, pickles and other condiments. The award-winning Hawkshead Relish is famed throughout the land. It's run by Maria and Mark who started with a small cafe, making chutney as a sideline. Now their production plant is housed in a 16th century former barn on the edge of Esthwaite Water, a mile from the village of Hawkshead.
They might be a big name, and a big operation today, but the company is true to its promise about good, fresh local ingredients. All their products are still made by hand using traditional open pans and are free from nuts, gluten, additives and preservatives as well as all being suitable for vegetarians and most are vegan friendly. No wonder we and our guests enjoy them so much.
Ewe Love Cheese: Appleby Creamery
We get our cheeses from the Appleby Creamery. They supply a fantastic selection of cheese including Eden Ivory (ewes milk cheese) and their award winning Eden Valley Brie (distributed to us by the Cheese Larder in Staveley).
Their range of products is the result of a collaboration between Mark their dairy farmer and Maurice their cheesemaker. Maurice is an artisan cheesemaker, supported by a dedicated team who have been with the business for many years. This expertise and experience combined with the highest quality ingredients makes the Appleby Creamery cheese an amazing range of products which our visitors love.
Happy Hens: The Lakes Free Range Egg Company
We're happy to know that the hens that lay our eggs are happy hens. The Lakes Free Range Egg Company is one of the best local food suppliers in the Lake District. They began as a single farming operation 25 years ago. And they've increased the number of flocks on their farms and grown a network of free range egg producers who live and work on small family farms – all sharing their ethical principles.
As industry pioneers, The Lakes developed a state of the art packing centre and were the first to ‘enrich’ ranges with tree planting. They are still the only packer demanding all producers have biodiversity action plans. Producers are assisted with tree planting to support their biodiversity action plans. It encourages their free-range hens to roam and shelter in a more ‘enriched’ habitat. With this comes a welfare, ethical and environmental provenance, and that's why we - having won awards for sustainability - are happy to buy from them.
Time for Tea & More: Penningtons, Inter-Fresh, Pioneer Foods, and Our Own Garden
We buy all our loose-leaf teas and cafetiere coffee from Penningtons, the award-winning family business based just down the road in Kendal. Other fruit, vegetables and dairy products come from Inter-Fresh of Carlisle and Kendal, and our grocery cupboard is stocked up by Pioneer Foods of Carlisle.
And we have our own secret garden, too. You'd never know from looking at the photo at the top of this page, but we have our own herb garden and greenhouse right here. And yes, we grow all our own herbs here at Cedar Manor. Next time, we'll tell you about our favourite local drinks suppliers. Cheers!