Buying from independent businesses is a way to feel connected to our communities at a time when we need it most. And right now, local food really matters. In the face of the Covid-19 lockdown, shops, bakeries and delis across the UK are turning out house-to-house to supply their products turning a time of nationwide crisis. Some businesses are uniting with other producers in the delivery of bespoke boxes, bringing local goods and small batch production right to our doorsteps.
Hobbs House Bakery – national delivery
Hobbs House Bakery have five shops across the Cotswolds, but are delivering anywhere across the UK. Their bakeries have been around for 100 years, so you know you’re onto a good thing. You can choose from their bread bundles, including their Sourdough Box, Bestsellers Box, Organic Bread Box, Family Box or their Sliced Bread Box. Alternatively, you can customise an order with your own selection with a minimum of 6 loaves per delivery. They have a handy How-To guide for freezing loaves so you can store some for later. If you’ve taken up baking right now, you can order baking equipment, such as a portion of their 64 year-old sourdough starter, proving baskets, small bread making kits, dough scrapers or flour. Read up on their online recipes and learn from a baking finesse which has been refined over decades.
Biercraft – national delivery
Biercraft delivers drink boxes from small craft breweries to doorsteps all over the UK. You can select a case to suit your taste and choose between cider from Hawkes Urban Orchard, sparkling yerba maté soda from Heyday Mate, pale ale from Big Drop, Orbit, Five Points and many more, kombucha from Jarr Kombucha, IPA from Boxcar and Cloudwater Brew Co. and lemonade, ginger beer or cola from Square Root. You can opt for one of their pre-made mixed cases, themed for the moment with a variety of brews. Check out the Dolly Parton 9-5 box, which comes with Lucky Saint unfiltered larger, Square Root London non-alcoholic Negroni, Hey Day Mate, Jarr Kombucha in passion fruit, The Pickle House tomato mix and Cloud Water Soda Green Tea & Simcoe. A delivery from Biercraft is the making of a lovely spring evening inside, primed for clocking off after working at home, with just a small refresher of pub-life pre-lockdown.
IG: @biercraftlondon
Tide Anglesey, South Anglesey, Wales
Tide Anglesey are delivering to postcodes across South Anglesey in Wales and they offer next day collection from the beach hut at end of the drive at Halen Môn. Tide Anglesey are a purveyor of wholesome treats and artisan produce. Choose from baked goods like their tide loaf, famous toasted sesame flapjacks, classic Welsh tea loaf or chocolate & sea salt cookies. Their fresh local products, some of which come from their own garden, includes organic salad leaves, organic chard, organic chives and wild garlic pesto, alongside smoky mustards from Halen Môn, Gorwydd Caerphilly cheese or Blightly Booch, a traditional kombucha made in North Wales. Add a kilo of Coaltown Coffee to keep well and truly caffeinated. A click through their online product list will leave you positively drooling.
IG: @tide.anglesey
Landrace Bakery, Bath
Once per week, Landrace Bakery in Bath deliver to an extended 3-mile radius of BA15BN and you can message them directly for availability. Otherwise, they deliver within a 1.25mile radius of BA15BN on Wednesdays, Fridays & Saturdays. They regularly update their “New This Week” section to include treats like tarocco oranges, Italian grapefruits, iced flat whites and house-pressed orange juice, both prepared daily for pre-order. Landrace Bakery, of course, offer buns in all shapes and sizes – they do bring “buns by bike” after all! You can order milk buns, cinnamon buns, cardamom buns, country loaf or their Eccles cakes. Browse the rest of their offering to find delights in all varieties, such as whole egg and heritage wheat pasta (made fresh every morning), bacon quiche, traditional Tuscan soup, butcher’s meat, organic milk from Ivy House Farm, cheese from Neal’s Yard Dairy like their Kirkham’s Lancashire cheese (paired excellently with their Eccles cake), and then top off your box with some provisions like chocolate, honey, mustard, chutney or Townsend Farm apple juice.
IG: @landracebakery
Wild Hearth Bakery, Scotland
Home baked anything is a beautiful touch to your everyday eating, but not all baked goods come with personalised messages scribbled on the box, but at Wild Hearth Bakery that’s exactly how they do it. They bake sourdough in all sorts of ways, as sourdough Danish pastries, pain au chocolat, viennoiserie or sourdough fig & walnut loaf. Opt for something more classic, like their retro tinned loaves, Swiss highland rye or wholewheat bread. They have been inundated with orders for home delivery, so in order to make the necessary arrangements to meet demand, they’ve paused orders until 21st April. Once they’re taking orders again, their delivery routes facilitate across the central belt in Scotland with free delivery. Depending on demand, they have additional routes optional if you get in touch.
Provisions, London
Provisions in London is a wine, cheese & deli shop which specialises in produce from small growers and farmers in France, Italy, and Spain. You can order online for delivery within a 4.5 mile radius of their shop in N7 and access their stock-list during the opening hours listed on their social media. You can shop for the everyday essentials, like bread, butter, eggs and milk, but essential shopping pales in comparison to the delectable buffet of artisan options also on offer. Search through to find codfish in olive oil with garlic from Portugal, blue d’auvergne cheese from central France, tinned summer San Marzano tomatoes, duck sausage from the Basque and a plethora of wine to suit any palate, from low extracted reds to rich, concentrated whites. Lockdown need not be bland.
IG: @provisionsldn
Kask Wine, Bristol
Tasty tipples are well earned right now and they’re especially lovely during video catch ups with loved ones. Kask Wine in Bristol have a fantastic collection to see you through the lockdown and they update their selection for delivery weekly. If you know what kind of wine you prefer and have a budget in mind, drop them a line and they’ll curate a selection of bottles tailored to you. They also offer Wines-on-Tap and a selection of beers brewed locally in Bristol, such as Lost & Grounded and Moor Beer. You can add cheese pairings, artisan cheese biscuits and charcuterie to make it a truly splendid affair. Kask Wine are delivering across all postcodes in Bristol, with free delivery to anyone in BS3 and a delivery charge to all other BS postcodes dependant on location.
IG: @kaskwine
Broughgammon, Northern Ireland
Broughgammon in Northern Ireland supply ethical produce from their small farm based in Co. Antrim and they’ve curated a number of food boxes ready for delivery. In their Larder Box, they offer fresh vegetables, raw honey, Neary Nog’s chocolate, Abernethy butter, Glenballyeamon eggs, Curious Farmer spice box, Two Goats soap, Ursa Minor sourdough and their homemade Broughgammon ketchup, chutney and jam. You can opt for their Wellness Box, which comes with a medley of ingredients to make syrup, tea and fire cider. For meal-time needs, you can order the Chicken Box, Rose Veal Box or Burger Box, each full of ethically reared meat. Chilled products are kept insulated in Woolcool packaging making their boxes suitable for delivery across Northern Ireland.
IG: @broughgammonfrm
Daylesford Farm, the Cotswolds and London
Get a taste of farmshop goodness from Daylesford Farm. Their delivery list covers a range of nourishing and organic produce, such as fresh fruit and vegetables, cheese, meat & fish, artisan bread & pastries, soups & broths, pestos, granola, creamed honey, marmalade, tinned pulses & beans and soft drinks, including delicious cashew milk and infused lavender water. They’re aiming to offer free delivery to addresses near their farm shops in Brompton Cross, Marylebone, Notting Hill and Pimlico. Due to high demand, there may be an additional cost based on your postcode. In the Cotswolds, they’ve extended their delivery to 10 miles surrounding their Kingham farmshop.
IG: @daylesfordfarm
Trove, Manchester
Trove, a bakery based in Manchester, have a weekly bread subscription and you can select your favourite bread, choosing from their white sourdough, wholemeal sourdough, white bloomer, 100% rye & fennel, baguette, focaccia or their molasses & sunflower seed loaf. They offer a free delivery service for those who are high risk, self-isolating or work for the NHS, delivering to SK4, M20, M21, M4 M19, M31 and M33. They still run their bread subscription for all other customers as a collection service, leaving their delivery slots to those who really need it. You can also order their weekly fruit & vegetable box to collect from their Levenshulme shop, and add other essentials like organic free-range Abbey Leys eggs, Allpress coffee or Irish butter.
IG: @trove_foods
The Old Garage, Cornwall
The Old Garage in Cornwall are offering their range of wines and products from their deli for delivery. You can choose wine from their extensive portfolio from New Zealand, Australia, Italy, France, Germany, USA, Argentina, South Africa, local wines from Camel Valley and Knightor or beers from Verdant Brewing Co. Pair your wine or beer with a selection of meat or cheeses from their deli, like the Miss Wena brie, Burts Blue, Snowdonia Red Devil (spicy), Helford Sunshine (orange notes) or Cornish Yarg (wrapped in nettle) or Cornish Wild Garlic Yarg (wrapped in wild garlic leaf). Their range of cheeses come listed with tasting notes to pair exactly with your cheese + wine desires! You can select a salad box, fruit box or veg box to add to your weekly delivery, too. They offer free local delivery in TR2, including further afield routes to Truro, St Austell, Newquay and others on request, for a minimum spend of £75. You could club together with neighbours to get bottles delivered as a joint order and revel in good wines shared, despite the social distance.
Crosstown Collective, London
At times like this, a sugar fix can be just as essential as fruit and vegetables, especially when it comes handily delivered in the same box. Crosstown Collective have put together food boxes packed full of essentials to make you smile. Their Craft Box is packed with their signature donuts, granola from Rollagranola, Cacklebean eggs, milk from The Estate Dairy, fresh fruit & veg, coffee from Caravan Coffee Roasters, oat milk from Oatly or soy milk from Happy Happy Soy Boy. For any donut-specific needs, you can choose between their classics range, a vegan selection or their ’Working From Home’ box. Available for delivery across Greater London.
Pump Street Bakery, Suffolk
Pump Street Bakery in Suffolk are delivering boxes of baked goods straight from their bakery doors to those in local areas. Known for their chocolate as a sibling enterprise to Pump Street Chocolate, you can order from their range of bars or sample their limited-edition flavours, like gingerbread, hot cross bun or Grenada milk & nutmeg. You can order baked goods including Eccles cakes, jam doughnuts, pain au chocolate, pain aux raisin, bear claw, almond croissants, chocolate chip cookies or coconut macaroons. Bread options include large white or brown sourdough, small seeded loaves, tin loaves in white or granary, baguettes or brioche buns.
IG: @pumpstbakery
Tacacucina, Belfast
Tacacucina is a small-batch one-woman show in Belfast, operated by Lorna Mills. She makes and bakes, then packages orders to bring straight to your door. The Tacacucina kitchen whips up many a feast, including her famous blood orange and aperol marmalade, currently sold out, which was commended in the World Marmalade Awards 2020. You can order her lemon and fennel marmalade, made using the whole lemon in the traditional Sicilian way, or opt for homemade peanut rayu, almond dukkah, pickles, vegan seeded loaf or pumpkin crunch granola. Her cakes come in a variety of divine flavours, like chocolate coconut, chocolate custard tart, lemon & fennel, blackberry & cardamon, or pistachio, raisin & olive oil. Delivery charge for outside Belfast, free delivery within Belfast.
IG: @tacacucina
Door-to-door sharing is something that could happily spill out into our neighbourhoods, albeit via a 2-metre distance. Ordered some cake? Deliver a slice to a house nearby. Ordered some extra wine? Give a bottle to someone in total isolation. Personally, I didn’t know my neighbours having just moved in, but the NHS clap cemented a shared camaraderie. Sickness bonded us over banana bread left at each other’s doors. Now’s a time to revel in the love of food and buy from those who pour their passion into making and giving. Share the joy onwards if you can.
