Have You Heard of The Happy Dance?

This couldn’t be more true! As the founder of The Forest Foodie, I have so much excitement about what we do, why we do it, and the impact we have on so many other small, local companies. I get an incredible burst of adrenaline and happiness every single time an order comes through. A beaming smile from ear to ear is real. We love to be able to pass on that feeling by being able to buy more from our fellow makers, bakers and producers.

We asked a few of our suppliers about why they exist, their purpose, and how supporting local impacts them and we would love to share some snippets with you...

Jen Williams | Naked Jam:

‘As a small artisan producer who buys locally grown fruit, the very fact that forest foodie, has set up and buys from helps keep our local carbon footprint small, but also by supporting each other we are supporting our lovely New Forest Economy, where we do have some of the UK's best producers.‘

Tracy Thew | New Forest Shortbread:

‘Working alongside The Forest Foodie feeds the passion in what I do. I LOVE to bake and I love to buy local and support small businesses. By working closely with other New Forest enterprises, I’m thrilled to say that New Forest Shortbread has grown hugely. And in addition to that, local traders like me have established our own lovely little community - which is just the icing on the top!’

Trevor | Pig ‘n’ Pickles:

‘Why?’ - Tired of corporate life I wanted to do something for myself , by myself, which is why I started Pig 'n' Pickles.

‘Purpose’ - My aim is to get great condiments out into the world, I only ever cook in small batches, using traditional muslin pans, and always use the best and freshest ingredients I can. We always try to use locally sourced produce if available. As for stockists I work with small independent businesses, farm shops, delis, butchers etc. It's important that the people I work with share my passion for good quality, artisan produce.’

Ian Brown | Brook Hill Vineyard:

‘We aim to make the very best wine we can and we love what we do, using only our own grapes hand-picked from our vineyard & processed in the on-site winery. Every activity from growing, picking, processing, bottling & labelling is carried out here on site so we can ensure you only receive the best wines we can make. Our objective is that you get as much enjoyment out of drinking our wine as we have in making it.’