About Us
Proudly Norfolk is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to celebrating the amazingly diverse food and drink industry in Norfolk.
Celebrating food and drink in Norfolk!
- We promote, celebrate and support local food and drink producers, they are the Bounty of our County
- We help to inform residents and visitors about what is available here on our doorstep.
- We offer free business support to food and drink retailers, producers, restaurants and bars across the county.
- We work in partnership with local businesses & organisations which lend their support to the food and drink industry.
- Our message is simple – whatever you are interested in, get involved and help us celebrate!
We are proud to have Harriet & Jake Humphrey as our Patrons. As well as four of the county's best-loved and best-known chefs and restaurateurs as our patrons, supporting the work we do.
Patrons
Harriet & Jake Humphrey
Patrons
If you asked us to list our favourite things, both Norfolk and food would feature pretty highly! Therefore we’re are delighted to be supporting Proudly Norfolk.
We all know about the fine towns and cities, incredible open skies, vast rural fields and stunning beaches...but what about Norfolk’s hidden story? The story that this county offers unique, independent, world class food and catering products. From artisan chocolate, to incredible rapeseed oil. Wonderful beachfront fish and chip shops to city centre fine dining restaurants. We want to help Proudly Norfolk shout loud, and proud, about what Norfolk has to offer.
Managing Director at Brasted's
Nick Mills
Managing Director at Brasted's
After working in some of London’s finest hotels and restaurants, Nick joined Brasted’s as a part time waiter in 1991, whilst studying a BSc in Business Management and a BA in Hospitality; nine years later he was made Managing Director.
Nick has always had a huge passion for food, wine and is a tireless champion of Norfolk and it’s many and varied high quality food and drink producers.
He has been an integral member of the steering committee of Norfolk Food & Drink since it was founded in 2004.
“I am delighted and honoured to be a Patron of Norfolk Food & Drink Ltd. It has been wonderful to see it flourish from a weekend festival in 1994 to an all-year celebration of Norfolk Food & Drink. I have been an integral part of Brasted’s since 1991, well known for providing the highest quality in Norfolk Food & Service. Being totally immersed in Norfolk Hospitality, I am very proud of all the county’s producers, suppliers and retailers that deliver such an abundance of the finest food, drink and service. I love supporting the many and varied events throughout the year; after all what’s not to love about Norfolk.”
Owner and Head Chef Benedict's Restaurant, Norwich
Richard Bainbridge
Owner and Head Chef Benedict's Restaurant, Norwich
Being asked to be one of the Norfolk Food and Drink Patrons is definitely a career highlight for me. Norfolk Food & Drink is such a fantastic organisation for boosting Norfolk as a whole whether it's showcasing that incredibly passionate person who has an amazing recipe their family has been cooking for generations or a Farmer who is reintroducing a long forgotten breed of sheep back to the County. These are the people who truly create Norfolk's identity, whose families made Norfolk what it is and we must preserve these amazing traditions.
I am incredibily proud to be a small part of the Norfolk Food & Drink family by showing the wonderful produce and hard working people Norfolk has to offer.
Chef Proprietor, The Assembly House Norwich & Owner of Richard Hughes Cookery School
Richard Hughes
Chef Proprietor, The Assembly House Norwich & Owner of Richard Hughes Cookery School
I am delighted to be a patron of Norfolk Food & Drink. This is my 40th year involved in the hospitality industry and although I have worked out of the county at times, my career has predominantly been here in Norfolk and I have always been a supporter of food and drink in the county. I am honoured to be a patron and to being involved in the promotion of one of the UKs finest food and drink counties.
Dairy Farmer of Fen Farm Dairy and artisan cheese & butter producer
Jonny Crickmore
Dairy Farmer of Fen Farm Dairy and artisan cheese & butter producer
I've been a dairy farmer all my life, growing up on my family farm along the Waveney Valley, helping my father. In 2011 we did something so simple but different to other dairy farmers. We started selling our milk straight from the farm, raw and unprocessed. It caught people's imagination and with good TV and radio coverage, started the trend of dairy farmers selling their milk straight from the farm all around the UK. It became a "raw milk revolution".
From the moment we set up our milk shed, we realised that people were coming to our farm for a quality product and they kept coming back because it tasted so good.
Over the last 8 years we have developed Baron Bigod, the only raw milk Brie style cheese to be made in the UK. Alongside this, we also make Bungay Raw Butter, which is a raw cultured butter. These we now sell all around the UK to some of the best shops and restaurants out there.
I am very honoured and humbled to have been asked to be a patron of Norfolk Food & Drink as I love the part of the world in which I was born. I am fiercely proud of all the amazing products that come from our land and all the incredibly talented people that have grown their businesses here. Having a hub for people in the Norfolk food and drink industry is vitally important to help our industry grow and support the new and exciting people coming through, who will be our future."
Here at Proudly Norfolk we know that many individuals across the county work tirelessly, very often volunteering their time, to champion the wonderful food and drink of which we are so proud here in Norfolk. So we have created a very special tier of recognition within Norfolk Food & Drink – that of Honorary Patron. Please do take a moment to read more about these amazing individuals...
Chef Proprietor, Morston Hall Hotel Chef Proprietor, No1 Restaurant.
Galton Blackiston
Chef Proprietor, Morston Hall Hotel Chef Proprietor, No1 Restaurant.
Galton and his wife Tracey have owned Morston Hall for 20 years, firmly establishing it as one of Britain’s leading country hotels and receiving multiple awards for hospitality and catering. Galton has held a Michelin star for 14 years and is also UK Craft Guild of Chefs ‘Chef of the year’, East Anglian Chef of the Year and fellow of the craft guild of chefs. His television appearances include Anglia Television, Gary Rhodes Food Heroes, Market Kitchen, Great British Menu and Saturday Kitchen.
Mary Kemp, cookery writer and demonstrator
Mary Kemp
Mary Kemp, cookery writer and demonstrator
Mary Kemp, cookery writer and demonstrator with a Norfolk farming background, is an advocate for locally produced, seasonal food made using the finest and freshest ingredients. Mary has been involved in the world of cookery for the last twenty five years expanding her knowledge and expertise at places including Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir and Billingsgate Seafood School. She writes for the Norfolk magazine, is a regular guest on BBC Radio Norfolk and organises cookery theatres across East Anglia, showcasing the best local produce and chefs. Mary is a Nuffield Farming Scholar and has travelled extensively studying food and farming, being named Food Hero in the EDP 2013 Norfolk Food and Drink Awards. In recognition of her commitment, passion and support of the food and drink industry here in Norfolk, Mary has recently been appointed an Honorary Trustee of Norfolk Food and Drink Limited.
Director, Strattons Hotel
Vanessa Scott
Director, Strattons Hotel
It is a great privilege to be asked to be a patron of the Norfolk Food & Drink Festival as the aims of it are essentially a key business driver for my own business – Strattons Hotel & CoCoes Deli. Put simply – the Festival aims to recognise and celebrate all that is special to the location that we operate in – from people to products to landscape which all combine to create the fabulous and unique visitor experience. So let’s celebrate the very best of Norfolk and champion this amazing food county!
Owner, Flying Kiwi Inns
Chris Coubrough
Owner, Flying Kiwi Inns
Having decided to earn my living in the food and drink industry I was spoilt for choice for a place to put down roots but the beautiful beaches, huge skies and picturesque villages and towns of Norfolk completely won me over. Norfolk Food & Drink is a superb showcase for the county’s incredible local produce and I’m immensely proud of what it has become. It’s all about getting local families and visitors alike acquainted with the amazing array of food and drink available in the area.
Proudly Norfolk champions are chosen from different points in our food supply chain as respected and influential people in their industry. The champions' role is to be ambassadors of Proudly Norfolk - to help to raise public awareness and to showcase Norfolk's food and drink offering from larger producers and processors to the much smaller producers. Champions aim to bring communities together with shared values and interest for food and share ideas of where and how to buy, cook and enjoy great food and drink to improve quality of life and work. So we interviewed them to find out more about who they are and what they hope to achieve in their tenure as champion...
General Content Manager and Food & Drink Editor at Archant
Charlotte Smith-Jarvis
General Content Manager and Food & Drink Editor at Archant
Charlotte Smith-Jarvis is the general content manager for Archant and has been the food and drink editor for nearly 10 years. Charlotte has a passion for food, especially local ingredients, and champions East Anglian producers in any way she can. She produces recipes and content for the East of England Co-op’s Sourced Locally range and returns this year as an expert judge in the society’s Producer of the Year awards. Charlotte is delighted to be able to help put Norfolk businesses on the map in partnership with Proudly Norfolk.
Business owner of Farmyard Restaurant and The Dial House
Hannah Springman
Business owner of Farmyard Restaurant and The Dial House
Hannah was brought up in Norfolk and after over a decade of working in London as a television Director working across various programmes from Pineapple Dance Studios to Top Gear, she moved home in 2015 with her husband Andrew Jones and their two children. In 2017 they opened Farmyard restaurant in St Benedicts and in May 2018 they took ownership of The Dial House. Hannah is integral in driving the businesses forward as well as producing an array of events and taking care of all of their marketing needs.
Owner of Flint Vineyard
Hannah Witchell
Owner of Flint Vineyard
Hannah established Flint Vineyard (based in South Norfolk) in 2015 alongside her husband, winemaker Ben Witchell. Hannah left her career in the travel industry to work at a wine estate in Beaujolais, France with Ben, before the couple were drawn back to the UK by the growing excitement of the English wine movement. Hannah runs the operations side of the business as well as hosting tours and lunches at the vineyard. Despite having been in Norfolk for just four years, Hannah feels more passion and pride for the county than anywhere else she's ever lived.
Manager for Adnams stores in Westlegate and Unthank Road Norwich
Jodie Sibley
Manager for Adnams stores in Westlegate and Unthank Road Norwich
My name is Jodie Sibley and I’ve worked for Adnams for nearly four years. I went travelling in 2015 to Australia and New Zealand and spent a lot of my time learning about wine. When I returned to Norwich I was passionate about learning more, and started my career in the drinks industry. I love food and drink and enjoy traveling to different places and trying out the local cuisines! I’m also am very proud to live in Norwich and to eat local produce and support local food and drink businesses.
Proudly Norfolk is a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee. This means that it is run by a Board of Directors who are voted into post. The Directors are all unpaid and are experts in their field, bringing to the table their own unique skill set, which ensures that Proudly Norfolk is professionally managed and realises its goals and ambitions.
Adam Vass
Adam lives and breathes hospitality and has done so all his life.
Originally from Bungay in Suffolk, he has worked for some of the best Restaurants in the UK, including Heston Blumethal's Dinner, Gordon Ramsay's Maze and Jason Atherton's City Social. After a few years of lecturing Hospitality at Lowestoft College he joined Benedicts as General Manager in November 2015 just a few months after opening.
Adam boasts a wealth of experience and has a genuine passion for hospitality, with a focus on a relaxed yet professional service.
Andy Orchard
Andy Orchard has a long and established successful background in commercial media management which includes publishing activity, across newsprint, digital, specialist publications and broadcast channels in regional press spanning over 25 years.
Prior to re-locating to Norfolk, seven years ago from the South West with his family, Andy held various senior general management roles with responsibility for publishing activity in Cornwall, Somerset, Bristol & Wiltshire regions for both UK and International media brands, notably the regional press division of the Daily Mail & General Trust, Northcliffe Media and Newsquest Media Regional Group part of Gannett, publishers of USA today.
Currently Sales Director for the Archant media group in Norfolk, Andy is responsible for all commercial publishing activity for the award wining Eastern Daily Press, EDP24 media and social brands, plus many other Norwich and Norfolk digital and newsprint brands, magazines and commercial events published and organised by Archant.
‘I am delighted to join such an active and important organisation, promoting the Proudly Norfolk brand and working with people who are so passionate about the food & drink sector in this wonderful county which I now call home’.
Colin Kiddell
I have worked in the food industry mainly in sales for over 40 years during this time I have worked for a number of major companies and sold to all of the major retailers and food service companies in the UK. I have worked for Spillers Foods, Colman’s of Norwich, Diary Crest, Kettle Foods and Trigon snack foods.
For the last sixteen years I have run my own company working with a number of local, national and international companies. Over the forty years I have attended many food exhibitions in the UK and abroad and have always been disappointed that unlike other regions Norfolk Food and Drink is not represented.
I would like to see Norfolk Food and Drink represented at all major exhibitions supporting all of the great companies we have in Norfolk. Also over the last 40 years eating out has become a regular activity and we have a high number of excellent restaurants and chefs in Norfolk I look forward to visiting and enjoying the great range of dishes on offer and supporting and helping to highlight the great range of outlets on offer.
James Archer
James 'Jamie' Archer is a third generation butcher from Norwich.
He has been in the butchery trade since he was 13 apart from a short stint as a photographer’s assistant before returning to his roots in the family business in 1995.
Provenance and animal welfare is at the heart of his business, sourcing 95% of his produce from local farmers and producers. He is also a big believer in the importance of quality and customer service, being vital to the survival of a small business in this day and age of large cost cutting multiples. He tells us he loves being involved in local events such as the Norfolk Food festival and Porkstock as well as being a keen cyclist in what spare time he has left (not much we'd imagine!).
Sarah Daniels
Sarah is a Chartered Health and Safety Practitioner by profession. She founded the bespoke Health and Safety Consultancy The RedCat Partnership Ltd in 1999, after she found that helping people suited her skill set & personality more than the Enforcement work she was doing! As if running one business wasn’t enough she opened No8 Thorpe Road in 2014 to provide RedCat with its own Training rooms.
No8 also rents out its spare capacity to others- it has 3 meeting/ training rooms plus permanent office and intermittent co-working spaces. No8 offers an exceptional personal service, including catering which is prepared on site using Norfolk’s larder of fine ingredients, and of course we are members of Proudly Norfolk.
Sarah is somewhat evangelical about all things Norfolk and Food related!
Sarah de Chair
Sarah de Chair has a background and extensive experience in organising and running events and was the Show Manager at the Royal Norfolk Agricultural Association for twelve years, prior to which she was helping to run Andrew Cuthbert Country Fairs all over the UK.
Sarah has been involved in Norfolk Food & Drink for twelve years, running the legendary and much-loved Battle of the Bangers and has also been Chairman of the Board for the past five years.
Stephen Newham
Stephen Newham was born in Norfolk, in his own words ‘briefly leaving’ the county to study politics at university before deciding to start a career in food and drink in London. After several years of missing Norfolk, he moved back to start a new journey with Crush Foods and has never looked back.