SHARPHAM DAIRY’S HAPPY ACCIDENT CHEESE CROWNED CHAMPION A velvety cheese created by mistake has been crowned the South West’s best cheese. Sharpham Cheese’s Rushmore, made near Totnes was named Taste of the West’s Champion Cheese. Sharpham Rushmore is a combination of 40% goat’s milk and 60% cow’s milk and is reminiscent of two of its most popular cheeses - crumbly and delicate Ticklemore goat’s cheese and the semi-hard Rustic cow’s cheese, creating a slightly crumbly but velvety texture. It is available for £5.50 for 230g. Sharpham Rushmore was created when goat’s milk was mistakenly poured into the same tank as cow’s milk. Determined to avoid waste, it was necessary to make cheese with the milk that had been mixed. The team of cheesemakers continued to produce cheese with the mixed milk to see how it would taste. Delighted with their accidental invention, Sharpham gauged the public’s opinion at regional shows, before bringing the cheese to market in November 2022. The champion news continues a terrific year for Sharpham Rushmore as it won Gold in the Global Cheese Awards, Gold at the Great British Food Awards and Gold in the Food Drink Devon Awards. With refreshing acidity, Rushmore is rich and creamy in flavour with subtle floral sweetness and a lingering finish. Enjoyed on its own, or delicious as part of a cheeseboard, in a salad or crumbled over a ratatouille this sensational cheese is best paired with light-bodied, aromatic white and rose wines, such as sauvignon blanc or a well-chilled sparkling wine from Devon. Greg Parsons from Sharpham Dairy, says: “We’re thrilled to see Rushmore go for Gold, then go on to win the entire category as Champion Cheese. We all take pride in our work and strive to produce the best cheese, so this recognition goes such a long way.” Nicky Parsons from Sharpham Dairy, says, “We’ve all got a soft spot for Rushmore here as, like many of our cheeses, it’s a bit different and very special. It’s had an amazing year. We have people especially asking for it at shows. Many of the best cheeses have been made by a happy accident and Rushmore has been ever so well-received since we launched it.” Sharpham Dairy is still celebrating its recent recognition of receiving the heralded 3 stars in the Great Taste Awards 2023 for their Cremet cheese, which puts it in the top 2% of all 14,195 products entered. Hand-crafted from goat’s milk and cow’s double cream, judges said it was ‘exquisite’ and ‘extraordinary’ in the blind taste tests. As the UK’s first cheese dairy to achieve a B Corp certification, Sharpham Dairy believes that cheese should be a force for good. They pride themselves on meeting the highest environmental impact standards, and the new Sharpham Rushmore was borne from their ethos of wasting as little as possible. Sharpham Dairy deliveries arrived packaged in recyclable and compostable packaging. To find out more, visit www.sharphamcheese.co.uk WEDDING SUCCESS FOR TWO SUSTAINABLE SOUTH WEST BUSINESSES Two sustainable South West businesses are reflecting on a successful summer of weddings. This season, Devonia has provided more than 8,000 bottles of their still and sparkling spring water to weddings and private events, many of which have been catered by Kit & Kee Catering. Devon-based Devonia offers a perfect solution with its bottled still and sparkling spring water. What sets Devonia apart from other spring water companies is its commitment to sustainability. The company delivers crates of its spring water to venues and then collects the empty bottles. These are then washed and refilled, reusing the glass bottles for the next celebration. This approach significantly reduces single-use plastic waste, making it an ideal choice for couples who value environmental stewardship on their special day. This year, Devonia has seen a recent increase in orders being placed for weddings alone, following a partnership with Kit & Kee, a sustainable catering business based on Trill Farm in Musbury, Axminster. Kit & Kee is renowned for its dedication to using locally sourced produce and organic ingredients from their garden. They take pride in curing their own meats, crafting homemade cordials and teas, and embracing a free-flowing environment where little waste is produced. Devonia’s owner, Neil Graham, expressed his enthusiasm about the partnership, saying: “We are thrilled to work with Kit & Kee, a like-minded company that shares our values of sustainability and a commitment to reducing our environmental impact. It was thanks to an event that we were introduced to Kit & Kee and we’ve gone on to provide five of their weddings and private events over the summer. One event saw us deliver 130 crates of our bottled spring water.” Carlotta Paolieri, the events coordinator of Kit & Kee, runs the bar, sources drinks and manages the front of house at many of their events. Carlotta said: “We first discovered Devonia at an event we catered for and curiosity led us to search for the company online. We were delighted to find out they were local to us and that they could collect and reuse the empties after all of our events. We have since found that Devonia offers a consistent service and is brilliant at communication. These are key qualities we look for when we look to work with other local businesses. After all, it makes our business run smoothly. “We always recommend Devonia to our clients, some engage directly with them and some prefer to go through us. The main selling point to us, as a company, is the sustainable element to their process, collecting, washing and reusing bottles instead of recycling them. Neil has never turned down an opportunity, his team always manages to make it work.” The collaboration between Devonia and Kit & Kee opens up new possibilities for both the businesses and the couples and event organisers who seek excellence in their celebrations while making a positive impact on the environment. Devonia is the only spring water company in the south of England with a business model centred around continuously reusing glass bottles. Over the 18 years the company has been up and running, it has saved a staggering 180 tonnes of glass from going to landfill, by collecting and reusing its water bottles from hotels, pubs, cafes, restaurants, special events and private customers across Devon. Since the start of 2023, Devonia has sold 336,000 bottles of water and reused an impressive 145,880, which is a re-use rate of 90%. Washing and refilling the bottles uses just 6% of the energy required to recycle glass, reducing CO2 by 94% and it doesn’t generate any plastic pollution that would ultimately go into the world’s oceans. Devonia’s water is bottled at source from a spring that bubbles up on the edge of a meadow near the villages of Beeson and Beesands, less than a mile from the sea. Available in both still and sparkling and in 330ml or 750ml bottles, the water has a natural soft taste that’s proven to be incredibly popular with customers. It’s available to caterers within the South West for all types of events, including corporate events. To find out more, visit www.devoniawater.co.uk and www.kitandkee.com Devonia in Smith’s Brasserie at Bovey Castle by www.sghaywood.com 52
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTA0NTE=