Local Products

Not much food is grown in the centre of London, but you don’t have to travel far to find local producers who really care about the food they sell. Here we focus on two local farms and their products.

Beechdean Dairy Ice Cream, Chiltern Hills

Andrew & Susie Howard are the co-founders of the dairy, which is just thirty miles from the centre of London, yet is a haven of peace and tranquility amongst the Chiltern hills.They met at University when they were both studying Agricultural Science. Farming was in the blood for Susie as her family had been producing top quality milk for 25 years. They began producing Beechdean Farmhouse Dairy Ice Cream in 1989 on the family’s 600-acre dairy farm.

Andrew and Susie look on their cows as an extended family. All the cows are pedigree Jerseys, and are born and raised on the farm. Of the 220 cows, about 170 are being milked on a given day (each cow has about six weeks off each year when she isn’t milked). The girls have calves all year round, and this ensures that there is always a supply of fresh Jersey milk for making ice cream. The cows graze outdoors in the Chiltern Hills between March and October. Jersey cows are known for their extra creamy milk, and this, in turn produces creamy, dairy ice-cream..
Always known for its 100% commitment, Beechdean is proud of its Ice Cream range which is free from artificial colourings, flavourings or additives. It is also suitable for vegetarians and is gluten free.

Grove Smith Farm, Braintree, Essex

Hubbards Farm is home to Grove Smith Turkeys, a family business that has been providing Hensons with fresh turkeys for almost twenty years, during which time Grove Smith has built an admirable reputation for the quality of its birds.

The birds are all grown on their own farms, reared in spacious open barns with low stocking densities, lots of sunlight and the highest standards of animal husbandry.

The hens are fed a special diet of cereals, rich in oats. This is a totally natural diet, produced by Grove Smith on their own arable land, which means that they have total control over the quality of the turkeys farmed in Braintree, as well as full traceability of feed as well as bird.

The breed of turkey is the English Rose – a slow growing turkey, giving excellent confirmation and eating qualities, with the hen birds having the best flavour and texture.

Hensons sells Grove Smith turkeys oven ready as whole birds, as well as crowns and half turkeys. One of our biggest sellers at Christmas is sage and onion-stuffed rolled Turkey breast. With all of the hard prep work done by our butchers, you can save precious hours at the busiest time of the year and still serve a fresh, prime, local product to your discerning customers. But don’t forget that fresh turkey is delicious all year round, and will be especially popular in 2012 when Americans descend on the capital in their thousands!