It’s one thing to walk into a delicatessen and discover dozens of great products, olive oils, or spices. But going to the Speciality & Fine Food Fair is a completely new level. It is a once-a-year trader-only event at London’s Olympia and is arguably the largest artisan food fair in the UK – if not beyond. And no, it’s not big. It’s absolutely gigantic!!!
Imagine over thousand stalls (literally!) over two floors here just to showcase their most amazing products, from local cheese and wine producers, to chocolate artists, to sauce makers, and so on. And the best part? It’s all there for you to taste!
So we spend a good couple of hours wandering around just like kids in Disneyland waiting to try the best out there, and here is a short selection of our favourite producers we discovered and love. You might notice a slight bias towards chocolate… sorry!
Hint: do scroll to the bottom to discover our favourites products and producers!
25. Fromagerie Jacquin
TRY: They specialise in several famous AOP goat cheese, but absolutely do try their valençay (in French) – a pyramid of nutty and subtle goatey goodness!
24. The Meat Makers
TRY: The Peppered Dried Beef. Simple and really good.
23. Paxton & Whitfield
TRY: The Celery & Sea Salt Oaties to go with their cheese. Obviously!
22. Doisy & Dam
TRY: Lemon, Poppy Seed and baobab chocolate. Delicious, fresh, and certainly very original.
21. Hasslachers Drinking Chocolate
TRY: The Hot Drinking Chocolate.
20. Stokes Sauces
Stokes are the purveyors of the finest sauces you can think of. We always have their BBQ sauce in the fridge or a pot of their mayonnaise (chili/garlic). We empty them a little too fast…
TRY: Their BBQ sauces. Actually, just go and buy any of their products – they’re all excellent!
19. Champion & Reeves
TRY: Luxury Dessert Nougat. Rich with almonds, pistachio, cherries, and a touch of rose water.
18. Pachanka Chocolate
TRY: Their chocolate kits. Very cool to understand a bit more about how to make chocolate.
17. Wicked & Wonderful
TRY: The Earl Grey Chocolate.
16. Paxton
TRY: All – so many exciting and surprising flavours. Gorgeous gift idea and such an original concept!
15. Jadu Tea
TRY: Mademoiselle Grey. Incredibly floral!
13. Rufus Teague
TRY: The Touch O’Heat BBQ Sauce (find it on Ocado). Proper hot sauce made in the USA.
12. Marvellous Mustard
TRY: Any of their mustard kits, although we’d go for their Fine and Dandy Brandy.
10. Boom Indian
TRY: The Tikka Tarka Masala. Dried recipe kit to make your next restaurant-quality curry at home. Exploding flavours and much better than your average curry set!
9. The Artisan Kitchen
TRY: The Blaisdon Red Plum Jam. Absolutely scrumptious!
8. Pump Street Bakery
TRY: The Sourdough and Sea Salt (66%). Excellent with a such a pleasant bread flavour. Absolutely delicious!
7. Brew Tea Co
TRY: Earl Grey. Simple & delicious.
6. The Fickle Fish
TRY: Both the cold & hot smoked were equally delicious, yet so very different. The best part? You can find both on Ocado! Special award: best branding!
5. Bread Tree
TRY: The amazing N’duja spread. Full-bodied, spicy, delicious – so much decadence in such a little pot!
4. ZooTeek
TRY: Any of their products, but don’t miss their amazing Idiazabal cheese. Special mention for their unrivalled friendliness and hospitality!
3. Coco Chocolate
TRY: Haggis Spice Chocolate. Yes. So much better than it sounds: stunning flavour combination that works really well with chocolate.
2. Maynard’s Farm
TRY: Their Bacons. All of them, especially the streaky and smokey! Definitely one of the best bacons we ever had, scrummy, juicy, all you can hope for in the best bacon.
1. Gigha Smoked Halibut
TRY: The Smoked Halibut obviously! Wow… Without a doubt, one of the best thing we ever ate! Ever.
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