Bringing the Forest together for breakfast
More than 200 locally-sourced dishes were served as part of the Great New Forest Marque Breakfast event thanks to local producers, hospitality businesses and diners across the New Forest.
New Park Manor and Balmer Lawn hotels in Brockenhurst, Hockey’s Farm Café at South Gorley and the Countryside Education Trust in Beaulieu were among those embracing the event in April to raise awareness of the area’s outstanding food and drink.
The New Forest Marque is the trusted sign of local provenance. It supports sustainable producers, farmers, and artisans working within the New Forest, helping to preserve traditional skills, protect the landscape, and encourage local sourcing. New Forest Marque accreditation guarantees that produce is authentic and has been grown, reared, brewed, produced or processed within the New Forest district.
Hockey’s Farm Café helped launch the campaign with a breakfast menu celebrating local ingredients. Owners Laura and Jonny Burrell, who have been members of the New Forest Marque since 2015, are passionate advocates for local food, producing their own meat and supporting a range of New Forest suppliers through their farm shop and café.
Balmer Lawn Hotel’s Head Chef Ben Brooks curated a special brunch menu featuring dishes such as New Forest wild mushrooms on toasted BH24 sourdough with Lyburn cheese, and nduja shakshuka made with Fluffetts eggs. Diners could also enjoy a bottomless brunch featuring Forest-inspired cocktails including a Forest Berry Fizz made with New Forest strawberries and local gin.
New Park Manor Hotel in Brockenhurst ran the campaign over the whole two week period, serving its bespoke menu to the hotel’s staying guests and restaurant visitors. Its most popular dish was Hampshire Chalk Stream Trout Eggs Royale. Byron Fiddler, Manager of New Park Manor said: ‘The initiative was very well received and demonstrated a genuine appetite from guests for locally inspired dining experiences. There was strong engagement around ingredient provenance and the New Forest itself. In total, we served over 170 dishes from the New Forest Marque menu, generating a meaningful charitable contribution of £174 to the New Forest Trust charity alongside a positive guest experience.’
Beaulieu-based charity the Countryside Education Trust served local produce breakfasts to 40 guests on a sunny Saturday morning, giving them the option of a ‘meet the lambs’ tour on the farm post-meal. Its breakfast options included generous donations of fresh asparagus from New Forest Fruit Co and hot chocolate from the nearby Beaulieu Chocolate Studio. Staff and volunteers also served up their own farm-fresh eggs, homemade jams and apple juice. Other New Forest Marque ingredients featured on the day included The Commoner’s Larder sausages and bacon, and Noble Bee honey.
Charlie Marchant, Centre Assistant at the Countryside Education Trust said: ‘Talking to diners about local produce and where it comes from was great. It really added value and helped spread awareness of the New Forest Marque as well as our own organisation.’
The campaign also reached more than 22,000 people across social media through venue spotlights, producer highlights and photography and videography showcasing local food across the Forest.
Hilary Harper, Director of the New Forest Marque and the New Forest Trust said: ‘We are delighted that our Breakfast campaign not only served delicious meals to people across the Forest but highlighted just how superb the food offerings from the New Forest are. The New Forest Marque strives to evoke conversations around sustainability and local provenance to support our special landscape and the incredible produce that comes from it. It was great to not only collaborate with local chefs, hotels, cafes and suppliers to make this breakfast campaign a success, but also raise funds for the New Forest Trust, and we hope to do it again in the future’.
Following the success of the initial campaign, the New Forest Marque hopes to build on the concept in future years, encouraging even more venues, producers and members of the public to celebrate local food and support the rural economy.
