Ever wondered where our ingredients come from?
We’re committed to sourcing responsibly and, wherever possible, locally – often we’ve found that local ingredients are of as good if not better a quality than the ones that have had to travel for hundreds or even thousands of miles. We’re proud of our growing list of suppliers, many of whom are independent, ethical businesses based near us and run by people who are as passionate about good food and drink as we are. Check them out…
Barefoot Bakery
We are a small independent artisan Bakery based in Oxford. We specialise in baking 100% handmade and hand finished bakes.
We supply independent cafes and restaurants in Oxford and the South of England.
We use local and Organic ingredients where possible and never use any additives, preservatives, artificial flavours, colours or sweeteners and we never use Soya or GM products.
Our bakes are beautiful and wholesome, but more importantly, they are packed full of goodness and natural flavours.
Find out more about Barefoot BakeryMarks cotswold bakery here
UE Coffee
The whizzes at Oxfordshire’s own award-winning UE Coffee Roasters have helped us develop our own unique blend of Jitter Juice. We wanted something that would be as delicious plonked in a milky cappuccino as it is on its own, and boy did they deliver. The blend is part arabica, part robusta for a more mellow, traditional coffee taste, and of course it’s fair trade. Based on the border of the Cotswolds, UE’s mission is to make authentic, artisan coffee accessible to everyone, and they roast their coffees in small batches using a completely unique oak-fired roasting process. If you’re as hooked on their coffee as we are, you can always pick up a pack of Jitter Juice to take home from any of the pubs…
H.G. Walter
H.G. Walter supply all of our meat, in particular our bespoke aged beef patty. The recipe is specially made for us by them, and it’s a secret (so hands off!) – though we can divulge that our patties are made from 100% rib and chuck (both prime cuts), and the beef is from a grass-fed Aberdeen Angus cross-breed, reared on a small number of farms along the Ayrshire coast in Scotland.
H.G. Walter are the ‘go-to’ butcher for many of London’s top chefs, but most importantly, they are an independent, family-run business based in West London, and they’re committed, in their words, ‘to doing things in the proper way’ (hear, hear!). They source their meat from small British farmers, and their passion for food and quality is a perfect match for our own.
Arthur David
Our fresh produce, as well as our dry goods and dairy, come from Bristol-based Arthur David. Arthur David are another family-run business, with over 50 years of experience sourcing and supplying quality ingredients and a commitment to community spirit and customer service.
Cotswold Gold
You’d be surprised how much oil a restaurant gets through on a weekly basis – we use around 80 litres at each of our pubs (don’t worry, only a small amount of this actually gets consumed by our lovely customers!).
Luckily our friend Charlie from Cotswold Gold produces the finest British rapeseed oil you can get your hands on (Raymond Blanc, Oxford’s own king of cookery, will back us up on this one!). The first secret to our superior fries is that they’re hand cut and home-made… but the second secret is the oil we cook them in. The cat’s out of the bag! We also use the cold pressed extra virgin oil for our fine oils, and for general cooking.
In addition to being damn tasty, the traditional cold pressing methods Cotswold Gold use preserves the natural health benefits of rapeseed, so the oil is naturally high in vitamin E and rich in omegas 3, 5 and 9, and much lower in cholesterol than standard veg oil. And the oil is about as local as you can get – the crops are grown on the family farm in the Cotswolds, and harvested, pressed, and bottled in the Cotswolds, too.
Of course, we filter our oil daily to get as much longevity out of it as we can, but when it’s done, it get collected and recycled into bio-diesel!
Salt pig curing co.
We use Salt Pig Curing Co. for our cured meats.
SaltPig Curing Company is a small artisanal company, set up from a chef’s perspective, which aims to create the best salamis and cured meats in the UK. The produce and livestock available in the UK and, in particular, the Cotswolds are second to none and paired with a determination for perfection can be turned into world class charcuterie.
Visit Salt Pig Curing Co. website
Carnevale
It’s important to us that we strike a balance between the authentic and the local – rather than shipping in olive oil from Italy, for example, we use delicious, high-quality rapeseed oil from the Cotswolds. But where our pizzas are concerned, there are some things that are sacred. Carnevale is our Italian supplier, providing us with all of our authentic Neapolitan flour and tomatoes and ensuring that every pizza we make meets our exacting standards.
Marks cotswold bakery
We use Marks Cotswold Bakery for all our of buns and bread products.
Mark is a self-taught and award-winning baker, specialising in sourdough bread. All of Mark’s bread is made from flour ground just a few miles away from his bakery, in the family owned, FWP Matthews Cotswold mill, at Shipton under Wychwood. This mirrors the philosophy behind the business that is Mark’s Bread. Local ingredients, family run.
Oxfordshire Logs
Lovely Paul at Oxfordshire Logs provides us with quality kiln-dried hardwood logs for all of our pubs (only the very best will do for our pizza ovens!). Their logs are hand selected and put through kilns to reduce moisture, which means they tend to burn longer than seasoned logs, and are cleaner burning. Based on Donnington Bridge in Oxford, they’re also our closest supplier (to the Rusty, at least!).