The journal
Industry news in plain English, buyer’s guides for everyday shopping, long reads from the people behind the food, and pairings worth getting up early for.
Food prices · 6 May 2026
A £1.50 supermarket sliced loaf is 18% cheaper than two years ago. A £4 artisan sourdough is 12% more expensive. The headline is wrong — and the per-meal maths is closer than you’d think.
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Farming · 4 May 2026
It’s on every other label these days. Some of it is meaningful. A lot of it isn’t. A short field guide to what to look for, and what to ignore.
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Merchant experience · 2 May 2026
Will Pritchard at Dales Bakery shares the actual P&L from his first twelve months on Parish Larder. The lessons aren’t what you’d expect.
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Supermarket watch · 30 Apr 2026
There is no UK legal definition of "farm fresh", "fresh from the farm", or "farmhouse-style". Here’s what those phrases actually tell you about what’s in the packet.
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Farming · 26 Apr 2026
A small but fast-growing slice of British beef now comes from cattle that have eaten nothing but grass and forage. The numbers are still tiny — but the rate of change is real.
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News & policy · 22 Apr 2026
A small but important change to allergen disclosure on prepacked-for-direct-sale food kicks in this autumn. What it means for stalls and customers, without the jargon.
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Food reviews · 19 Apr 2026
A blind tasting of eight cheddars priced from £4.50 to £18 per kilogram. The result will not surprise you, but the order will.
Read story →Producer story · 15 Apr 2026
A morning with Margot Whitfield, who has run the Cotswold Creamery cellar for 31 years and shows no sign of slowing down.
Read story →Buyer’s guide · 8 Apr 2026
A proper sourdough should still be good five days after it was baked. Here’s how to spot the ones that will, and the ones that won’t.
Read story →In the kitchen · 2 Apr 2026
Three cheeses, one bread, one preserve, one pickle. That’s a cheeseboard. Anything more is decoration.
Read story →World food · 30 Mar 2026
Two years of catastrophic Mediterranean harvests have changed the global olive oil market structurally, not just temporarily. The £20 bottle is here to stay.
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Buyer’s guide · 30 Mar 2026
Eight terms you’ll see on artisan cheese labels and what they actually tell you about what’s in the wax.
Read story →Producer story · 22 Mar 2026
Most bakeries buy their flour. Dales Bakery, on the edge of Hawes, buys its wheat — and grinds it the night before each bake.
Read story →In the kitchen · 12 Mar 2026
Six toppings that turn a slice of toast into a meal. Each works on the same loaf — a properly aged sourdough — and each takes under five minutes.
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Producer story · 28 Feb 2026
Free-range pigs, salt cellars and hams hanging from the rafters. Notes from a long afternoon in west Devon.
Read story →Buyer’s guide · 20 Feb 2026
British air-dried meats are now competitive with the best from Italy and Spain. Here’s how to choose, what to ask for, and what to do with what you bring home.
Read story →In the kitchen · 15 Feb 2026
A 250g salami is a week of meals if you treat it like an ingredient instead of a snack. Here’s the plan.
Read story →News & policy · 12 Feb 2026
A combination of trade friction, energy costs and a strong pound has put UK artisan cheese exports at their lowest level since 1996. The local market is, paradoxically, the strongest it has ever been.
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