Traders Archives - Suffolk Market Events

Suffolk Market Events are proud to introduce a new trader at their farmers’ markets, Victoria Lea, founder of The Lamb Charcuterie Company.

Victoria started her business in February 2017 having developed a love of Herdwick sheep during school trips to the Lake District. Having completed a degree in Equine Science at Writtle College, she bought a small herd of this hardy hill sheep breed dating back to the 12^th century – they’re a dual purpose breed whose meat is highly sought after and high in omega 3 oils.

On the continent Charcuterie is made with lots of different meats, however Victoria’s company is unique in England as it only uses Herdwick meat. Currently the charcuterie is made by another company to Victoria’s recipes, although her aim is to make it at home herself. She still works full time for the NHS whilst also tending the sheep and her fledgling business with occasional help from family.

Victoria says “the sheep are quite good and I do try to train them to a feed bucket, however as the flock is expanding and Herdwicks do tend to be a feisty breed, I am looking into getting a sheep dog to help!”

Her company is doing really well in such a short period of time and Victoria plans to grow the business by attending more market and food-related events, doing more wholesale to local farm shops, delis and restaurants and developing her website – www.thelambcharcuteriecompany.co.uk

You can find Victoria at our regular Sudbury Farmers’ Markets on the last Friday of the month in St Peter’s Church from 9.30am – 2pm and we hope she will attend more events in the New Year.

We wish her, and her feisty Herdwicks, the best of luck!

As we know farmers markets are all about locally sourced, top-quality ingredients and the provenance of what we eat and drink is paramount within the context of a good farmers market.

I have been working with Justine at Suffolk market Events since the summer and I have definitely had a crash course in understanding the difference between a farmers market and a really good farmers market! However I was left speechless by Truly Traceable and their venison and game pies, when I met Steve and Lynn Tricker at the launch of the Bury St Edmunds Farmers Market last Sunday. Seeing me eye up a venison and cranberry pie, Steve mentioned casually that he could trace back and identify the animals that were the source of all of the pies and sausage rolls on their stall. I must have shown my surprise so he picked up a folder, leafed through some pages and then pointed to a photo of a muntjac deer taken just after it had been shot. Alongside the picture were the details of the animal, exact location and date of the shoot which corresponded with the particular batch of pies and sausage rolls made for the market.

As a fully qualified deerstalker and butcher, Steve manages this part of the business whilst Lynn’s specialty is the delicious homemade pastry encasing the pies and rolls. The pie was delicious by the way, and it was a genuine and eye-opening example of how seriously small scale producers believe in the ‘field to fork’ philosophy and are involved in every part of the process.

Here at Suffolk Market Events, we work tirelessly to promote this ethos and we are delighted and proud to be working with such a fantastic group of top-quality local producers.

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