Melton Food Facts
Download Melton Mowbray Food Facts
Melton Mowbray – the Rural Capital of Food
We’re the home of Melton Mowbray Pork Pies
We’re the home of Stilton Cheese.
- We have 3 European Protected Food Names: Blue & White Stilton, Melton Mowbray Pork Pies
- Stilton was in the High Court in 1966 and our pies in the High Court and Court of Appeal 2005/6
- Afternoon tea was invented (1843) in the Borough at Belvoir Castle by Anna Duchess of Bedford
- We have the third oldest recorded market in the country and a weekly farmers market
- We have one of the UK’s largest livestock markets in the town founded by Act of Parliament 1869
- The earliest recorded recipe for a wedding cake comes from the Melton Borough made in 1653
- The expression ‘Painting the Town Red’ comes from Melton Mowbray 1837 Marquis of Waterford
- We host the East Midlands Food & Drink Festival eastmidlandsfoodfestival.co.uk
- We host the British Pie Awards britishpieawards.co.uk and PieFest www.piefest.co.uk
- We host the Artisan Cheese Fair artisancheesefair.co.uk and ChocFest www.chocfest.co.uk
- We host the national Rare Breeds Sale
- We have Samworth Brothers HQ one of the UK’s largest private food producing companies
- We have a range of award winning producers of meat, meat products and cheese in the area
- Local treats: Valentine Day Buns (plum shuttles), Belvoir Castle Buns, Melton Curd Cheesecakes
- Local cakes: Melton Hunt Cake, Belvoir Ginger Cake, Countess of Rutland Wedding Cake
- Local cheeses: Stilton, Red Leicester, Shropshire Blue, Colwick, Slipcote
- Local Dishes: Pork Pies, Melton Mowbray Spiced Beef, Melton Market Day Savoury
- We are one of the leading producers of Paneer cheese for the Indian restaurant market
- We are one of the leading producers of Tofu for the Japanese restaurant market
- We are one of the main sources of Halal meat (specialised sheep abattoir) for the Muslim market
- We now have our second new multi species abattoir (opened summer 2011)
- We have one of the largest producers of fruit cordials in the country (Belvoir Cordials)
- We have two craft bakers: one supplies sourdough to restaurants and businesses outside the area
- We have two microbreweries in the Borough and a Gin Distillery
- We have bison and venison in the Borough
- Colonel Colman of Mustard fame lived at Scalford Hall – the origin of Cluedo and Colonel Mustard
- HP Sauce was invented in Bottesford.
- We have one of the leading UK producers of flavoured and specialist coffees – Cherizena
- We are one of the last areas to have a Rook Club.
- We still have local butchers, fishmonger, greengrocer, bakers, cheese shop and 5 supermarkets
- Tourism, mainly based on food, brings in £100m+ that’s £2,000 for every resident in the Borough
- We get on average 12 coaches every Tuesday market day in Summer, visiting the town
- Our Borough Signs and our Town Signs now designate our connection with food
- We have an agricultural land sciences college in the Borough (Brooksby Melton College)
- 54% of our manufacturing jobs are in food & drink: one quarter for all of Leicestershire
- Bear in mind we are the 10th smallest Borough in the country so it’s a lot packed into a small area