NEWS FROM 2017

The New Tiptree Chocolate Spread – and no nuts! – January

Rich Belgian Chocolate has been used to create the remarkable Tiptree Chocolate Spread, a new treat from Wilkin & Sons that is now available in stores. This deeply delicious spread contains real Belgian dark chocolate 60% which is blended with sugar, butter and double cream to create a rich versatile spread.

“There’s nothing nutty about our Tiptree Chocolate Spread. It’s made in our nut free factory, just like our jams.” said Scott Goodfellow, director of Wilkin & Sons. “We have had great feedback from customers on line, in our own shops, and from independent stores. It will be offered to the general market in retail and miniature jar formats in 2017.”

Chocolate Spread is part of the range of new Tiptree sweet spreads: Salted Caramel and Banoffee launched last year, with Chocolate, Coconut and more to come.

Once opened keep refrigerated for up to four weeks. Shelf life on jars 12 months

How to use Tiptree Chocolate Spread:

Simply spread liberally on toast or a croissant

Spoon onto pancakes and waffles then top with sliced banana

Delicious warmed and poured over ice cream and desserts

Use as ingredient when cooking pastries

Warm and add to hot milk for a tasty chocolate shake.

“Royal Recipes” with Tiptree on TV – March

Strawberries, quince and jam making at Tiptree featured in BBC One’s new television series “Royal Recipes”. The series of fifteen programmes was inspired by a recipe book from the royal household and this led the film director to some amazing locations and interesting stories about favourite food prepared for members of the royal family.

Tiptree fruit shared the programme with a very smart Battenberg cake, made with lots of marzipan, apricot jam, golden sponge and a darker chocolate section that looked much tastier than the bright pink cake remembered from childhood.

As the theme for this programme was “Afternoon Tea” it was good that Walter Scott could talk about the heritage of the business, Tracey Warren recalled the excitement on the day The Queen visited Tiptree while Chris Newenham spoke about the traditional quince orchard and the latest technology for growing strawberries; there was also a glance at afternoon tea on the terrace.

A delightful series with an insight to the royal kitchens.

52,000 jars of Plum Jam will make a difference to ‘Purple 4 Polio’ – March

Wilkin and Sons are excited to be part of Rotary Great Britain and Ireland’s ‘Purple 4 Polio’ campaign to end polio across the world which was launched in March 2017. The company has supplied 52,000 jars of Tiptree Plum jam, each made with plums grown on the fruit farm at Tiptree. We trust that Rotarians the length and breadth of the British Isles will enjoy a spot of jam on toast, or even a cream tea, whilst raising funds for the charity.

Wilkin & Sons has been working with The Rotary to eliminate polio since 2003 when Ian Thurgood helped Rotarian Ray Burman with a Spread & Save campaign. The company donated 65,000 jars of marmalade raising over $1million for The Rotary Foundation. In 2011 the company donated 50,000 bottles of Tomato Ketchup in a partnership with Rotary International in Great Britain & Ireland; this time Rotarians were encouraged to raise as much money as possible by creating imaginative ways of using Tomato Ketchup – there were lots of barbeques that year.

The Silk Road – with BBC TV

Carrie Gracie, China editor of the BBC, brought a television crew to Tiptree to visit the strawberry fields and to talk to TingTing about Tiptree cream teas being introduced into China; the film would form part of a story about The Silk Road.

Strawberry fields – visitors at Open Farm Sunday - June

Strawberries and sunshine encouraged more than 2,300 people to visit Open Farm Sunday at Tiptree when Wilkin & Sons opened the farm gates to visitors at the weekend. Trips to the strawberry fields on the farm trailer and Lodge’s period coaches were very popular; a great opportunity to learn about new growing systems and the range of fruit grown on the farm from the guides who gave a lively commentary.

Tasting was an important part of the activities with a chance to try different varieties of strawberries, a huge range of preserves, cakes from the Patisserie, fruit juices and even Fruit Gin Liqueur proved extremely popular. There were lots of photos of the piglets from Wicks Manor, a chance to talk to the local bee keeper and the farmers; the children were fascinated by an entertainer from Sainsbury’s.

“It was a great day for visitors to explore the farm and to talk food and farming,” said Chris Newenham joint managing director of Wilkin & Sons Ltd. “Open Farm Sunday which is organised by Linking the Environment And Farming (LEAF) has encouraged farmers across the UK to open their gates so that families can see where their food comes from and we are delighted to be part of LEAF’s scheme.”

Early visitors to the farm were Liana Bridges and Barry Lewis from the BBC Essex “Quest” programme as they started their challenge to find their next location at Tiptree.

Tiptree Strawberry Race money for children’s charity - June

Blue skies, lots of fruit and enthusiastic pickers came together for a very successful Tiptree Strawberry Race at Goldhanger on Thursday. Many of the pickers made a huge effort to dress as stars of Hollywood creating a fun atmosphere as they started the serious role of picking the tiny Little Scarlet strawberries that will be made into Tiptree conserve.

Chris Newenham, joint managing director of Wilkin & Sons, welcomed the visiting teams, including a group of chefs in their whites who came from the London Marriott hotel. “The Tiptree Strawberry Race brings together pickers from the farm and other companies to raise funds for charity; this year we are supporting the Children’s Heart Federation, a national charity that does some amazing work for people we know.

Peter Wilkin, past chairman, presented the prizes and a special award was given to Paul Brightwell marking 40 years of service on Wilkin & Sons’ farm. The fastest picker was Ionut Ursu (from Romania) who picked 4.13k with the runner up Tsvetlu Mandalov (from Bulgaria) who picked 3.47k.

There were prizes for glamorous costumes and interesting hats representing the stars of Hollywood.

NCTD - Jam and Cream to raise funds for charity – June

We are delighted to announce that this year, National Cream Tea Day, brought to you by the Cream Tea Society will take place on Friday 30 June 2017.

Each year we highlight different aspects of cream teas in summer: one year a stunning hat, last year an interesting tennis skirt and this year The Cream Tea Society will be showcasing the Art of Cream Tea with a commissioned piece of Cream Tea art by the incredibly talented, Emily Ponsonby

“The Art of Cream Tea” by Emily Ponsonby will be unveiled at Partridges, Chelsea on Friday 16 June, and will be on display until National Cream Tea Day (Friday 30 June). The artwork will be auctioned via Givergy, with proceeds going to Marie Curie.

This year, we are delighted to welcome Great British Bake Off star Nancy Birtwhistle as our Cream Tea Ambassador. Nancy has developed a delicious Lemon and Caraway scone recipe to help celebrate National Cream Tea Day in style. www.creamteasociety.co.uk

The organisers – Rodda’s of Cornish clotted cream fame and Tiptree, the renowned Essex jam-makers, want as many people around the country to celebrate this quintessentially British and much-treasured tea occasion, while raising money for Marie Curie.

The Little Scarlet Festival, Saturday 22nd July 1-7pm

Saturday saw the second Little Scarlet Festival held in the Jubilee Orchard, at Wilkin and Sons Ltd., Tiptree. The main stage was the focal point with 6 local bands performing to a crowd of 1000 enthusiastic fans. The line- up of bands was a diverse range of sounds; Wax Colour, Vince Petchey, The LBC Collective, The Witch Kids, The Lucky Strikes & The Landed.

A “busk stop” presented budding musicians with the opportunity to show off their talent, by signing up on the day to sing along, accompanied by local band Sound Mirrors.

The musical event received financial support from Colchester Borough Council, as it is a local community festival. All ticket proceeds will be donated to the chosen charity Colchester Hospitals Charity, to raise money for their Cancer Centre.

Gunpowder Gertie entertained the younger visitors in her brightly coloured and fun children’s area, while adults could enjoy a Fruit Gin Spritzer or two from the bar.

Meelyhoops entertained the crowds and encouraged all ages to try hoola-hooping, whilst youngsters played in the strawberry maze.

The main stage was opened by our competition winner local 16 year old singer-songwriter Tom Child.

The heavens opened briefly during the afternoon, but the crowd took it in very good spirits and carried on as necessary with British Summertime weather!

Joint Managing Director Chris Newenham thanked everyone who attended on the day and those who helped to organise the event raising valuable funds for Colchester Hospitals Charity “Despite the rain, it was a wonderful day, and we are delighted that so many from the local community came to enjoy themselves.”

Tiptree at Snape - Aldeburgh Food & Drink Festival - September

An amazing celebration of food and drink from East Anglia with a huge range of local producers, food enthusiasts and inspiring chefs will be at Snape Maltings.

The Tiptree sponsored stage provides an opportunity to watch some amazing demonstrations from chef patrons of local restaurants and contestants from Great British Bake Off.

Visitors could taste samples of gin or jam at the Tiptree roadshow or enjoy the setting in a beautify location on the site of a very special concert hall – try to look inside

Essex Life Food & Drink Awards - October

A glittering evening in the lovely grounds of Braxted Park was the setting for the Essex Life Food & Drink Awards, sponsored by Tiptree. The event celebrates great food produced in Essex, fantastic establishments, from tiny tea rooms to well established restaurants, and the talented people who grow, create and serve our food.

Nominations from readers of Essex Life magazine are assessed by a series of judges and a short film of the finalists was shown to the audience. The roar of support when each winner was announced just showed the recognition and appreciation for the work of the award winners from everyone in the room.

The finalists for the Essex Life Food & Drink “Hero” were a secret and at the end of the evening Scott Goodfellow, director of Wilkin & Sons Ltd, announced this year’s winner: a man who had gone back centuries to learn about growing a much prized ingredient that used to be grown in Saffron Walden, he reintroduced the autumn crocus bulbs to the fields around the town and has been harvesting saffron for several years and now uses saffron in some innovative products: the English Saffron company.

Congratulations to all the finalists celebrating great food and good service in Essex.

Tiptree World Bread Awards - October

Home bakers, professional bakers, young bakers and student bakers gathered at the Tiptree World Bread Awards in Association with Brook Food to celebrate the best of bakers. This is the fifth year that bread making has been celebrated in the beautiful St John’s Church in London.

Hundreds of loaves had been entered into the different categories: white, gluten free, fruit, sour dough, flat bread and many others; each loaf was carefully judged to identify the overall winner of each class and then the overall winner of the Best Bake. Congratulations to the overall winner: Bexhill Farm Kitchen & Poppy Seed Bakery. Well done to the winner of the Tiptree Showstopper – Karma Bread for their beautiful entry “the orange blossom tree of life” and to the students from University College Birmingham who won a new category: Trainee Baker sponsored by Tiptree Patisserie - a full list of the winners can be seen on www.worldbreadawards.com.

Congratulations to all the bakers who created such a high standard of baking in the awards – well done it is great to encourage more innovative bakers and to encourage consumers to have a greater understanding of the range of delicious breads that are produced across the country.

New winter fill reservoir - October

Walter Scott, chairman of Wilkin & Sons and Andrey Ivanov, farm manager, joined Philip Stacey, whose team constructed the new winter fill reservoir, as they planted trees to mark the completion of the new reservoir. Lying in one of the driest parts of Essex sourcing sufficient water for the fruit crops has always been a concern so this additional reservoir is a welcome asset for the farm and for wildlife.

Tiptree in Bond Street – Chelmsford - November

An exciting new Tiptree tea room and shop has just been opened in Bond Street Chelmsford by Wilkin & Sons Ltd. The new Tiptree Bond Street team lead by Jennie, the manager, has opened the doors to customers keen to discover the coffee stop and the tea room as well as the buying the great selection of Tiptree jams, gins and gifts.

The Tiptree Bond Street tea room will be open for coffee and breakfast, followed by light lunches and cream teas available seven days a week. Visitors, shoppers and local workers can grab a simple coffee and delicious pastry but for those with more time there is space to sit and relax upstairs with tea and pastries.

Tiptree in Bond Street is part of a new development in the centre of Chelmsford, next to Foyles, the great bookshop.

Tiptree Raspberry Gin Liqueur Wins Award - November

Great recognition for the Tiptree Raspberry Gin Liqueur when it was awarded a silver medal at The Grocer Drink Awards this week. The range of Tiptree fruit gin liqueurs is proving very popular as consumers enjoy the flexibility of the gin – neat on ice, with a quality tonic or added to prosecco for a fizzy fun drink.

For a special present look at the great selection of fruit gin gift packs that can be bought online and from selected stores.