We are delighted to announce that we have signed up our first drinks producer to the Happerley network. Dunkertons Cider are a Soil Association certified organic producer currently based in Pembridge, Herefordshire relocating to Gloucestershire in September.
Dunkertons Cider have been making organic cider and perry since 1980. The business was started by Ivor and Susie Dunkerton with the mission to make farmhouse cider more widely available. They were the first cider producer to be Soil Association accredited across their entire product range.
The careful selection of heritage varieties of cider apples and pears proved to be a key factor in their success coupled with the secret blending process that they still use today. A Dunkertons Cider blend can contain anything from 3 apple varieties up to 12 and beyond, whilst their single blend varieties carry the name of the fruit that it was made from such as Breakwells Seedling, Browns, and Court Royal.
They grow a wide range of apples and pears in their own orchards and work closely with growers to help create sustainable organic orchards for future generations. Mindful of the precious ecology of orchards they are currently participating in a research program designed to record the number of birds and pollinators active in their own orchards.
Their Black Fox cider has won numerous awards and more recently their Browns single variety won first place in the International Cider Challenge 2016 against stiff competition from around the world. In 2015 Susie and Ivor were finalists in the BBC Radio 4 Food and Farming Awards.
Susie and Ivor have now retired and in 2015 the business was passed on to their son Julian with Jeremy Benson as Managing Director.
