Two start-up food & drink producers made their first appearance at an eat:Festivals event on Saturday, thanks to a first-time trader bursary from Thatchers Cider.

Harry Noel-Smith, the owner of Kinetic Kitchen was doing a lively trade at eat:Clevedon, with delicious coffee and cakes, sold from his beautifully converted Landrover Defender truck.

He says, “Being a small start-up in the Somerset region, we were truly delighted to have the opportunity to trade as a Thatchers bursary recipient at eat:Clevedon. Opportunities like these are so important for our business, as it gives us a great amount of local exposure, and give us a chance to trade with some fantastic companies in the region.”

Sally Rochford, also from Somerset, brought home-made flavoured popcorn, fudge bars and cupcakes to eat:Clevedon. She set up her home-based company, Bee Sweet, during Lockdown with Kathie Vickery. eat:Clevedon was their first trading experience.

“Applying for the Thatchers bursary gave us the confidence to trade for the first time. I started baking over Lockdown for family and friends and it’s grown from there. eat:Clevedon was an amazing success and a big thank you to Thatchers for the opportunity,” she says.

As part of our support of the  eat:Festivals family, we provide a bursary to new first time traders, helping them get their business off the ground.

Bev Milner Simonds, joint founder of eat:Festivals says, “Being able to offer such excellent trading opportunities to brand new producers is such a generous thing to give. These new businesses add to the economic vibrancy of the area and the industry. We are proud of our partnership with Thatchers.”

Martin Thatcher, fourth generation cider maker says, ”Encouraging entrepreneurial spirit is something we’re keen to support – and we’ll be meeting more first time traders at eat:Tiverton in September. The quality and enthusiasm of the traders is amazing. We wish them all the very best of luck for their truly appetizing businesses.”