Warner’s Budgens of Broadway celebrates British Tomato Week with master class championing local Cotswold crop
To celebrate British Tomato Week (May 20-26), Warner’s Budgens of Broadway is showcasing produce from its local tomato supplier with a series of master classes featuring recipe demonstrations, tasting sessions and Q&As.
The store, based in Russell Square, will be hosting local flavour expert Nicki Brown from Wednesday, May 22 to Friday, May 24 who will talk to shoppers about the different tomato varieties grown just two miles from the store, offering top tips, storage advice, and suggested flavour combinations. Between 12 noon and 6pm recipes such as tomato and mozzarella stacks and stuffed tomatoes will be demonstrated in store and will be available to sample. In addition, selected tomato varieties will be on special offer to encourage local people to enjoy them.
Store owner Guy Warner says, “We’re proud to say that our tomatoes are grown down the road and we have a fantastic range in store from super-sweet cherries and baby plums to on the vine varieties. We‘re so passionate about the great local produce from our area that we want to shout about it from the rooftops and give the grower the chance to really showcase the quality of their offer.”
All Budgens stores are owned and operated by independent retailers, giving each store the freedom to stock local products tailored to their customers. Local tomatoes sold at the Warner’s Budgens of Broadway store are grown at neighbouring Buckland Garden Nursery where vines are grown in glass houses to ensure the crop is protected from the cold but exposed to bright sunlight, enhancing the flavour.
Grower Rohan Page says, “Bursting with flavour, British grown tomatoes have never tasted as good as they do now. The Budgens tasting sessions will showcase the breadth of varieties available, from the intensely sweet cherry tomatoes to the robust almost meaty textures of the larger varieties. We’re looking forward to getting people excited about this extremely versatile fruit.”
Tomatoes contain lots of health protecting nutrients including vitamins, minerals, flavonoids and natural pigments as well as lycopene, the chemical that makes ripe tomatoes red.
Rohan adds, “They are not just delicious - research has shown that fresh, ripe, home-grown tomatoes contain much higher levels of lycopene than imported long-life types so it has never been a better time to start enjoying British tomatoes.”
The Warner’s Budgens of Broadway store currently stocks over 700 local products, many of them multi-award winning, offering customers real choice and variety.
Local British tomatoes are available at Warner’s Budgens of Broadway now. Pop in store for recipe and tasting sessions from Wednesday, May 22-Friday, May 24, 12 noon until 6pm. Vine ripened tomatoes will be on special offer for £1 (RRP £1.79) until June 6.
• For more information about Warner’s Budgens of Broadway visit www.warnersbudgens.co.uk
