Not far from the Tamar Valley in Cornwall, is Julie Bailey’s orchard where she grows historic local varieties of apple and makes her delicious Apple Natural apple shreds.
Julie and her husband moved to Cornwall in 2003. Her passion for food and cooking, combined with a desire to provide her young son with wholesome snacks, led her to start making fruit leathers. Julie produces a range of apple leathers, both 100% apple and with additional flavours from gooseberry to seaweed to blackberry.
All the apples come from the orchard, with the additional fruits and vegetables that flavour the leathers sourced locally and sustainably. Once the apples have been harvested in the autumn, they’re washed, cut and the pips taken out. They are then steamed and made into a purée, which is spread thinly onto sheets to be slowly dehydrated over several hours. These sheets are then rolled up like parchments and stored in an air-tight container until they’re later shredded and cut into strips, the shreds are finally packed into home compostable packs with labels printed on recycled paper, using vegan-friendly inks and water-soluble adhesive.
Apple Natural have won many Taste of the West Awards over the years including:
- Hint of Raspberry – GOLD in 2020 (Vegan category) – and one of three champion product finalists.
- Hint of Cornish Seaberry – GOLD in 2021 (Vegan category).
- Hint of Blackcurrant – GOLD in 2022 (Vegan category) – and one of two champion product finalists.
- Hint of Fennel – SILVER in 2023 (Vegan category) – a blend suggested by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.
“We have been Taste of The West members since Apple Natural began.” Julie explains. “The South West is a region of amazing food producers, and we are proud to be a part of that. We have entered our Apple Shreds in the product awards since the introduction of the vegan category. Our awards success has been an amazing accomplishment and overwhelming endorsement of the work we do.”
The Taste of the West Product Awards 2024 are already open for entries; there are categories for South West hospitality and retail establishments serving and/or selling local produce too. To find out more please visit www.tasteofthewest.co.uk/awards.
