In this issue of Food & Drink Matters, we are pleased to feature New Forest Shortbread Ltd as our Authentic Artisan Shortbread Company of the Month.
Looking to add an authentic artisan shortbread selection to your store? These beautiful boxes of shortbread are covered in illustrations by local artists with notes about each image on cards to tear off and keep, making these local, hand-made shortbread a great gift or treat.
“Our all-butter New Forest Shortbread is not mass-produced or impersonal, but crafted with care and a sense of heritage. We have enormous pride in what we produce and we source our ingredients from Harvest Fine Food, a local wholesaler that buys in Anchor butter made in Westbury, especially for us to use. Anchor is made using milk from local British dairy herds. We sell at county shows Ellingham, New Forest Show, Alresford Show sponsoring the dairy classes which we see as a link to supporting the local production of butter. We have further teamed up with our friends the New Forest Tea Company, Mozzo Coffee and Hampshire Lavender Fields to create delicious recipes using their unique locally produced products,” stated Tracy Thew, Founder & Owner.
New Forest Shortbread has been delighting visitors to the New Forest National Park since 2015. Drawing on years of experience, Tracy has perfected the fine art of shortbread baking. What began as a personal passion at her kitchen table has grown into a thriving local business, where each lovingly handcrafted batch is baked and packed into boxes of award-winning, flavoured shortbread.
Tracy takes pride in her creative, out-of-the-box approach to product development, carefully curating flavours that are anything but ordinary – unique, inventive, a playful twist on tradition, and curiously delicious. These flavours are what gives the shortbread their distinctiveness with an element of surprise, including unexpected gems like Rosemary, Coffee, and Raspberry, as well as award-winning Earl Grey, and lavender.
“We are about to launch our new Ginger flavoured New Forest Shortbread,” said Tracy. “It features a hint of peppery spice, warm notes of citrus undertones and chewy pieces of crystallised ginger, it’s absolutely delicious!”
What makes New Forest Shortbread truly special is its deep-rooted connection to place. Nestled in the heart of the New Forest National Park, the shortbread is made on the grounds of Tracy’s home at Burley Rails Cottage – a charming former woodman’s cottage built in 1811. The warmth and care that shape the company’s success are born from a heartfelt commitment to homegrown values. Since day one, Tracy and her all-female team of bakers have championed conscious, thoughtful practices – from the food they craft to the wellbeing of their team, their working environment, and the close-knit relationships they nurture with local suppliers, businesses, and friends.
The tagline ‘Like Nana Makes’ tells you everything you need to know about the brand and its origins. From their first batch of all-butter shortbread over 50 years ago, Tracy and her team of skilled artisans still continue to create by hand to this day.
If you’re interested in stocking New Forest Shortbread, Tracy supplies to retail stores, farm shops and hotels nationally and was recently featured in New Forest Collection’s fifth episode of their ‘Forest to Fork’ series.
For more information, please see below:
M 07471 684639
enquiries@newforestshortbread.co.uk
www.newforestshortbread.co.uk