Everyone who works for Ross-on-Wye Cider & Perry Co is thrilled at the fantastic news that they have been named as a finalist in the BBC Food & Farming Awards category for ‘Best Drinks Producer’.

The BBC Food & Farming Awards were launched in 2000, to mark the 20th anniversary of Radio 4’s The Food Programme.

The mission statement then was “to honour those who have done most to promote the cause of good food”.

Ross on Wye Cider & Perry Co are in the top three Best Drinks Producers, alongside Northern Monk Brewery from Leeds and Arbikie Distillery in Arbroath, from a pool of 400 nominations.

Albert Johnson said: “We are very humbled and proud to have been selected as a finalist. We have been putting a lot of our effort and energy in the past two years into encouraging a #Rethink Cider movement.”

He explained that cider is not just the widely available fizzy, sweet, bland alcohol available in the supermarket, which is often made with as little as 35% apple juice in, and invariably from concentrate.

He said: “The Cider and Perry we produce on Broome Farm, just like fellow Ross-on-Wye producers, Cleeve Orchard and Woodredding Cider, is made from pure fresh pressed apple juice and rooted in the heritage and tradition of our county.See the full story in this week’s edition of the Ross Gazette, or subscribe to our online edition here