Belle & Herbs

Former social worker Sam quit his job in 2002 to open a little café in Heaton, Newcastle upon Tyne which ran for 9 years before he turned his attention to community projects, festivals and improving food in local institutions. In 2013 Sam co-founded Altered Eating, a multi-disciplinary project exploring how serious illness and cancer treatment change people’s relationship with food. Belle & Herbs as a fermentary grew out of that same obsession with food that really matters, together with his friend Pan, the fermentary was founded in 2020 finding a home at a local community farm in Wallsend and launched their first products in April 2021. Pan is originally from Myanmar and spent 10 years working in Michelin star restaurants as well as living in Korea for 6 years where she learned to make traditional kimchi.

Their mission is to make ferments the most authentic way they know, using the best ingredients they can source and run their business as ethically and sustainably as possible. All their primary and secondary packaging is fully kerbside recyclable with built-in gas release valves to keep products at optimal condition. They’re a zero-waste business, buy their fruit and veg through a Northern England farm co-op and recruited their team through Universal Credit, mental health and refugee projects.

Belle & Herbs Kimchi is a proper, slow-fermented Korean-style kimchi that has won 3 Great Taste awards in 4 years. Made from 16 ingredients and containing a traditional fermented prawn/shrimp paste, handmade in-house, it’s packed with ‘good’ bacteria for the gut and is best served with eggs on toast or a full breakfast, stirred through fried rice or noodles, tucked into toasties or on the side of roast veg and grain bowls.

Belle & Herbs Classic Kraut is their take on a central and eastern European style sauerkraut, just cabbage, salt and a few carefully chosen aromatics. Designed to be very versatile, serve with sausages, pork, gammon, piled onto hot dogs or alongside smoked fish or mackerel pâté.

A highlight for them was being featured on The Hairy Bikers Go Local in 2023 where Simon and Dave visited and made kimchi at the farm with them!

I worked in a care home in Knutsford back in the day and used to buy my lunch in Booths every day. We’re now in our 3rd year of being stocked by Booths, they took a chance on us as a tiny company, a gamechanger for us, and they remain our biggest customer and only supermarket we supply. Once a week, I drive across the incredible A686 Hartside Pass to deliver to the Penrith store, and it’s the highlight of my week. – Sam Belle

X