“Award-winning” Yorkshire artisan drinks producer wins regional garden centre contract

A Yorkshire Wolds artisan drinks producer has won a contract to supply its “award-winning” gins to one of the biggest garden centres in Bradford.

Raisthorpe Distillery, founded by Julia Medforth at the family farm in Thixendale, produces a range of award-winning Yorkshire Tonics as well as gin liqueurs, vodkas and dry gin from its own still on the farm.

Tong Garden Centre in Bradford is one of the biggest independently owned garden centres in Yorkshire, and the Raisthrope gins will be stocked in its expanded, new look food hall.

Rebranded as ‘Hearty’s’, the food hall boasts a specialist butchery, deli, bakery and a tempting range of Yorkshire products.

Julia Medforth, founder of Raisthorpe Distillery, said: “We are delighted to be in fine company at Tong Garden Centre and to see our gins take centre stage at Hearty’s.”

Hearty’s will stock a range of five liqueur gins including Sloe, Sweet Violet, Raspberry, Rhubarb and Rose and a Damson port under its own label, along with the Yorkshire Tonics range and four varieties of Raisthorpe’s branded gin in Oak Aged, Bramble and Saffron, Elderflower and Gooseberry flavours.

Sarah Dwyer at Tong Garden Centre said: “Our visitors look to us for not only thoughtful food and drink gifts, but also treats and ideas for dining.

“We have doubled the size of our food hall which has enabled us to offer an even more tempting choice of lovingly-made, hand-crafted and carefully selected produce.

“Provenance is important to us so we’ve focussed on introducing more produce from some of Yorkshire’s finest artisan makers and we’re pleased to welcome Raisthorpe to the ‘Heartisan’ club.”