Event preview: UCFF 2025
The chef-focused festival returns once again, this time being held at a family-run farm in Hertfordshire.
The Universal Cookery and Food Festival (UCFF) is returning on 16th September; it is being held this year within the inspiring surroundings of Tewinbury Farm in Hertfordshire – a family-run estate renowned for its sustainability focus and commitment to seasonal, local produce. The chef-led event will host an unmissable day of live demos, wild food discovery and cutting-edge culinary debates.
Designed by chefs, for chefs, it offers hands-on experiences, fresh ideas and the chance to network with some of the industry’s top foodservice professionals. Chefs, buyers and decision-makers spanning the sector will have the opportunity to rub shoulders with farmers, foragers, fishermen, conservationists, growers and suppliers, as well as attend live demos, hot-topic debates and wild food exploration.
Highlights
This year’s attractions will include the Farmers Market, which will showcase the very best in British produce and equipment. New exhibitors this year will include Fable Foods, Atosa, Foodcare Systems, Kwerky, Chop, Burren Balsamics, Golden Kings, Paton & Ross and Exclusive Ranges. Returning exhibitors will include Chefs Wardrobe, Cornish Seasalt, Peka Kroef, Irish Black Butter and Lime Caviar.
Guests will also be able to take part in foraging walks hosted by Colin Wheeler-James from Ground Up Cookery, who will take guests on an informative stroll along the River Mimram. The walks will dive deep into nature’s pantry, with a key focus on sustainable sourcing and menu integration. Guests will be allowed to discover and taste the edible wild species that grow in and around the Hertfordshire countryside. They will also learn how to capture and preserve these fleeting seasonal flavours, as well as how best to utilise them to improve sustainability scores across menus.
The Trends and Debates Stage will be combined with The Staff Canteen Live this year, promising an action-packed agenda. The Staff Canteen Live, hosted by founder Mark Morris, will see six chefs with a total of seven Michelin stars light up the stage in a series of live cookery demonstrations, with Tom Aikens set to kick off the live demos. Other top chefs in the spotlight will include Daniel Clifford and Liam Anderson of Midsummer House; Josh Angus, chef director at Hide in London’s Mayfair; Brad Cacela, head chef at The Coach in Marlow – which is part of the Tom Kerridge restaurant group – and Sarah Hayward, who also has deep roots within the Kerridge group.
Meanwhile, The Trends & Debates Stage, hosted by Nigel Barden, will tackle some of the biggest topics shaping foodservice. Sessions will include Local Heroes, which will celebrate regional food champions from in and around Hertfordshire, including Sam Williams, joint owner and operator at the Tewinbury farm estate. Eat Yourself Well will look at how chefs can power real wellness through food, featuring experts from King’s College London. These will include executive chef Graeme Collie, senior lecturer in nutrition Rachel Gibson and group head chef Lewis Linley, as well as Polly Baldwin, founder of Jolly Allotment.
Ethical eats
An insightful session on To B or Not to B-Corp will unpack the value of ethical business models, talking to producers, suppliers and operators with B-Corp status. The hot topic of artificial intelligence (AI) will also be discussed with industry experts including Simon Stenning, strategic advisor and futurist from Future Foodservice, and John Feeney, culinary and innovation director Europe for Griffith Foods. It will explore the good and the bad of AI and the role it plays within foodservice.
The Wild Food Stage – an old favourite that is returning for this year – will offer hands-on insight from seasoned field-to-fork experts on game butchery, fish prep, wild foraging and edible funghi. This session will explore native UK game birds, native and non-native UK deer species, as well as the benefits and challenges of wild fish versus farmed, in depth. Maestro fishmongers Terry Martin and Matthew Orr will take to the stage to scale and debone products, while also debating the benefits of both farmed and wild fish, and what’s in season and when.
Garden tours will be hosted by Lloyd Harrison who runs Tewin Greens, a market garden located at Tewinbury Farm. He will guide guests through the thriving grounds where organic, seasonal produce is grown, while also sharing insights into the farm’s growing practices, biodiversity and how the ingredients grow from soil to plate.
Beyond all the attractions, guests will get to tuck into a day-long feast devised by UCFF’s head chef, Alan Paton, alongside Michael Eyre from Jestic Foodservice Solutions. All attendees will get to enjoy a wonderful selection of breakfast, lunch and refreshments, using as many of the exhibitors’ products as possible.
All that and UCFF event director Lee Maycock will be hosting a pre-festival outdoor dining experience the night before the event for exhibitors, sponsors and headlining chefs at his Roots Kitchen, a vegetable garden located at Tewin Greens. The high-profile chef will be selecting the finest homegrown ingredients to craft a sensational seasonal menu, drawing inspiration from his very own garden. Fundraising will also be held during the evening to help raise vital funds for Aikens’ upcoming Kilimanjaro Challenge on behalf of Only a Pavement Away, the festival’s official charity partner.
Fore more information and to register, got to cookeryandfoodfestival.co.uk. This year’s ticket price is £125 plus VAT, which includes breakfast, lunch, refreshments and all other experiences.
Essential info
What? UCFF
Where? Tewinbury Farm, Hertfordshire
When? 16th September
More info: cookeryandfoodfestival.co.uk
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