About Us

Having lived and worked on the family farm in North Buckinghamshire all his young life, Toby Drought, the founder of Love for Local, went on to study Agriculture at Newcastle University. Following this he moved to London where, despite his concrete surroundings, he was able to keep a strong link to his farming roots by working for a number of countryside magazines. With his continued interest in British Agriculture Toby developed a burning desire to set up his own company helping to increase the amount of British produce consumed by British people and in July 2009 Love for Local was born.

Recognising that Britain has experienced a farming and food producing revolution in the last fifteen years; Toby wanted to create a company that would help improve the accessibility of this produce to the British public. Enabling people to see that we no longer have to feel overshadowed by our flamboyant food producing neighbours on the continent, or deemed poor cousins to the Argentinian beef producers for example. The British public can be proud of the thousands of farmers and artisan food and drink producers that are now turning heads around the world.

On setting up Love for Local Toby also discovered a number of other benefits to eating and drinking locally sourced food and drink:

• To support your local economy: Buying locally produced food supports local businesses and creates employment opportunities.
• To reduce food miles: When you buy locally produced food, it travels a much shorter distance to reach your plate, and therefore helps the environment by producing fewer greenhouse gas emissions.
• You know where your food comes from: Buying local food gives the customer the chance to learn about how the food was grown and know where it comes from.
• It’s healthier: Locally grown and produced food is fresher – you’re likely to get it within days of being picked. The fresher the food the more nutrients it retains.
• To support local farmers: Whether you buy at a farmers’ market, through a veg box scheme, or at the farm gate, your support helps farmers stay in business and ensures farming skills and traditions stay alive and flourish.
• Quality: Buying local food helps ensure you’re getting top quality, fresh and delicious produce!