The Drinks Bakery will be exhibiting at the Summer Fancy Food Show 2024, the largest trade-only specialty food industry event in New York City, USA from 23-25 June. The Drinks Bakery will be showcasing the Drinks Biscuits range at Booth 2657.
Quote from Specialty Food Association
"As the premier product discovery event for the specialty food industry, the Summer Fancy Food Show is where decision-makers and thought leaders encounter the trendsetters and best-sellers of the future,” said Bill Lynch, president, Specialty Food Association.” This year, we are putting even greater emphasis on what’s new and innovative in food and beverage, including a dedicated pavilion for first-time exhibitors, exhibitors with new products, and incubators, the first-ever sofi™ Awards Gala, collaborations with Vinexpo, and more. Magic happens when the passionate specialty food community comes together, and I expect this year’s Show to inspire every person who participates.”
Quote from The Drinks Bakery
“After watching the emergence of so many great craft drinks over the last 20 years I realised that the snack market had hardly changed and wanted to share my family’s appreciation for the partnership between snacks and alcoholic beverages, so The Drinks Bakery was born. I’m also very proud that our range of Drinks Biscuits are hand-baked in the Highlands of Scotland. The craft production and provenance are a big part of the story too and one of the reasons why they’re so delicious!” – Andy Murray, Director of The Drinks Bakery
About The Drinks Bakery
The Drinks Bakery creates award-winning savoury shortbread ‘Drinks Biscuits’ that are expertly flavour-profiled to match great drinks from around the world such as craft beer, fine wines, whisky, bourbon and gin.
Drinks Biscuits are a premium, more thoughtful alternative to the usual chips and nuts, and are made especially for the more discerning drinkers.
Baked in the Highlands of Scotland in a traditional family bakery using the finest quality ingredients: award-winning cheeses, hand harvested seaweed and fresh herbs and spices.
This approach to quality has led to multiple awards including 21 Great Taste stars across the range since 2018 (2018 - 2023), Best Snack at the Scotland Food and Drink Excellence Awards for three years running (2019, 2022, 2023), Best Indulgence Product 2021 at the World Food Innovation Awards and Gold Award, 2 Silver Awards and a Bronze Award at the Great British Food Awards 2023 in the Savoury Biscuits category. The Drinks Bakery also had a successful appearance on BBC Dragons’ Den (Shark Tank) in 2018.
Our Story
Founded in 2017 by Andy Murray (not the tennis one) who travelled Europe in a campervan with his foodie-obsessed family every summer as a child. Eating in bars and brasseries and visiting vineyards and amazing food markets became his inspiration.
Aperitif with a little snack to match became part of the Murray family DNA. Andy started baking at 10, was a decent cook as a teenager and wine qualified by 21. He’s since owned restaurants, a gastro pub and a wine business and wondered why snacks weren’t keeping pace with the multitude of great craft drinks, so he set about creating a range of premium snacks as a more thoughtful alternative to the same old boring chips and nuts.
The Drinks Biscuits range is now available in 100’s of the best independent farm shops, delis and distilleries across the UK, plus some of the super-premium department stores such as Waitrose, Selfridges, The Conran Shop, Fenwicks and Liberty of London. You’ll also find them in a selection of the very best 5-star hotels including Claridge’s, Gleneagles, The Standard (London) and The Fife Arms, and you’ll find them onboard transatlantic flights Air Lingus flights and 1st Class Eurostar. Drinks Biscuits are now starting to feature in the US, selling in Central Market stores (Texas) and the classic Murray’s Cheese stores in New York.
Meanwhile, Andy continues to eat and drink his way around the world, fuelling his desire to create even more thoughtful links between the worlds of craft, premium drinks and the common snack.
Join him on his mission to end the tyranny of thoughtless snacks!
The Drinks Biscuits range
Drinks Biscuits – Parmesan Toasted Pinenut & Basil
Snapshot: A classic Italian flavour combination. We use the outstanding Parmesan cheese with long lasting tangy, nutty and caramel notes. The basil and toasted pine nuts give a light herbal sweetness and honey profile that pairs beautifully with many drinks.
Parmesan Cheese
We use outstanding Parmesan Cheese, which is rich in umami with a nutty, salty, savoury, almost meaty flavour. There’s a reason why Italians and chefs worship this cheese – completely delicious and a dream to cook with. Eat a chunk of it with some Pilsner or a fresh Hells Lager and you will be in a very happy place.
Pine Nuts
We toast these little gems to bring out the best flavour, creating a ‘honey on toast’ note that resembles the nose from vintage Champagne or fine, French oak barrels from burgundy. So, no surprise that we love to pair this Drinks Biscuit with Champagne, Prosecco and fruity wines such as Chardonnay or Gavi.
Basil
Adding in some fresh basil gives this biscuit a sweet herbaceous lift, almost floral. The subtle freshness is perfect to match with Highland whisky that is slightly sweeter on the palate with hints of heather, or a fruity, bready blond beer.
Our favourite drinks matches:
Alcoholic: Champagne, Prosecco, Gavi, Chardonnay, fruity white wines, lager, blonde beers, lighter style whisky, whisky highball
Non-alcoholic: Sparkling white grape juice, 0% White Wines, Light malt drinks, Herbaceous style gin alternatives
Product link: https://www.thedrinksbakery.com/drinks-biscuits-product-range/parmesan-toasted-pine-nuts-basil-savoury-biscuits
Drinks Biscuits – Lancashire Cheese and Spring Onion
Snapshot: We use the best Mrs Kirkham’s Lancashire Cheese and combine it with English mustard and spring onion to create a full-on fruity profile with a spicy finish. A Ploughman’s with a kick. A versatile premium snack that stands up to some serious drinks.
Lancashire Cheese
This is one of the best cheeses on the planet. It’s a multi award winner, buttery, crumbly cheese with a BIG fruity tang and long finish. It’s an amazing cheese to bake with because the high fat content means that the flavour doesn’t bake out and instead is locked into the biscuit. The rich, mineral fruity profile balances wonderfully well with hoppy, fermented beer. It’s a classic Ploughman’s lunch cheese and made to match beer.
Spring Onion
Using spring onion creates a more pronounced, sharper onion flavour that balances with the fruitiness of the Lancashire cheese in a powerful partnership. It leaves the palate ready for a hoppy IPA or some acidity from a glass of white wine (Sauvignon Blanc, Picpoul de Pinet) or a glass of red Grenache.
Colemans English Mustard
If we’re talking about a Ploughman’s Lunch, then it would be impossible to not add some English Mustard to the plate. Just as the fruitiness from the cheese and sharpness from the onion hits your palate, you then get a kick on the finish from the mustard – and that needs a great drink. We think it’s fun and adds an extra dimension to this flavour combination.
Our favourite drinks matches:
Alcoholic: Hoppy IPA, Stout, Pilsner, Cask-finished Whisky, Grenache, Sauvignon Blanc, Picpoul de Pinet
Non-alcoholic: Hoppy & tropical 0% beers, Dark 0% beers & stouts, red & white grape juice
Product link: https://www.thedrinksbakery.com/drinks-biscuits-product-range/lancashire-cheese-spring-onion-savoury-biscuits
Drinks Biscuits – Mature Cheddar, Chilli & Almond
Snapshot: We use award winning Scottish Mature Cheddar, which is powerful, tangy and fruity with a long finish. There’s a really satisfying smoky, warm spice richness that doesn’t overpower and balances with many great drinks.
St Andrew’s Mature Cheddar Cheese
This is the best Mature Cheddar cheese in Scotland (3 Great Taste stars). It’s made in a family run dairy on the East coast of Scotland and is a joy to the tastebuds. A classic fruity and sharp, traditionally made Cheddar cheese with an earthy whiff of farmyard. Even on its own this is a delicious profile for a lager beer, amber ale or a chunky Malbec.
Sweet Smoked Paprika
By adding some sweet smoked paprika we accentuate the fruitiness of the Cheddar and bring some smoke to the party. This opens out the flavour profile to balance perfectly with barrel aged beers and drinks with residual sweetness like an Alsace Riesling or fruity Cider and because of the massive tangy finish can even stand up to peated whisky.
Chilli
Not too much so it fights with your palate, but just enough to create a lovely warmth that adds to the smoky, tangy, fruity profile, creating a finish that will linger and mingle with some of the most outstanding drinks.
Our favourite drinks matches:
Alcoholic: Belgian beer, barrel-aged beer, lager, cider, smoky whisky, bourbon, Rioja, Malbec
Non-alcoholic: 0% Red wines, Smoky & fruits 0% spirits, Fruity malt drinks, Sparkling red grape juice, Apple Juice, Smoky botanical drinks, Fruity botanical drinks
Product link: https://www.thedrinksbakery.com/drinks-biscuits-product-range/mature-cheddar-chilli-almond-savoury-biscuits
Drinks Biscuits - Pecorino, Rosemary & Scottish Seaweed
Snapshot: The aromatic, sharp quality of genuine Pecorino Romano cheese shines through with a balance of sweetness, herbs and spice with a briny edge from Scottish seaweed. The perfect company for a premium gin.
Pecorino
The aromatic, sharp qualities of the very best Romano Pecorino balances so nicely with gin that even if you don’t normally do the cheeseboard thing, you’ll be hooked.
High quality, firm cheeses like pecorino are able to ‘stand up’ to the strong flavour of the spirit on the palate.
We keep the gin-friendly flavours intact by sourcing our cheeses from a world-class cheesemonger. We think it’s important to bake with the best quality cheese or the fat just evaporates, and you lose all the flavour.
Scottish Seaweed
This ingredient will allow you to appreciate your favourite gins in entirely new ways!
Seaweed has that lovely briny salinity from the sea and rather than overpowering gin, it magnifies the flavours and nuances of the botanicals. Seaweed is full of umami, sometimes called the fifth taste element. It provides a satisfying savoury note to these Drinks Biscuits adding a rich fullness and extra dimension to the gin it accompanies.
The seaweed you’ll find in our Drinks Biscuits for gin is hand-harvested from the wild shores of Scotland.
Rosemary
Rosemary has a lemon-pine flavour which works splendidly with juniper-led G&Ts and especially with citrus garnishes.
Cumin and the Old Empire
Finally, you’ll get a little spice kick and a back note of cumin that’s a subtle pairing for the Indian curry spices that are used in so many gins today. A small reminder of where our old favourite, gin & tonic was developed back in the early 19th Century.
Our favourite drinks matches:
Alcoholic: Gin & tonic, Classic Martini, Negroni, Gin Cocktails
Non-alcoholic: Juniper style gin alternatives, Ginger beer, Tonic water, Mocktails
Product link: https://www.thedrinksbakery.com/drinks-biscuits-product-range/pecorino-rosemary-seaweed-savoury-biscuits
About The Speciality Food Association
The not-for-profit Specialty Food Association (SFA) is the leading membership trade association and source of information about the $194 billion specialty food industry. Founded in 1952 in New York City, the SFA prides itself on being an organization by the members and for the members, representing thousands of specialty food makers and manufacturers, importers, retailers, buyers, distributors, brokers, and others in the trade. The SFA owns and operates the Fancy Food Shows—which are the largest specialty food industry events in North America—as well as the sofi™ Awards—which have honored excellence in specialty food and beverage annually since 1972. The SFA produces the Trendspotter Panel annual predictions, the State of the Specialty Food Industry Report, Today's Specialty Food Consumer research, the Spill & Dish podcast, and year-round educational programming for professionals at every stage in their business journey. Find out more online and connect with SFA on Facebook, X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok.
Press Contact: press@specialtyfood.com
Hashtags: #FancyFoodShow #SpecialtyFood
The Drinks Bakery Media Contact:
Maria Orzeg-Wydra, Digital Marketing Manager, +447472242688, maria@thedrinksbakery.com, LinkedIn, @thedrinksbakery
Find out more about The Drinks Bakery on our website and faire.com. Connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok.