The Produce
All our animals originate from ancient breeds that have thrived on the chalky Sussex down land of the estate for centuries. Our organic beef, pork, lamb, cheese and milk regularly win Gold Stars at the Great Taste Awards; this year our organic Pork belly was awarded 3 stars and has been named as one of Britain’s Top 50 Foods.
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Beef
Our beef cattle, the beautiful deep-red Sussex, have been farmed on the land at Goodwood for centuries. They thrive on the chalky down land and are fed on forage grown on the estate. The best heifers are served in rotation by two Sussex bulls, their female calves are then crossbred with the unrelated bull to produce animals with long straight backs giving high quality cuts of award winning meat with an exceptional marbling of fat. All our beef is hung for 28 days, producing a lovely flavour and deep colour resulting in our Topside of Beef gaining two Gold Stars at the Great Taste Awards 2016.
Lamb
Our Southdown lambs, as the name suggests, originates from the native sheep that roamed here for many hundreds of years, coming from the oldest-established flock, mentioned as far back as 1788, they graze particularly well on the chalk ground of the South Downs. Our leg of lamb has previously won one Gold Star at the Great Taste Awards, whilst our shoulder of lamb was awarded two Gold Stars. Our pedigree sheep are successfully shown nationally by our award-winning shepherd, Nick Page, continuing a tradition long held by the Dukes of Richmond, who have been patrons of the Southdown Sheep Society for generations.
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Pork
The sows of our free range pigs at Goodwood are a mixture of two traditional breeds: Gloucester Old Spots and Saddlebacks, which are crossed with the Large White breed of boar. These hardy outdoor breeds live a happy life on the Home Farm grassland and thrive in the natural forest environment producing some cracking pork. Indeed, our Organic Pork Belly was recently named as one of Britain’s Top 50 Foods at the 2016 Great Taste Awards being awarded 3 stars and our Traditional Pork Sausages were awarded one star.
Milk
Our herd of 200 milking cows are mostly Dairy Shorthorns, a breed which originated in the 16th century, the best milking cow of its time. The milk, which is non-homogenised, tastes just like milk used to as it retains all of its good fat particles. Deliciously rich and creamy, Goodwood organic milk is processed here on the farm, together with our cream and supplies many independent coffee houses in London. In addition, we are one of the few producers selling raw milk; a milk that is not pasteurised and which, some believe, is a healthier dairy option.
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Cheese
We use our organic milk to make a range of handmade cheeses in our very own Cheese Room which means all our cheeses are classed as Farmhouse. They are made with slow maturing natural cultures and combine to create deep, contrasting flavours and textures. Charlton is a creamy, firm textured farmhouse cheese with long, rich flavours and a tangy finish, it recently received a gold medal at the British Cheese Awards. Levin Down is our deliciously rich and creamy soft white cheese which melts in the mouth, whilst Molecomb Blue is an award-winning soft blue veined cheese which is rich, full bodied and irresistible with a dark smoky grey crust: it has previously won a gold star at the Great Taste Awards.