Joyce & Charles Ashbridge (mother and son) founded Taste Tradition on New Year’s Day 2004. Their success is testament to the increased value people place on animal welfare, traditional methods and high quality, beautifully tasting real produce.

Nestled at the top of Sutton Bank in the North York Moors National Park, the Ashbridge family has farmed at Cold Kirby for 3 generations. The traditional methods of breeding, rearing and finishing livestock used in our grandfathers' days are still evident in Charles’s protocols. The combination of outdoor rearing and the breeds is quite simply incredible taste - ‘the proof of the pudding is in the eating’ as they say.

We still have the farm at Cold Kirby, and have since established another farm just two miles from our butchery at Thirsk. All the livestock produced on these two farms are sold through Taste Tradition, with some additional supply from local farmers who have the same ideals as we do.

We have had to take on this second farm as demand has been growing steadily, and we have been expanding to meet this demand, moving premises to a fully equipped, EEC licensed cutting unit in the nearby town of Thirsk. We have a highly skilled team of butchers, packers, drivers and office staff, as well as our directors who are capable and versatile enough to fill any of the aforementioned roles!

We have refrigerated vehicles delivering around Yorkshire on a daily basis and other areas during specified days of the week. We have two deliveries to London per week and are taking on new customers every week, including some very prestigious sites and well known names in the culinary world.

A Rare Breed herd was chosen because these breeds: are well suited to our outdoor rearing system because they’re naturally more resilient than the modern commercial pig. Their status is higher as a result and they mature at a slower rate than commercial breeds. In addition to a carefully controlled diet of natural ingredients, the flavour of the meat is enhanced. We believe that ultimately, this is what people are looking for. 

We are proud members of:

The Rare Breed Survival Trust
Ladies in Pigs

We supply:

Caterers
Private customers by secure online shopping or telephone
Restaurants
Butchers

Slaughter/cut/pack service for livestock keepers

Retailers

For all trade enquiries please click here.

Meet the Team

	Charles Ashbridge (Managing Director) Charles has always had a great interest in livestock. He started breeding his own at the tender age of 6! After graduating from the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester in 2001, Charles worked for a meat procurement company that supplied a leading supermarket chain. It was during this period when he realised there was a gap in the market for quality pork, due to the intensive methods of finishing commercial pigs. After many months of research, Charles concluded that the finest pork products on the market were originating from rare breeds that were reared in a traditional manner. Thus, Taste Tradition’s rare breed herd was founded.
	Joyce Ashbridge (Director) Joyce has been involved in agriculture all her life, growing up on a dairy farm just south of York and then marrying into a farming family in Cold Kirby. Her involvement in the production of livestock has resulted in her continuing search for quality meat and over the years, Joyce’s culinary skills have been finely tuned to bring out the very best in her finished product.
	James Wright (Director) Three family generations in the meat and food industry have given James an in depth knowledge of the trade. After leaving college and qualifying for membership of the Institute of Meat, James decided to specialise in catering butchery and was fortunate to win ‘Catering Trade Meat Supplier of the Year’ at the York Festival of Food. Over the years, James has worked closely with many of the counties leading hotels and resaurants. This know-how compliments Charles and Joyce’s farming expertise and allows Taste Tradition to work to the very tight specifications required by today’s chefs.
	Rob Gray (Office Manager) Rob is our first point of contact for many clients, and works behind the scenes to ensure smooth running, as opposed to being one of the 'face men' of Taste Tradition. He graduated from York St John University in 2004 and has a wealth of experience in customer service and administrative roles. Since joining Taste Tradition, Rob has garnered a still-growing knowledge of cuts, joints and butchery terms, but still requires occasional assistance when customers ask for unusual cuts or use peculiar regional variations! First the Butchery knowledge, next the Farming side of things...