England is home to some world-renowned food and drink products, a number of which are from the Midlands. Some you may be aware of, but for others, their Midlands origins will come as something of a surprise.
Bakewell tarts: Bakewell, Derbyshire
Pictured below is the Grade II listed ‘The Old Original Bakewell Pudding Shop’ in Bakewell, the home of what we know as the Bakewell tart. According to folklore, a local landlady instructed her cook to prepare a jam tart, but the cook mistakenly spread the almond paste mixture on top of the jam rather than mixing it into the pastry, resulting in the creation by happy accident of the Bakewell tart.
Branston Pickle: Branston, Staffordshire
First produced in 1922 in the village of Branston, Staffordshire and still made in England today (in Bury St-Edmunds) Branston is best known for it’s eponymous pickle. Between 1920 and 1925, Branston pickle was produced in the Grade II listed building pictured below, originally built as the National Machine Gun Factory at the end of the First World War. During the Second World War the site was used as an Ordnance Depot for the supply of clothing and other small equipment to the Army.
Beer: Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire.
Burton-upon-Trent was founded around Burton Abbey. Burton Bridge was also the site of 2 battles: in 1322, when Edward II defeated the rebel Earl of Lancaster, and in 1643, when royalists captured the town during the First English Civil War.
By the mid-1800s, 30 different breweries operated in the town and at its peak, one quarter of all beer sold in Britain was produced in Burton. As of 2026, the town is still home to 8 breweries and multiple listed buildings linked to the brewing trade. Discover more on the Burton-upon-Trent local heritage hub page.
Pork pies: Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire
Melton Mowbray is a market town that has been called Britain’s ‘rural capital of food’. As well as being the home of Melton Mowbray pork pies, it’s also one of the few locations with licensed producers of Stilton cheese.
The main distinctive feature of a Melton pie is that it is made with a hand-formed crust. Since 2008, Melton Mowbray pork pies have been protected under the European Protected designation of origin scheme. Find out more about Melton on the local heritage hub.
HP Sauce: Nottingham and Birmingham
While more commonly associated with Birmingham, HP Sauce was originally created by Frederick Gibson Garton in Nottingham, but was named in response to rumours that a restaurant in the Houses of Parliament had begun serving it.
In 1899 the name and recipe for HP Sauce was sold for £150. Production moved to Aston in Birmingham and continued there until 2007, when the factory pictured below was demolished.
Bird’s Custard: Digbeth, Birmingham
Originally created by Alfred Bird in 1837 at his chemist shop in Birmingham because his wife was allergic to eggs, Birds custard powder was produced at the huge factory in Brum from 1906 until 1964, when the company moved to Banbury. Today, the former factory building in Digbeth, just south of Birmingham city centre, is a cultural and creative hub, and the complex featured in our recent ‘Heritage Works for Creative Businesses’ report.
Cadbury’s chocolate: Bournville, Birmingham
Now, you probably knew this one already. Cadbury’s Birmingham roots are well known, not least because they named their dark chocolate after the model village Bournville, established by the Cadbury family to house their workers. Perfectly situated with canal and rail links nearby as demonstrated in the aerial photograph below, Bournville is world-renowned as the home of Cadbury. As of 2026, 147 years after George and Richard Cadbury moved production to the area, chocolate is still being produced there today.
Worcester Sauce: Worcester
Worcester is famous as a city of high-quality pottery and Edward Elgar; but it’s the world-renowned Worcester Sauce that’s its biggest export. With its distinctive orange label, Worcester or Worcestershire Sauce has ancient origins, but the most famous of all the producers, Lea & Perrins ,was founded in 1837 and was the first sauce to use the eponymous tag. In 2026 it’s still produced at the Midland Road factory in the city, where’s its been made since 1897.
Have we missed any other food or drinks with midlands roots? Let us know in the comments.
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