The Garden of England has long been synonymous with the very best in fresh produce - be it the hops picked for Kent's many breweries or the magnificent fruits harvested from the county's orchards.

But as well as these centuries-old staples, today our county is home to food and drink producers making great products not always associated with this corner of England. We sent Rhys Griffiths off in search of some of the tastiest treats on offer.

Since the country went into lockdown back in March, and the strength or otherwise of our food supplies chains was thrown into sharp relief, many of us have started to look a little closer to home when it comes to the weekly shop.

Traders report increased interest in shopping locally, whether that might be a weekly vegetable box from local growers, choice meats from Kentish farms or a doorstep delivery of beer or cider from our local breweries.

In Kent we are fortunate to live in a country famed for its agricultural abundance, but we should also be grateful for our producers who are always looking to innovate and create new products for the food and drink market.

"We produce such a huge and ever changing variety of produce here in Kent," Floortje Hoette, chief executive at Produced in Kent, told KentOnline.

"The innovation of our small businesses is constantly surprising us.

"As our climate changes, and the agricultural practices and technology improve and adapt, we're finding more and more produce available to us that we'd never have been able to grow efficiently or sustainably in Kent before.

"There really is no limit to what our food and drink businesses can create for us all to enjoy, and we should all support them buy buying locally to ensure they can continue their wonderful work long into the future."

Here are just a few examples of the excellent - and perhaps unexpected - produce being made right here on our doorstep.

Award-winning red wines

For many years now Kent has been renowned from its excellent white and sparkling wines, with both Princes William and Harry choosing to serve wines from Chapel Down near Tenterden at their weddings.

Now the county's wineries are beginning to build a reputation for their reds too.

Hush Heath Estate in Staplehurst is one of the few English producers starting to make their mark internationally, and its Balfour Luke’s Pinot Noir has recently picked up a prize in competition with top wines from around the world.

Hush Heath Estate head winemaker Fergus Elias said: "The ever-improving quality of English red is being driven by ever better site selection, more specialised global choices.

"This coupled with a complete change in attitude, English red wine is no longer an after-thought, used for 'colouring in' a rose, it's a serious and considered product made with care and professionalism. The best reds come from warm vintages such as the fantastic 2018 vintage.

"Our Balfour Luke’s Pinot Noir is just one of two English reds that won gold at the Global Pinot Noir Masters earlier this month. Made from specially selected Burgundian clones on our Estate, it is lightly oaked using French and American barrels."

Another of Hush Heath's red wines, The Red Miller 2018, also became the first ever English red to win a gold at the International Wine Challenge.

Apricots and apricot spirits

Apples and pears, plums and cherries, all fruits that are staples of the orchards which cover swathes of the county. Yet they are now joined by the apricot - that sweet Mediterranean fruit which is now being reliably produced thanks to the warmer climate here in the south east.

As little as 15-years-ago farmers were finding it almost impossible to grow them here as the weather simply wouldn't allow it.

But now there is a thriving market for the fruit, with family-run Bardsley England supplying their crop to Tesco and other retailers across the country, as well as using their fruit to produce an apricot spirit too.

Nectvs Apricot Spirit, made by the firm under its True British Spirit brand, can be enjoyed after dinner as a digestif, over ice or with tonic or other mixers to create a refreshing long drink.

Georgia Bardsley, founder of Nectvs, said: "At True British Spirit, the aim is to ensure no fruit is left behind.

"The company only use fruit that is grown in the grounds of its estate, benefitting from generations of experience, handled with care and harvested with the environment in mind."

Dark chocolate

When you think of chocolate making, your mind might automatically drift towards the artisan producers of Belgium or the master chocolatiers of Switzerland. But perhaps not to a business just off the Dover Road in Folkestone.

But last year the Kent Dark Chocolate Company launched two new dark chocolate bars with a Kentish theme, made right here in the county with cocoa beans from the Dominican Republic.

Unlike some companies which buy in their chocolate from other producers, they produce theirs from scratch from those imported beans.

Their website says: "Our story started with a simple but revolutionary idea - to create a luxury dark chocolate that can stand shoulder to shoulder with the other great foods of Kent.

"Most chocolate companies buy in ready made chocolate, but our chocolate is manufactured in Kent, and the purity of its ingredients and its incredible taste and aroma is all down to our expertise in making chocolate."

The business has been producing a range of chocolate products for a number of years, and the new bars are Fairtrade and suitable for vegans.

The firm also supports three local charities which benefit from the sale of the chocolate, Headway East Kent, Last Chance Animal Rescue and Kent Search and Rescue.

Charcuterie

At Moons Green Charcuterie former adman, winemaker, food writer and rare breed pig farmer John Doig is out to prove that with some of the best pork to be found anywhere in the world, Kent can hold its own against anything produced by our cousins across the Channel.

The New Zealander - who runs the operation with partner Ian Jones - began the business making chorizo in his garage on the Weald, and today it has grown to supply pubs and restaurants across the country, as well as attracting a following at London food markets.

Moons Green produce everything from saucisson, chorizo, hams, beer sticks, bacon and cured meats such as nduja, bresaola, guanciale and pancetta. It is all hand-made from free range pork custom-reared for their charcuterie business.

Aronia berries

Far from the most well-known of the berries grown here in the Garden of England, this fruit is sometimes known as the 'chokeberry' thanks to the astringent character said to make one's mouth pucker.

Grower Andrew Tickle established his first plantation on his farm in Ash, near Sevenoaks, in 2011 and the first crop produced in 2013.

It was all a bit of a gamble, because at that point he didn't know if the fruit - more commonly found in the United States - would survive and thrive here in Kent.

Now the aronia berries he produces are juiced or used in a host of other common products, like smoothies and confectionary. The juice can even be used as a non-alcoholic replacement for red wine in cooking.

So there's no doubt we have a wealth of wonderful food and drink on our doorstep, but will new customers who have turned to local suppliers stick around once the lockdown is finally lifted? Ms Hoette from Produced in Kent believes many will.

"A lot of our members in the retail sector are now providing home deliveries, online orders, veg boxes and takeaways," she said.

"They have seen a massive up-take in these services, so I think this is good proof of people using more local outlets. I think people have rediscovered what is available on their doorstep."

Head to our business page for all of the latest news about businesses in Kent.

Read more: All the latest news from Kent