Meet Fruit Pig: Artisan black pudding from Norfolk

We're incredibly excited to welcome Fruit Pig to Farmfetch - a very special Norfolk producer dedicated to preserving traditional British butchery and craft food production. Best known for their artisan black pudding, Fruit Pig has built a reputation for quality, authenticity and a nose-to-tail approach that champions heritage techniques and carefully sourced ingredients.

The business was founded in 2008 by Matthew Cockin, who left a 20-year career in the RAF to return to his countryside roots and learn butchery. Soon after, Grant Harper joined the business after moving to Norfolk to pursue smallholding life. The pair discovered a shared passion for traditional food production, and have worked together as Fruit Pig ever since. Originally launched as a rare-breed butchery, Fruit Pig soon became known for its specialised production of fresh blood black pudding, helping revive interest in a traditional British food made with craft methods.

What makes Fruit Pig unique

There's a quiet revolution happening in a Norfolk unit, and it smells incredible. Fruit Pig is the only remaining scaled producer of craft fresh blood black puddings in the UK - and true fresh blood black pudding, made the traditional way with real fresh blood rather than dried or reconstituted alternatives, has almost entirely disappeared from commercial production elsewhere. Their puddings are made using fresh local blood collected by the team themselves, alongside British pork fat, oats, barley and high-quality regional ingredients, made with 97% British ingredients.

The difference in flavour is significant. Fresh blood gives a richer, more complex flavour - deeper, more savoury and with a texture that holds together beautifully whether you're slicing it thick for a fry-up or crumbling it into a dish. The resulting product is incomparable to the mass-produced, dried blood versions, and it's used by some of the best chefs in the UK, including Tom Kerridge at the two Michelin-starred Hand & Flowers in Marlow.

It's exactly this commitment to authenticity that caught the attention of top chefs early on. Norfolk-trained chef Tom Aikens was among the first to champion Fruit Pig, ordering their black pudding for his Tom's Kitchen brasserie in Chelsea back in 2012 - a vote of confidence that helped put them firmly on the culinary map. Since then, they've been stocked at Fortnum & Mason, Gloucester Services and Tebay, and their order book reads like a who's who of serious British kitchens.

Spotlight on a few favourites

Now available to buy UK-wide on Farmfetch, here are a few standout products from the Fruit Pig range:

• Fresh Blood Black Pudding - the product Fruit Pig is best known for: rich, traditional black pudding made using fresh blood and classic craft techniques. This black pudding is one of the most sustainable, food-mile-friendly, farm-to-fork black puddings available in the UK today, made with 97% British ingredients.
• White Pudding - a mix of gluten-free oats, smoked bacon, pork fat, fresh red onion, cumin and spices come together in this flavoursome and incredibly popular white pudding.
• Haggis - Fruit Pig's take on the classic Scottish favourite, made with the brand's signature nose-to-tail ethos and traditional methods.

While the fresh blood black pudding is rightly the star, Fruit Pig's wider range deserves recognition too - their cold-smoked bacon, from back and streaky to collar and pancetta, is the kind that makes a breakfast bundle genuinely worth getting out of bed for. Pair any of it with a proper sausage and you've got a full British spread that supermarkets simply cannot replicate.

How to eat it

Black pudding's versatility is one of its great underrated qualities. Yes, it's a breakfast staple - but it's equally at home crumbled over a warm salad, tucked into a scotch egg, layered onto a charcuterie board, or served alongside a glass of bold red wine for an unfussy but impressive starter.

Fruit Pig are proof that the best British food traditions are worth fighting for - and worth tasting. Browse the full Fruit Pig collection now to explore the range.

FAQ

What makes Fruit Pig's black pudding different?

It's made with real fresh blood rather than dried or reconstituted alternatives - Fruit Pig is the only remaining scaled producer of craft fresh blood black pudding in the UK, giving it a richer, more complex flavour than mass-produced versions.

Where is Fruit Pig based?

Fruit Pig is based in Norfolk, founded in 2008 by Matthew Cockin and Grant Harper.

What other products does Fruit Pig make?

Alongside their signature fresh blood black pudding, Fruit Pig produce white pudding, haggis, and a range of cold-smoked bacon.