BREAD and beer were the big winners at this year’s BBC Food and Farming Awards – and both of them are local to Herefordshire.

Artisan baker Alex Gooch is fast becoming the region’s biggest success story after the rye, sourdough, focaccia and other loaves he sells regularly at Hay-on-Wye market helped him win the best food producer category.

Alex, who “became addicted to bread” when he was head chef at county hotel Penrhos Court, rises at midnight six days a week to make sure the bread and his borders business, Alex Gooch Organics, is the best it can be.

And he is no stranger to the limelight either, having already become the Country Living Made in Britain Awards organic bread winner and Ludlow Food Festival’s best festival loaf, just over two years since he started out.

Meanwhile, Wye Valley Brewery made it a double for the county when it was also named best drinks producer at the awards ceremony in Birmingham last week, which was attended by the likes of BBC Countryfile presenter John Craven and chefs James Martin and Raymond Blanc.

The news is no doubt a welcome birthday present for the family-owned firm from Stoke Lacy, which uses local hops and celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.

The Food Programme presenter Sheila Dillon, said: “Even in the worst of times the Food and Farming Awards lift your spirits – so many people are producing things that matter and changing the world around them for the better.”