In early 2021 Danny Moore set up Forager’s Fancy in Wirral producing and selling food and drink made from wild foraged items – now he is set to take his venture onto a national stage. Tony McDonough reports

Wirral ‘forager’ Danny Moore is getting ready to take his Wirral food and drink venture onto “the next level” after securing a national accolade.

Forager’s Fancy, which Danny launched in October 2020, has this summer won two gold stars for its sloe brandy in the Great Taste Awards. This is an annual competition for food and drink producers judged by a panel of more than 500 industry experts.

Now Danny will get to showcase his range of pesto, cordials, liqueurs, gin and vinaigrettes, and of course the winning sloe brandy, at the Speciality Fine Food Fair at the Olympia in London over two days this week.

This year Danny expects to double his turnover after seeing bumper sales of his product range at fairs and festivals across the North West.

He has seen his drinks products, including brandy, gin port and vodka, stocked in a small number of hospitality venues. Now hopes the event in London can help accelerate this side of the business. 

He told LBN: “Things have gone really well this year with a big growth in sales. We were also a finalist in the Cheshire Food and Drink Awards and that is another sign of the progress we have been making.

“It is the markets that we attend across the North West and North Wales that are still our main source of income. But we want to get more into supplying the hospitality trade and the event at the Olympia could help take us on to that next level.”

The origins of Forager’s Fancy go back to Danny’s childhood in Essex when he would accompany his dad and brother on their foraging expeditions in the county’s hedgerows.

As an adult Danny has had a varied working life. He trained as a tree surgeon and has worked as a specialist scaffolder for many years. This has led to working on the sets of blockbuster films, including the Mission Impossible franchise with Tom Cruise.

But his love of foraging in the woods and hedgerows for wild ingredients has never left him and it has now led to a fast-growing business. He identified a demand for organic, sustainable produce.

“People buying one product can lead to another,” he explained. “For example, our wild garlic salt has proved to be a real conversation point around dinner tables. People get curious about who we are and check out what else we produce.

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“Things will get busy now in the run up to Christmas and, along with the fine food fair in London, we now have a real opportunity to get our produce into establishments such as hotels and restaurants.”

To contact Danny at Forager’s Fancy, email daniel@moore.earth or check out the website www.foragersfancy.co.uk