Artisan producers compete to be stocked in farm shop in Tom Kerridge’s new BBC series

In Top of the Shop with Tom Kerridge, artisan food producers from across Britain will promote and sell their wares in the Town End Farm Shop and Tearoom in Airton, deep in the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

The new series gives kitchen table producers an opportunity to showcase their produce to real customers and two expert judges as they attempt to convince them that their product deserves a permanent space on shelves.

The judges - food writer and restaurateur Nisha Katona and artisan expert Alison Swan Parente - will assess whether their creations have what it takes to sustain a profitable business. But crucially, it’s not just the judges the producers have to impress - making sales in the shop will be just as important if their product is to be awarded the coveted Best In Shop title.

In the eighth and final show the shop will be filled with the seven winning products from the seven different categories. The judges will ask the locals to help them one last time to decide which producer and product is the best overall.

Speaking about the programme, Tom Kerridge said, “My background is in hospitality, and as a chef and a business owner and its always about the guest relations, conversation and them wanting to know the provenance of their food. It’s the understanding that it’s this journey from the farm and producer to the kitchen, all linked together by people. So being part of that journey with our food producers and meeting people with the same passion for food and passion for the end result as me was great.”