Flourishing in a peppermint playground
CLA member Summerdown Farm puts conservation at the heart of its peppermint operations. Mike Sims finds out how the Colman family has turned its focus from mustard to mint
The Colman name might be synonymous with mustard, but the family has turned its tastes to another robust flavour – peppermint.
Summerdown in north Hampshire grows and distils its own Black Mitcham peppermint, and uses this pure essential oil to create award-winning products from chocolates and teas to diffusers and bath soaks. It is also one of a handful of farms in the country to be B-Corp certified for its social and environmental credentials.
Sir Michael Colman – a descendant of Jeremiah Colman, who founded Colman’s mustard in 1814 – embarked on a new challenge in 1995 after retiring from the previous family company. He travelled to the US in search of Black Mitcham peppermint, a notoriously challenging herb to grow and one that, 100 years before, had been native to England.
Sir Michael took a few cuttings back home and began cultivating them with the help of his farm manager, Ian Margetts. After much research, they planted a plot the size of a tennis court and now grow around 100 acres of the rare peppermint, using it in everything they make. All of the plants are related to the original cuttings taken by Sir Michael, having acclimatised to Summerdown’s environment.
The family is proud to have become “the peppermint people”, with Ian their “master of mint” and Sir Michael’s grandson, Jo Colman, passionate about promoting the taste and smell of unblended, unadulterated peppermint.
“Black Mitcham peppermint is like no other, prized for its pure, bright character,” he says. “It’s a taste that had been all but lost to England, until we brought some back from the US over three decades ago and began cultivating it ourselves.”
Many uses of mint
The mint is harvested from the fields every August and placed in cooker tubs. Some is dried to make tea, while the rest goes to the on-site distillery, where it is transformed into single-estate peppermint oil before being barrel-aged for two years to develop the flavour.
The oil is then sent to Summerdown’s chocolate manufacturing partners (the majority of the chocolate is sourced through the Cocoa Horizons project, which Summerdown believes is even better than Fairtrade), as well as its body, bath and home partners in England.
The products head back to the farm, where the team despatches them from the on-site storehouse to be sold in more than 1,000 independent shops, food halls, delis and farm shops throughout the UK and across the world, from Sydney to Seattle. In all, around 30% of the product is sent abroad.
The chocolates and teas have won Great Taste Awards, while the most popular item is the first product they developed – the dark chocolate peppermint creams. Summerdown also produces other essential oils, including lavender and camomile, while its arable operations comprise of wheat, barley and oats.
Visitors can also stay at the farm in a small cluster of shepherd’s huts.
We increasingly see the need to connect people back to nature and land, and we want to play a role in that
B-Corp accreditation shows that the business meets high standards of verified performance, accountability and transparency on factors from employee benefits and charitable giving to supply chain practices and input materials.
Try Paul Hollywood's chocolate & mint roulade recipe
Conservation credentials
Sustainability and conservation are at the heart of the Colmans’ work. There are miles of flourishing hedgerows and an abundance of wildlife, insects and flowers, the woodland is carefully managed and the farm is involved in various research initiatives. Even the mulchy remnants of the mint leaves aren’t wasted after the oil is extracted – they are taken back out to the fields to be spread over newly-planted crops. Where possible, Summerdown is also moving towards removing petrochemical-based plastic from its product ranges.
Jo, whose family moved to Summerdown nearly 100 years ago, says they are planning for the next 50 years to ensure the land is in better condition than when they first started farming: “While the conversation around sustainability and words associated with it may be relatively new, sustainability has always been a way of life at Summerdown.
“Biodiversity is crucial to everything we do at Summerdown and is championed by our peppermint. The team shares a holistic approach to the farm – we view every area of the farm as connected. The health of our peppermint, for example, is dependent on hedgerows and the wildlife found within them.
“We are a certified B-Corp, work with wildlife conservation charity Plantlife, are a Countryside Stewardship farm and are involved in research initiatives, such as the Woodgarston project with South East Water and Natural England.
“Our Master of Mint, Ian, has turned Summerdown into a peppermint playground for wildlife, insects and flowers. We have beehives in our mint fields, barn owls in farm buildings and every year we plant special feed crops for birds and sow wildflower seeds, encouraging new creatures to make themselves at home around the edges of our fields and woodlands."
Future plans include only working with suppliers who share the business’s values, relaunching its body, bath and home range with improved formulations and sustainable ingredients, and investing in solar and renewable energy.
Jo adds: “Keeping Summerdown’s soil as healthy as possible is a real priority for us. We need to make sure it remains as nutrient-rich as it was the day we started farming – after all, that’s the soil our peppermint originally fell for. And you can only grow the finest peppermint in the purest, most carefully nurtured soil.”