A Breakfast Bap with a View — and a Vision.

Image supplied by Higher Farm

Last Sunday over the Bank holiday, I sat down with Giacomo Grasso at Higher Farm in Somerset, eating a bacon bap in a courtyard overlooking the swim lake as morning light rolled across the hedgerows and pasture.

It felt idyllic. But beneath the calm setting was something far more ambitious.

If you’re new to Higher Farm, this isn’t just another farm story.

Two years ago, Giacomo & Matteo Grasso (Jack & Matt) — born to Italian parents but raised in London — left behind careers in finance and hospitality. They bought a farm in Somerset — not to escape the system, but to rebuild it — arounda radically different idea of what British agriculture could become: regenerative, community-led and deeply connected to the land and the food it produces.

Today, Higher Farm has planted 6,000 trees, laying the foundations for a diverse food forest, hosts a summer pop-up restaurant with a wild swim lake and sauna — and now bottles its philosophy into a ketchup.

But not the ketchup you’re expecting.

Image supplied with permission by Higher Farm

Instead of copying the American tomato version, Matteo started asking a different question:

What would a distinctly British ketchup, made soil-to-bottle on their farm, taste like?

The answer was beetroot.

And it wasn’t an overnight idea.

This was my second meeting with Giacomo. The first time we spoke, they were still experimenting with the recipe — trying to create a ketchup rooted in British farming, and not an imitation of the American original.

What they eventually landed on is genuinely distinctive: a deliciously tangy beetroot ketchup balanced with apple cider vinegar, honey (they add no refined sugar) and just five other ingredients.

Sharp, tangy, lightly sweet and far fresher tasting than the sugary versions most of us grew up with.

In a world of identical condiments, beetroot ketchup feels almost rebelliously British.

And that’s the real insight here.

Most supermarket ketchup has been engineered for shelf life and hyper-sweetness. Higher Farm’s has been engineered for real taste.

Who knew the future of ketchup might come from British beetroot grown regeneratively in Somerset?

What struck me most wasn’t just the ketchup itself. It was the clarity of the brothers’ vision.

They’re not trying to build another trendy food brand. They’re trying to prove that regenerative farming, flavour and commercial viability can grow together — from the ground up. Their mission: increase access to healthy regeneratively farmed food.

And the early signs suggest it’s resonating.

Giacomo shared that they’re already stocked in around 40 accounts across Somerset and Bristol — spanning independent retailers such as Better Food, local farm shops like Teals, pubs such as the Mitre Inn in Glastonbury, and cafes such as the Bristolian.

More importantly: re-orders are strong.

Some smaller independents are already selling multiple cases a week, while larger hospitality accounts continue to reorder consistently. Getting on the table in pubs has been a huge success for them, validating that the average British punter backs their ketchup.

No aggressive land grabs. No “growth at all costs.” Just a steady accumulation of trust.

Next step: scaling carefully through aligned distributors and partners over the next 6 months while protecting the integrity of the product and the farm behind it.

And that feels important.

The most interesting challenger brands today aren’t manufacturing authenticity through marketing campaigns.

They’re building products where the values, sourcing, story and experience align naturally.

Flavour with a cause.

It’s still very early days for the brothers and there’s a long road ahead to scale this properly.

But if you’re a chef, retailer or hospitality buyer who wants to back better food at scale — now’s the time.

Let’s help Matt & Jack grow this the way it was intended:

From the soil up. 👏

Let’s Stay Connected

I write about identity, neuroscience, brand-building, and the emotional psychology behind growth — in business and in life.

Follow me here on and on Substack — https://markelderkin.substack.com — for human-first ideas at the intersection of behavioural science, AI, and real-world performance

And connect with me also on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markelderkin/