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Festive Shopping in Shrewsbury: Food & Drink for the Big Day
While it's best not to leave your Christmas gift shopping until the last moment, there's some shopping that is best saved for the final day or two before Christmas; when those of us with a taste for the finer things in life hit the streets and head for the deli, the butcher, the liquor store and the greengrocer's for the food and drink that makes Christmas special.
From butchers offering the highest quality cuts to delicatessens offering a treasure trove of gourmet cheeses, artisanal bread, and charcuterie, to speciality liquor stores and the best local veg, Shrewsbury is paradise for foodies on a festive mission. Follow our guide to make sure you don't miss out on the best of what our town has to offer for your Christmas table.
Cheeseboard & charcuterie
Appleyards Delicatessan
Appleyards is a long-established delicatessen on Wyle Cop, which has been drawing customers in with its spectacular window displays for decades. This traditional shop offers a mouth-watering array of deli essentials, from countless cheeses to homemade breads, preserved hams hung from the ceiling and unusual ales. A mainstay of the festive season, you can expect to find most of the town's foodies visiting this cheese counter on Christmas Eve!
Cook & Carve (The Market Hall)
The older sister of Appleyards, Cook & Carve's Market Hall counter is stuffed full of regional and continental artisan cheeses, charcuterie and their own home-cured sausages and bacon made with local pork. You'll also find local honey, farmhouse butter, cream and a large selection of preserves and condiments.
Meat & veg
Pomona Grocery
Pomona is Shrewsbury's independent grocer, with a focus on organic, quality and - as much as possible - local produce. This shop offers a great choice of fruit and veg, bakery items, quirky and retro confectionary, and a selection of delightful cheeses.
JP Fruits (The Market Hall)
JP Fruits sells a wide range of quality fruit and vegetables, as well as plants. You'll find everything here from British-grown produce to Asian pears and kabocha squash!
Maddocks Fresh Produce (The Market Hall)
Maddocks sells high-quality fruit and vegetables, including their own seasonal produce grown in pesticide-free soil on the family-run smallholding near Nesscliffe.
John Bliss Butchers (The Market Hall)
John Bliss Butchers supplies fresh local beef, lamb, pork, veal and poultry, as well as making their own sausages and curing their our bacon. They offer a wide range of their own home cooked meats – ham on the bone, roast pork, roast brisket, turkey and more.
Corbetts (The Market Hall)
High-class butchers providing quality meat, poultry, game and eggs. Corbetts has a stall in the middle of Shrewsbury Market Hall and also supplies products to many restaurants across Shropshire and beyond.
Fish & seafood
Cornalls Seafood
Cornalls is Shropshire's largest independent fishmongers and has been trading in Shrewsbury for nearly a century. These days, much of their fish is sourced directly from small suppliers, family companies and day-boats. All of the seafood on offer reaches its final destination in less than 48 hrs of coming out of the sea, meaning you won’t get any fresher unless you fish for it yourself.
Something to drink
Aroma
Aroma Tea & Coffee Merchant stocks high-quality coffee and tea, including ethically sourced single-origin and house-blended coffees. Loose leaf teas and teabags on offer include black, green, herbal and flavoured teas from across the globe, including a special Shropshire blend. You'll also find a range of Belgian chocolates, truffles, jams and chutneys, and more in store, plus tea and coffee making equipment and accessories.
Iron & Rose (The Market Hall)
Iron & Rose sells wines that tell the story of the land where they were grown and the people who grew them. The wine shop in the Market Hall stocks hundreds of wines for both everyday drinking and special occasions, from producers with strong environmental and ethical policies. The majority is grown organically and some biodynamically.
Wrekin Whiskies
Located on Wyle Cop, Wrekin Whiskies are proud purveyors of fine Single Malt Scotch Whiskies as well as stockists of select artisan gins and other nice tipples. This is a shop that doesn't take itself too seriously, keeping things light-hearted to ensure visitors feel welcome and enjoy their visit.
Tanners Wines
Established in 1842, Tanners is all about good, traditional service, delivered by a team of friendly and knowledgeable staff. Tanners has won countless national awards. Its Cellars Shop, located at the bottom of Wyle Cop, is a fascinating, Dickensian-looking collection of rooms, stocking the company's full range of over 1,200 wines and spirits.
O'Donnell Moonshine
Popular chain O'Donnell seeks to revive America's infamous prohibition-era moonshine with a modern twist and bring its legacy to the present day. The unique taste of these drinks has convinced a new generation of 'moonshiners' and led to impressive growth for the company.
Dry.
This unique shop on Wyle Cop offers 100% low-and-no alcohol drinks, from craft beers to 0% spirits and wines to locally-brewed kombucha. You won't find the drinks on offer here anywhere else, and to help you make the right choice, the helpful staff on hand are ready to offer guidance and the ability to taste almost everything before you buy.
Sweets and baked goods
Ottolive
Established in 2016, Ottolive Bakehouse is an artisan bakery specialising in baking the best sourdough and Viennoiserie pastries. Each item is hand made in the heart of Shrewsbury, using organic flour and cultured English butter.
Bloomers Bakery (The Market Hall)
Home of the Chelsea Bun and Shropshire Butter Buns! Great variety of traditional bakery products and sweet treats. Speciality doughnuts are available on Friday and Saturday from their sister company Pillarbox Bakery. Orders welcome.
Chocolicious (The Market Hall)
Chocolicious in the Market Hall provides handmade Belgian chocolates for all occasions. From gift boxes to chocolate pizza to chocolate toolsets and unicorn lollies, you'll find a large range of delicious options here.
Hotel Chocolat
One of the UK's most loved quality food brands, Hotel Chocolat offers everything from elegant gift boxes of chocolate to imaginative takes on your everyday chocolate fix, all made according to their mantra 'More Cocoa, Less Sugar' for a satisfying cocoa hit.
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Looking for something else?
Shrewsbury has something for everyone on your Christmas shopping list - check out our other festive shopping guides for more giftspiration!
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