When Bungay dairy farmer Jonny Crickmore decided to diversify his business 14 years ago, he had little idea where it might lead.
He was fed up with supermarkets calling the shots and his milk prices hitting the floor so he and wife Dulcie decided to try their hand at cheese-making.
His Suffolk-made brie-style cheese, Baron Bigod, became a runaway success.
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In 2022/23, Baron Bigod was named the best British cheese brand in the Fine Food Digest awards, ahead of established names including Colston Bassett Stilton and Westcombe Cheddar.
On September 26 and 27, he will chair the prestigious Aldeburgh Food and Drink Festival at Snape Maltings, which he credits with helping his cheeses take off.
He says taking over from founder-chairman Tim Rowan-Robinson is a “huge honour”.
"It's because of Tim that the food festival is there in the first place really," he says.
"The reason I'm honoured is because it's such an amazing festival and it always has been.
"I think the festival as a food and drink festival is up there at the top for the whole country."
Jonny and the rest of the eight-strong board are volunteers.
Only Bella Scarr - the organiser of the event - is paid. The event itself - now 21 years old - is run on a not-for-profit basis.
Last year, 10,500 people poured through the gates to experience Suffolk food and drink at its best.
Visitors get to immerse themselves in live demo stages and masterclasses, see celebrity chefs in action, join food debates, discover new products - or just sit back, have lunch and enjoy the music and the atmosphere.
Jonny has always been a big fan - returning every year since setting up his first stall there in 2013.
"There are not many that do it as well as Aldeburgh Food and Drink," he says.
He credits Bella with the festival’s success and special atmosphere. “Bella does 95% of the work - my role as chair is relatively easy,” he says.
That's just as well as he has a busy life. His cheese and dairy operation making cheese, yogurt, butter and kefir at Bungay is expanding fast - as is his retail arm.
From small beginnings with a raw milk vending machine where customers could get fresh milk on tap from the farmyard, he has created three "grab and go" mini Fen Farm Dairy farm shops in Bungay, Eye - and as of June this year, Darsham on the A12.
Hardly surprising then that he was crowned Entrepreneur of the Year at the BizX awards at the ICC in Wales this year.
Judges praised him for "building something from nothing in a short space of time - taking risks, overcoming obstacles, and creating opportunity for others".
His farm shops sell almost exclusively local produce, including goods from producers who, like him, began as festival start-ups.
"It's got a fantastic array of food and drink and different sectors as well and the location is very special," he says.
The culture is "really lovely", he adds. "It has a great feel and people who love food come together.
"You have got loads of people who are enthusiastic who just go there to talk about food and drink."
The festival goes beyond demonstrations and tastings, with debates linking food to the agricultural and fishing industries.
"It's just a fantastic day," he says.
"What I would suggest is if you have never been there go there with an empty stomach and go and taste lots of stuff. We have got over 130 stalls - go around and taste them all.
"That's what is all about. It's not just a farmers' market where you're selling products - it's an experience.
"It's got every shape and form of great food there and it's educational - not forgetting the festival is a not-for-profit so any surplus is given away to charities with a link to food and education."
The festival is family-friendly, with plenty of child-centred activities. “It’s about educating as much as eating,” he explains.
But all of it would not be possible without its generous supporters, he adds. It's tough out there and not easy to keep any event afloat.
Even so, they try to keep entry fees as low as they can and they continue to try to help start-ups.
"It's just very tight in the last year or so to keep it going but we are very determined and we have an amazing and very generous sponsors who also believe in the festival and the importance of it," he says.
"I think what the festival does is it kind of shouts out to the rest of the UK that we are a foodie county."
For food producers it can be the break they need. "It has the ripple effect. You throw a stone in the middle of the pond and the ripples go out," he says.
"It certainly was for us when we started out. It felt like we had something really special in Suffolk with food and drink - and we still do."
Visitors can save 15 per cent by booking tickets online in advance. A weekend ticket covering both days saves nearly 30 per cent.
For ticket prices and information visit https://aldeburghfoodanddrink.co.uk/
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