A Somerset cider producer has accused Jeremy Clarkson’s drinks brand of threatening to destroy small independent businesses by targeting rural events traditionally served by local makers.
Neil Worley, founder of Worley’s Cider, claimed the Hawkstone brand’s push into countryside shows and markets could prove devastating for artisan producers who depend on such venues.
“If they are successful – and I would imagine they have the resources to offer more money in pitch fees than small independent producers would be able to – that would have a large negative impact on cider makers who rely on the tiny slice of the retail cake those events provide those makers,” he told The Telegraph.
Mr Worley also posted bluntly on X: “Butt out – you’re bankrupting us.”
The Hawkstone brand was established in 2021 when the former Top Gear presenter partnered with advertising executive Johnny Hornby and Cotswold brewers Emma and Rick Keene.
Production takes place at a facility near Bourton-on-the-Water in Gloucestershire, with barley sourced from Clarkson’s Diddly Squat farm in Oxfordshire.
A cider variant followed in 2022, developed by Kaleb Cooper, Clarkson’s co-star on the Amazon Prime series Clarkson’s Farm. The business has noted that Cooper would “rather swim in slurry” than consume beer.
Westons Cider in Herefordshire produces the drink using apples from the surrounding region.
Hey @JeremyClarkson as a small agricultural business that depends on trading at small local events, it’d be great if you could stop trying to pressgang your Hawkstone cider into every event we do. You don’t grow apples or make the cider yourself. Butt out – you’re bankrupting us
— Worley’s Cider (@WorleysCider) May 16, 2026
The company has experienced remarkable expansion, with revenues nearly tripling to £21.3m last year. Hawkstone products now appear in over 3,000 pubs alongside major supermarket chains nationwide.
Mr Worley expressed concern that Hawkstone possesses the financial muscle to significantly disrupt what he described as a fragile network of small-scale cider producers.
“It seems that Hawkstone is a large, well-funded and widely recognised brand,” he said. “They have the power to significantly disturb the very precarious ecosystem of small cider makers who are more focused on the history and cultural significance of cider.”
The Somerset producer, whose company near Shepton Mallet supplies festivals, country shows and markets across Britain, emphasised that survival rather than profit drives traditional makers.
Created with ingredients from his Diddly Squat farm, Jeremy Clarkson documented his mission to create Hawkstone larger during his Clarkson’s Farm docu-series | HAWKSTONE PRESS OFFICE
“We don’t expect to make a fortune but we do need to survive to keep alive a tradition of healthy, natural cider made on farms, not in factories,” Mr Worley added.
His business was established in 2009 in the Mendip Hills.
Johnny Hornby defended Hawkstone’s approach, emphasising the brand’s commitment to supporting British agriculture.
“We only support British farmers to make authentic British farmed products,” he told The Telegraph.
“Our cider has been made for Kaleb in a recipe he created with Guy Weston, a fifth-generation cider farmer with Hereford and surrounding country apples, all of which are naturally reared and produced, never pasteurised or made from concentrate.”
He added: “If we ever strong-armed a local business, let us know and we will support them.”
The brand has previously attracted attention through provocative marketing.
Last year, Mr Clarkson claimed regulators had banned a Hawkstone television advertisement featuring farmers singing an expletive-filled rendition of the Flower Duet.
This was subsequently revealed as a publicity stunt, as the commercial had never been formally submitted for approval.