The finest home-grown foods from East Anglia's farmers and producers will be delivered directly to the doors of city customers when a new home delivery venture launches next month.

StonesThrow Food will combine the offerings of 36 different suppliers across Norfolk and Suffolk, making more than 400 locally-sourced groceries available to be ordered online.

The new firm will be backed by the Elveden Estate, near Thetford, where it will complement a large-scale commercial farming operation, as well as the prepared food offered at its shopping courtyard and the renovated Elveden Inn.

The aim of the scheme is to rival the home-delivery convenience and affordability of a supermarket, while giving customers the benefit of ultra-fresh, traceable, low food-miles groceries which can help support the profits of local farmers and producers.

Everyday essentials of seasonal fruit, vegetables and salad, fresh meat, dairy and bread will be harvested and made to order.

Meanwhile, to expand the choices on offer, store cupboard stocks of tea and coffee, herbs and spices, condiments, cakes and drinks will also be offered.

Initially, the pilot scheme will only serve customers in Norwich, delivering five days a week to postcodes between NR1 and NR8 – taking the Elveden Estate into the city for the first time.

Richard Walters, managing director of StonesThrow Food, said: 'I think the gap in the market comes from a couple of key drivers – firstly, people want to have more trust in the food that they buy. One way we can deliver that is by giving them the chance to buy through local producers where they have the opportunity to build a personal relationship with that supplier. Secondly, more and more people are busy and want to shop online and get things delivered to their door. There was a 10pc growth in retail grocery being home-delivered from December 2011 to December 2012.

'We cannot be a supermarket, but our suppliers are able to offer all the daily essentials, from bread, meat and dairy products, and you can source all of those things locally. Traditionally you would have to go to farm shops for that, and we wouldn't want to discourage that, but we are adding another layer of convenience.'

Mr Walters tried launching a business under the same model last year, but he said Norwich AtMarket firm could not capitalise on early progress because an expected final tranche of funding 'was not made available'.

Lord Iveagh, who runs the 22,500-acre Elveden estate, said the new StonesThrow venture was a 'logical' addition to his company's large-scale production for supermarkets around the country.

'The UK has the most centralised retailing concentration of any country in the world, and we are a professional food supplier into that supply system,' he said. 'That is the vital component of Elveden's business. But isn't it wonderful that customers have this choice? I think the arrival of StonesThrow is very timely in the sense that people are ever-increasingly concerned with the quality of their food, and its provenance.'

Suppliers include vegetables from Fresh Approach in Aylsham, Mrs Temple's cheese from Wighton, Linzers Bakery in Norwich, Swannington Farm to Fork, Breckland Orchard and Marybelle Dairy near Halesworth, plus Elveden's own range of home-produced chutneys and sauces.

nThe online service will launch on May 1, but prospective customers can already register their details at www.stonesthrowfood.co.uk.