FFD December 2021

December 2021 Volume 22 Issue 10 gff.co.uk

ALSO INSIDE Is there really a hamper shortage?

Healthy product round-up Gillions of Crosby

Meet the champion... ...and find out how everything else stacked up in Oviedo with our full report on the 33rd World Cheese Awards

Clemency Hall Expertly Hand Crafted Cheese

Clemency AWARD WINNING Hall CLEMENCY HALL CHEESE Hand Crafted Fine Foods

CLEMENCY HALL LE CRÊT GRUYÈRE (AOP)

CLEMENCY HALL TALEGGIO (DOP)

www.rowcliffe.co.uk 2

December 2021 | Vol.22 Issue 10

Exclusive to Rowcliffe

CONTENTS 5

NEWS

10 SHOP TALK

Now, you may have heard that there’s a bit of a personnel crisis at the moment.

15 CHEESEWIRE 22 WORLD CHEESE AWARDS 2021 ROUND-UP

By Michael Lane, editor

33 CHARCUTERIE 37 FOODSERVICE 40 CATEGORY FOCUS: HEALTHY EATING, LOW-AND-NO ALCOHOL DRINKS 47 SCOTLAND’S SPECIALITY FOOD SHOW PREVIEW 49 SHELF TALK 54 DELI OF THE MONTH 63 GUILD TALK

Despite the fact that some PRs still send me invites to review restaurants and hotels – I am not a critic, at least professionally. But recently, I have been unable to hold back the scrutiny while out and about.

In the last month, I’ve been refused Tabasco at a breakfast table, had to wait for 15 minutes for a menu in a bar, and checked out of a hotel without being asked if I’d enjoyed my stay.

On the flip side, I’ve been told by a restaurant that a table is mine for the evening, had a cloudy pint spotted and repoured before I even noticed it, and witnessed my children being spoken to like actual human beings by waiting staff.

Yes, I’ve been to Spain recently (don’t forget to read all about the World Cheese Awards, starting on page 22), but all of these instances happened in the UK. Now, you may have heard that there’s a bit of a personnel crisis here

at the moment. Every establishment you pass on the street has a‘staff wanted’ sign up in the window.

Brexit (lack of EU migrant workers), the pandemic (staff not returning post-lockdown) and lack of appeal (poor pay, bad conditions, long hours) have combined to clobber foodservice, hospitality and retail. Yes, it’s a perfect storm but it’s not a perfect excuse.

While food business owners can’t do much about the economy or coronavirus, that third aspect – making workplaces appealing – is something that they can address.

Encouragingly, schemes like B-Corp (see page 9) are gaining traction but, in some cases, you might just have to ride out the current crisis – like Cardiff stalwart Wally’s Deli (page 5). Owner Steven Salamon’s decision to close his café for this month, rather than shortstaff it, looks prudent because it should preserve morale, bolster the

retail side at a key time and avoid any disappointing lunch services.

It is true that sometimes you just can’t get the staff – and searching during your busiest period is very tough – but our sector may have to face up to the fact in the New Year that you have to take whoever you can get, and train them up.

My recent positive customer experiences stemmed, I’m certain, from pretty basic training and delivering those kind of moments will be vital as we go into another unpredictable year.

That might be just one of the things you’re pondering after the festive dust has settled on this month. As always, we’ve tried to be as forward-thinking as we can in this edition (not least with a healthy product buying guide), conscious that you may not be picking it up until the end of December.

Here’s to a busy and prosperous end to 2021!

December 2021 Volume 22 Issue 10 gff.co.uk

EDITOR’S CHOICE

Tom Dale, assistant editor

INSIDE Exploring hamper shortages Healthy product round-up Gillions of Crosby

Meet the champion... ...and find out how everything else stacked up in Oviedo with our full report on the 33rd World Cheese Awards

Cover image by Michael Lane

Tipsy Tea

Spiced Chai Liqueur At Fine Food Show North earlier this year, this teainfused liqueur was pitched to me by its founder as the perfect drink for winter in the recommended cold-weather serve of a double measure, hot water and lemon juice. He even enthused that it would replace that old festive favourite, mulled wine.

EDITORIAL

ADVERTISING

Assistant editor: Tom Dale

Sales director: Sally Coley

Editor: Michael Lane

Art director: Mark Windsor

Contributors: Nick Baines, Stuart Key, Patrick McGuigan, Jules Mercer, Lynda Searby

advertise@gff.co.uk

Sales manager: Ruth Debnam

Sales executives: Becky Haskett, Sam Coleman ADDRESS Guild House, 23b Kingsmead Business Park Shaftesbury Road, Gillingham, Dorset SP8 5FB United Kingdom

GENERAL ENQUIRIES

Now, it may take some time before it has knocked glühwein off the podium at the nation’s Alpine bars, but it’s already cemented its position as the preferred winter warmer in front of the fire in my humble abode.

The bottle itself is attractive, too, with its Prohibition-era Art-Deco styling, filled with the bronze-hued elixir that is getting my household through these prematurely cold nights.

Read more on page 50.

Tel: +44 (0) 1747 825200

Published by The Guild of Fine Food Ltd gff.co.uk

editorial@gff.co.uk

© The Guild of Fine Food Ltd

Fax: +44 (0) 1747 824065

Printed by: Blackmore, Dorset

2021. Reproduction of whole or

part of this magazine without the

publisher’s prior permission is Fine Food Digest is published 11 times a year and is available on subscription for £50 p.a. inclusive of post and packing.

prohibited. The opinions expressed

in articles and advertisements are

not necessarily those of the editor

Turn to page 63 for news from the Guild

or publisher.

Vol.22 Issue 10 | December 2021

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December 2021 | Vol.22 Issue 10

NEWS

Hampers are available but retailers’ options are more limited and prices are higher

By Greg Pitcher

Major hamper suppliers have sought to calm fears of a shortage of the traditional Christmas produce baskets – but admitted that options would be more limited than usual and prices higher.

Both Somersetbased Gadsby and south London’s WBC told FFD they would have plenty of options for delis and farm shops to choose from during the festive season but did point out the impact of increased demand, reduced supply and logistical challenges.

Rob Copley, director at Farmer Copleys shop and café in west Yorkshire, said branded hampers ordered from the Far East this summer would not be arriving this year, forcing him to source alternatives.

These will sell at £1 in the store rather than almost £5, he said, and not contain the Farmer Copleys name.

“The idea was that

you bought someone a gorgeous hamper they could reuse, and filled them with our produce. Not having them impacts on our brand.”

Jennifer Horton, owner of The Corbridge Larder in Northumberland, said she was “struggling” to get extra wicker hampers from her usual French supplier and had turned to baskets instead.

“Once we run out of hampers, we will either offer a basket or use our jute bags,” she said. “I ordered 2,000 jute bags just in case earlier this year.”

Gadsby’s managing director Will Gadsby said a lack of workers to harvest UK wicker had long forced the firm to import all its hampers from the Far East.

Delays and price rises were affecting shipping customers worldwide, he added, due to bottlenecks as economies reopened post-pandemic. These

New Belfast food academy will bolster food industry training Ulster University Business School has launched a new educational hub, called Academy: the Centre for Food, Drink and Culture, as it looks to attract more students to the hospitality and food sectors.

Located on Ulster University’s enhanced Belfast campus, Academy incorporates a state-ofthe-art restaurant, culinary school, beverage school and conference facilities.

As well as giving students hands-on experience, it will provide comprehensive practical support to entrepreneurs, be an open-access learning and cultural centre for the public.

Professor Una McMahon-Beattie, Head

of the Department of Hospitality & Tourism Management at Ulster University said: “As we launch Academy, we will have a renewed focus on equipping students with skills that help them progress in their careers and make a significant and positive contribution to society. Hospitality is central to our economy, culture and identity – and it is our talented graduates who will shape the sector’s character and success.” academyrestaurant.co.uk

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING ABOUT...

HAMPER SHIPPING COSTS ROB COPLEY, FARMER COPLEYS

Suppliers, including WBC, said they do have hampers available to indies but that there have been big cost increases

were being exacerbated by UK road haulage market conditions.

“On a lot of items, more than half of our sale price is shipping cost,” he said, adding: “We have no production problems and plenty of stock. We might not have the exact size and style delis want but there are plenty of options available.”

WBC managing director Andrew Wilson said the supplier had tried to order 40% more wicker this year

to meet soaring demand but had been thwarted by capacity in Asia.

“Producers have not caught up with demand and there are also problems with shipping along with a wet production season in China so they couldn’t dry wicker in the sun.

“We still have wicker hampers but we are sold out of bigger sizes. We have introduced a lot more options – card boxes, wooden boxes – we are not going to run out.”

Spanish food wholesaler launches retail division Spanish food importer and wholesaler Mevalco has launched a retail division following increased consumer demand for its products during the pandemic.

The distributor’s new retail range has been developed for the independent retail market and includes charcuterie, meats, artisan cheeses, cheese accompaniments and sweets, olives and pickles, pulses and vegetables, olive oils, vinegars, spices, sauces, and seafood.

The firm’s joint managing director, David Menendez, said that the retail market was a natural next step for the importer of premium Spanish foods.

Menendez said: “We know from the growth of our private clients and from our professional customers that there is a growing appetite from consumers for new, innovative, and inspirational ingredients.

“The retail market is exciting to enter, and we are reaching out to independent retailers as well as farm shops across the UK. Our new and innovative retail range is unique, highly relevant and represents the very best of Spain, alongside ‘staple’ ingredients across ambient, chilled, fresh and frozen categories.” mevalco.com

I am told it costs £12,000 to ship a container to the UK now rather than £3,000. We ordered bespoke Farmer Copley branded hampers from China in May but they are not going to be delivered in time for Christmas. There do not seem to be any shipping containers – they are piling up empty at UK ports.

WILL GADSBY, MD, GADSBY

We would have paid $1,500 (£1,110) to bring in a container full of hampers and that is now $15,000.

More than half of our turnover is from large customers – we sell them full containers.

Independents order a small number from the website and we send them a pallet. There are a limited number of shipping lines and prices have gone up and up due to demand after the lockdowns.

ANDREW WILSON, MD, WBC

Prices of raw wicker have gone through the roof, while a shipping container for us has gone from £2,000 to £15,000. We usually organise it in April and May so the delivery is here in September to sell before Christmas.

Estimating demand is always a fine balance.

Most of the smaller retailers want to be able to buy hampers at short notice.

Vol.22 Issue 10 | December 2021

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NEWS

CYBER CRIME

More closures likely as staffing shortages hit UK food businesses Tim Mossholder/Unsplash

By Greg Pitcher

A leading hospitality figure has warned of more closures across the UK after an historic Welsh delicatessen shut its popular café over the busy Christmas period to relocate staff on to the shop floor amid a recruitment crisis in both sectors.

Customers will be unable to visit the coffee house at Wally’s Delicatessen and Kaffeehaus in Cardiff in December after owner Steven Salamon opted to concentrate all his workers on the ground floor retail element of the business following a long and fruitless search for new employees.

Sustainable Restaurant Association managing director Juliane Caillouette Noble said staff shortages meant it was becoming “untenable” to keep many hospitality offerings open.

“This is something that we are seeing across the UK,” she said, citing

IN BRIEF

Foodservice businesses have struggled to find new staff

one small business that had closed three of its five restaurants since the pandemic began due to recruitment problems.

Others were reducing their opening hours to protect their remaining staff from burnout, she added.

Salamon said he had been struggling for months to find staff to replace six people who left during the Covid-19 lockdowns.

“Every time I took a step forward I took two steps back – someone would join then leave at short notice;

or they would agree to join and pull out the day before; or someone else we had to let go. I just could not get staff to stick.

“Everyone was getting frayed so I decided to take all four remaining staff from the café into the retail side to solve the short-term problem. They will go back into the café in January when it is quieter.”

Salamon said people had been put off careers in retail and hospitality by the way shops and cafes were forced to close

during the pandemic, and described a significant dip in applications from people born on the Continent since the UK left the EU. Wages were also soaring, he added, as workers realised they were in demand.

“I would like to see more opportunities for Europeans to come in at short notice to fill short-term roles,” he added. “The hospitality industry is crying out for workers.”

Caillouette Noble also cited Brexit as a major cause of the recruitment crisis.

“A high number of Europeans went home during the pandemic while venues were closed and are not returning to the UK,” she said.

“Additionally, young people – another key target for hospitality – have found other options through remote working and companies like Amazon offering less anti-social hours.”

Yorkshire Pecorino Walter Smith Fine Fiore the Foodswas hasnamed announced Supreme Product the closure of Champion three storesatin the deliciouslyorkshire’s Midlands. The butcher 2021 Awards. chain Taste revealed Mainsgill Farm Shop over Christmas that was named Best its Denby Village, Independent Retailer.

West Bromwich and deliciouslyorkshire.

Coventry shops would co.uk stop trading, leaving it with 11 outlets – many of which are within The Cornwall Pasta garden centres.

Company has been granted an organic license by the Soil Tracklements has Association.

The hired Ben Hallam Falmouth-based for the role of business uses only commercial manager, organic and foraged which includes ingredientsto make its identifying new market range of pasta.Hallam opportunities. joins the Wiltshirebased condiment Waitrose has unveiled specialist after 11 years plans tofirm use Yeo its farm at at dairy Valley. the Leckford Estate to pioneer regenerative farming techniques.

Health food retailer The Hampshire Planet Organicestate has will be trialling moved into thenew hot measures overmarket the next food delivery 15 andyears. teamed up with high-end service

Julian Rus Garcia

Lina Stores set to open new outlet in London’s Marylebone

The 33rd World Cheese Awards brought a record-breaking 4,079 entries from 45 different countries, to Oviedo in Spain to be judged by more than 200 cheese experts at the Asturias Paraíso Natural International Cheese Festival.

In the end, a cheese called Olavidia (you may have noticed it on the cover) from Andalusian producer Quesos y Besos was deemed the Best Cheese in the World.

Turn to page 22 for a full report.

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December 2021 | Vol.22 Issue 10

Lina Stores is set to expand further across London with a new restaurant and deli in the Capital’s Marylebone Village area.

Opening in Spring 2022, Lina Stores Marylebone will be housed in a two-storey building on the corner of Wigmore Street and Marylebone Lane – adding to a portfolio that include outlets in King’s Cross, The City and Soho.

The ground-floor of the new premises will feature an all-day restaurant with an opentheatre kitchen and a menu that will include signature antipasti, showcasing Lina Stores’ delicatessen ingredients,

as well as a range of sharing dishes and desserts.

There will also be an open-plan delicatessen, similar to the original Lina Stores site on Brewer Street. Its range will include an extended variety of new salads, panini, fresh pasta and

pizzette to eat in or take away.

The shelves will also feature the newly released Lina Stores Collection, including Sicilian extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar from Modena and traditional biscotti. linastores.co.uk

Best British Cheese, Best SCA Member Cheese and Top 16 Supergold: Gorwydd Caerphilly

Supergold: Spenwood

Top 16 Supergold: Pitchfork Cheddar

Top 16 Supergold: Almnäs Tegel

WE’ VE GOT WINNER S ACROSS THE BOARD Congratulations to all our cheesemakers for their success at the 2021 World Cheese Awards.

Medallists: Cropwell Bishop - Blue Stilton and Beauvale, Bath Soft Cheese Co. - The Merry Wyfe, Blackwoods Cheese Company - Graceburn, Lynher Dairies - Cornish Yarg, Norton and Yarrow - Brightwell Ash, Hampshire Cheeses - Tunworth and Winslade, Sharpham Dairy - Washbourne, White Lake Cheeses - Rachael Reserva and Eve, Village Maid Cheese - Spenwood, JA Montgomery - Montgomery’s Cheddar, Trethowan’s Dairy - Gorwydd Caerphilly and Pitchfork Cheddar, Wijngaard - Reypenaer VSOP Gouda, Quattro Portoni - Blu di Bufala, Caseificio del Fiorino - Riserva del Fondatore, Cassarigoni - Roccolino, Fromagerie Agour - Ossau Iraty, Arteserena El Esprimijo, Quesarias Picos de Europa - Valdeòn, Don Merendon - Parra Jiminez Organic Manchego, Emmi Group - Tete de Moine, Almnäs Bruk - Almnäs Tegel.

First in fine for 30 years: fine cheese, fine charcuterie, fine crackers, fine condiments, fine chocolates...

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December 2021 | Vol.22 Issue 10

Fish4Ever was founded on the idea of bringing organic values to sustainability in fish.

Rated a world beating 89% by Greenpeace, our Skipjack isn’t only the best option in ethical terms, it’s also the best for quality. That’s because our little island factory in the Azores only works from whole fish rather than frozen pre processed loins and we only add really good, natural and organic ingredients. Using named, locally owned and operated pole and lines boats this is tuna you can trust for taste and sustainability

www.fish4ever.co.uk sales@organico.co.uk // 01189 238760 2

December 2021 | Vol.22 Issue 10

NEWS

Tracklements granted people- and planet-friendly B-Corp accreditation

By Tom Dale

Artisan condiment maker Tracklements has been awarded B Corp certification after the business was assessed to ensure it upholds the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability.

The Wiltshire-based brand joins the 75 other food & drink companies among the 450 B Corps in the UK – representing the largest sector in the list.

Guy Tullberg, Tracklements’ managing director said: “We were searching for accreditation which explicitly verifies our ethos of behaving as good citizens in all things, and B Corp was the ideal certification for us to prove this.

“As a manufacturer, we know what we do impacts

Body commits to net zero The Scotland Food & Drink Partnership last month committed to unite industry efforts towards a net-zero future.

The Net Zero Commitment consists of five long-term commitments to help Scotland’s food and drink sector cut its carbon emissions. Launched at a COP26 event held in Glasgow, the Commitment’s five longterm pledges are: Placing net zero at the heart of the sector’s strategies; supporting food & drink businesses on their journey; tackling shared challenges and including in other sectors in the discussion; using data to drive activity; making the sector’s net zero transition a just one. foodanddrink.scot

The Tracklements team form a giant ‘B’ in celebration

others, and we take our responsibility to our staff, suppliers, customers and our community very seriously.”

Committed to making “the most planet-friendly condiments you can buy”, the company was granted the status due to its initiatives such as sourcing ingredients locally, using recyclable packaging,

treating its waste water on-site, and installing more than 10,000 sq ft of solar panels – enabling the company to generate 100% renewable electricity which is fed into the national grid at weekends through green energy company Good Energy.

Tracklements is set to construct extra warehousing space in 2022 which will

DOWN ON THE FARM

Nixon’s Farm Shop in Cheadle, Cheshire, has recently added a play barn, with the majority of the play equipment now under cover. Features include football pitches, a Lego area, ride-on mini tractors and sandpits – all conveniently located right next to the café. nixonsfarmshop.co.uk

open a premises on Ashford’s high street after refurbishments. The Richardson family has owned the farm for 35 years but this is the first off-site branch having traded from a shop at their base in Folkestone Road, Dover, since 1982 littlefarthingloefarm. co.uk

Kentish business Farthingloe Farm Shop is set to branch out and

Buckinghamshire’s Peterley Manor Farm has opened its newly built

IN BRIEF

more than double the firm’s solar capacity.

Hoping that the accreditation would have a positive impact on sales, Tullberg said: “Today’s shoppers expect businesses to be responsible and purpose-driven which is part of Tracklements’ DNA and B Corp gives us the framework for that.”

Now the condiment maker is in the process of installing more environmentally friendly gas boilers to cut the company’s carbon emissions by 40%, and is committing to cut nonrecyclable packaging by 25% annually alongside a reorganisation of its waste streams.

Other speciality food & drink brands with B Corp status include Belazu, Doisy & Dam, Dark Woods Coffee, Cook, and distributor Cotswold Fayre. tracklements.co.uk

Taste of the West’s Hospitality & Retail Awards 2022 is now open for entries. The scheme is calling on all South Westbased food retail and hospitality businesses to register their interest by emailing awards@ tasteofthewest.co.uk Chelsea-based Royal Warrant-holding grocer Partridges is celebrating its 50th Christmas in the exclusive London district, having first opened there half a century ago. partridges.co.uk The October 2021 Shopper Confidence Index, from ShopperVista has fallen to its second lowest level since it was first measured following a decline in five out of the last six months. shoppervista.igd.com

The latest from farm shops across the country Barn Kitchen in November.

The permanent structure has replaced a ‘pop up’ yurt café, which started life some seven years ago.

Having been so successful, the ‘pop up’ needed to grow and is now able to cater for a larger audience. peterleymanorfarm. co.uk The Farm Shop at Denby, near Ripley, has undergone a re-brand recently and will now be run by the Denby Pottery Company. The new Denby Pottery Village Farm Shop stocks a range of

produce, sourced from local suppliers, including farm-fresh meats, deli produce, freshly baked breads, eggs, cheeses, and cakes.

All the produce is locally sourced, and the deli selection is proving an instant success with their customers. Meanwhile, the new Denby Tea House, serves Denby’s speciality loose leaf teas, barista coffees, homemade cakes, scones and afternoon teas. denbypottery.com/ denby-pottery-villagefarm-shop

In association with

Fabulous Farm Shops fabulousfarmshops.co.uk

Vol.22 Issue 10 | December 2021

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SHOP TALK IF I’D KNOWN THEN WHAT I KNOW NOW...

Armorel Willoughby, owner, Armadeli, Stroud

The best advice I was given, when contemplating my career change from personal injury solicitor to deli owner, was to gain hands-on experience.

I started on the shop floor at Whole Foods Market in Cheltenham and worked my way up to speciality team leader. When the store closed in 2017, I worked for a few months at Gloucester Services Farm Shop and started looking for premises. I found a converted pub in the centre of Stroud that ticked all the boxes.

Although my original vision was to open a pure cheesemonger, my experience in those previous roles taught me the importance of stocking other speciality items. I opened the deli in September 2018 and used that first Christmas to boost cashflow. Everything went well until, halfway through year two, COVID hit.

With our focus on cheese and luxury gifting, we couldn’t really be classed as ‘essential’. We didn’t have an online shop (something I wish I had done differently), so we had to close for three months. Although we reopened after lockdown, the town had changed in terms of footfall and our side-street location wasn’t working.

Then, in summer 2020, out of the blue I received an email inviting me to join the new Five Valleys food market in town. I’d already worked out that I was going to have to close after Christmas the way things were going, so it was a fantastic opportunity.

It was tough to negotiate my way out of the previous lease, but this was definitely the right move. The footfall here is much higher - and is growing each month. And we are surrounded by other food shops, like a butcher and a baker, so we all benefit from one another’s presence.

Interestingly, I haven’t changed anything about my business model. I think the difference is that the market format allows people to browse without feeling committed in the same way they do when they walk through a door.

I look at my sales every week to see what is performing and isn’t. That comes from working in larger retail where we had to do ‘explanatory reports’ every Monday. This year, despite everything, I’m on track to break even and next year, I hope to make a small profit.

It’s not really about turnover, though; it’s about margins, which is why I have just reviewed my pricing. I’m hopeful that further growth will come organically as the development is still quite new, but I can’t just rely on that.

I have a cute bar area that I would like to use more by opening in the evening and I also want to create an online shop, as, like it or loathe it, people want to shop online.

Interview Lynda Searby Photography Stuart Key

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December 2021 | Vol.22 Issue 10

CONFESSIONS OF A DELI OWNER ANONYMOUS TALES FROM BEHIND THE COUNTER FOR THIS DAY and age, my barber is kind of unremarkable – he’s of average height and he’s got one of those Shoreditch hipster moustaches – but I couldn’t take my eyes off him during my haircut the other day. Rather, I couldn’t take my eyes off his apron. It was leather with canvas edging, very smart, and it elevated him from ‘Hercule Poirot’ to ‘Batman’.

As I sat watching my hair disappear, I pondered on whether those aprons would look good on my team. Yes, leather aprons have plenty of non-food applications, from rural blacksmith to certain Berlin nightspots, but they are very cool and they really make an impression.

I’ve always felt an affinity with hairdressers.

After all, they’re the closest high street business to a deli. Like us they are individual, their customers regularly overshare during a transaction, and they love a good apron.

The thing is, I’m not sure I’ve ever really loved my aprons, even though we’ve had plenty of variations. We’ve done butchers’ aprons, canvas, logoed versions, aprons with the shop name, aprons with staff names. We’ve drifted

MODEL RETAILING We’re pre-packing everything now, madam, so I’ve taken the liberty of doing your shopping for you. Besides, you always have the same thing every week.

My EHO insists on aprons being washed at more than 70°C, so they decay very quickly towards Cath Kidston via Laura Ashley, from chef professional to company colours and then to bright red – just because I like red. We’ve been lazy, convenient and cheap.

Despite all of these attempts, I do still believe strongly in uniforms. Health food shops can do all that casual knitwear and sandals. We are in the business of looking smart – and the apron is the perfect solution for staff that have to switch between kitchen, deli counter and table service all during one shift.

The thing about aprons is they are also

a headache. My EHO insists on them being washed at more than 70°C, so they decay very quickly. Ours get washed, pressed and ironed twice a week. After about four washes they look tired. Six months of this process and they look very last season.

And aprons are not cheap for a large team needing at least two a week. Then you’ve got to consider that there are only two sizes for a variety of heights and body shapes. Taller people look like members of a Chippendales act while shorter employees look like extras from a period drama.

My team is pro pockets but the EHO is anti (it collects food scraps which are a crosscontamination risk) and we got in an almighty row with the laundry company when a biro got into their washing machine.

This is not to mention the places out the back that I’ve found dirty ones discarded by some 17 year-old keen to leave their shift faster than Homer Simpson.

How can something so cosmetic be such a challenge? Aprons, like life, are more difficult than they look.

At least I got a good haircut, though.

SOLVING EVERYDAY SHOPKEEPING DILEMMAS. IN MINIATURE.

This vending machine makes things so much easier for customers. Plus, I don’t have to do tastings anymore.

Sorry, nothing in the counter today. The shop’s all online now.

FFD says: Just because more consumers want convenient options, it doesn’t mean you should do away with your old methods entirely. There are still plenty of shoppers who visit independents because there is attentive service and they want to talk to another human being. And you will lose out on upselling opportunities if you leave all the work to machines.

By all means, embrace technology but don’t lose the old-school charm – that’s your true USP. editorial@gff.co.uk With kind permission of Geobra Brandstätter Stiftung & Co. KG, Germany. PLAYMOBIL is a registered trademark of Geobra Brandstätter Stiftung & Co. KG, for which also the displayed PLAYMOBIL toy figures are protected.

Vol.22 Issue 10 | December 2021

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THE

GUIDE TO BEARS PANDA BE AR

GRIZ ZLY BE AR

The cute and cuddly panda bear thinks bamboo is delicious. So much so, a single panda can eat 40kg every 24 hours. The only thing on the planet that consumes more bland material per day is the Ed Sheeran fan base.

If you encounter a grizzly bear in the woods, the standard advice is not to run, but to stand your ground instead. This might keep you safe, or, alternatively, it might be fake news spread by crafty and hungry grizzlies.

MAL AYAN SU N B E AR

SYRIAN BROWN BE AR

ANDE AN SPECTACLE D BE AR

It will come as no surprise that sun bears love catching a few rays. They climb the trees of Southeast Asia so they can stretch out and enjoy all that glorious sunshine. Some bears might wear bikinis, but the majority are bear-chested.

The Polish army enlisted one of these bears during WW2. Private Wojtek was so good at carrying crates of ammunition, that he was promoted to corporal. Wojtek remains the most highly decorated bear to ever bear arms.

These studious bears from South America love word play. A favourite joke is, ‘What’s the difference between a bear and a comma? One has claws at the end of its paws, the other’s a pause at the end of a clause’.

SLOTH BE AR

ASIAN MOON BE AR

POL AR BE AR

Baloo, from ‘The Jungle Book’, is a sloth bear.

He’s known for his love of snacking, taking it easy and for losing man-cubs. Misplacing things in the wilds of India is easy enough. After all, jungle is massive.

Before entering hibernation, moon bears will gorge themselves for weeks. Fruits, nuts, bugs and fish are all on the menu. They won’t stop eating until the need for sleep totally eclipses their need to eat, by which time they’re rather full moon bears.

Polar bears nap frequently, and will settle down to sleep under soft blankets of snow.

It’s important that these bears conserve their energy, especially in winter. They need to save their strength for breaking the ice at all those Christmas parties.

Butter-rich biscuits for children made with natural ingredients.

Four lovable characters that love adventures (and playing with icing pens).

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December 2021 | Vol.22 Issue 10

SNOW BEAR , CHOCOLATE BEAR , BANANA BEAR AND R ASPBERRY BEAR .

SHOP TALK

CODE OF PRACTICE

WHAT’S TRENDING NICK BAINES KEEPS YOU UP TO DATE WITH THE NEWEST DISHES, FLAVOURS AND INNOVATIONS IN FOOD & DRINK

Technical and regulatory advice from the Guild of Fine Food’s Assured Code of Practice for Deli Retailing This month we take a look at... storing cheese and cured meat at ambient temperatures

Some hard cheeses (e.g. Parmesan) and cured meat varieties (e.g. Serrano and Parma Ham) and also some varieties of fermented sausages (e.g. salami) are safe to display and store at ambient as they do not support the growth of food poisoning bacteria.

Normally this information should be provided by either the producer or the wholsaler. It could be delivered either in writing on a label or via verbal instructions.

Contact your supplier if the information you need is not included and ask for guidance.

The safety of ambient stable products relies on the acidity and/or the dryness of the product. For example, Parma Ham is very dry

Parma Ham is very dry and bacteria require water to grow

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and bacteria require water to grow.

If maturing or ripening cheese, there is a general exemption from the chill holding requirement for “food which must be ripened or matured at ambient temperatures, but not when the process of ripening or maturation is completed” (See Schedule 4 of The Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013).

The guide is available in PDF format and is free for Guild members. For non-members, it costs £250+VAT. To request a copy of the Code of Practice, or for further information, email support@gff.co.uk

INDUSTRY SURVEY: FACE MASKS As winter sets in and COVID case numbers are on the rise again in many areas of the country, consumer confidence remains low (YouGov), and so does mask-wearing. We polled retailers and retail experts for their thoughts on how they are approaching the subject...

“We originally saw a high uptake in mask wearing after the Government revoked the mandatory status, with around 95% wearing masks. As we hit November, this has undoubtedly dropped, though we still have a higher rate of ‘wearers’ than I see elsewhere, with still over 50% wearing masks. I appreciate many are thinking this is perhaps a time to feel ‘free’ before the full grip of winter, but we’ve yet to see a winter of COVID without restrictions, and the complacency is concerning.”

OLIVER STUBBINS, general manager, Welbeck Farm Shop & Harley Café, Notts I’ve seen a drop-off in mask wearing when I’ve been out and about, but in the deli, I think there’s a bit of reciprocal courtesy going on.

Because we still have social distancing in place, are wearing our visors and have our screens up, most of our customers put their masks on when they come

in. Not everyone does – and we don’t challenge them – but overall, they do. We’ll keep things the same, requesting but not demanding – in line with Government rules. It’s not on my staff to demand that of people.

VAL BERRY, owner, Haley & Clifford, Leeds Being flexible and able to adjust is the best thing retailers can be doing. Everybody’s personal circumstances are different so everyone will be looking at mask wearing and other precautions differently.

Help your team to adjust their behaviours accordingly by helping them to recognise the different types of customers.

If someone comes in wearing a mask, they may not be neurotic, they may have someone vulnerable at home. And while it may not be mandatory for staff to wear masks, if someone approaches the counter wearing one, then be flexible and have one to hand to make them feel safer.

LUCY KNIGHT, customer experience specialist, Insight 6

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Climatarianism Waitrose recently announced its food trend predictions for 2022. One that caught our attention was the move towards a ‘climatarian’ diet; making diet choices based on options that are kinder to the planet. This comes at a time when many have shifted to a plant-based diet, yet environmental concerns surrounding things like soy production and deforestation still loom large. Beyond provenance, climatarianism is set to shine a brighter light on production processes, transportation, preservation and storage.

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2 Reimagined ramen From heady bowls of Tonkotsu, pork based broths, to those built up with dashi and miso, steaming bowls of ramen have cemented themselves into the very fabric of UK fast-casual restaurants. Right now, there’s an influx of new vendors that have been fortifying London with reimagined ramen. Ramo Ramen blends Filipino staples with the famed Japanese noodle dish. Its Sinigang ramen uses a fish and tamarind broth, topping noodles with king prawns and chillies. Meanwhile, Menya Ramen House in Bloomsbury takes a Korean tilt with the fiery and fermented.

3 Net-zero spirits The carbon footprint of producing spirits has cast a big shadow over the drinks industry for some time.

However, many distilleries are taking broad steps towards carbon neutrality through land management, renewable energy and planting heritage grains. Bruichladdich, Scotland’s first B Corp distillery is embracing tidal and hydropower, while relative newcomer Nc’Nean has become the first UK net zero distillery producing an organic single malt whisky and an organic botanical spirit.

Vol.22 Issue 10 | December 2021

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01327 810370 sales@angelrefrigeration.co.uk www.angelrefrigeration.co.uk

Commercial Refrigeration for Specialist Cheese Producers & Retailers

Self Service Refrigerated Display Cheese ALL IN ONE Maturing Cabinet

Serve Over Counter

Assisted Service Refrigerated Display

'The right refrigeration to do the right job' 2

December 2021 | Vol.22 Issue 10

CHEESEWIRE

news and views from the cheese counter

Paxton & Whitfield doubles maturing capacity with new HQ

By Patrick McGuigan

Paxton & Whitfield has invested heavily in cutting-edge cheese maturing rooms as part of a move to new headquarters, which will more than double capacity for Britain’s oldest cheesemonger.

The company, which has three shops, plus online and wholesale businesses, has moved to new 10,000 sq ft premises in Bourton-on-theWater, Gloucestershire, which are twice the size of its previous HQ. The building has been designed from scratch to be a state-of-the-art cheese hub, with five maturing rooms and a central office with windows

looking onto the cheeses.

There is also a provision for a 5,000 sq ft expansion in the future.

MD James Rutter told FFD that strong growth over the past two years had meant the company’s previous premises at the same trading estate were “creaking at the seams”.

“It’s a big investment at the right time,” said Rutter.

“We saw double-digit growth last year with big growth in online, corporate and wholesale.

This gives us the platform to continue to build the business.”

The new maturing rooms, fitted by Capital Refrigeration Services, use a static coil system rather than fans, so the cheeses are gently cooled

The state-of-the-art 10,000 sq ft premises is not far from Paxton’s previous headquarters in Gloucestershire

without drying.

The hard cheese room is able to hold 450-600 truckles of cheddar, while there are also three soft cheese rooms set at different temperatures and humidities, plus a large cold store.

“The maturing rooms will allow us to work more closely with cheesemakers to ensure consistency, but also to help solve their storage problems,” said Rutter. “Cheesemakers often have a glut of milk in the summer when cheese sales are lower, so we can work with them on longer ageing cheeses, which are ready for the winter months.

“It will also allow us to develop new products that are unique to us and collaborate with retail and restaurant customers on bespoke products, washed in local ale or wine, for example.”

Paxton & Whitfield can trace its history back to 1742.

It was acquired in 2002 by entrepreneur Andrew Brownsword, who made his fortune in greetings cards and also owns hotels, including Gidleigh Park in Devon. The move represents the biggest investment in Paxton & Whitfield under Brownsword’s ownership, said Rutter. paxtonandwhitfield.co.uk

NEWS IN BRIEF

New research has found that workers at a salt mine in Austria were eating blue cheese up to 2,700 years ago – much earlier than the first blues were first thought have been created. Scientists made the discovery by analysing samples of human excrement found at the Hallstatt mine in the Alps.

St Helena A collaboration between cheesemakers Blake Bowden and Julie Cheyney of St Jude Cheese, St Helena is a new semisoft washed rind cheese with a buttery paste that is similar in style to SaintNectaire. Made with raw Montbeliarde cows’ milk on Fen Farm in Suffolk, the rind has a mottled, dusky appearance, while the interior is full of warm milky flavours and earthy notes from the rind.

Cider There’s a comforting dairy sweetness to St Helena, tinged with a gently funky flavour from the rind, which lends itself beautifully to cider. Blake Bowden recommends a medium cider – the slightly sweeter profile matches up with the milky cheese, but there’s also enough body to stand up to the washed rind. Try Pilton Keeved Cider, which uses wild yeasts and a process called keeving to create a naturally sweet, lightly sparkling cider with a cleansing astringency.

Toastie St Helena is a great melter, turning silky and gooey when heated. Try it molten and oozing on potatoes or as a Reblochon substitute in tartiflette. It also works well in a toastie, as demonstrated by local Bungay coffee shop Front Room, which melts the cheese with spinach and red onion jam.

Smoked ham, a dab of mustard and a few sliced cornichons work equally well.

Cheesemonger Ned Palmer has followed up his best-selling book A Cheesemonger’s History of the British Isles with a new guide.

A Cheesemonger’s Compendium of British & Irish Cheese covers 150 different cheeses.

Reaseheath College in Nantwich, which has been training dairy students since 1921, celebrated 100 years of cheesemaking in October with apprentice dairy technologists developing a unique Reaseheath 100 Cheshire cheese.

THREE WAYS WITH...

A Comté-style cheese made by a Frenchman on a farm in Cork was named Supreme Champion at the 2021 Irish Cheeses Awards, organised by Cáis, the association of Irish farmhouse cheesemakers.

Templegall, created by Jean-Baptiste Enjelvin (pictured) at Hegarty’s Cheese near Cork City, is made in 40kg wheels with raw cows’ milk and is aged for at least nine months.

Peanuts The bulging texture of St Helena calls for crunch when it comes to accompaniments.

Pickles with bite and acidity contrast nicely, but peanuts also provide a good counterpoint to the yielding texture of the cheese. Unsalted are best, emphasising a subtle nuttiness, while also working with its creaminess.

Vol.22 Issue 10 | December 2021

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CHEESEWIRE

news and views from the cheese counter

Irish Porter cheddar-maker Cahill’s goes into liquidation

BEHIND THE COUNTER TIPS OF THE TRADE Oli Smith, The Bristol Cheesemonger, Bristol,

By Patrick McGuigan

One of Ireland’s oldest cheesemakers, known around the world for its Irish Porterand whiskey-flavoured cheeses, has gone into liquidation.

Limerick-based Cahill’s Farm Cheese, which can trace its history back to the 1860s, went into voluntary liquidation on 11th October following an Extraordinary General Meeting.

The family company, which employed 20 people at its premises in Newcastle West, expanded significantly in the 2000s as demand for its flavoured cheddars grew in countries including the UK, the US and Canada.

In July, the company initiated a recall for 33 batches of cheese because of possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination.

Products including Cahill’s Original Irish Porter Cheddar and cheeses flavoured with Irish Whiskey, Red Wine and Irish Cream Liqueur were recalled in Ireland, the UK, the US and Canada, affecting retailers including Whole Foods

CHEESE IN PROFILE with Taleggio PDO What’s the story?

Taleggio PDO has a long history, in fact some say it could be one of the oldest soft cheeses, with trading documents dating back to the 13th Century.

It is native to the Taleggio Valley in the Bergamo

The Limerick firm’s most famous product was its Irish Porter Cheddar but it produced a variety of flavour-added cheeses

Market, Tesco and Lidl, plus independent delis, farm shops and cheesemongers.

Investigations identified a single piece of equipment in the company’s facility as the potential source of the issue, which was immediately removed from the production line. The company said in its recall notices that all products manufactured since that point had tested fully clear.

The Cahill family first farmed in Limerick in the 1860s, with cheesemaking started by William and Hannah

Province of Northern Italy’s Lombardy Region, where farmers would use the milk from the cows returning from their summer Alpine pastures.

Nowadays, its PDO status allows production in the Veneto and Piedmont Regions, where large-scale dairies with year-round operations sit alongside the smaller farmhouses that use more traditional methods.

Milk: Cows’ milk, either unpasteurised or

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December 2021 | Vol.22 Issue 10

Cahill in 1957.

Their son David Cahill and his wife Marian developed a range of flavoured cheddars in 1982. The business was run by the fourth generation of the family when it went into liquidation. In 2017, it was reported that turnover stood at €3m with exports accounting for 70% of sales.

FFD contacted the Dublinbased liquidator, David Colleran of Colleran Chartered Accountants, for further details, but he did not respond before going to press.

Space is at a premium at the Bristol Cheesemonger, which is housed in a refrigerated shipping container at Bristol’s Wapping Wharf.

Less can be more, however, with all four walls lined with cheese to create an impressive display. The cheeses also keep better in a small space, says co-owner Oli Smith, who took over the shop two months ago with his wife Jenny Howell. “It’s small, but if you put enough cheeses in one place, they start regulating themselves.”

Pre-pandemic, customers would fill the space to create a convivial atmosphere, but the shop currently sets a limit of one at a time. “It’s quite challenging, but we’ve moved the shop around so that we can be more efficient,” says Smith. “Once we’ve cut the cheese, we always rewrap the original piece and put it back on display. That way we’re ready to serve the next person.” bristol-cheese.co.uk

several times and salting by hand or with brine. Each cheese is washed every 7 days to prevent an overgrowth of mould.

pasteurised depending on the cheesemaker.

How is it made?

The newly-formed curd (produced with animal rennet) is separated twice, which helps produce a denser consistency, and is then poured into the signature square moulds.

The ageing, on wooden planks, lasts for around 35 days and involves turning

Appearance & texture: The characteristic soft, pinkish rind develops mottled, grey or sage-green blooms over time, giving way to a dense, velvety paste.

The rich, buttery tones of Taleggio PDO develop into a fruity finish with a strong, meaty aroma, becoming more intense with age.

Variations: None.

Cheesemonger tip: A chunk of Taleggio can easily take pride of place on a cheese board, accompanied by some crusty bread. It is also the perfect shape for slicing into sandwiches or a baguette.

Chef’s recommendation: Taleggio is perfect for cooking with, it melts beautifully over pizza, pasta or simple roasted vegetables. Lombardians typically serve it with the local sparkling wine, but it pairs well with any light red or white, particularly from a Pinot Noir grape.

There are a number of ways you can study Level 1 & 2 Academy of Cheese courses; online as self-study eLearning, interactive virtual classes or traditional classes at a venue. academyofcheese.org

NO HALF MEASURES. UNLESS IT’S FONDUE YOU’RE SHARING. GRUYERE.COM

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December 2021 | Vol.22 Issue 10

Proud winners at The Guild of Fine Foods World Cheese Awards for our Blue Stilton (Super Gold) & Aged Rutland Red (Gold) ®

@ClawsonDairyltd

@ClawsonDairy

@LongClawsonDairy

www.clawson.co.uk

GIVE YOUR FESTIVE CHEESEBOARD A TOUCH OF LUXURY For sales enquiries, contact: sales@snowdonia-cheese.co.uk

BEST BRITISH CHEESE BR AND as voted by the Fine Food Digest Survey 2020-21

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Seaweed Oatcakes from the Isle of Lewis www.stagbakeries.co.uk

CHEESEWIRE

news and views from the cheese counter

In the first month after COVID, I took £90. I couldn’t carry on like that.

Back from the brink The pandemic nearly saw off Hamm Tun Fine Foods. But Northamptonshire’s only artisan cheesemaker proved too resourceful to go down.

Interview by Patrick McGuigan

CHEESEMAKER GARY BRADSHAW has just finished a 14-hour day but is still full of energy. The owner of Hamm Tun Fine Foods in Northamptonshire has had a day off from making cheese to help his wife Rachael open a farm shop and cafe at hotel and spa Whittlebury Park.

It’s the second shop they have opened, joining the original deli in Long Buckby, and Bradshaw is on a high, explaining how they will have more than 30 British cheeses on the counter, with his Cobbler’s Nibble and Northamptonshire Blue taking pride of place.

Getting to this happy point has been far from easy. A year ago, it looked like Bradshaw might be forced to give up cheesemaking.

“Covid almost finished me,” he admits. “The last two years have felt like a long time.”

Named after the Saxon name for Northampton, Hamm Tun Fine Foods was set up by Bradshaw in 2013, while his wife opened the first Hamm Tun Deli in 2019.

The cheesemaking business grew by supplying restaurants and hotels, plus Towcester Racecourse and Silverstone, with Bradshaw moving to new premises at the start of 2020. He had just finished a £30k fit-out when COVID struck and 85% of his business was wiped out. “In the first month after COVID, I took £90,” he says. “It was clear that I couldn’t carry on like that.”

Bradshaw was swift to react. He scaled

back production and sold through the deli and deliveries, but it still wasn’t enough to cover the rent. By December 2020, the business was in serious trouble, so Bradshaw took the unusual step of crowd-funding to raise capital and let people know the only cheesemaker in Northamptonshire was in danger of disappearing. In return for donations, he offered tote bags, T-shirts and boxes of cheese.

His plight was quickly picked up by local celebrities, including food writer William Sitwell, who highlighted Hamm Tun’s troubles in an article and podcast for The Telegraph.

Reverend Richard Coles also got on board, urging his 420,000 Twitter followers to back the scheme. “We went from £1,000 to £7,500 in six hours after he tweeted,” says Bradshaw.

The exposure helped the business raise more than £12,500 in two months, which pulled it through the dark days of January and February. Around 280 cheese boxes were sent out to supporters in March. The other thing that saved the company was the separate retail business, which ironically saw sales rocket during lockdown. The deli’s success is part of the reason why the couple has taken on the second site. “I was so reliant on foodservice that it makes sense to develop other markets, like our own shops and delivering to retailers.”

The strategy is working, with Hamm Tun back up to producing around 160kg of cheese a week, split between Northamptonshire Blue, Little Bertie and Cobbler’s Nibble. In the runup to Christmas, that figure has doubled again and there are plans to increase production to an average 350kg a week and work with national wholesalers.

“It amazed me how supportive the public was,” says Bradshaw. “We had people donating £5 or £10 to the crowd funder who didn’t want anything in return. They just wanted to help.”

CROSS

SECTION

Northamptonshire Blue 1 A semi-soft, 3kg blue, Northamptonshire Blue is made with raw Jersey milk and is aged for five to six weeks, during which time it develops a natural rind.

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2 The rich, golden milk has been particularly beneficial for Northamptonshire Blue, giving it a sunset tinge and moist, flaky texture.

The cheese becomes softer around the blue veins and underneath the rind as it matures, while the flavour is rich and lingering, taking in double cream, fruity and boozy notes.

Bradshaw switched milk supplier last year, from a farm with Friesian cows to Brackley-based Barnowl Jerseys, and found the increased fat content (6% compared to 4%) tricky to manage at first, especially in the crumbly Cobbler’s Nibble. But by adjusting the temperature, cut of the curd and amount of starter cultures, the cheeses have quickly found their stride.

hammtunfinefoods.co.uk

Vol.22 Issue 10 | December 2021

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PROMOTIONAL FEATURE

Castile & León

Eyes on the prize Castile & León’s cheesemakers won a string of medals at the World Cheese Awards, demonstrating the Spanish region’s diversity, innovation and commitment to quality IT’S A TOUGH job to impress a World Cheese Awards judge. From cheesemongers and cheesemakers to food writers and chefs, the people picked to judge the best cheeses in the world are experts in their field, with a keen eye for detail and uncompromising standards.

So it’s remarkable that at last month’s World Cheese Awards in Oviedo, Asturias, more than 40 cheeses from Castile & León in Northern Spain were recognised with awards when blind tasted by the expert judges. Bronze, Silver, Gold and Super Gold awards rained down on the region’s cheesemakers, confirming Castile & León’s place as one of the world’s most important cheese destinations.

What’s particularly interesting about the results is that, while protected cheeses such as Zamorano and Valdeón performed well, there were also big wins for innovative, modern cheeses.

Super Gold medal-winning La Reserva from Valladolid-based Entrepinares is a good example.

A hard cheese made with a mix of cows’, sheep’s

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and goats’ milk, it is aged for more than 20 months – much longer than traditional varieties.

“There are a wide range of traditional cheeses in Spain; one of them is the mixed milk cheese,” says export manager Mario Flecha García. “But we decided to create a unique cheese with an unmistakable flavor – intense, slightly sweet, sour and salty with aromas of toffee. Controlled maturation for over 20 months and sourcing milk from specially selected farms, makes this a revolutionary concept for cheese in Spain.”

Another original, but very different Super Gold winner was a fresh goats’ cheese flavoured with honey. Made by Lácteas Cobreros in Zamora, the Oh My Cheese Goat’s Cheese Roll is soft, fresh and flavoured with honey, which gives a delicate sweetness.

The final cheesemaker from Castile & León to take Super Gold was Cañarejal in Pollos for its distinctive Cremoso cheese – a super runny torta-style sheep’s milk cheese, made with cardoon rennet. The company, which is run by the Santos family, also won a Bronze medal for its

Mantecoso cheese.

“It’s a great satisfaction that a family business is recognized for its work with awards,” says company spokeswoman Nuria Alonso López.

“Cremoso is a very different product from what is on the market, due to its rind and its nuances.”

Beyond the impact on sales, winning awards also puts a spring in the step of the cheesemaker, providing validation and welcome recognition for their hard work. Joaquín Manchado, whose Moncedillo Original cheese won a Gold medal last month, says: “The reaction to winning is one of joy, but with your feet on the ground. The judges valued our cheese and that drives you and excites you.”

Moncedillo Original is made in Cedillo de la Torre, Segovia, with raw milk from the native Churra breed of sheep, which is collected from a single farm. The 450g cheeses are not pressed and are matured for 40 days, developing a pretty blue rind. The texture is elastic and smooth with a lactic flavour and notes of malted cereal, hay and toasted nuts.

Showcasing the quality of Castile & Leon’s sheep’s milk is also a key consideration of La Moldera Real, a cheesemaker in Santiago Millas, which won Gold for its semi-curado Pata de Mulo La Trashumancia cheese. The company has pioneered the renaissance of Pata de Mulo (‘mule’s leg’ cheeses) since 1984 when cheesemaker Pedro Quiñones first revived production of this cylindrical queso, which has a long history. He uses raw sheep’s milk from his own farm to create a buttery and tangy flavour that is as unique as the cheese’s unusual shape.

While appearance, body and aroma are important when judges are assessing cheeses at the awards, it is flavour that is the crucial criteria when it comes to awarding a medal. Cheeses with complex and balanced flavours tend to score highly.

At Queserías Del Tiétar in Ávila, which makes Monte Enebro, a lactic, ashed goats’ cheese, the company has spent years refining and perfecting the visual and organoleptic qualities of its cheese, which helps explain why it received Gold last month.

“We believe this award was achieved thanks to the cheese’s appearance, smell, that flawless whiteness in the cut, and especially, its flavour and creamy texture,” says owner Paloma Báez.

“Its creaminess, its lactic-acidic and mushroom aroma, as well as that long aftertaste from the rind, which contributes to an intense and slightly spicy flavour.”

Flavour is also a preoccupation for Quesos Cerrato in Palencia, which has created a new

sheep’s and cows’ milk cheese called Cerrato Umami. Aged for eight months to encourage intense savoury notes, the cheese won a Gold at last month’s awards. “It has an intense flavour where the umami flavour stands out, accompanied by notes of sweet nuts, which offers a very round bouquet,” says marketing manager Víctor Caña.

The simple flavours of fresh cheeses can also catch a judge’s attention, if the cheese is flawless and manages to express the quality of the milk.

There are few simpler than Requesón – a Spanish whey cheese made in a similar way to Ricotta.

Low in fat and high in protein, the fresh cheese is deceptively uncomplicated in flavour with delicate dairy notes. Quesería La Antigua, which won a Gold for its Requesón, uses whey left over from the production of hard sheep’s milk cheeses – a practice that has taken place for generations.

“For the team at Quesería La Antigua, our Requesón is a tribute to our parents’ and grandparents’ shepherding history,” says Eva López, marketing manager. “It is healthy and natural, it is traditional and it has history.”

Sheep’s milk cheeses from Quesería Montequesos in Villanubla, near Valladolid, were also recognised by the judges with two Gold medals for the company’s Viejo and Selección-24 cheeses. The hard cheeses are made with milk from Churra sheep and are aged for 14 months and 24 months, respectively, until nutty and spicy. The company also won silver and bronze for two other cheeses, proving there is something about the combination of the milk and terroir

of Castile & León that is irresistible to World Cheese Awards judges.

Montequesos’ co-owner Abel Ramos Martinez is certainly delighted with the results.

“These awards give us an immense joy to see that the work that we do with so much affection is valued by others,” he says. entrepinares.es lacteascobreros.com canarejal.es moncedillo.com lamolderareal.com queseriasdeltietar.com quesoscerrato.com queserialaantigua.com queseriamontequesos.com www.jcyl.es For more information, contact: promocion.ice@jcyl.es

CASTILE & LEÓN WORLD CHEESE AWARDS WINNERS SUPER GOLD

Oh My Cheese Rulo De Cabra Miel, Lácteas Cobreros Cañarejal Cremoso, Cañarejal La Reserva, Queserías Entrepinares

GOLD

Montequesos Viejo, Montequesos Selección 24, Quesería Montequesos Moncedillo Original, Quesos Moncedillo Queso Umami Cerrato, Quesos Cerrato Pata De Mulo Semicurado, La Moldera Real La Antigua Requeson, Gestion Agro Ganadera/La Antigua De Fuentesaúco Monte Enebro, Queserías Del Tiétar

SILVER

Queso Muzientes Curado, Queso Muzientes Añejo Granja, Quesería Artesanal De Mucientes Pata Mulo, Queso De Oveja Con Boletus, Servilleta De Cabra, Rueda Cheesemonger Musgo De Capra, Musgo Lavado, Barraqueño, Quesos Elvira García Hacienda Zorita Queso Cabra, Hacienda Zorita Queso Oveja Vino, Hacienda Zorita Farma Food Oveja Semicurado, Fresco Vaca Tradicional, Industrias Lácteas San Vicente Peña Amaya, Queso Semicurado De Oveja, Hermanos Sadornil Castrillo Pataoveja, Quesería Montequesos Zamorano DOP Curado El Pastor, Quesos El Pastor Cerrato 60-40, Quesos Cerrato Oveja Curado Marcos Cond, Queserías De Zamora

La Antigua Tartufo, Gestion Agro Ganadera/La Antigua De Fuentesaúco Queso Cremoso Pago Los Vivales, Baltasar Moralejo E Hijos Valdeon, Queserías Picos De Europa Queso Mezcla Intenso, Valle De San Juan Palencia Queso Oveja Curado, Quesos Ilbesa Cremoso De Oveja Manzer, Industrias Lácteas Manzano Iberico Blended Cheese, Quesos Revilla Señorio De Montelarreina, Lácteas CastellanoLeónesas Oh My Cheese Rulo De Cabra Con Flores, Lácteas Cobreros

BRONZE

Torozo Curado, Quejigo Curado, Quejigo Semicurado, Quesería Las Cortas Molino Real DOP Zamorano, Oveja Añejo Marcos Conde, Queserías De Zamora Queso Oveja Ahumado, Queso Oveja Viejo, Valle De San Juan Palencia Queso Viejo De Oveja, Queso Viejo De Oveja Con Trufa, Lácteas Zamoro Queso Oveja Artesano, Queso Oveja Semicurado, Gabino Perez Añejo Campoveja, Trufado Campoveja, Herederos De Felix Sanz Queso Viejo, Queso Curado, El Pilar Queso Semicurado Mezcla Lagunilla, Queso Viejo Mezcla La Olmeda, Quesos Lagunilla Goat Log With Pineapple, Oveja Curado Castellano, Oveja Añejo Castellano, Quesos El Pastor Oh My Cheese Rulo De Cabra Con Semillas, Perlas

De Cabra Rellenas De Limon, Perlas De Cabra Rellenas De Cerezas, Natural De Cabra Precortado, Lácteas Cobreros Fortín De Capra, Canto Viejo, Luna Roja, Quesos Elvira García Pago Los Vivales Burgundy Label - Old, Pago Los Vivales Green Label - Semi Cured, Baltasar Moralejo E Hijos La Paisana Del Esla Semicurado, Sociedad Cooperativa Vegaesla Queso Curado, Quesos Quevedo Queso Pata De Mulo La Cruz Del Pobre, Hijos De Eulalio Escarda Queso Oveja Añejo, Quesos Ilbesa Queso Oveja Añejo, Industrias Lácteas Manzano Queso Para Untar Con Finas Hierbas Reny Picot, Queso Para Untar Reny Picot, Queso Carvel De Mezcla Semicurado, Lácteas Castellano-Leónesas Vellon De Fuentesauco DOP Zamorano Añejo, Gestion Agro Ganadera/La Antigua De Fuentesaúco Montequesos Curado, Quesería Montequesos Mezcla Curado, Industrias Lácteas San Vicente Señorío De Amaya, Hermanos Sadornil Castrillo Queso Tierno El Zarzal, La Campesinita Canal Especial Leche Cruda, Grupo Quesos Canal Queso Curado Hernández García, Quesos Hernández García Consorcio Promocion Del Ovino, Consorcio De Promoción Del Ovino S.Coop Queso Reserva, Quesería Laurus Queso De Oveja De Leche Cruda Con Dos Cuajos Animal Y Vegetal, Quesería Quesoncala Cañarejal Mantecoso, Cañarejal Vol.22 Issue 10 | December 2021

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WORLD CHEESE AWARDS 2021-22

Worth the wait More than 4,000 cheeses. Some 230 judges jetting in from all over the globe. A breath-taking venue. And a very worthy artisan winner from the home nation.

After a two-year hiatus, the World Cheese Awards returned in November to the Spanish city of Oviedo. Here’s what happened.

Report by Michael Lane Judging photography by Julián Rus García

HAVING BEEN MORE than two years in the making, the 2021-22 World Cheese Awards was always going to be eagerly anticipated but it certainly delivered on all fronts.

Organised by the Guild of Fine Food, the Awards’ 33rd edition took place in a picturesque host city – Oviedo in the northern Spanish region of Asturias – and was held in an architectural marvel of a building. What’s more, there was a record number of cheeses (4,000-plus) entered and the most geographically diverse set of judges ever assembled. And, in customary fashion, the destination of the World Champion trophy came down to the very last cheese to be tasted on the day.

When a soft, mould-ripened goats’ cheese

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December 2021 | Vol.22 Issue 10

was brought out on stage at just after 5:30pm on 4th November, there was notable excitement from the Spanish contingent watching in the auditorium at Oviedo’s Palacio de Exposiciones y Congresos.

This was the final cheese to be judged during the very last session of the day – where the expert Super Jury tastes and scores the Top 16 cheeses – after the main judging session had been held during the morning alongside the Asturias Paraíso Natural International Cheese Festival. And this unique specimen from the home nation’s southern region of Andalusia also proved to be the best.

Despite its distinctive square shape and the unique layer of olive stone ash that runs through its paste, Olavidia is a more subtle

cheese on the palate than some of its other fellow Top 16 cheeses. That did not deter the final panel of experts, which included judges from France, Italy, Sweden, Ukraine, India and Japan. It was actually a UK-based judge, Jason Hinds of Neal’s Yard Dairy, who presented the cheese to the panel and extolled its virtues.

“This is unlike anything I’ve seen before,” he told his peers and the audience. “Its appearance is so original and it didn’t let me down. It’s unctuous, seductive, pillowy, warm and comforting.”

Hinds’ fellow judges agreed, with many offering the maximum score of 7 points, and Olavidia registered the top score of 103.

While other Spaniards in the room were shouting “Vamos” and applauding loudly,

The full results of the day are available at gff.co.uk/wca – where you can also view footage from the day’s judging.

WCA IN NUMBERS The 33rd World Cheese Awards saw a record-breaking 4,079 entries (7.2% increase on previous record set in 2019) from

45 different countries, including

Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Estonia, Japan, Mexico, Ukraine and the USA as well as the UK and Europe.

These entries were assembled across

88 tables in a dedicated area at Asturias Paraíso Natural International Cheese Festival, in partnership with the Instituto

one couple in the middle rows of seats were.

Silvia Peláez and Paco Romero are the couple responsible for what had just become the Best Cheese in the World. Rather appropriately given that one judge had said the cheese had “stolen his heart”, their operation is called Quesos y Besos (‘Cheese and Kisses’) – and it has only been going since 2017.

Peláez later recounted the surreal experience of being in the room as their cheese won to FFD (read the full interview on page 28) “We were having a relaxing day,” she said.

“We suddenly decided to leave our stand at the Festival and go to the auditorium just to check. We were very happy because we knew that two of our cheeses were awarded

del Queso, the Principality of Asturias and

SuperGold, so we were happy enough with that.”

Peláez added that when they saw that the other cheeses they were up against in the Top 16 were so strong in profile and flavour, like Gorgonzola and Parmigiano Reggiano, they had not expected to win the trophy.

Until Olavidia took the title, it had looked like another particularly potent cheese – an Epoisses made by Fromagerie Berthaut – would be crowned champion but the classic French washed rind ended up in second place with a score of 98.

Just one point behind in third place was a blue-veined goats’ milk tomme from Dutch CONTINUED ON PAGE 24

the City Council of Oviedo.

The entries were then tasted, assessed and scored during a two-and-a-half-hour morning session by

230 experts from

38 different countries, to determine

whether they were worthy of one of four awards.

1450 entries achieved an award this year: 88 Super Golds, 316 Golds, 591 Silvers, 747 Bronzes.

Full results at gff.co.uk/wca Vol.22 Issue 10 | December 2021

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WORLD CHEESE AWARDS 2021-22 MAJOR WINNERS BEST LATIN AMERICAN CHEESE

Kabry Sierra Encantada sierra-encantada.com

BEST SMOKED CHEESE

NEXT YEAR… …KYIV The 34th World Cheese Awards will take place in Kyiv, Ukraine. It will be staged in partnership with Ardis Group in November 2022. More details will be announced soon at gff.co.uk/wca

Queso Puro de Oveja Al Pimentón Ahumado con Toque Picante De La Huz Grimaldos Industrias Lacteas S.L lahuzgourmet.com

BEST SOUTH AFRICAN CHEESE

Mature Gruberg Klein River Cheese kleinrivercheese.co.za

BEST NORWEGIAN CHEESE

Dovre Ysteri Norsk Camembert TINE SA tine.no

BEST SCOTTISH CHEESE

Arran Brie The Island Cheese Company, Isle of Arran Cheese arranscheeseshop.co.uk

HOW THE JUDGING WORKS Judges work in teams of two to three, identifying any cheeses worthy of a Bronze, Silver or Gold award. They assess the look, feel, smell and taste of each entry, scoring aspects such as the appearance of the rind and paste, as well as the cheese’s aroma, body and texture, with the majority of points awarded for flavour and mouthfeel.

Each team then nominates one exceptional cheese as the Super Gold from their table. These cheeses are the best in the world and are judged a second time by the Super Jury of 16 internationally recognised experts, who each select a cheese to champion in the final round of judging.

The Super Jury, representing all four corners of the globe, then debates the final 16 in front of a live consumer and trade audience, before choosing the World Champion Cheese live on WCA TV. 24

December 2021 | Vol.22 Issue 10

producer Van der Heiden Kaas.

The Top 16 was especially eclectic this year with cheeses from Austria, Hungary and Sweden, competing with more famous nations like Italy, France and the Netherlands.

The UK featured twice, with Trethowan’s Pitchfork Cheddar and its Gorwydd Caerphilly both in the final, alongside a second cheese from Quesos y Besos (the soft Camembeso) and most curiously of all, there was a Japanese blue called Hisui (‘Jade’) that made the cut too.

These elite cheeses were not the only winners but the end result of an intensive day of tasting and scoring, which began with some 250 cheese professionals from 38 different nations being piped into the judging area by a traditional Asturian band.

The first challenge was for these judges, working in small teams, to make their way through a record-breaking number of entries – 4,079 cheeses sourced from 45 countries – divided across 88 tables.

Every single cheese was tasted and scored with cheeses receiving either a Gold, Silver, Bronze, or no award, while every judging table nominated a Super Gold cheese to progress to the final judging sessions conducted by a Super Jury of 16 experts.

Each member of the jury picked one cheese to champion in a final session of

tasting and scoring in front of a large audience – both live and via World Cheese Awards TV. John Farrand, managing director of the Guild of Fine Food, organisers of the World Cheese Awards, said: “As the World Cheese Awards was founded over three decades ago to showcase the work of small artisan cheesemakers, it gives me immense pleasure to see a tiny family-run cheesemaking business taking top honours once again.

“It’s an incredible feat to stand out in a field of over 4,000 cheeses from every corner of the world, but Quesos y Besos’ Olavidia clearly had everything; delivering an exceptional appearance, aroma, texture and flavour, along with bags of originality.

“I’d also like to thank our judges and our partners, the Asturias Paraíso Natural International Cheese Festival, for helping us to stage the World Cheese Awards once again, giving the global cheese community a day of well-earned celebration following a period of such challenges, uncertainty, resilience and innovation.”

This year’s competition was hosted by the Asturias Paraíso Natural International Cheese Festival, held on 3rd-6th November and run by the Instituto del Queso in partnership with the Principality of Asturias and the City Council of Oviedo. gff.co.uk/wca

Looking for fresh inspiration?

SEE WORLD LEADING PRODUCTS FROM MEVALCO - THE HOME OF FINE SPANISH FOODS Hola! Here at Mevalco, we are proud of our unique and carefully sourced product range which includes over 600 lines of inspirational and prime quality Spanish products.

Just one example of how we stand out from the crowd – we are the exclusive UK supplier of Olavidia Quesos y Besos, which has just been voted the World’s Best Cheese! You may like to consider offering this delicious and highly sought-after goat’s cheese to your own customers – and it makes for a great marketing story to attract attention too!

Our range is extensive. For over 15 years, we have been importing products that have been sustainably sourced from artisan producers across Spain.

Only the very best products fit our criteria, whether olives, roasted peppers, amazing seafoods including octopus, gambas, and boquerones, not forgetting the lamb and beef which is grown high up in the mountains with unique flavour and bought by many chefs across the world’s best dining establishments.

We believe our hams and chorizo are the best in the world and our Ibérico pork is outstanding.

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MEVALCO – the home of innovative and inspirational ingredients and products Vol.22 Issue 10 | December 2021

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www.guentenspergercheese.com

Enjoy excellence – enjoy Güntensperger swiss quality cheese.

The best cheese in the world is a very controversial topic that can be debated for hours between friends. Thankfully, the World Cheese Awards, held in Oviedo, Spain, in November 2021, settled the matter with an official ranking.

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December 2021 | Vol.22 Issue 10

The competition had over 4,000 entrants representing 45 countries from six continents. The Güntensperger’s «Red Devil extra» is one of only three swiss cheeses awarded with the highest grade «super gold».

WORLD CHEESE AWARDS 2021-22 BRINDISA FOUNDER HONOURED WITH EXCEPTIONAL CONTRIBUTION TROPHY The World Cheese Awards weren’t the only thing celebrating their 33rd year, so was the founder of UK-based Spanish food wholesaler and retailer Brindisa.

Monika Linton received the trophy for Exceptional Contribution for Cheese while in Oviedo as a judge.

Linton is credited with creating a thriving market for Spanish cheeses in the UK and her unwavering efforts in championing artisan food producers, even despite the challenges of lockdown and the pandemic.

Linton read Spanish & Latin American Studies at University College London, and then taught English in Catalonia. Inspired by the ingredients she found in Spain, she set up Brindisa on a shoestring, supported by her family.

Three decades later, she now oversees Brindisa’s distribution and retail operations, as well as six Brindisa Kitchens – employing more 220 people and listing more than 50 Spanish cheeses at any one time.

Linton said: “This prize means so much to me personally and professionally. For more than 30 years, Brindisa people: staff, customers and makers have worked tirelessly to give the cheeses of Spain the profile and appreciation that they deserve. I believe that we led the way in the ‘90s at a time when the world wasn’t ready for Spanish cheese nor were makers comfortable selling beyond their borders. We stuck to our guns searching for cheeses that would hook in buyers and consumers. What Spain is now producing is world class.” brindisa.com

GORWYDD CAERPHILLY LEADS SUCCESSFUL BRITISH CONTINGENT Gorwydd Caerphilly made by the Trethowan Brothers in North Somerset has been named Best British Cheese, sponsored by Savencia Fromage & Dairy, at the World Cheese Awards. Taking 7th place overall in this year’s competition, the traditional, organic raw cows’ milk territorial cheese was joined in the Top 16 by the cheesemaker’s Pitchfork Vintage Cheddar.

This is the second World Cheese Awards in a row that Trethowan’s has achieved this double.

Owners Todd and Maugan Trethowan said: “This is our 25th year of making Gorwydd Caerphilly. It has been our life’s work and we have put our heart and soul into it, so for it to be recognised as the Best British Cheese by such an esteemed group of judges means the world to us. It’s great that the complexities of these more subtle cheeses are rewarded.

We think that our organic, unpasteurised milk promotes a fuller and more rounded depth of flavour.”

Other trophies went to Arran Brie from The Island Cheese Company (Best Scottish Cheese) and Trefaldwyn Blue from Trefaldwyn Cheese (Best Welsh Cheese). In total, British cheesemakers won 15 Gold, 24 Silver and 41 Bronze awards. There were also 8 British Super Golds (see left).

MAJOR WINNERS BEST LE GRUYÈRE CHEESE

Le Gruyère AOP Premier Cru Cremo SA cremo.ch

BEST AUSTRALIAN CHEESE

Oak Blue Berrys Creek Gourmet Cheese berryscreekcheese.com

BEST WELSH CHEESE

Trefaldwyn Blue Trefaldwyn Cheese trefaldwyn-cheese.com

BEST FRENCH CHEESE

Epoisses Berthaut Perrière Savencia Fromage & Dairy savencia-fromagedairy.com

BEST ITALIAN CHEESE

Gorgonzola Dolce DOP Caseificio Brusati Caseificio Brusati caseificiobrusati.it

BEST SPANISH CHEESE

Olavidia Quesos y Besos quesosybesos.es

BRITISH SUPER GOLDS Cropwell Bishop Creamery – Blue Stilton Half Harvey & Brockless – Trufflyn Goats Cheese Trethowan’s Dairy – Pitchfork Cheddar Trethowan’s Dairy – Gorwydd Caerphilly Long Clawson Dairy – Blue Stilton Village Maid Cheese – Spenwood Shepherds Purse – Buffalo Blue Shepherds Purse – Harrogate Blue

THE ANN-MARIE DYAS AWARD FOR BEST ARTISAN CHEESE

Baracska semi-hard cheese Csíz Sajtműhely Kft csizsajtmuhely.hu

Vol.22 Issue 10 | December 2021

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WORLD CHEESE AWARDS 2021-22 MAJOR WINNERS BEST JAPANESE CHEESE

Meet the World Champion

Hisui Atelier de Fromage a-fromage.co.jp

BEST BRITISH CHEESE

Gorwydd Caerphilly Trethowan’s Dairy trethowansdairy.co.uk

BEST UNPASTEURISED CHEESE

Vorarlberger Bergkäse über 10 Monate Dorfsennerei Schlins-Röns und Umgebung eGen dorfsennerei.at

BEST NEW CHEESE

Barely two weeks after its striking goats’ milk cheese took the globe by storm, maker Quesos y Besos speaks to FFD about its origins in Andalusia, what makes its products unique and, of course, how the world-famous Olavidia is made.

By Michael Lane

Postel Reserve NV Fromunion-Kaasmakerij Passendale ilovecheese.be

BEST AMERICAN CHEESE

Queen Bee Porcini Beehive Cheese Company beehivecheese.com

BEST FEMALE CHEESEMAKER

Olavidia Quesos y Besos quesosybesos.es

BEST SCA MEMBER CHEESE

Gorwydd Caerphilly Trethowan’s Dairy trethowansdairy.co.uk

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December 2021 | Vol.22 Issue 10

WHENEVER A WORLD CHAMPION

cheesemaker is in the room to witness their creation win one of the most coveted prizes in cheese, emotions run high. Surrounded by the cheers from a home crowd in the auditorium at Oviedo’s Palacio de Exposiciones y Congresos and swamped by photographers, Silvia Peláez and her husband Paco Romero seemed calmer than some previous recipients but the triumph has certainly affected them.

“It’s something that we’re going to carry in our hearts forever,” Peláez tells FFD nearly a fortnight after their square-shaped, soft, goats’ milk cheese – featuring a distinctive layer of ash – beat more than 4,000 cheeses to the trophy at the 33rd World Cheese Awards. “We don’t think there’s any experience that can match it in our lives.”

Given some of its competitors in the Top 16 at the Awards – including a Parmigiano Reggiano, a Gorgonzola Dolce, an Epoisses and several Gouda-style cheeses – even Peláez herself was shocked that a more subtle and non-traditional cheese like Olavidia was deemed the best cheese on the planet.

And this victory is all the more remarkable given that this small operation, called Quesos y Besos (‘cheese and kisses’) has only been in existence since 2017 in the small town of Guarromán on the northern edge of Andalusia.

When it was first set up by the couple back then, global acclaim was the least of their concerns. Like many food start-ups, Quesos y Besos came to be because Peláez and Romero had become jaded with nearly two decades of working in the chemical engineering sector.

The values of corporate world weren’t sitting right with them and they had two small children who they wanted to experience what they did when they were younger.

“Both Paco and I come from the countryside,” says Peláez, referring specifically to the area of Andalusia north of Jaen, near the border with the central region of Castile-La Mancha. “We grew up there and Paco’s family have a goat farm.

The couple decided to combine their search for a purer life with their family business and settled on cheesemaking, with the caveat that they would pursue their own creations rather than sticking to traditional recipes.

“The farm is very strategically placed in what we call the gateway to Andalusia, very close to La Mancha,” says Peláez, adding that they set up the creamery in Guarromán 45 minutes down the road because it was logistically more sensible.

It now takes 2,500 litres of milk a week from the 360-strong herd at the farm, which is now run by Romero’s sister, as well as from a neighbouring farm – and turns it into a variety of cheeses.

The goats are all of the Cabra Malagueña breed, typical of Andalusia and able to cope with the farm’s mountainous terrain.

“It’s very robust and strong and adapts easily to the cold temperatures in the winter,” says Peláez. “It’s starting to snow in the mountains now. They survive a lot better.”

While the goats are all from single herds it is the landscape and the animals’ diets – and how it translates into the milk – that Peláez says differentiate Quesos y Besos’s output from others.

“Although we use the same production techniques, the pastures are completely different and the combination of vegetation in this area is very particular. There are different types of plants but also olive trees, which gives us a special flavour to our cheese.”

And the olive tree also plays a key part in Quesos y Besos’s most famous cheese of all – providing the ash that creates a stark line through Olavidia’s snow white paste.

Before that stage of the make, there are several steps and many hours waiting.

“This is the easiest and the most difficult cheese at the same time,” says Peláez, who says they begin by pasteurising the milk when it comes in from the farm. This is done at a low temperature and slowly – 63°C for 25-30 minutes to be precise. The milk is then left to cool down and coagulate for 24 hours, lowering the pH in the process.

After this moulding begins, ladling curds in halfway before adding that all important layer of ash, which is produced locally for the cheesemaker by crushing and burning olive stones, before more curd is ladled in.

The cheese is turned at least three times in the mould. The next day, it is salted and then matured to allow surface flora to develop on the outside.

“We talk to the cheese, we feel it. There’s a close relationship.”

It’s clearly a labour of love, which appropriately lives up to the producer’s business name, but FFD cannot resist asking a question that is on the minds of many turophiles around the world. Does that layer of ash do anything other than look very pretty?

“It happened almost by chance, like most things,” says Peláez. “We tried adding paprika, aromatic herbs and then decided to try ash. When we did, we noticed that it reduced moisture in the cheese and increased the creaminess.”

Practical and beautiful are adjectives that could be used for a good deal of the cheeses that emerge from this Andalusian creamery.

Cheeses made with lactic coagulation, namely Olavidia and the similarly square but ash-coated Valleoscuro, are the main focus of production.

“It was something we wanted to do differently because we’re so close to the region producing Manchego – La Mancha,” says Peláez, who adds that the cheeses she are most proud of are their fresh ones (Queso Fresco).

Quesos y Besos also makes a number of cheeses with rennet and raw milk, including red-tinged Colono and the traditionally Spanish-looking Guarromántico, as well as varieties preserved in olive oil and those that are produced with a mixture of lactic and rennet-induced coagulation – most notably

Camembeso cheese which also made it into the Top 16 at the Awards.

Despite the business’s relative infancy, Quesos y Besos is no stranger to winning awards. In 2018, Olavidia was named Best Cheese in Spain at Salón de Gourmets. It’s an experience that has stood them in good stead for the unprecedented level of attention and demand they’ve faced since winning in Oviedo.

Peláez says that in the wake of this early career win they could have looked after their clients better and endured shortages of cheese in even their own shop but adds: “We made all the mistakes then but we won’t make them now.”

While Quesos y Besos will continue to supply its existing wholesalers, importers and retail customers, there are no plans to up production or expand that client base.

“Our nature is to be a small artisan cheesemaker. This is who we are and want to be. We are preparing our Christmas campaign now, we know our limitations and how much we can produce and we’re going to provide our products to those who have trusted us before we had any recognition or awards.”

This is good news for retailers who already stock the cheese in the UK, and Peláez assures FFD that sole importer Mevalco will continue to receive regular shipments of Olavidia and its stablemates.

That said, Peláez and Romero intend to use their newfound prominence to highlight the artisan cheesemaking scene in Spain.

“At the moment it’s not in a very good place. We want to take the opportunity to promote the kind of cheesemaking that we truly believe in. We believe we’re doing things as they should be done.”

It seems that cheese-lovers all over the world would certainly agree. quesosybesos.es

Vol.22 Issue 10 | December 2021

29

Stoney Cross suits a very broad section of customer.

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December 2021 | Vol.22 Issue 10

CUT&DRIED

making more of British & Continental charcuterie

Tempus set to ditch plastic packaging in favour of home-compostable alternative

By Tom Dale

Tempus Charcuterie is set to change the packaging for its entire range to a more environmentally friendly alternative and explore a greener gas for its refrigeration units in the new year.

After six months of performance testing, the artisan producer is ready to roll out the new home-compostable packs – ditching the foil boards and plastic vacuum bags.

The new packaging will feature cardboard sleeves around a backing board within a completely biodegradable vacuum bag. Although the backing boards are currently foiled, Tempus is moving towards a waxed alternative.

Founder Dhruv Baker said that the move was the natural next step for the business. “One of the founding principles of the business was sustainability,” he said.

“We have always used ex-

Tempus Charcuterie’s founders want to go beyond packaging that is just recyclable

breeding stock for our pork products and ex-dairy cows for our beef. It is better quality meat and is better for the environment – we’re using what is available in this country more efficiently.”

Baker said he had discussed recyclable packaging with cofounder Tom Whitaker but they

felt – with the current level of infrastructure in the UK – that didn’t go far enough. “If customers can just put it in their compost heap, then that’s a win-win.”

The business is also in the process of designing a new production unit and is exploring the possibility of using CO2 powered

refrigeration units – a relatively new technology that promises to be greener than traditional refrigerants.

“We’ve been working with a couple of specialist firms to see if there’s a way we can build these incredibly technical systems that run on CO2 – which has a far lower environmental impact – into our business,” said Baker.

“It’s not cheap, these things never are, but given our stance is on sustainability, it has to run through the business top to bottom – we’re not just paying lip service.”

Baker said that despite the costs involved, it is the right move for the business and that Tempus was “willing to make the margin sacrifice”.

“There will be a cost implication, we understand that, but it helps me and my business partner to sleep at night knowing that we’re doing everything we can.” tempusfoods.com

Calabrian classic reimagined with venison What may be England’s northernmost charcuterie producer has launched its version of the Calabrian classic, ‘nduja.

In keeping with Hammond Charcuterie’s standout lines, its incarnation of the spreadable salumi is made with venison, in place of the traditional pork, and the highest grade of pork fat, leaf lard, known for its soft texture and neutral flavour.

Described by the Berwickupon-Tweed-based producer as “warm, rather than hot” in spice, the oak-smoked venison ‘nduja “is already a huge favourite” among the brand’s customers, said owner Rachel Hammond.

“It has lots of smoky sweetness as well as the usual nduja funk and fat,” she said.

“We think it is perfect with white meats such as turkey, especially on toasted sandwiches as well as on canapes, in pasta for a quick supper, or on fish.”

Hammond Charcuterie’s Oak Smoked Wild Venison Nduja retails at £15 per whole sausage (minimum 250g) and is sold to the trade at £50/kg, with a suggested retail price of £90/kg. hammondcharcuterie.co.uk

Raft of changes at Suffolk Salami

Berwick-upon-Tweed-based Hammond Charcuterie’s take on ‘nduja is billed as “warm, rather than hot” and has already won over customers

Suffolk Salami is adding three lines to its range, has reduced the plastic in some of its packaging by half, and has received Suffolk Carbon Charter accreditation for its carboncutting efforts.

The East Anglian producer launched its Suffolk Mortadella earlier this year, and is ready to release its coppa – set to replace the brand’s lomo – as well as charcuterie sharing platters in the coming months.

On top of these new lines, the family business reduced the packaging of its whole small salamis by 50%, ditching the wraparounds and tags, and has been awarded Suffolk Carbon Charter’s Silver accreditation – a regional scheme aimed at SMEs who are making an effort to reduce their carbon emissions. It gained this recognition by using renewable energy across the business and installing solar panels to power its curing and drying rooms. suffolksalami.co.uk Vol.22 Issue 10 | December 2021

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December 2021 | Vol.22 Issue 10

14 MEDALS, IL FIORINO IS WORLDWIDE. WE HAVE CONQUERED THE WORLD CHEESE AWARDS

We are back from Oviedo’s World Cheese Awards with 14 medals. A result that surprised us and it has filled our hearts. Our historical cheeses have been awarded and also the “newborn” ones.

Innovating in the wake of tradition and experience has paid off. We are once again the most awarded Italian company for quality and quantity of medals. In Oviedo today, like in Bergen in 2018, when the Riserva del Fondatore was judged best Italian cheese in the world.

Like in San Sebastian, in 2016, where with 6 medals, we entered the classification of the best dairy products at international level.

Winning is never easy or obvious. What it makes us even more proud is the continuity with which the cheeses of Il Fiorino are awarded in international competitions of all the world. The challenge now is to keep growing, without stopping. As we have been doing since 1957.

2021-2022

1-2022 202

2021-2022

CACIO DI VENERE CACIO DI CATERINA FIOR DI NATURA CACIO DI AFRODITE 2 per PECORINO TOSCANO DOP STAGIONATO GROTTA DEL FIORINI CACIO DI VENERE RISERVA DEL FONDATORE 2 per CACIO DI CATERINA

CACIO DI AFRODITE FIORIN BLU RISERVA DEL FONDATORE

www.caseificioilfiorino.it

Vol.22 Issue 10 | December 2021

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Do you make fantastic food & delicious drinks?

Put it to the ultimate test.

GREAT TASTE. OPEN FOR ENTRY Guild members’ fortnight 18 January -1 February General entry

1-14 February

For cost of entry and further key dates visit www.gff.co.uk or follow the QR code to sign up for entry alerts

gff.co.uk | greattasteawards.co.uk | #greattasteawards #ISpyGreatTaste

EE TRADITIONAL UNPASTEURISED CHEDDAR

MADE BY US, ON OUR FARM, SINCE 1899

CHEDDAR

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Steenbergs, based in North Yorkshire, established 2003 Specialists in baking extracts, organic spices and loose-leaf teas.

Our popular baking range of flower waters and extracts are organic, vegan and kosher, with no added sugar Available in the UK from CLF, Essential, Green City, Infinity Foods, Queenswood, Suma In Ireland – Wholefoods and Aduki in Finland Ethical, family run and active on caring for the environment.

For more information contact our distributors direct, email: sales@steenbergs.co.uk or call 01765 640088

Vol.22 Issue 10 | December 2021

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www.hsfrenchflint.co.uk 0207 237 1750

Our award-winning flour is produced from the finest ancient grains which are sustainably grown in the beautiful British countryside.

Our entire range carry the highly sought after Great Taste 2 and 3 star awards, in recognition of outstanding quality and flavour.

Available in 1kg and 20kg bags. Minimum order 2 boxes of 10 × 1 kg bags. No delivery charges.

Call or email today for a trade price list Sustainably farmed

BRC certified products

High in protein & fibre

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01740 629 529 | info@craggsandco.co.uk | www.craggsandco.co.uk 36

December 2021 | Vol.22 Issue 10

FOCUS ON

foodservice

Restaurants up and down the country are adapting their menus to appeal to health-conscious consumers. FFD asks how are they doing it, which dishes work well and what ‘healthy’ really means.

By Nick Baines

What’s good for you… and them?

RIGHT NOW, THE words “soulful”, “nourishing” and “wellness” appear to be the buzzwords grabbing the attention of an increasing number of health-conscious diners. But beyond Instagram and the digital underworld of the influencer, restaurants are working harder than ever to deliver exciting, interesting and innovative menus that appeal to an increasingly diverse range of diet choices.

All of this might prompt the you to question what “healthy” actually means.

Are chefs appealing to restrictive diets, or promoting nutritional health? The answer isn’t clear, particularly at a time when meat is increasingly seen as a less healthy option to those of a plant-based persuasion.

It appears transparency and sourcing is playing a more vital role, when it comes to establishing what makes a dish good for you.

“In terms of nutrition, food degrades when it is picked,” says James Fowler, owner of Bournemouth’s Terroir Tapas, which works directly with local farms to ensure minimum time between harvesting and serving.

“Something like asparagus starts to lose many of its key benefits as soon as it’s cut. It begins to dry out and even 24 hours in a fridge can make a huge difference in flavour and nutritional value.”

As plant-based diets become increasingly popular and the wider shunning of meatheavy dishes continues, many restaurants are breathing life into foods that previously would have been cast off as mundane. Ingredients like the humble cauliflower are being elevated through more intricate cooking techniques, usually reserved for preparing meat.

At Terroir Tapas, hispi cabbage is brined before being grilled and served with pickled cucumbers and vegan mayo. Meanwhile at London’s Silo, beetroot is being made more desirable through the addition of sea

buckthorn and spruce, while pumpkin seed ice cream comes with furikake, a Japanese rice seasoning made from a base of sesame seeds, nori, salt and chilli.

“There’s definitely a bit of psychology involved,” says Douglas McMaster, owner of Silo in Hackney Wick. “Just like a writer wants a poem to sound nice, we want our dishes

It’s all natural and fresh from farms, and most of the menu is plantbased too, which makes it very versatile and easy to adapt to dietary requirements.

to have some appeal on the menu too, but the truth is we source some pretty exciting ingredients. We go for things like blackcurrants instead of strawberries, or bring in Mexican marigolds.”

McMaster agrees that menu development can be tricker these days with such widespread diet and lifestyle choice influencing consumer decisions.

“There’s a lot of clever planning at Silo, but we’re also working to a pre-industrial food system, so nothing is preprocessed, which is usually where things get complicated. It’s all natural and fresh from farms, and most of

the menu is plant-based too, which makes it very versatile and easy to adapt to dietary requirements. We make sure all our produce is as fresh as possible to maximise nutritional transference. But we don’t shout about it, we just concentrate on making tasty, interesting food.”

There are certain dishes that appear to be surefire winners for restaurants that host health-focused customers. For Terroir, it’s the aforementioned brined and grilled hispi cabbage, while at London’s Caravan it’s grain and rice bowls that are rousing the interest of the health conscious.

“I’d say three out of ten customers are eating gluten-free these days,” says Ben Hennessy, the floor manager at Caravan’s City site. “These bowls do well, particularly the seasoned rice bowl which right now comes with hot smoked salmon, avocado, mung beans and pickled ginger.” This has the added bonus of easy switching to vegetarian by switching out the salmon.

Creating versatile dishes that can be taken in multiple directions appears to be serving both commercial kitchens and their front-ofhouse staff well right now.

Partnered with an emphasis on fresh ingredients and provenance transparency, it shows that what is considered ‘healthy’ today is driving plant-based foods into deeper realms.

Vol.22 Issue 10 | December 2021

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FOCUS ON

foodservice

INGREDIENTS & EQUIPMENT

FROM THE DELI KITCHEN SIMPLE RECIPES TO BOOST YOUR MARGINS

Ideal for boosting impulse and grab-and-go sales at the café till, Fudged Up’s range of bars have been launched in fully compostable packaging.

Made in Lincolnshire and truffle-like in texture, the bars come in a variety of flavours, including Outrageous Orange, Raspberry Cheesecake and Majestic Mint. Each bar has an RRP of £2.50 (trade £1.35). fudgedup.co.uk Recently the recipient of a onestar award in Great Taste 2021, Santa Maria’s Tellicherry Black Pepper is not just available to retailers (70g) but also to chefs – in a larger 210g format.

Responsibly sourced from Kerala, India, Tellicherry special extra bold is billed as the “King of Pepper”. chefsdrystore.co.uk

ORANGE & ALMOND MINCE PIES It is most definitely the season to be serving these up to customers – even if it’s just to keep them going in the Christmas queues.

This fruit mince makes enough for 24 deep-filled pies, and keeps well in the fridge until the next batch is needed.

Michael Lane

Makes: 12 mince pies, plus extra mincemeat Prep: 30 minutes Cook: 1hr 10 minutes

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Ingredients: For the fruit mince 300g mixed fruit (or equivalent of dried fruits of your choice) 120g mixed peel 2 apples, grated 100g brown sugar 100g suet 200ml cider 3tsp mixed spice December 2021 | Vol.22 Issue 10

• In a blender, blitz the orange zest, butter, flour, ground almonds together with the egg and add a tablespoon of water or more to bring together to a soft dough.

For the pastry • Cover and place the pastry 150g butter mixture in the fridge for 30 200g flour minutes to chill.

60g ground almonds • Remove, roll out the pastry Beaten egg, to brush to 5mm thickness and cut out Cream, to serve 12 x 8cm circles. Using a star/ snowflake cutter, cut out 12 Method: shapes to top the pies.

• Toss all the mincemeat ingredients together in a large • Lay the circles in the bases of a muffin tray. Spoon the fruit bowl. Set aside for 4-8 hours to mince into the centre. Top with a macerate. pastry shape, then brush with the • Preheat the oven to beaten egg.

120°C/100°C Fan/Gas 1/2.

Spread the mixture over a large • Bake for 15-18 minutes until golden brown and cooked baking tray and bake for 1hr through.

45 minutes. Remove, allow to cool and store in the fridge until • Remove and allow to cool slightly before serving warm with cream. ready to use. ½ tsp cinnamon 2 oranges, zest reserved for pastry and juice for filling 100g toasted flaked almonds

Recipe by Jules Mercer for Fine Food Digest

I Grunwerg has introduced a range of kitchen knives, named after Japanese samurai swords. The Katana Saya range consists of both individual knives and knife sets all made from Japanese VG10 Damascus steel, and available with either dark Pakkawood or olive wood handles. Every blade is designed to be unbreakable and is said to deliver maximum edge retention. trade.grunwerg.co.uk/ katana_saya

A truly healthy crisp!

Low carb, low sugar, high fibre... yet uncompromisingly DELICIOUS.

Winner of a Great Taste 2020 1-star info@8foods.co.uk www.8foods.co.uk @8foods

SHAMELESSLY INDULGENT PLANT BASED MEALS

We elevate vegetables, and make consuming more of them a refined, hassle free experience.

Handmade frozen meals & desserts to delight the plant-based & the plant curious alike.

Web: www.dovebrook.com

Email: info@dovebrook.com

Vol.22 Issue 10 | December 2021

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CATEGORY FOCUS

Prepare for January’s wellness boom Many of your customers will begin the New Year striving for a better lifestyle, so it’s a good time to think about how you’ll stock up on healthier lines and low- & no-alcohol drinks (starting on page 42) Compiled by Lynda Searby

healthy living Dovebrook is on a mission to “elevate vegetables” with a range of seasonal, frozen, plant-based ready meals.

Persian Dried Lime Stew and Jerusalem Artichoke Pappardelle with Asparagus are two of the recipes that promise a “refined, hasslefree experience”. RRP £7.50-8.65 for an individual meal in home-compostable packaging. dovebrook.com

Reading-based MiKimchi launched during the COVID-19 lockdown when South Korean-born Miyoung Finch was asked to supply kimchi to her local café. She says hers is authentic – made with “tons of garlic, ginger and spring onions”, using a family recipe taught to her by her grandmother. RRP £6.50 for 280g. miyoungfinch.com

Bamboo Story has combined two organic Peruvian ‘superfoods’ – Criollo cacao nibs and yacon syrup – to create nuggets to use as a snack, in baking or as a dessert topping. The juice of the yacon (sweet potato) is reduced to a syrup to temper the bitterness of the raw nibs. RRP £7.95 for 200g. bamboo-story.com

Kensal Provisions has a new organic herbal looseleaf tea to help people get through the winter.

Featuring biodynamic yarrow, peppermint, hawthorn berry, calendula, rosehip and elderberry, Heal & Restore Tea is said to offer vitamins and antioxidants to calm the mind, fight inflammation and nurture the body. RRP £15.40; trade price £11. kensalprovisions.com

HumaniTea claims to have launched the UK’s first ready-to-drink plant-based tea lattes. Brewed with tea and oat milk, the lattes are said to provide natural energy and an antioxidant boost without a “coffee caffeine crash” or sugar rush (they contain less than 5% sugar). Available in Matcha Green Tea and Classic Earl Grey flavours.

RRP £2.50 for 250ml. humanitea.co.uk

Knotty’s has given peanut butter an extra boost, by adding biotics and vitamin- and mineral-rich ingredients. There are three variants in the Nutri Butters range: Defence (with maca, acai berry and cinnamon); Energise (with bee pollen, chia seeds and baobab) and Gut Friendly (with live cultures, turmeric and ginger). RRP £3.99 for 180g. knottys.co.uk

Clearspring says it has created miso that contains 25% less salt than its flagship Organic Brown Rice Miso, while delivering an authentic Japanese umami punch. The salt content has been reduced by blending a selection of miso pastes to achieve a rich flavour. RRP £4.99 for 270g. clearspring.co.uk

The Gnawbles range now features a Salted Caramel variant. The crunchy rice-based chocolate-coated balls are free from all top-14 allergens and are said to contain 39% less sugar than the market-leading brand. RRP £1.79 for 30g. creativenaturesuperfoods. co.uk

Juno Bamboo Water blends infused bamboo leaf with citrusy yuzu in a sugar-free sparkler with an flavour reminiscent of Japanese herbal tea. For every bottle sold, a donation is made to fund global reforestation projects. Trade £1.33, 250ml. bamboo-water.com 40

December 2021 | Vol.22 Issue 10

>>

With promotions on HFSS (high in sugar, salt and fat) foods to be restricted from next October, the Mindful Snacker Company has launched Simply Roasted as a ‘healthier’, non-HFSS alternative to traditional fried potato crisps.

The crisps are produced from whole sliced potatoes via a patented roasting process that results in a 50% lower fat content and fewer than 99 calories per serving.

They come in Sea Salt, Mature Cheddar & Onion, Sea Salt & Cider Vinegar and Black Truffle flavours, with an RRP of £1.29 for an impulse bag and £2.39 for a sharing bag.

The start-up is backed by venture management specialists Pilot Lite Group simplyroastedcrisps.co.uk

A Swiss start-up is aiming to make vitamin-taking a more enjoyable experience by elevating supplements “from yuck to yummy”.

About to hit Selfridges and Amazon, Frank Fruities are based on real fruit, rather than using synthetic fillers to give them bulk. With a fruit content of over 90%, each 200g can (RRP £19) contains the equivalent of over 1.4kg fruit and 80 gummies (the daily allowance is three per day).

One of the company’s founders, Simona Simniskyte, says: “We started the company because we were regularly throwing away half-filled plastic bottles of supplements. We realised taking vitamins is not fun because they are tasteless and often need to be taken with water. Even the vitamin gummies on offer taste rubbery and are made of mostly fruit flavours and gelatine.”

There are four variants of Frank Fruities: Help Gut, Build Immunity, Pump Iron and Skin, Hair & Nails. frankfunctionalfoods.co

Yorkshire start-up Ginger Health Foods has worked with a nutritionist to develop a range of glutenfree, high-fibre oat-based breakfast bowls that can be enjoyed as porridge or mixed with kefir/yoghurt.

Each product packs in ingredients, like chia seeds, hemp seeds, nuts and fruit for a rounded nutritional profile. RRP £7.50 for 500g. gingerhealthfoods.com

With the bee population in decline, consumers are looking for honey alternatives. Jack Berry is says its Vegan Societyregistered No BEE Vegan HONEE “smells, tastes and behaves like honey”. It is a combination of glucose and fructose, floral scents and wildflower esters, and citric acid from fruit. RRP £4.70 for 370g. jack-berry.com

As well as a refillable glass jar service for its GoGo Bites, Suffolk’s GoodToGo has launched Bite Box – a wall-mounted vending machine – with Ipswich Hospital its first location.

GoGo Bites are 20g snacking balls that are loaded with dried fruit, nuts, seeds, coconut and spices. They are also glutenand dairy-free. goodtogoltd.co.uk

The plant-based and protein trends have converged in Grounded, a new coconutbased plant protein shake that contains nothing artificial. Organic sunflower protein, fair trade cocoa and coconut cream are blended to create a vegan shake that is as close as possible to a dairy shake. It comes in m*lk chocolate and mint choc flavours in a 490ml carton.

RRP £2.50-3.25. grounded.co.uk

Wibble plant-based jelly pots were born out of Laura Jones’ frustration that most jellies are either aimed at children or loaded with sugar and artificial ingredients. She says hers are the first to be made from pressed juices and nothing artificial. They come in three flavours: Strawberry & Vanilla, Raspberry & Coconut and Orange & Ginger. RRP £1.50; trade price £0.90. wibblefoods.co.uk

Protein powders are evolving beyond wheybased formulations for bodybuilders, and Juspy’s new Collagen & Cacao Protein Blend is a good example. This collagenbased, high-protein complex can be mixed into a smoothie or hot drink to nourish with ingredients like organic coconut milk powder, pea protein and baobab. RRP €33.95. juspy.com

Dragon fruit, jackfruit and mangosteen are three of the adventurous SKUs in an exotic new dried fruit snacking range from newcomer Kooky. Sourced from Thailand and either freezedried or dried naturally with no added sugar, the fruit snacks come in single-serve pouches. iamkooky.com

Pureety Gourmet Flavours has launched a five-strong range of gluten-free seasonings to help home cooks elevate dishes including Sausage Casserole, Bolognese, Cottage Pie and Creamy Stroganoff. The new seasonings contain “nothing artificial ever”. pureety.com

Dizzy Bee Kitchen has moved Nourishingly Nutty Granola and Quinoa & Pecan Gluten-free Granola into 400g boxes (RRP £5.90) and launched Busy Bars for on-the-go snacking. They come in two gluten-free varieties: Cacao Now and Nut & Seed. RRP £2.20. dizzybeekitchen.co.uk

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low- & no-alcohol drinks Start-up Sipp’d has built on the success of its inaugural product – Essex-pressed apple juices – with the launch of two natural sodas flavoured with nothing but real fruits and spices and sweetened with unrefined cane sugar: Madagascan Vanilla Pod Cream Soda and Cardamom & Sea Salt Limeade (‘Twisted Limeade’). RRP £3. sippd.co.uk

REAL Kombucha has launched its Royal Flush and Dry Dragon styles in 750ml Champagne bottles to reinforce its positioning as non-alcoholic sparkling wines. Royal Flush is produced by fermenting first-flush Darjeeling tea, while Dry Dragon uses Chinese pan-roasted Dragon Well green tea for citrus notes. RRP £8-8.50. realkombucha.co.uk

>> Spotting a gap in the mixers market for alternatives to tonics, Nuissance Drinks has launched a trio of botanical sparklers inspired by the British countryside.

The Wild Nettle, Mint, Cucumber & Chilli and Wild Bramble & Rosemary sodas have an RRP of £2.15 for a 250ml can and a trade case price of £12.99. nuisancedrinks.co.uk

Infinite Session has relaunched its alcoholfree craft beer range with new recipes and on-pack designs. It says that a new malt selection and a lighter filtration process have created a beer with better body, fuller mouthfeel and more complex flavour. All three beers – IPA, Lager and Pale – are now gluten-free.

RRP £1.30 for 330ml. infinitesession.com

Ready to drink cold straight from the can

Xachoh (Za-Ko) has been conceived to fill a gap in the market for an alcohol-free spirit that is 100% distilled and not made of extracts and flavourings. So far, there are two expressions based on silk route spices and botanicals: Blend No. 5 is intense, fragrant and clear and Blend No 7 is rich and dark. RRP £15.50 for 35cl; £28.99 for 70cl. xachoh.co.uk

The Sausage Man has started wholesaling a low-alcohol version of Engel brewery’s Kellerbier.

The 0.5% ABV German craft beer is said to be a lively drink with a fruity taste and a stronger wheat flavour than Engel’s original Kellerbier. Trade price £21.75 for a case of 15 bottles. sausageman.co.uk 42

Ginger Sour is soon to be added to NIO (Needs Ice Only) Cocktails’ alcoholfree menu, expanding the options for those who want to enjoy a mocktail at home without the hassle of making it. This gingerspiced aperitif joins existing mocktails Lemongrass Citrus and Virgin Bitters (an alcohol-free take on Negroni) in the line-up. RRP £19.50 for a pack of three. niococktails.co.uk

Maison Goubet’s ambition is to offer the non-alcoholic drinker the essence of a Grand Cru wine, but without the fermentation. Made from organic Bordeaux grapes with no preservatives or sulphites, the cépages jus range includes sparkling and still Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Sémillon, in 250ml and 850ml bottles, with respective RRPs of £4.40-5.50 and £10-12. didiergoubet.com

The Paisley Drinks Company is championing the ‘real soda revolution’ with a range that is “free from anything artificial”.

Very Berry Raspberry Lemonade, Dreamy Strawberry Snowball, Mystical Rhubarb Cream Soda, Darkest Blueberry Ginger, Fiery Ginger Beer and Zesty Lemon & Lime are all sweetened with unrefined sugar. paisleydrinkscompany. com

Non-alcoholic spirits brand Crossip has released its first limited-edition flavour. Rich Berry features dark fruits interwoven with winter spices, floral notes of raspberry and eucalyptus and bitter notes of wormwood and gentian. RRP £22 for 50cl. crossipdrinks.com

Scottish soft drink label Bon Accord has launched Rhubarb Soda, Cloudy Lemonade and Ginger Beer in 750ml bottles (RRP £2.99), and introduced a four-pack format for Rhubarb & Soda and Ginger Beer (RRP £4.99 for 4 x 275ml bottles).

The drinks are naturally sweetened with coconut nectar and fruit juice. bonaccordsoftdrinks.com

Non-alcoholic craft beer brand UNLTD has built on the success of its Lager, with the launch of an 0.5% IPA. Described as having “aromas of citrus and tropical fruits, deep and complex malt flavours and a perfectly balanced bitter backbone”, the IPA has an RRP of £1.99 for a 330ml bottle. unltd.beer

December 2021 | Vol.22 Issue 10

Last month [November] saw the launch of a new Cherry with Mango & Goji Berry variant from hard seltzer brand Bodega Bay. The 4% ABV sparkling water is also available in two other expressions: Apple with Ginger & Açai Berry and Elderflower with Lemon & Mint.

Bodega Bay is the brainchild of entrepreneur Charlie Markland, formerly of Asahi UK and Kopparberg. His goal was to provide an alternative to high-calorie and high-sugar alcoholic beverages. bodegabay.co.uk

Mr Shanks 2.6% ABV is a low alcohol Norfolk Pale Ale that is brewed by Barsham Brewery with malted Maris Otter barley and British hops. It is named after the racehorse that won the Foxhunters’ Chase at Aintree in 1956. barshambrewery.co.uk

Fentiman’s have been voted as a Best Brand since 2011 by the readers of FineVol.22 Food Digest Issue 10 | December 2021

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Importing Highest Quality Italian Products

ENGLISH RUSSET APPLE JUICE

ENGLISH BRAMLEY APPLE JUICE

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ENGLISH APPLE JUICE WITH GINGER

Visit us online or contact us to discover our great range of juices.

We supply good food shops, hotels, pubs and restaurants.

Limoncello Pannetone

To find out more about our range of GLUTEN-FREE pastas head over to our website or call/email today!

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Call today 01635 744600 or visit our website www.tenutamarmorelle.com Winners of 6 Great Taste Awards in 2021 - with a 3 star for our Limoncello Panettone

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December 2021 | Vol.22 Issue 10

01489 878685 | info@hillfarmjuice.co.uk www.hillfarmjuice.co.uk |

low- & no-alcohol drinks Thomas Tipple Aperitif Spritz now has a nonalcoholic counterpart that has recently been awarded a silver medal by the IWSC (International Wine & Spirit Competition). Thomas Teetotal Alcohol-Free Aperitif Spritz is an Italianstyle aperitif that combines an aromatic citrus taste with gentle bitterness. RRP £2.50 for a 250ml can. thomastipple.com

Originally only available in bottles, Wild Life Botanicals, the sparkling de-alcoholised wine from Cornwall, has launched in 250ml can format to tap into the alfresco drinking opportunity. Available in Nude and Blush varieties, the 0.5% ABV fizz features a blend of botanicals and eight active vitamins and minerals. wildlifebotanicals.co.uk

12 months after launch, Nonsuch has made Shrubs, the “fruitful herbaceous infused uplifting drinking vinegars”, available in a gift box format.

With an RRP of £22, the gift box showcases each of the four flavours – Blood Orange & Bitter Lemon, Bittersweet Apple & Cardamom, Caramelised Pineapple & Ginger and Wild Hedgerow & Rose – in 50ml mini bottles. It also includes a ‘little black book’ of ideas and recipes for each shrub.

Eighth-generation cyder and vinegar maker Henry Chevallier Guild is the brains behind the brand. After growing Aspall vinegar and cyder brands, a desire to moderate his own alcohol consumption brought him into shrubs.

Created using fruit and vinegars, these non-alcoholic syrups can add depth and complexity to both nonalcoholic and alcoholic beverages. nonsuchshrubs.co

all-natural, semi-sweet non-alcoholic craft cider

Nelson’s Distillery & School has used its distilling knowledge to create a zero-alcohol experience for two of its best-selling spirits. The first two drinks in the 0.0% Naughtical range are Timur Gin and Rhubarb & Custard, which have been distilled using the same botanicals as the Staffordshire producer’s regular gins. RRP £22 for 70cl bottles. nelsonsdistillery.co.uk

Toast Ale, the London-based beer brand that is brewed from surplus fresh bread, now has two alcohol-free beers in its planet-saving range, following the launch of an alcohol-free lager this month. The 0.5% ABV lager is billed as “light and refreshing, with notes of citrus and spice”.

Toast’s other non-alcoholic beer is Raspberry Sour – a tart and refreshing 0.5% ABV beer with fresh raspberry aromas and a taste profile that the brewery likens to jam on sourdough toast. RRP £3.50 for 440ml.

As well as using surplus bread to replace barley, Toast gives all its profits to charity to fund systemic change to “fix” the food system. toastale.com

Sassy 0% Organic Cider from Normandy will land on British shores this month. Using five cider apple varieties that are native to Normandy to give it the complexity of a traditional cider, Sassy makes the cider to 4% ABV before spinning off the alcohol.

RRP £2.10 for 27.5cl. maison-sassy.com

Following its success in Ireland, Parachute CBD is breaking into the UK market. Infused with CBD – an active compound in the cannabis plant – the sparkling drink is designed to help people unwind after a busy day.

It comes in three flavours: Pomegranate & Lime, Lemon & Juniper and Apple & Ginger. RRP £2.503.00. drinkparachute.com

Berczy is showing that hard seltzer isn’t just for summer with the launch of limited-edition Winter Cola. This 4% ABV twist on a nostalgic cola combines kola nut and lime with the company’s four-times distilled spirit and sparkling spring water. RRP £2.59 for a 250ml can. berczydrinks.com

Noticing that a genuine Breton 100% pure juicebased non-alcoholic cider was missing from the UK marketplace, Galipette Cidre moved in with its 0% ABV, semi-sweet craft offer.

Pressed from cider apple varieties native to Brittany and Normandy, Galipette 0% has a deep golden amber colour, light sparkle, bright acidity and gentle spiciness.

It is already listed with Ocado and Amazon and is distributed via Matthew Clark, Bibendum Wine, Pigs Ears and WDS Group.

RRP £1.70 for a 330ml bottle. galipettecidre.co

Innis & Gunn has unveiled a 0.0% alcohol version of its original Lager Beer. The new lager uses the same hops as its 4.6% parent but at a slightly different rate for a lighter body, and uses pale ale malt to promote flavour that is hard to achieve in alcohol-free drinks. innisandgunn.com

Vol.22 Issue 10 | December 2021

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Los Unaiak, los antiguos pastores de rebaños vascos

The Saroi cheese is the most original type of Spanish Basque country cheese, dating back to the days when the Unaiak, the ancient mountain shepherds looked after their herds in the basque country.

It is an excellent cheese, full of character like those shepherds, and made from a minimum 25% pasteurised ewe’s and min. 70% cows milk in our factory in Karrantza in the basque country.

It is a flavourful cheese of medium intensity and uses Eusko Label milk from the valley. Its natural rind is edible.

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December 2021 | Vol.22 Issue 10

This is an exceptional cheese which has been recognised officially by the World Cheese Awards as one of the top 88 cheeses in the World in 2021.

The biggest cheese manufacturer and distributor for retail and food service in Spain +34 936 37 37 7 tgtbcn@grupotgt.com www.grupotgt.com

We are raising the bar across the industry and emerging as the most popular and trusted organic brand in the world.

• Certified Organic, 100% Chemical Free, & Non-GMO • Trusted Reputation • Multiple Great Taste Award Recipient

Kombucha as it should be

Bad Gal Boocha, makers of the fizzy probiotic tea based in Cuparmuir, Fife. Our kombucha is real (long ferment times with a live SCOBY and no forced carbonation), unpasteurised and flavoured with fresh whole ingredients which are either made in house or sourced from responsible local suppliers.

Double The Standards | Double The Research | Double The Credibility

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Cocoa Bean, Damask Rose Damask Rose Buds & Lemon Buds, Verbena Lemon Verbena, Lavender & Greek Mountain Tea

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The Nazani Tea family is here to work alongside you to ensure your clientele or guests experience the most exclusive and memorable infusions either in or out of the home.

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@nazanitea Vol.22 Issue 10 | December 2021

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Cauliflower Crisps Cheese & Caramelised Onion Katsu Curry

Fine Food Digest DEC 21.pdf

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16/07/2021

16:15

SHOW PREVIEW

Returning to kick off the trade show calendar on 23-25th January at Glasgow’s SEC, Scotland’s only food & drink trade event is back for 2022.

Six reasons to visit…

Scotland’s Speciality Food Show

1

2

3

Meet the trade

Find the newest producers

Discover the regions

With around 120 exhibitors in the food & drink sector set to attend, 2022’s show has attracted many new producers, as well as longstanding attendees (like Sarah Gray Preserves, Summerhouse Drinks and Summer Harvest Oils) and various regional food groups.

In the centre of the show will be the Launch Gallery, for new young companies. This includes Nuisance Drinks, Ellon Spirit Company, Woodmill Game and Isle of Mull Seaweed. In the main show area, the new exhibitors to check out include Beet This Food Sauce, Yaldi Sweets and Dark Sky Spirits

A particular feature for this event is the regional stands. Tastes of Orkney, a show stalwart, has taken more space than ever before, housing seven small companies, while there is also a Lanarkshire Larder stand and some 12 different suppliers from Fife showcasing the area’s rich agricultural pedigree.

scotlandstradefairs.com

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Time to be topical

Tried and tested producers

Let’s go Eco

The Show’s Talking Shop zone will provide visitors with insight into current topics such as targeting influencers, how to do your own PR, retail trends, gaining a retail listing, customer buying habits, and attracting tourists back. There will be a range of informal talks, panel discussions and workshops.

Nessie’s Den is returning, with producers presenting their wares to the ‘Nessies’ – James Lamont (Tesco), Andrew Firth (Herbies Deli) and Catriona Farquharson (Finzean Farm Shop) – in the style of a famous TV format. There is also a Best Product Awards, which will be judged on the opening day, with the winners’ products put on display afterwards.

EcoBags is the official supplier of carrier bags to Scotland’s Trade Fair and will be providing bags made from recycled plastic bottles, which are themselves recyclable. To discover more of the EcoBags range, visit stand M33 at the show.

Vol.22 Issue 10 | December 2021

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SHELF TALK Start-up rescues coffee from waste with ‘wonky veg’ style model

By Tom Dale

A new start-up business is bringing the ‘wonky veg’ concept to the world of speciality coffee with a mission to “reduce waste, create positive change and provide premium coffee across the UK”.

Launched by childhood friends Laurence Stevens and Harrison Dark, The Odd Coffee Company rescues imperfect coffee pods, surplus freshly roasted beans and ground coffee, then repackages it in its own recyclable packaging.

Thousands of tonnes of coffee is discarded each year due to minor aesthetic imperfections that do not affect quality or taste, often due to strict cosmetic and quantity requirements set by supermarkets.

Co-founder Laurence Stevens said: “We realised there was a stark need to address the waste issue in the coffee industry, then we uncovered this opportunity in the market

during the first COVID lockdown.

“We’ve already reached our target by rescuing over one million coffee pods and we’re aiming to rescue 50 times this amount by 2025.

The Odd Coffee Company sources all its beans from companies that are certified by Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance, Soil Association Organic or EU Organic. Harrison Dark said: “Our coffee is sustainably sourced and we only partner with coffee companies that share the same ethics as ours and that meet our strict sustainability criteria.

“Our motto is ‘let’s save the planet, one coffee at a time’ and we’re feeling confident that our business will make a positive impact to the environment, whilst offering customers a more economically viable way of purchasing great tasting, premium coffee.”

Currently the brand only sells direct to consumer from their website (100 coffee pods have an RRP of £24.99, a 1kg bag of whole-bean or ground coffee RRP at £13.99) however it is seeking to expand into retail.

“We’d love to emulate the success we’ve seen with online consumers in independent food & drink retailers, as we know their customers would appreciate the premium quality of our coffee but are also increasingly conscious of the environment,” said Stevens.

Retail enquiries should be directed to hello@oddcoffeeco. com. oddcoffeeco.com

WHAT’S NEW Newport’s Spirit of Wales Distillery has launched of a second Welsh gin and its first pink gin. The South Wales distillery’s Steeltown Welsh Blueberry Gin is a contemporary-styled premium pink gin, made with wild blueberries and heather tips for natural sweetness. Each 50cl bottle has an RRP of £32. spiritofwales.com Premium snack brand Olly’s has a new addition for its range of chocolatecovered pretzels, White Chocolate. Made with 100% Belgian white chocolate, the new line joins Milk, and Vegan Dark Chocolate Pretzel Thins, all with an RRP of £2.50 per 90g bag. ollys-ollys.com Aimed at drinkers looking for a lighter spirit – in both ABV and calorific value – Cut Classics is launching its debut range of three half-strength spirits. ‘Light’ Gin, ‘Light’ Rum and ‘Light’ Vodka weigh in at 20% ABV and just 28 calories per serving. Each 70cl bottle has an RRP of £30. cut-classics.com

Delicario has launched a range of premium artisan food hampers presented in circular luxury edition gift boxes, handcrafted in Perugia, Umbria, with bespoke fabric designs created exclusively for the brand.

“Selected with the conscious shopper in mind from sustainable small and family artisan producers,” three Luxury Edition Gift Boxes are available, including Viscount – priced at £250, Marquess – priced at £280, and Monarch, the royal edition – priced at £360. delicario.com

Alice Wiegand

Paley Photography

Counter points Spreadable salami Food writer and former deli owner Glynn Christian offers up some category-specific conversation starters to sharpen your sales technique.

• ‘Nduja: excoriatingly hot because of the roasted red Calabrian chilli peppers. The meat content includes parts of the head and the high fat content contributes to its longevity, as does a degree of smoking. ‘Nduja’s spreadability lends itself to use as a garnish or coating, even as a pizza topping, but the heat easily blitzes other ingredients.

• Salama da sugo: made with finely chopped pork (including tongue and liver), spices and red wine since the 14th century. It is all put into a skin, and tied with eight lengths of string into a pointy Christmas pudding and then aged for 6-24 months. Once boiled for hours, it is savoury and slightly acidic.

‘Nduja’s spreadability lends itself to use as a garnish or coating

• Sobrasada: a spreadable cured sausage from the Balearics. The texture relies on a high fat content and it is flavoured with paprika. A hot version was developed, identified by red or red & white string. Eat like a pâté or spread on flat breads. It also melts into stews and sauces.

This is an extract from Glynn Christian’s book Taste!, published by Grub Street

Vol.22 Issue 10 | December 2021

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SHELF TALK WHAT’S NEW Launched earlier this year, Jida Kitchen’s debut range of six Mediterranean and Middle Eastern spice blends comprises Smokin’, Sassy, Kickin’, Wild, Breezy and Bold.

Each jar – ranging between 55g and 95g – has an RRP of £11.95, and a pack of three costs £29.95. jidakitchen.com Premium vegan-friendly chocolate brand Firetree has launched a new limited edition range – the Innovations Collection. Adding to its range of volcanic chocolate are five new bars from Dominican Republic, Indonesia and the Solomon Islands, ranging from 72% to 100% cocoa. firetreechocolate.com Carla’s Foods has recently added Middle Eastern Chicken Shawarma Spice, Turkey Seasoning, S’mores Cookie Mix and Cinnamon Muffin Mix to its range of hand-blended seasonings as well as rebranding its entire range. Each pack (between 17g - 60g) has a £2.99 RRP. carlasfoods.co.uk

My magic ingredient TRS Whole Jeera Cumin Seeds TOM HUGHES Chef & founder of Tubby Tom’s First things first. Please, don’t buy cumin powder!

I love cumin seeds, they are tiny little flavour bombs. I use them in so many of my dishes at home, as well as the seasonings I make at work with Tubby Tom’s.

Toasting them really smacks the flavour out of them and sparks a heady, earthy aroma, and a dark roasted taste.

It’s nice to toast them fresh, but I tend to toast a load at a time, grind them, and store them because I just can’t fathom life without them.

They blast chilli con carne into another dimension, skyrocket your curry into outer space or, if you grind some with a bit of smoked sea salt, they make an epic, simple seasoning for poached eggs on toast.

It’s so much nicer than the pre-ground stuff, so hit up your local Indian supermarket or grab them on the web.

Either way, enjoy!

Tom buys TRS Whole Jeera Cumin Seeds

Soft drinks brand on road to carbon neutrality with new measures A premium juice and cordial producer is continuing its drive to become carbon neutral by 2030 with the installation of a solar panel roof at its Leicestershire factory and tracking its waste streams.

Belvoir Farm has installed 746 photovoltaic panels on the roof of its bottling plant that will generate a third of the company’s electricity and has joined Certified Sustainable to independently audit its waste and recycling activities.

Since joining the scheme this summer, the producer has achieved good results in all areas and the audit has revealed it recycles 100% of its packaging, reuses 20% of its waste and recycles almost 70% of its entire waste. Initiatives such as harvesting rainwater on its farm for irrigation, recycling and repurposing waste drums into furniture, returning the packaging of its glass bottles to the manufacturer to be reused for future deliveries, sending zero waste to landfill and utilizing some waste streams to generate more electricity helped it achieve this status.

The company has also switched to using natural gas for its boilers from oil, and Biogas for its fleet of forklift trucks, cutting its carbon 52

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Toasting them really smacks the flavour out of them and sparks a heady, earthy aroma

emissions by 40%.

Belvoir Farm MD Pev Manners said: “Environmental responsibility, modern farming techniques and good business practice go hand in hand, and we are thrilled to be joining the Certified Sustainable initiative.

“This shows that we are serious about recycling and managing our waste streams in the most sustainable way, as part of our overall commitment to our shared natural environment and desire to leave our farm and the world in a better place for our children.” belvoirfarm.co.uk

An artist’s impression of the new solar set-up

Stockport-based family business Tipsy Tea has undertaken a complete rebrand of its three-strong range – which includes two Great Taste winners: Spiced Chai (1-star), and Pink Peppercorn (2-star) tea-infused liqueurs.

The brand’s new art deco styling was inspired by prohibition-era New York and Belle Livingstone – owner of the infamous speakeasy 58th Street Country Club where illicit liquor was served in teacups to members of high society, gangsters and royalty.

Billed by the producer as a “versatile” drink, it can be served straight, long, or – the brand’s current recommended serve – with hot water and lemon.

“We want it to be the new mulled wine,” said co-founder James Bailey. “It is the ultimate winter warmer.”

Tipsy Tea’s three varieties – Spiced Chai, Pink Peppercorn, and Root Ginger – have RRPs of £15 per 35cl bottle (£10 trade). tipsytea.co.uk

Stand N55 at Scotland’s Speciality Food Show

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gerry@mckenzie-biscuits.com www. mckenzie-biscuits.com Vol.22 Issue 10 | December 2021

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2022 is full of hope after the last nearly 2 years of difficulty. We’ve enjoyed success from our Trade shows after restrictions have been lifted and enjoyed seeing colleagues and customers again

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We are proud that our Velox Contact Grills are in high demand.

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December 2021 | Vol.22 Issue 10

JAFFY’S MALLAIG KIPPERS

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SHELF TALK MEET THE PRODUCER

WHAT’S NEW Leytonstone-based family roastery Perky Blenders has released its annual Winter Blend – a yearly changing blend in special artist-designed packaging. Freshly roasted in East London, the Winter Blend is centered around rich fruit cake flavours. It comprises beans from the Guji, Ethiopia and Capon, Honduras. RRP £10/250g. perkyblenders.com

Sofia Javed founded THE SINGING SPICE COMPANY – a certified organic spice blend brand with a focus on ethical sourcing – to reconnect with her family’s roots and enable her to recreate the authentic Punjabi meals she grew up with What were you doing before you launched The Singing Spice Company?

I worked as a solicitor for 14 years, specialising in human rights and property law.

Why did you decide to launch the brand?

I wanted to recreate the authentic meals I had grown up eating. However, I struggled to find premium-quality Indian spice blends that were exceptional in taste and made using 100% clean ingredients. I wanted blends that were organic and tasted fresh, so I decided to create my own with the help of my mum, who has a wealth of knowledge that she brought with her when she emigrated to the UK from Punjab.

What is the biggest lesson you have learned since starting the business?

It is difficult to name just one, but the biggest is to ask for help when you need it. As founders, we place ourselves under so much pressure to do everything, but it’s important to ask for help. Learn the basics of what you’re trying to do, then find people with the right expertise. This saves time and lets you focus on what you’re good at.

donate a portion of our profits to charitable causes and help feed deprived children around the world.

Why is it important for you to ensure your range is organic?

I wanted to recreate the meals I ate growing up as a child that had the same health benefits too, which led me to research spices, and I started taking a particular interest in organic spices as a way of offering optimum health benefits given their profile.

We are striving to create spice products that are good for people and planet

What makes your spice blends stand out?

They are the UK’s first organic Indian spice blends. There are many on the market, but our unique selling point is that we ethically source our blends and use only the freshest, nutritionally rich, organic spices and use packaging that is either reusable, recyclable or compostable. We strive to create spice products that are not only good for people but also for the planet. Our business is built on the foundation of “eat well, feel well” as I believe food should nourish your cells and your soul, and that is achieved when we help those less fortunate. That’s why we

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Premium snack brand Made For Drink has partnered with English Heritage via their brand licensing programme to help champion England’s food producers through a new crisp range. English Truffle, Dorset Sea Salt, Malt Vinegar & Sea Salt and Unseasoned Yorkshire Potato Crisps are available in 40g and 150g packs (RRPs £1.25, £2.75). madefordrink.com

What is the best thing about being a small business?

Working on something you’re passionate about, knowing what you are doing is allowing you to grow as an individual and benefit your community.

Having a small business is like being on a roller coaster.

There are ups and downs, but if you’re prepared to enjoy the ride, it’s the most exhilarating feeling ever.

In response to the growth of the plantbased market, better-for-you confectionery brand Flower & White has added two new vegan lines to its range. Chocolate Dipped Strawberry and Double M!lk Chocolate bars have an RRP of £14.49 for a 10 pack. flowerandwhite.co.uk

…and the worst?

Not having enough time. There’s always so much to do, so it’s very important to manage your time efficiently and plan accordingly.

It can be a lonely place, so it’s important to surround yourself with those who will lift you up when you’re feeling low.

What’s next for The Singing Spice Company?

We want to work with more independent retailers as I feel that our products perfectly complement the fresh produce and meat found in farm shops, butchers and delis. We are also due to launch on Amazon soon, which we’re excited about. We have also recently successfully pitched to a national online retailer, so watch this space for the Freshly Ground Sponsor advert 2016 big printreveal. ready.pdf

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Devon-based heritage and ancient grain millers Fresh Flour Company has launched a raft of new sourdough products made with the company’s six-year-old starter: Sourdough Digestive Biscuits (RRP £3.50, 250g) and Chocolate Digestive Biscuits (RRP. £3.95, 250g), Sourdough 16/08/2016 10:37 Branflakes (RRP £2.50, 350g) and two varieties of sourdough crackers – King Oyster Mushroom & Black Pepper and East Prawle Seaweed (RRP £3.25, 100g). freshflour.co.uk Vol.22 Issue 10 | December 2021

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DELI OF THE MONTH When Brian Wilson took the helm of Gillions of Crosby 34 years ago, it was a very different place. Once a local shop selling standard fare, the operation – now double its original size – is a delicatessen packed with a vast range of high-end lines alongside more recognisable brands, all underpinned by its traditional butchery.

Interview by Tom Dale

Moving with the times “THERE WAS A KID in here the other week,” says Brian Wilson, owner of Liverpool-based deli Gillions of Crosby. “I overheard him saying to his dad, a regular: ‘They don’t half work that scruffy bloke behind the till hard.

They should really give him a day off.’”

The “scruffy bloke” in question was Wilson himself. And given the veteran retailer’s 34 years at the helm of Gillions, that youngster might just be right – about the day off that is.

The shop has changed significantly since Wilson bought it from his former partner’s parents – one of whom was the daughter of the shop’s namesake – in 1987. Once a single unit with a fairly standard local shop offer and 9-5 opening hours, the shop began its

VITAL STATISTICS

Location: 128 College Road, Crosby, Liverpool, L23 3DP Turnover change since COVID: +50% Number of lines: ~1,000 Retail floorspace: 1,000 sq ft Average margin: 30-40%

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transformation 10 years ago when Wilson increased the opening hours and switched the offer, blending convenience retailing with a vast fine food range, underpinned by its traditional butcher’s counter.

“The point I realised I had to do something different was when it hit me that retailing had changed, and I hadn’t,” says the owner. “Convenient one-stop shopping had become the only way forward.”

The shop’s regular weekend customers, who would call in for the quality butchery, were not visiting during the week. Wilson’s answer was to extend the opening hours from 8 until 8.

“I realised we needed to be there on our customers’ way home. And, to get them to

stop, there was no point me selling them just mince if I didn’t have an onion and some fresh herbs – because if they wanted to make spaghetti Bolognese for tea that night, they needed it all.”

The supermarkets had moved on, he says, and so had consumers. “People wanted convenience – in offer and time.”

Gillions became a one-stop shop, catering for a vast array of customers by stocking its traditional cuts, a new range of high-end groceries and good fresh produce alongside a large selection of more recognisable brands.

Now, on the tightly packed shelves you will find supermarket favourites like Heinz Tomato Ketchup and Ambrosia Devon Custard alongside alternatives produced by

Tiptree, and Clotton Hall Dairy.

“We needed to be not a convenience store, but an up-market grocer that sells everything.

A ‘convenient’, not a ‘convenience’ offering.”

It was this that led Wilson to launch a range of ready meals, produced by hand onsite. Always on the lookout for new ideas, he had noticed how customers in up-market food halls were still frequently buying preprepared meals. “People had become so lazy,” he says. “So, we needed to offer more than the meat and the ingredients.”

It made perfect sense, he says. Gillions already stocked everything to make the dishes, and the initiative helped reduce wastage.

Now, the shop’s team of two full-time chefs are cooking up around 100lbs of meat a day making the Gillions range of lasagne, chilli, soups and stews, including the firm local favourite, scouse.

It’s Bonfire Night the day FFD visits Gillions, and the family-packs of its hearty, warming dishes are doing a roaring trade.

To lift this further, Lisa on the deli counter is offering customers extras – garlic bread for their chilli, beetroot and a fresh French stick for their scouse – a technique she has brought with her from her time working in sales in the travel industry.

“She’s introduced us to upselling,” says Wilson, “and it’s been a breath of fresh air. It’s spread through the team, everyone’s doing it now.”

It’s not a hard sell, says Wilson, but gently reminding the customer of something they already wanted. And this friendly, chatty interaction with customers is part of the Gillions way. The staff all appear to know the majority of customers and Wilson in particular frequently makes a point to break off the conversation with FFD to greet his regulars, many of whom have been shopping

with him for generations.

Gillions is all about old-school customer service, says the owner, and doing everything in-house and by hand. And for that, you need a big team.

In the small shop of only 1,000 sq ft, seven full-time staff (not including Wilson) are supported by four part-timers and two Saturday employees, and they work hard, says Wilson.

He’s right. When FFD visits, the staff are all busy – cleaning, preparing, packaging, picking orders – but always with a smile for each other and the customers.

Having a tight work family is what helps give the level of service Wilson wants, he says, so staff wellbeing and retention is important. He cultivates this well – though it does not appear contrived. The team is palpably close, and Wilson is the natural patriarch of the Gillions family – Team G, as he calls them.

He may expect his staff to work hard, but it’s nothing he isn’t willing to do himself.

Wilson is up at 5am every day to do his daily run to Liverpool’s fruit & vegetable market and then visit two wholesalers “with a smile behind the wheel of the van” before the shop opens.

His passion for retailing is evident; for the interaction with his customers and staff, for trying something new, and for providing the community with good food. He is happier on the shop floor than in the office and is a selfconfessed admin-phobe.

“I don’t know my average spend, I don’t know my weekly turnover – I haven’t got a clue. I don’t have time to be up here checking that sort of thing, and I don’t want to be either. I want to be down there talking and chatting,” he says.

MUST-STOCKS Border Biscuits Dark Chocolate Gingers Mrs Darlington’s Lemon Curd Duskin Pure English Apple Juice Tiptree Strawberry Jam Gillions of Crosby honey Gillions of Crosby traditional pork sausages Gillions of Crosby lasagne Gillions of Crosby scouse Lancashire Crisps (Fiddlers) Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses Blacksticks Blue Clotton Hall Fresh Luxury Custard

CONTINUED ON PAGE 58

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He may not be able to put his finger on the numbers offhand, but Wilson is in no doubt that COVID has been a huge boon to the business.

“It catapulted us into the limelight,” he says. “It was great.”

When the supermarket supply chains failed, Gillions’ didn’t. Wilson says people were on their phones telling their friends that he had pasta, rice and tinned tomatoes.

“They’d come in and ask how long we’d been here. I’d tell them 34 years and it turned out they’d been regularly driving past but didn’t know about us. They said they love the shop, and they’ve stuck with us.”

Now, Gillions serves a huge range of customers, from middle-class young professionals, to his more elderly stalwarts and even young labourers looking for the “best sandwiches in the area”.

As well as ushering in a new clientele, the pandemic forced Wilson into operational changes that until coronavirus, he would have found inconceivable.

COVID forced Gillions into pre-packing everything on the butcher’s counter and preslicing the cured meats and cheeses on the deli. The supermarkets had changed the way people bought meat, and this new clientele – driven to the business by lockdowns – wanted that.

“You used to come up and ask for six sausages and two steaks, and the butcher would say, ‘that’s £20’,” he says, “but these days people are too embarrassed – they want to nose about for the cheaper ones. Now we’re doing the thinking for them.”

Sales on the butchery have more than doubled, and those customers with more unique preferences can still be accommodated as everything is done on-site. “We can work with people’s quirky preferences as Lisa on the deli knows them, she knows who wants what. We’ve got the best of both worlds.”

“If you’d asked me three years ago if I’d ever change that, I’d have said ‘no way’. I thought we’d change back after COVID, but sales are up so much, I’ve got no regrets.”

Ready meal sales are also up, as are orders for home delivery. Gillions had always offered delivery and collection – mostly for their older customers as a community-minded initiative – but during COVID, the demand was so high that Wilson had to take the phone off the hook.

“We just couldn’t service them,” he says.

“We even had nursing homes ringing up. It was tough saying no to people, but we had our regulars to look after.”

Continuing with the ethos of continual upgrading and improvement, Wilson is still doing deliveries, but the old-school retailer is moving into the modern age by updating his e-commerce offer to save time and effort and capture yet another market.

He tells FFD that he doesn’t want to be that 70-year-old man pushing a trolley around the wholesalers but, given his passion for retailing, his customers may still be thinking Wilson looks like he needs that day off in 20 years’ time. gillionsofcrosby.com

We needed to be not a convenience store, but an upmarket grocer that sells everything. A ‘convenient’, not a ‘convenience’ offering.

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IT’S TEA TIME.

WITH EXTRA FLAVOUR. GRUYERE.COM

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Discover the New Spirits that are Making Waves

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December 2021 | Vol.22 Issue 10

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Scotland’s Speciality

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Over 170 suppliers and hundreds of great food and drink products

To register for your free entry badge and for further information please visit

www.scotlandstradefairs.com Vol.22 Issue 10 | December 2021

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So What Keeps Us At Khanya Craft Award-Winning Coffee Up At Night?

Silly Question.

Khanya Craft Coffee is borne out of an obsession to find the best, ethically sourced single estate Arabica beans and the best blends on the planet. Which is why our coffees have won so many awards.

Sourcing, service and innovation for our clients is what makes us tick – like our great coffee.

Call Bernard on+353 (0) 086 388 3001 | e: bernard@khanyacraftcoffee.com | www.khanyacraftcoffee.com 62

December 2021 | Vol.22 Issue 10

GUILD TALK

View from HQ

By John Farrand managing director

I’M SENSING FROM the phone calls I am overhearing at both Guild offices that things are busy out there. I hope ‘busy’ in a commercially positive way, rather than festive panic stations. You may not be able to reflect on this year until the end of play Christmas Eve but there are many reasons why you should be proud to have survived 2021.

Let’s face it, we’ve all had to

news from the guild of fine food swim against the tides of Brexit, COVID, a shortage of decent staff and now a shortage of hamper baskets (see page 9). But, if you’re reading this, you are still here.

Be proud that you are making or selling excellent food, and we now have more customers, who are more interested and, according to research, will continue to support local and independent.

We should be proud that the condiment king Tracklements has recently achieved B-Corp status and join the likes of Dark Woods Coffee, Borough Broth and Cotswold Fayre who are placing people and the planet ahead of, but not ignoring, profit.

Here at the Guild, we’re proud to have got World Cheese Awards over the line (see page 22). Described by one judge as a ‘Cathedral of Cheese’, this event saw our team (proud of them, too) manage to corral over 4,000 cheeses from more than 40 countries and 250 geographically diverse judges into one rather architecturally dramatic arena. Bringing the global

The Word on Westminster

By Edward Woodall ACS

THE FOCUS OF debate in Westminster over the last month has been on COP26.

While much was achieved in Glasgow on a wide range of issues, the last-minute language change by the world’s biggest polluters to “phase down” as opposed to “phase out” coal power has dampened down the Government’s sense of achievement around the summit.

The conference may be over but its agenda is not – our industry must be ready to step up and reduce our environmental impact. We should also be ready for the UK Government and governments across the world to reach for regulatory levers to address complex environmental

challenges that will no doubt place more costs on business.

But the immediate challenge facing food supply chains now is delivering for Christmas.

Both Government and industry are working hard to make sure Christmas is not a damp squib again.

People working across the food supply chain are fatigued and many government policies, like new HGV and poultry worker visas, are welcome but ultimately come very late in the day.

Everything that Government can do for the industry to deliver Christmas has been done. Now it is down to industry to have a clear run at it.

But we must also look at the challenges we face ahead in 2022, like pre-notification of Sanitary and Phytosanitary products in January, new requirements for Export Health Certificates from

news from the guild of fine food

cheese community back together in November was rewarding and, at times, genuinely emotional.

Rather proud of that World Champion cheese, too. Quesos y Besos has a handful of employees and processes just a few thousand

There are many reasons why you should be proud to have survived 2021

Guild backs Bite into British campaign

litres of milk per week. And yet not only did they scoop the biggest prize, but they had two cheeses in the Top 16 (out of 4,079 entries).

Worth noting the similarly micro Trethowan’s Dairy achieved a similar double.

And why does that make me proud? Because it reminds me why we are all in this: to shine a light on proper artisan food & drink and share it with the world.

July, and of course the Great Britain-Northern Ireland protocol negotiations. While delays to these changes have been mostly welcomed, they are only delays and eventually, they will lead to more friction at UK borders.

The next key milestone to address longer-term supply issues will be the government’s Food White Paper, due for publication in early 2022.

This will build on the National Food Strategy drafted by Henry Dimbleby earlier this year, but also look at the resilience and sustainability of supply chains, the future of the labour market, and healthy eating.

This will be a landmark paper for industry to engage with and make sure we get the government on the right track for supporting food businesses in the long term.

Started last month by British pig farmers, the #biteintobritish campaign urges individuals and businesses to state on social media why and what they buy British, and the Guild is getting behind the hashtag.

To get involved with the campaign, the organisers encourage people to post a video on social media explaining why they buy British. This could be low food miles, supporting the local economy, high welfare standards, low carbon footprint, etc. Then – borrowing the format of previous viral trends – to make their own nominations, encouraging the hashtag to spread.

Keep up to date with training in 2022 The Guild's training courses are set to return in full next year after 24 months of disruption. If you would like to be kept up to date with what courses are happening and when, email the Guild's training team on bookings@ gff.co.uk to join our mailing list and hear more about future training opportunities.

Watch this space as 2022 dates will be announced soon.

Edward Woodall is head of policy & public affairs at small shops group ACS edward.woodall@acs.org.uk

The Guild of Fine Food represents fine food shops and specialist suppliers. Want to join them?

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