FFD August 2016

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PEDIGREE CHUMS 23 Could native breeds be the next big thing in provenance?

August 2016 · Vol 17 Issue 7

NORSE FORCE 15 Keeping the Scandi invasion on course despite Brexit

DELI OF THE MONTH 54 With fourth generation Italian deli owner Joe Gazzano

SIMPLE GIFTS Take the stress out of choosing your Christmas stock with our annual round-up of new festive ideas

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August 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 7

contents news analysis: PFNs under threat cheesewire

cut & dried analysis: GM foods christmas profile: The Wild Beer Co tea cakes & puddings shelf talk deli of the month

p4 p12 p19

p23 p25 p28 p35 p37 p45 p47 p54

opinion AMONG THE MIDDLE-RANKING WORRIES ABOUT BREXIT in our market is the doubt it casts over our part in the EU’s Protected Food Names scheme. Will we be in, out, or have to come up with our own version and hope our former EU bedfellows respect it?

Defra has told FFD that securing the future of PFN products like Worcestershire Perry and Stilton cheese is a “high priority” for failed prime ministerial candidate Andrea Leadsom, now reduced to running the food ministry instead of the country.

I can’t help feeling she’ll have bigger fish to fry for a while. And while I know some speciality businesses have found value in PFN status there’s something in me that hopes it quietly fades away. The scheme always had the dead hand of Eurocracy all over it, and the idea of a similar promotional mark decided by a British committee doesn’t have much more appeal.

When a Ginsters pasty can carry a Protected Designation of Origin sticker, it seems a good reason to keep away from the whole shebang. And as I’ve said before, some recent applications – like the two Northern Irish rapeseed oils – look more than a little spurious.

Now, a joint initiative by Slow Food and the Rare Breeds Survival Trust has really got my cogs whirring on the subject. As I report on page 23, the two came together last month for a conference at Highgrove to proclaim the importance of our native pig, sheep, cattle and poultry breeds in maintaining the diversity and regionality of British food.

In particular, they stressed the importance of provable pedigree in maintaining a gene pool that has already been heavily eroded.

I found it quietly shocking to hear how, in the 1950s and ’60s, successive governments did their damnedest to remove that diversity in the pursuit of agricultural “efficiency”.

The same ethos that saw most of our hedgerows grubbed up also saw farmers pressed to focus on a few, and preferably just one, super-breed of pig or cow. It was a policy that spelt extinction for many traditional breeds and left others teetering on the brink.

Now, as pig-farmer and award-winning Welsh charcutier Illtud Dunsford told me after last month’s conference, just a handful of global agri-businesses produce those fast-growing commercial hybrids that dominate our mainstream food chain, with taste a minor consideration compared with feed conversion rates.

How on earth we find room on-pack for a “pedigree native breed” message I’m not sure.

But I find the concept of saving livestock breeds that are not only unique to their region but vastly superior to commercial hybrids, as well as part of our cultural heritage, far more appealing than protecting a factory-made pasty.

Farmers were pressed to focus on a few, and preferably just one, super-breed of pig or cattle

MICK WHITWORTH, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

editors’ choice MICHAEL LANE, DEPUTY EDITOR

The Wild Beer Co – Sleeping Lemons Export www.wildbeerco.com

p35

You might think it a little self-indulgent that I took a trip to a brewery producing slightly niche barrel-aged beers in the middle of rural Somerset – all under the pretence of work. But you’d be wrong.

I went there because I believe The Wild Beer Co (profiled on page 35) has some very serious retail potential.

Not only does it make de rigueur American-style hoppy pale ales (yes, it does cans too) but it also brews some perception-altering beers, both in strength and style.

At 6% abv, this export version of Sleeping Lemons – a tart, salty beer made with preserved lemons – packs a punch and it is also a perfect example of what Wild Beer specialises in.

It’s got an interesting story, excellent shelf presence – a 75cl screen-printed sharing bottle sealed with bright yellow wax – and, best of all, it tastes unlike anything most people will have tried before.

I love a pint of bitter but, with products like this out there, the days of farm shop shelves crammed with ‘humorously’ branded bottles of brown beer could be numbered.

Vol.17 Issue 7 | August 2016

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finefoodnews Lobbyists want rate relief before tax cuts EDITORIAL editorial@gff.co.uk

Editor & editorial director: Mick Whitworth Deputy editor: Michael Lane Reporter: Andrew Don Art director: Mark Windsor Editorial production: Richard Charnley Contributors: Nick Baines, Clare Hargreaves, Patrick McGuigan, Arabella Mileham, Lynda Searby ADVERTISING advertise@gff.co.uk Sales director: Sally Coley Sales manager: Ruth Debnam Sales executive: Becky Stacey Published by the Guild of Fine Food Ltd Printed by: Blackmore, Dorset Fine Food Digest is published 11 times a year and is available on subscription for £45pa inclusive of post and packing.

© The Guild of Fine Food Ltd 2016. Reproduction of whole or part of this magazine without the publisher’s prior permission is prohibited. The opinions expressed in articles and advertisements are not necessarily those of the editor or publisher.

GENERAL ENQUIRIES Tel: 01747 825200 Fax: 01747 824065 info@gff.co.uk www.gff.co.uk Guild of Fine Food, Guild House, 23b Kingsmead Business Park, Shaftesbury Road, Gillingham, Dorset SP8 5FB United Kingdom

Managing director: John Farrand Marketing director: Tortie Farrand Operations manager: Karen Price Operations assistant: Claire Powell Events manager: Christabel Cairns Training co-ordinator: Jilly Sitch Circulation manager: Nick Crosley Financial controller: Stephen Guppy Accounts manager: Denise Ballance Accounts assistant: Julie Coates Chairman: Bob Farrand Director: Linda Farrand

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August 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 7

BY ANDREW DON

Speciality food retailers have backed a cross-industry call for the government to focus on reducing the burden of business rates instead of making further cuts in corporation tax.

The Treasury is looking at the possibility of slashing corporation tax in the wake of the Brexit referendum result from the current 20% to 15% as a way to stimulate business.

The Federation of Small Businesses and small shops group the ACS joined forces with other business lobby groups after the referendum to write to the Treasury, stating: “to make Britain a super competitive economy business tax reforms must go beyond cutting corporation tax”.

The letter stated that Britain had the highest nondomestic property taxes in Europe, which acted as a brake on investment.

It also pointed out that corporation tax had fallen since 1990 but business

Cross-industry call for government to reduce business rates

rates had steadily increased and made up a much higher proportion of businesses’ tax liabilities.

The lobby groups welcomed the action of the government in the last Budget to mitigate the cost of business rates on the

smallest firms and to review appeals and revaluation timeframes, but they want to see other measures accelerated and enhanced.

These include simplifying rating assessments for the smallest businesses to reduce appeals, bringing

forward proposals to link annual increases to the Consumer Price Index instead of the Retail Price Index and revisiting proposals to incentivise investment through the rating system.

Alexis Wood, who runs The Deli Teahouse in Upminster, Essex, agreed “reappraisal” was needed.

“I wonder how many people go out of business because their rates are too high.

Some shops’ rates seem so cheap and others pay three or four thousand more. I pay £7,000 a year. It’s just a little shop.”

Simon Johnson, managing director of Simons of Spilsby, Lincolnshire, has two shops and several industrial units. He gets rural rates relief on one of the stores. “I think rates based on profit would be a better idea,” he said.

Terry Farr, who owns the Cheese and Wine Shop in Darlington, County Durham, said: “The system needs to be simplified so everyone can understand it.”

Leadsom takes Defra helm as Truss departs After her failed bid to lead the country and the Conservative party, Andrea Leadsom has been named Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in Prime Minister Theresa May’s cabinet reshuffle.

An active campaigner for Brexit in the recent EU referendum and a former Energy Secretary, Leadsom takes over the role from Elizabeth Truss, who is now the Justice Secretary, but George Eustice will continue in the role of Farming Minister.

While she is getting to grips with a number of immediate issues, including bovine TB and low produce prices, Leadsom is also facing the prospect of

Andrea Leadsom is the new Defra Secretary

leading the department through the process of leaving the EU. She is already facing calls from producers about safeguarding the UK food and drink that is currently listed under the EU’s Protected Food Names scheme (see more on p13).

Cheerbrook’s Big Taste charity success Thirty suppliers turned up at Cheerbrook Farm Shop’s Big Taste weekend, where a tonne of pork was turned into 1,500 sausages of some 20 varieties.

The Nantwich-based business raised nearly £750 for charity and the farm shop’s turnover jumped 40% on the Saturday. Cheerbrook held a “sausage fest” in the shop and suppliers offered product samples.

Samantha Sutherland, general manager, said about 2,000 people attended. “It’s reminding people we are here and showing them what local suppliers can do.” www.cheerbrook.co.uk

In brief Slow Food unveiled the British Saddleback Pig as the 100th UK Ark of Taste product at an event attended by the Prince of Wales. The Ark of Taste is Slow Food’s international project created to save foods at risk of extinction and to safeguard agrobiodiversity.

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Stuart Weaver, the new proprietor of The Big Cheese, in High Street, Minehead, hopes to set up an online shop by the end of the summer.

The business sells 55 cheeses and is adding more salamis and other delicatessen products.

l

Tesco will open a popup wine bar in Wardour Street, in the West End of London, August 2-13 to, showcase its Finest premium range. At least 70 Finest wines will be available to taste by the glass.

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The cost of a basket of popular supermarket items has risen for the first time in seven months, according to mySupermarket.co.uk.

Research conducted by the comparison website showed the cost of a basket of 35 popular products rose slightly in price – costing £82.83 in June 2016. This still 4% cheaper than the same month last year.

l

FSA launches food fraud reporting facility

BY ANDREW DON

As the Food Standards Agency (FSA) launches a new scheme to tackle food fraud and crime, Hider Foods has urged retailers to scrutinise their supply chains because of continuing risks.

The distributor’s managing director Duncan Hider told FFD such activity remained a serious issue for the food sector despite the fallout from the horsemeat scandal.

He was commenting after the FSA National Food Crime Unit’s launch of the Food Crime Confidential reporting facility, specifically targeted at those working in or around the UK food industry.

Anyone with suspicions about food crime can report them to the National Food Crime Unit “safely and in confidence” over the phone or through email.

It wants to hear from anyone who thinks products contain things they should not, or if an item of food or drink says it is of a certain

Duncan Hider told FFD that adulterated ingredients remained a big concern within the supply chain

quality or from a specific place or region, for example, but does not appear to be so.

Duncan Hider said a big focus for the fine food industry this year had been ground almond production and ensuring the exclusion of peanuts, which are cheaper.

“We’ve introduced more stringent checks than we used to because lots of people have an allergy to peanuts but not to almonds.”

He added that peanuts were a fifth of the value of almonds so huge opportunities existed for fraudsters to make money.

F&M buyer French departs

Scottish delicatessen Corbie and Cheip in Auchterarder, Perthshire, has linked with Barry Mill, near Carnoustie, to offer doggy breakfasts. Deli owner Anne Schaeflein sells specially created porridge that comes in plain, with bacon, fish or with dog mince. It costs £3.50 to eat in and £2.50 to take away.

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Last month saw Tyrrells roll out its first nationwide advertising campaign.Three different posters were displayed at over 5,000 roadside sites as well as near 400 points of purchase.

Hider urged retailers to ensure they worked with “reputable” people and supply chains.

“We all have the responsibility to do all we can to put checks in place to make sure it’s not easy for fraudsters to enter the food chain,” he said. “If something seems too good to be true it probably is.

Ask for accreditation from suppliers, make sure you know the people you are working with and don’t buy purely on price and price alone.”

Hider said that the food industry was more aware of the dangers post “Horsegate” scandal when horse meat was discovered to be rife in the human food chain.

• The British Retail Consortium, the Food and Drink Federation and the Seasoning and Spice Association in liaison with the Food Standards Agency launched guidance this summer to ensure the integrity of herbs and spices.

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WE’LL GIVE IT FIVE: Irish TV chef Clodagh McKenna, food writer Lucas Hollweg and cookery writer Felicity Cloake give maximum marks during last month’s Great Taste final judging day at London‘s Royal Garden Hotel. They were among a 16-strong panel charged with choosing this year’s Great Taste Supreme Champion. Earlier, around 50 food experts had re-judged all 2016’s three-star award winners – chosen during three months of judging from among 10,000 entries – to identify this year’s major winners. The event was followed by a dinner at award-winning chef Adam Handling’s new restaurant, The Frog, in London E1. The 2016 Supreme Champion will be revealed at the Great Taste dinner on September 5.

Tim French has left his role as buying director at department store group Fortnum & Mason.

His departure comes shortly after the appointment of industry veteran Brigette Hardy as head of food buying – a newly created role.

The company said Hardy would report into French but when FFD phoned Fortnum & Mason this week, a member of staff confirmed that French had left.

A spokeswoman said: “Fortnum & Mason does not comment on staff departures.”

French was wine and hampers buyer before he was promoted to buying director three years ago under chief executive Ewan Venters shortly after his appointment.

Vol.17 Issue 7 | August 2016

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finefoodnews

NearSt looks to take local online

BY ANDREW DON

NearSt is the latest online shopping platform to move into sourcing goods from farm shops, delicatessens and other speciality food shops.

The site and app, which has been on test in London with book stores, connects products in local shops with smartphones.

Its NearLive technology enables any shop to set up and start selling online to shoppers who, when searching for products they want, are shown where they are in stock near their location.

The items can be collected immediately or delivered within an hour by what is currently a network of four local third-party courier companies.

Nick Brackenbury, chief executive of NearSt, which has taken on £100,000 of investment and plans to raise a further £500,000 at the end of this year, said the service would be rolled out to food stores at the end of

The NearSt app offers consumers products from local retailers’ shelves

2016 or early 2017 in the capital.

It will expand into further product categories – including electronics, beauty products, DIY goods and sportswear – during August and aims to be national, including in remote villages, by 2020.

“From a technology point of view we don’t see rural areas as a problem,” said Brackenbury. “We’ve built it so retailers don’t have to be dependent on high-tech solutions.”

Shoppers initially pay £5 per order. It is free for retailers to set up and there is no monthly charge.

A “5-20% commission” on the value of the order is charged.

Brackenbury, a former Ogilvy advertising agency account director, said charges and pricing could change as NearSt expanded into food and drink.

David Greenman, co-owner of Arch House Delicatessen in Clifton, Bristol, said: “2020 seems a long time away for a technology company because everything could change by then.

“I would have thought they would be looking at shorter timescales.” www.near.st

Great Taste Market lands at Laverstoke with the ‘Glastonbury for Chefs’ A host of award-winning food, including cheese, charcuterie and preserves, will be coming to Laverstoke Park Farm in September with a new Great Taste Market at the Universal Cookery & Food Festival, often dubbed the ‘Glastonbury for Chefs’.

Now in its fifth year, the chef-focused festival is making its debut at the Hampshire biodynamic farm, which is owned by

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August 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 7

ex-Formula 1 driver Jody Sheckter, on Tuesday September 20.

As well as touring the farm and embarking on foraging sessions, visiting chefs will also be able to discover new cooking techniques and listen to talks from a host of speakers, including Claude Bosi, Will Torrent, Daniel Clifford and Angela Hartnett.

Over the course of the day, a range of topics will be covered on the stage, such as organic and ethical food, French cooking and pastry chefs.

Delegates will also

be able to sample a range of Great Taste-winning food from producers, including The Art of Curry, Tracklements and Pump Street Bakery, in the market area.

Among the other companies showcasing their wares will be Cryer & Stott Cheesemongers, Owtons butchers and Taste Distribution while there will be charcuterie on offer at Woodall’s stand and a host of Spanish delicacies from Bellota.

There will also be flour from Gilchesters Organics, fresh produce from Tendring Fruit and some unique spice drops from Holy Lama Naturals. www. cookeryandfoodfestival. co.uk

“If I’d known then what I know now” MIKE BILLINGHURST 181 DELICATESSEN, BRUNTSFIELD MY WIFE CHARLOTTE and I met while working at a Valvona & Crolla so opening our own deli seemed a natural progression. Bruntsfield is one of the few areas that still has a fishmonger and butcher – it’s full of independents. It used to have two delis, both of which closed. I remember thinking: ‘How can it not work?’.

We only allowed ourselves a month between signing the lease and opening the shop in August 2014. It was crucial to have all our planning in place before we even found premises. You see so many new businesses who pay rent without any money coming in. We had all our equipment on stand-by and chose our suppliers.

Our vision was to be a shop where people would find products they hadn’t seen anywhere else. This meant finding producers who didn’t supply any other outlets in the area. We also wanted to champion small producers. In Edinburgh, there is a huge artisan movement but a lot of these producers just sell via markets on a Saturday, so we give them a shop window.

We didn’t want to be an ‘identikit’ deli that sources its stock from three catalogues.

We now have over 70 suppliers we deal with directly.

It’s hard work but it makes for an interesting shop and strong relationships with both customers and producers.

The only changes to our original plan have come from getting to know our customers. In the beginning we were cautious about lines with a higher price point. We wondered whether people would be willing to spend £20 on a jar of truffles. Now we are bolder as we know a lot of our customers are keen cooks who love to experiment with ingredients.

When we started, we made a limited amount of items on-site. Now our home-made scones, savoury tartlets, gourmet sausage rolls, pies, houmous and pesto have become a reason people shop here.

By way of comparison, last June we sold £2,000 of our own products; this June we sold £3,000. We also make a bigger margin on home-made items.

Making the business pay for itself and pay us a salary has been the biggest challenge. Although the bank gave us a loan, they wouldn’t give us an overdraft. At the beginning, there were a couple of months when, once we’d paid our staff and bills, there was nothing left. We soon learned to spread costs. For example we place two orders in a month rather than one, to help cashflow.

We turned over £225,000 in our first year – exactly as we had predicted – and we were also chuffed that our running costs were as expected. The only cost we got wrong was staffing, but our accountant says no business ever gets that right in the first year.

This year every month has been up 10% on last year and we are on track to make a profit.

A second deli is a possibility, but one of the things people love about this place is that it is personal – either Charlotte and I are always there. If you open up another shop you spread yourself more thinly and the character of the deli changes. The other option is a bigger deli, but the referendum result has made us cautious about the future.

We didn’t want to be an ‘identikit’ deli that sources its stock from three catalogues.

We now have over 70 suppliers.

INTERVIEW BY LYNDA SEARBY

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finefoodnews

Arson attack destroys Malt Kiln Farm Shop

BY ANDREW DON

Warwickshire and West Mercia police forces have issued advice to businesses on how to reduce risk of arson attacks after the destruction of a farm shop in Stretton-under-Fosse, resulting in an estimated £2m in losses.

The investigation into the blaze earlier this summer at Malt Kiln Farm Shop was still ongoing when FFD went to press. A police spokesman confirmed arsonists were to blame.

Chris Lea, one of the farm shop’s owners, spoke of the devastation of watching his life’s work go up in flames.

The shop fire alarm’s auto-dialler alerted Lea to the blaze. “When we got there, it was well on fire and out of control and the fire brigade could do very little to stop it.”

The business immediately reopened the pick-your-own soft fruit operation by setting up a marquee where the shop entrance had been and

O Ensure

wheelie bins and flammable items are not stored near buildings and preferably locked away O Dispose of rubbish safely and on a regular basis O Install a security light or intruder sensor as a deterrent O Store petrol, diesel and other fuels in secure areas O Keep outbuildings locked O Report fly-tipping to the local council to cut the risk of it becoming an arson target.

Provided by Warwickshire Fire & Rescue Service

The blaze at Malt Kiln Farm Shop in Warwickshire caused an estimated £2m of damage

Lea hopes to soon have a temporary shop up and running, in an on-site agricultural building that was not destroyed.

Meanwhile, planning permission will be submitted to rebuild the farm shop –

which featured a butcher’s counter, delicatessen and coffee shop – and the site will be demolished and cleared.

“We will build it a bit differently,” Lea said.

“We’re fairly strong, but

Indies should be vigilant of mystery shoppers after new shoplifting scam

BY ANDREW DON

Farm shops are being warned by mystery shopping experts to tighten up security in the wake of a “legitimate shoplifter” scam.

Greater Manchester Police and Devon & Cornwall Police have both been alerted to a company called Mystery Shopping UK, which was recruiting people to steal from stores under the premise of testing security.

One apprehended “thief” told police she was a “mystery shoplifter” and was under the impression that, once caught, she would be able to contact her employers to verify her undercover credentials.

She said she had been briefed to put “stolen” items

Take steps to prevent arson

Jonathan Winchester: Farm shop security is “pretty dreadful”

in clear bags and send them directly to Mystery Shopping UK, which since appears to have gone to ground and its website no longer exists.

Jonathan Winchester, chief executive of Shopper Anonymous UK – which does carry out legitimate undercover shoplifting for

independent food shops – told FFD that smaller delis are less vulnerable to this kind of crime but larger stores with concealed areas are at risk.

“Farm shop security is pretty dreadful because they trust everyone,” he said, adding that his company’s thefts were always staged with the owner on site.

Winchester said one assignment saw his staff steal £492 of items in 50 minutes, including two chairs. On another exercise, shop staff even opened doors for the “thieves”.

Jill Spencer, president of the Mystery Shopping Providers Association Europe, said suspicious employees should always request ID or, failing that, contact police.

I don’t think it’s fully hit us. We are back to where we were at the start – a small shed with a field of strawberries.

“They broke into the first floor, straight into my office and they must have

set fire to it in the process of breaking in. CID has been to see us but no one’s been arrested yet.”

Moreno Francisco, community fire prevention and arson manager from Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service said: “Arson accounts for almost half of all fires attended by the fire and rescue service and can have devastating effects, not only for those involved, but also for the community as a whole.”

Search continues for Gonalston’s green egg Police are hopeful they will be able to recover a £1,200 ceramic barbecue stolen from Gonalston Farm Shop in Lowdham, Nottinghamshire.

Owners Ross and Georgie Mason offered a reward of £200 and a pair of prime steaks for help tracing the Big Green Egg equipment earlier this summer. News of the theft and the reward went viral on social media. “It went berserk on Facebook,” said Georgie. “We know where it’s been offered for sale.”

PC Gary Sipson at Ollerton Police said the investigation was “ongoing” when FFD went to press and a suspect had been identified who was helping

with enquiries. No one had yet been charged with the alleged offence. The response from Facebook had been “incredible”, he said.

“We are still actively working to locate the barbecue. There aren’t that many around so we would like to think there’s a chance of recovering it.”

Vol.17 Issue 7 | August 2016

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August 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 7

finefoodnews Opening or expanding a shop? Email details to editorial@gff.co.uk new openings

new openings

Cheese Etc undimmed by power cut

FIT FOR A PIRATE: Jamaica Inn, the Cornish hostelry that inspired author Daphne Du Maurier’s acclaimed novel of the same name, has opened an on-site farm shop. Last month, North Cornwall MP Scott Mann opened the 1,744 sq ft shop, which is more than 90% stocked with Cornish produce.

It sells meat, fish, cheese, eggs, milk and fresh bread baked in two ovens in the bakery corner, local fruit and vegetables, homemade jams and chutneys, charcuterie, chillis and patés. The store also has a convenience element with a section called “Everything Else” selling a limited range of general items. Local suppliers include Black Bee Company, Skinners Brewery, Patnicks, Cornish Sea Salt and Cornish Crab Company.

Owner Allen Jackson said he invested £200,000 in the store which he decided to open because local people had to drive 12 miles to buy food from Bodmin or Launceston.

He also wanted to sell to tourists looking to stock up for their rented cottages or caravans. www.jamaicainn.co.uk

Delilah opens Leicester branch in former bank

BY ARABELLA MILEHAM Nottingham’s awardwinning Delilah Fine Foods has opened a second outlet in the centre of Leicester, in a Grade II listed former bank close to the cathedral and the new King Richard III centre.

At nearly 5,000 sq ft, the new unit is around 25% bigger than the existing Nottingham store. However, owner Sangita Tryner said it shared “remarkable similarities”, with a large atrium providing retail space, seating for 32 diners and a food bar, and an L-shaped mezzanine floor catering for 38 covers.

Space is currently split 50:50 between retail and foodservice, but a further 40 covers could be added outside if demand is strong.

The shop will stock the same range as Nottingham, but Tryner is considering

adding a handful of new local suppliers.

Nottingham’s general manager Nik Tooley will oversee both units in the new role of operations manager, with colleague Sam Skinner-Watts moving over to run Leicester on a day-to-day basis as general manager, supported by a largely new team.

The new store is employing 17 new staff in total – four less than in its Nottingham site – but Tryner admitted this was “a massive worry” given the impending rise in the National Living Wage.

“If the next stage happens and it goes to £9, we will have some serious decision making about whether we change the way we work,” she told FFD. “We might not be able to offer the same level of service.”

BY ANDREW DON A power cut marred the debut of a new cheesemonger and delicatessen in Uckfield last month.

Joint proprietors Martin Sergison and Sharon Douglas opened Cheese Etc on July 11 to find Southern Water digging up the road.

“We had no refrigeration, no lighting, till or electronic scales until ten past four. We had a rollercoaster of a day,” said Sergison The former owners of The Big Cheese in Porlock, Somerset, moved to their new East Sussex location to be closer to family and the countryside. It took six weeks to refit and redecorate, most of which they did themselves.

The 1,100 sq ft property, which used to be a sweet shop, stocks more than 100 cheeses, half of them sourced from the South East. Some 90% of the stock is British and 10% continental.

The delicatessen stocks honey from Brighton, a variety of jellies and fruit cheeses, chutneys, jams, curry sauces, Italian olive oil and balsamic vinegars as well as charcuterie, including from Beal’s Farm.

It also sells “gourmet” gifts.

Sergison said it was hard to tell the true potential of the business because a lot of people were staying away until the roadworks were finished.

The shop opens six days a week from 10am to 6pm.

www.delilahfinefoods.co.uk Vol.17 Issue 7 | August 2016

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Brexit to leave British food without a name? news analysis

BY PATRICK MCGUIGAN

M

any iconic British foods are under threat after the future of the Protected Food Name (PFN) scheme in the UK was thrown into doubt by the result of the Brexit referendum.

Products including Melton Mowbray Pork Pies, Stilton cheese and Cornish Clotted Cream are currently part of the EU scheme, which protects regional and local foods from imitation. However, they could lose their protected status when the UK leaves, if the government cannot work out a deal with Brussels.

“That would mean anybody could make pork pies in Poland using cured pork instead of fresh pork or using less than 30% meat, and then import and sell them in UK as Melton Mowbray pork pies,” said Matthew O’Callaghan, chairman of the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Association and head of the UK PFN Association.

“Our PFNs will only be respected in Europe if we have a reciprocal scheme, which is why we need our own UK scheme.”

Former Defra Secretary of State Elizabeth Truss hinted at something along these lines in July when she told MPs that she wanted to develop “British protected food name status” as a replacement for the EU scheme.

However, Truss has since been

Thanks to the EU’s Protected Food Name scheme, more than 70 UK food and drink products are safeguarded against imitators.

But the Brexit vote has left Britain’s involvement in the scheme – and Defra’s plans to add more names – hanging in the balance. replaced by Andrea Leadsom and a Defra spokesperson told FFD that it was too early to comment on future plans, although did add: “PFNs are on a long list of things to look at, but they will be a high priority.”

At Quality Meat Scotland, which promotes PGI protected Scotch Beef and Lamb, head of marketing Laurent Vernet said he was confident a deal could be struck.

“There are numerous examples of non-EU member countries with products which benefit from Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status, from Colombian coffee to Indian tea,” he said.

O’Callaghan has written to Defra proposing to set up a joint working group to help draft new legislation for a British version of the PFN scheme, but said he was concerned that other issues may take precedence. “With all that’s got to happen with Brexit – you think of all the farming subsidies – our fear is that Defra takes its eye off the ball and we’re pushed down to the

Defra told FFD that ensuring the future of British PFNs, including Halen Mon’s Anglesey Sea Salt will be a “high priority” for new Secretary of State Andrea Leadsom

bottom of the pile.”

This concern was echoed by Alison Lea-Wilson, co-founder of Halen Môn Sea Salt, which has Protected Designation of Origin status.

“The whole thing must be in absolute chaos,” she said. “If it was my job [negotiating Brexit] I wouldn’t know where to begin.

“Having said that, PFNs are a

Anybody could make pies using cured pork instead of fresh, then import and sell them in the UK as Melton Mowbray pork pies MATTHEW O’CALLAGHAN, CHAIR, UK PFN ASSOCIATION

But it could put the flame back into Balti’s (and others’) bid The Birmingham Balti Association has welcomed the idea of a new UK protected food scheme after its application for protected status was turned down by the EU earlier this year.

“Brussels’ Eurocrats couldn’t get their head round our application to protect the Birmingham Balti, but if a UK scheme was set up we’d definitely see it as an opportunity,” said the association’s adviser Andy Munro. The original application for Traditional Speciality Guaranteed status was turned down because it did not set down specific ingredients, he added.

Matthew O’Callaghan said that as well as having a wider remit for protecting foods, a UK scheme could also be simpler. “We could have a more flexible, quicker, less bureaucratic scheme,” he said.

discreet project for someone. It’s relatively easy – all they have to do is draw up a statutory instrument and pass a law to say we will continue to look after EU products, if they continue to look after ours. The government and the Welsh Assembly have put a lot of time into the GREAT campaign and have majored heavily on PFNs, so it would be a great shame to see that disappear.”

With no clarity over the government’s future policy, the UK PFN Association has put on hold a plan to apply for funding for a PFN marketing campaign under the EU’s “Enjoy, it’s from Europe" programme. This provides grants of up to 80% for intitiaitives that promote European agriculture and

has a €100m budget for 2016, rising to €200m. Hybu Cig Cymru – Meat Promotion Wales has already benefited from two rounds of funding under a similar EU scheme, which was used to market PGI Welsh Lamb and Beef abroad. It is planning to make another application in 2017, but whether this is successful may depend on the progress of Brexit negotiations The UK currently has 74 PFNs with 17 currently still being considered, including Carmarthen Ham. Butcher Chris Rees, who is behind the PGI application, said he thought it was “kaput” when the result of the referendum was announced, but has since been told that the EU is likely to ratify it in September. However, Lance Forman, owner of H Forman and Son, is still waiting for his PGI application for London Cure Smoked Salmon to be confirmed, 18 months after it was sent to Brussels. “I was told that it would take three months and I’m still waiting,” he said. “I can’t see the EU rushing to approve British PFNs now.”

Meanwhile, the government’s ambition to turbo-charge PFN applications in the UK to reach around 200 by 2020 looks highly unlikely.

“I don’t see the government being anywhere near reaching its target,” said O’Callaghan. “These things take on average 4-5 years. So unless they’re approved very quickly, I can’t see it happening.”

Vol.17 Issue 7 | August 2016

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From niche to Norse invasion interview

The couple behind importer and retailer Scandinavian Kitchen hope to see Nordic cuisine move out of its niche into the mainstream of ‘world food’ – if Brexit doesn’t get in their way

I

t’s five years since Denmark’s Noma was named the World‘s Best Restaurant. Its 20-course menus, replete with seaweed, foam and foraged berries, put a global spotlight on high-end food from Northern Europe’s cooler extremities.

This was 2011, the same year Danish cop Sarah Lund arrived here in TV drama The Killing, spawning a new fashion for Norse knitwear.

Suddenly, Scandi was trendy – good news for one-time Innocent Drinks HR director Bronte Aurell and her marketeer husband Jonas.

The couple (she’s Danish-born, he’s Swedish) had opened their Scandinavian Kitchen deli-café in London’s Great Titchmarsh Street four years earlier, selling “cures for homesickness” to fellow Nordic expats in the form of meatballs, Plopp chocolate and creamed cod roe.

But even in July 2011, when the Aurells’ outlet was FFD‘s Deli of the Month, the couple knew they wouldn’t prosper by retailing to expats alone. As well as turning more British-born locals onto the joys of Västerbotten cheese, cloudberry jam and open sandwiches, they had set up a warehouse to import products from Denmark, Sweden, Norway

Pete Cassidy

BY MICK WHITWORTH

Bronte and Jonas Aurell hope to ramp up wholesale sales outside the M25

and Finland for sale both direct to shoppers online and to the trade.

Today, Scandi Kitchen’s commercial clients – looked after by business development manager Valdemar Lundh – include other Nordic ex-pat shops around the UK as well as the likes of Selfridges in London and Ocado, for which the firm has put together a complete Scandinavian range. It is also agent

tables,” said Bronte Aurell, when FFD interviewed her in mid-June.

“When a food trend starts it’s exclusive to the real foodies. Then it goes into high-end restaurants, and then it starts to filter down until eventually it’s in Tesco.

“Look at sushi – 30 years ago it was exclusive to ex-pat Japanese.

Then you had to start teaching people how to eat it, because it’s so completely different. And what we have now is a good example of a thing that has been anglicised into this culture.”

Just as Sweden’s infamous fermented (or ‘rotten’) herring probably won’t make many family menus in Britain, some hardcore forms of sushi aren’t seen outside Japan. But Aurell added: “I think Scandinavian food is going the same way. The hype may have peaked, but now it’s time to cement that into what people eat at home.”

Thanks in part to Ikea, Brits already have a taste for meatballs, but now they’re eating them with lingonberries. Cinnamon buns,

Whatever the Brexiteers were claiming, the difficulties of importing from non-EU member Norway are a lot greater than from Denmark or Sweden for a number of key Scandi brands, including Leksands crispbreads and Delicato cakes and pastries.

Now, the Aurells want to move their imports up a gear, pushing Scandi products out to more stores beyond the M25 and establishing food from the region alongside other widely accepted world cuisines.

“We’re getting closer to our ultimate goal of making Scandi food an everyday thing on UK dining

once a Nordic delicacy, are now ubiquitous. “People are even making them at home, so that’s a complete invasion by Scandi cookery.” In particular, the simplicity of many Scandi products, like high-fruit jams, adds to their current appeal. “They’re relatively honest products, which we feel is on-trend.”

There’s just one small obstacle to the Scandi invasion now. When FFD spoke to Bronte Aurell a week before the EU referendum, with anxiety running high, she predicted that exit could spell the end of Scandi Kitchen’s import business. Whatever the Brexiteers were claiming, she warned, the difficulties of importing from non-EU member Norway are far greater than from Denmark or Sweden. Life on the outside will not be so easy.

She was also indignant at the negativity towards “immigrants”, when she and husband Jonas – immigrants themselves – had been paying UK taxes and creating employment here for many years.

Two weeks after the vote, Jonas Aurell told FFD his wife’s response had come from the heart, but it was clearly too soon to know the true impact of Brexit. “If economists who’re paid a lot of money to look at these things on a macro level don’t know what will happen, what chance to do we have of knowing?”

Contacts in Sweden, Denmark and Norway were broadly sympathetic – “We’re seen as ‘locals’, so the negativity reflects on the Brits, not on us” – but the initial impact could be clearly seen when it came to making bank transfers.

“The cost of goods has shot up because of the exchange rate,” he said. “It probably rose 7-10% straight after the vote, then came down to about 5%. Unfortunately, that hits the bottom line straight away. We’ll keep a lid on it for a while – we’re trying to carry the cost ourselves at the moment – but we tend to look at new prices when people come back from holidays in September.”

But as the UK’s only source of some quality Scandi specialities, he doesn’t want to be seen to be exploiting that position. “That’s partly why we don’t want to jack prices up straight away. “Ours is very much a niche market. We don’t expect to see loads of new importers coming in and doing what we’re doing, so we want to be fair to people. We need to take a longer-term view.”

While negotiations on free movement of people will be long and tortuous, Jonas Aurell says there is sure to be an impact on some of Scandi Kitchen’s core ex-pat customers. But like his wife, he’s now eyeing a much wider market. “It’s about establishing Scandi food here as part of world food.” www.scandikitchen.co.uk Vol.17 Issue 7 | August 2016

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August 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 7

cheesewire Swinscoe blazing trail Unsung heroes with retail partnership

news & views from the cheese counter

HIDDEN GEMS FROM BRITISH PRODUCERS

BY PATRICK MCGUIGAN

Award-winning cheesemonger Andy Swinscoe is collaborating with several start-up cheesemakers to develop new products for his shop – a strategy that he hopes other independent retailers will also adopt.

Swinscoe, who owns The Courtyard Dairy in Yorkshire, is stocking a new unpasteurised goats’ milk cheese called Hebden Goat, which he has developed with Hebden Bridge smallholder Gillian Clough. It’s one of several partnerships that the young cheesemonger is involved with as he looks to encourage new producers and develop exclusive products for his shop. He is also working with two local farmers on new raw cows’ milk cheeses, including an unpasteurised Wensleydale called Fellstone.

“It would be nice to see other cheese shops working with local producers to create new cheeses,” he said. “More retailers are

Hebden Goat is the result of a collaboration between The Courtyard Dairy owner Andy Swinscoe and Hebden Bridge smallholder Gillian Clough

visiting farms and sending their staff to learn how cheese is made, so this is the next step.”

However, he added that if retailers wanted to set up similar projects, they would need a solid understanding of the cheese-making process

and be able to commit to buying a sizeable amount of cheese from the start-up. “It doesn’t work if you can only buy 10 cheeses a month – you have to commit to properly supporting the cheesemaker.”

The Courtyard Dairy buys all Gillian Clough’s

Hebden Goat cheeses, which are made with milk from Anglo Nubian goats and have a wrinkly rind, smooth texture and goaty flavour. She currently produces around 100 of the 100g cheeses every two weeks, while also working as a university lecturer.

Swinscoe helped the business develop in several ways, including helping it to secure a £1,000 bursary from the Specialist Cheesemakers Association.

He also advised Clough on the use of animal rennet and French bacteria, as well as taking her to visit goats’ cheese producer Charlie Westhead at Neal’s Yard Creamery in Herefordshire.

“There’s a commercial benefit in that I get a unique product that nobody else sells, but it’s more because I love doing it,” said Swinscoe. “We don’t want to be multi-millionaires. We want to make a contribution and have some kind of legacy.” www.thecourtyarddairy.co.uk

Cheyney wins unique double

Production boost for Angloumi maker

Julie Cheyney, owner of Suffolkbased White Wood Dairy, has become the first person to win the prestigious James Aldridge Memorial Trophy twice, after her washed rind cheese St Cera won this year.

Cheyney previously won the Specialist Cheesemakers Association award – which recognises the country’s best raw milk cheese as voted for by fellow cheesemakers – for her St-Marcellin style cheese St Jude in 2013.

St Cera starts out as St Jude but is washed in brine over several weeks at Neal’s Yard Dairy’s maturing rooms until it takes on a springy texture and meaty flavour.

BY PATRICK MCGUIGAN

www.whitewooddairy.co.uk

North London-based Kupros Dairy is set to grow sales of its British halloumi- and fetastyle cheeses to the Capital’s restaurants and retailers after it moves to new premises in September.

The company currently operates from the EHOapproved domestic kitchen of 30-year-old owner Anthony Heard, supplying London restaurants with Angloumi (pictured), London Fettle and London Ricotta, which are made with raw sheep’s milk. Customers include Hawksmoor and Brunswick House.

The new unit in Cheshunt will include a 500 litre vat, enabling the company to rapidly increase production and begin targeting independent retailers and wholesalers

with packaged versions of its products.

Heard, whose mother is Cypriot, makes the cheeses to traditional family recipes, using kid rennet and Anglesey sea salt. Angloumi has a firm texture with a milky, briney flavour, while London Fettle has a crumbly texture and yoghurty tang

with a herbaceous finish.

“These kinds of cheeses are often mass-produced using mechanical methods, but when they are made in a traditional way they are very different,” said Heard.

“They are less acidic and salty with more piquancy and butteriness.” dairy.kupros.london

JERSEY CURD In a nutshell: Julianna Sedli makes the Reblochon-style Baronet at The Old Cheese Room at Wiltshire’s Neston Park Home Farm but this organic curd is less well known. It comes in 500g retail pots or 2.4kg catering tubs.

Flavour and texture: The high fat content of Jersey milk gives the curd a richness and golden colour.

History: Sedli was born in Hungary, but started making cheese in the US. She came to the UK in 2006, working at Neal’s Yard and Sleight Farm before setting up the Old Cheese Room in 2011.

Cheese care: The retail pots have a shelf life of four weeks, if stored at 4°C or below.

Why stock it? Goats’ and sheep’s curd is common but cows’ milk varieties are rarer. Curd is one of the hottest restaurant ingredients and consumers are embracing it.

Perfect partners: Hungarian red wines, Kadarka and Kékfrankos, work well, as does Alsatian Riesling.

Where to buy: Paxton & Whitfield, Buchanans or direct www.nestonpark. co.uk/estate/old-cheeseroom/

FFD features a different ‘unsung hero’ from Specialist Cheesemakers’ Association members each month. To get involved, contact: patrick.mcguigan@gff.co.uk

Vol.17 Issue 7 | August 2016

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cheesewire

news & views from the cheese counter

‘I knew it was a good batch, but…’

Despite his long experience of goats’ cheese, Haydn Roberts was stunned by the success of his new ‘all-rounder’ St Thom at June’s BCAs. PATRICK McGUIGAN reports.

W

hile Cropwell Bishop’s Shropshire Blue made headlines in June after being named Supreme Champion at the British Cheese Awards, it was the success of another cheese that caught the eye of curd watchers.

St Thom, a raw goats’ milk cheese made by Lightwood in Worcester, was only launched a year ago. But it steamrollered the competition to win Best Soft and Best Goat, and it almost pipped Shropshire Blue to the top title, settling instead for Reserve Champion.

For such a new arrival to do so well so quickly seems unusual – until you discover who made it. Haydn Roberts, who took over Lightwood two years ago, is a hugely experienced cheesemaker, having spent 15 years at Neal’s Yard Creamery fashioning some of Britain’s most famous goats’ cheeses.

Even so, he says he was still shocked that St Thom, which is named after his son, did so well.

“I knew it was a good batch, so I thought I might get a gold medal,” he says, “but I certainly didn’t expect to nearly win the whole bloody thing.

“It’s lucky in a way because if I had, I would have struggled to meet demand.”

The brick-shaped, bloomy-rinded cheese did so well thanks partly to its interesting texture. It has a soft breakdown just beneath the rind, which gives way to a dense ice cream-like core, while the flavour is clean and herbaceous with a hint of peppery watercress as it ages.

“I wanted to make a cheese that was an all-rounder,” says Roberts. “Something that could work on a cheeseboard, but could also be sliced to go in a salad or for melting.

You can keep it in the fridge and it will be fine, but when you bring it out and get it to room temperature it ripens really quickly because of its shape – there’s more surface area than with a log.”

Lightwood, which was previously owned by Phil Hulland, has long made a range of different cheeses,

‘I made an awful lot of mistakes and learned from them,’ says Haydn Roberts of his time at Neal’s Yard Creamery. The BCA Reserve Champion title for St Thom shows his sure-footed start at Lightwood.

including Elgar Cheddar, a triple cream cows’ milk called Chaser and a hard sheep’s milk called Little Urn. Roberts worked alongside Hulland for many months after his amicable split from Neal’s Yard – where

I’ve loved having two or three years to experiment.

I turned the Lightwood website off and just fiddled around in the dairy.

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August 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 7

“things had just run their course”, he says – initially renting space at Lightwood to experiment with his own cheeses, then lending a hand with general cheesemaking. He took over completely in March last year

when Hulland decided he wanted to concentrate on his family’s asparagus growing business.

Since then he has added St Thom, plus a lactic goats’ cheese with a wrinkly rind called Little Flea, which he made for his daughter (she also helps him make it), a round version of St Thom called Eleanor (after his daughter) and a cow’s milk cheese called Worcester Blue.

After years of making Ragstone and Dorstone, turning his hand to other styles of cheese and developing his own has been one of the highlights of working for himself, he says.

“I’ve loved having the past two or three years to experiment and be creative. I turned the Lightwood website off and just fiddled around in the dairy.”

His creativity was encouraged by

cheesemonger Andy Swinscoe of the Courtyard Dairy in Yorkshire, who asked him to create a larger version of Little Flea exclusively for his shop.

The pair didn’t know what to call the resulting cheese, so the ever canny Swinscoe ran a competition in the local paper for the public to come up with a name. The winner was Amalthea: a Greek goat goddess who nourished Zeus with her milk (Courtyard Dairy’s customers are obviously a highly cultured bunch).

Lightwood currently makes three times a week using a 500 litre vat, with customers ranging from local farmers’ markets and restaurants to wholesalers including Harvey & Brockless, Fromage to Age and Michael Lee. Making such a wide range of cheeses might not be as efficient as churning out just one or two, but it allows the company to offer a complete cheeseboard and better manage maturing times (the goats’ cheeses are matured for a few weeks; the cheddar six months). Roberts’ experience also makes handling different styles easier, although when he first started at Neal’s Yard he was a novice.

“I made an awful lot of mistakes and learned from them,” he says.

“That’s the secret of getting better at cheesemaking – not repeating the same mistakes. It’s about having an obsessive interest in details, getting excited by tiny changes in the milk and how it affects pH levels.”

Like Neal’s Yard, all Lightwood’s goats’ cheeses are made with raw milk, but the cows’ cheeses were pasteurised until recently. Roberts has now found a good source of milk and is trialling unpasteurised versions of Elgar. Eventually he would like his the entire range to be made with raw milk, partly because he says it tastes better but also because yields are higher.

“If the milk hasn’t been messed around with too much, the fat and protein structures are still intact so you have more chance of capturing them,” he says, adding: “Cheesemaking isn’t a lifestyle adventure; it’s about hard work and getting a good return on your milk.” t: 01905 333468

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Rare breed, Free range ‘They taste fantastic -and sell out fast’ Andy Swinscoe The Courtyard Dairy

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www.threelittlepigschorizo.co.uk 22

August 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 7

making more of british & continental charcuterie

cut&dried

Time to push pedigree?

L

ast month saw Slow Food’s UK arm introduce the 100th traditional food to its Ark of Taste, the catalogue of endangered heritage products with close links to their regions.

The British Saddleback Pig is a hardy, dual purpose pork and bacon animal that is classified as “at risk” by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust (RBST), with only around 500 breeding sows.

It is an ingredient in many artisan charcuterie products, but both the RBST and Slow Food want to see much more native or rare breed meat on menus and retail shelves. They also want more buyers insisting on traceable, pedigree meat from registered stock, rather than just named breeds such as ‘Dexter beef’’.

Last month, the two hosted a conference at the Prince of Wales’ Highgrove estate in Gloucestershire to press home this message to farmers, breeders, butchers and opinion-formers, saying: “This fundamental point will ensure the viability and integrity of gene pools of some of our rarest breeds.”

Libby Henson, whose father started the RBST in the 1970s, told delegates: “There are real differences in the tastes of these breeds, but to save this diversity we need to eat them. They are livestock breeds and you have to create a market for them.”

Henson is a director of Grassroots Systems, whose software supports over 100 British livestock breed societies. She said the concept of “breed-named produce” was established in the public mind and commanded a premium, but its use in marketing was so widespread it was being

Caron Kennedy-Stewart of Clash Farm can provide pedigree certification for her new British Saddleback chorizo and salami

undermined by misleading or vague descriptions. One pub she visited was offering “traditional Tudor beef” and told her it was “very special, ancient breed” before admitting it had made the name up. When Burger King sells “Angus” beef, the description only means the bull was an Aberdeen Angus; the parent cow might have been any breed.

“This is exactly the battle organic producers have been fighting, and the battle we are fighting too,” Henson said, pointing out that the pedigree system offered a guarantee of provenance.“If the [named breed] concept has no integrity, the public will turn away from it.”

One newcomer to charcuterie that offers this guarantee is Clash Farm in Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland’s largest pedigree pork producer. It supplies British Saddleback to top restaurants including The Kitchen in Leith and Chez Roux at Greywalls, and co-owner Caron KennedyStewart told FFD her catering wholesaler insisted on seeing pedigree certification.

Clash Farm has now diversified into salami

and chorizo to gain the advantage of longer shelflife and ambient storage.

Kennedy-Stewart said she always promoted the unique qualities of the British Saddleback. But with rare-breed pigs taking twice as long to reach top weight as commercial equivalents, she said they were also twice as expensive. Getting consumers to understand the difference was a challenge.

Some speakers at last month’s event argued the ‘registered stock’ message was too complex for consumers. It was up to the trade to ensure the integrity of what was being sold.

Welsh farmer and charcutier Illtud Dunsford, the current BBC Food & Farming Awards producer of the year, told FFD the use of rare breeds was “a quality issue”, and this was the message he preferred to push. “Rare breed animals taste better – that’s a given – so in order to have the best products we have the best animals.” www.rbst.org.uk www.slowfood.org.uk www.buttlefarm.co.uk www.charcutier.co.uk www.clashsaddlebacks.co.uk

opinion ROBERT BUTTLE, BUTTLE FARM, WILTS THE GOLDEN RULE OF CHARCUTERIE is that the final product can only be as good as the carcass that you start with, and carcass quality is a factor of three things – breed, diet and age.

Rare breed pigs allowed to grow slowly in a free range environment with a high proportion of natural feed have the ability to produce the best quality carcass. Not only is the flavour of the meat superior to intensively farmed commercial pigs but also has a better structure to the muscle as a direct result of the slow growth, diet and exercise.

Fat quality is a core part of many types of charcuterie and rare breed fat is completely different to commercial fat, having a firm texture and a clean finish on the palate with a wonderful flavour.

Artisan charcuterie production is one of the best ways to showcase the superior quality of the great range of rare breed pigs that we have in the UK. The artisan style of production uses a minimum of ingredients, preservatives and additives. In some cases there are only two ingredients, pork and salt – the addition of many, strong flavours in volume commercial production is often to compensate for blandness.

Artisan products are not ‘rushed’ but allowed to mature naturally, which involves more time and a

Nic Vickery

Slow Food and the Rare Breeds Survival Trust want to see more products made with pedigree, native breed meat.

MICK WHITWORTH found out why.

The British Saddleback is one of six rare or native pig breeds reared at Buttle Farm

greater loss of weight through drying out but it is this process that allows the magic of charcuterie to happen, intensifying and adding complexity to the flavour profile.

At Buttle Farm we only work with pigs produced on the farm so have complete control over the carcass quality. All our stock is pedigree rare breed, with six different breeds produced. There are some differences between the breeds but without exception they all make outstanding charcuterie.

• Wiltshire pig farmer Robert Buttle – a Slow Food and RBST supporter – has breeding herds of Tamworths, British Saddlebacks, Berkshires, Large Blacks, Oxford Sandy & Blacks and Mangalitzas, and produces his own Wiltshire-cure ham and other British charcuterie

Vol.17 Issue 7 | August 2016

23

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24

August 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 7

GM foods

analysis

Safety in the numbers?

An authoritative review of research has suggested that genetically modified (GM) food poses no risk to humans or the environment, but sceptical retailers and consumers will take much more convincing, says ANDREW DON.

A

“what they're saying about...” ...GM foods

Ma Long/Greenpeace

n extensive study by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering & Medicine published earlier this summer found no “substantial” evidence that GM crops pose a risk to human health or the environment.

The US advisory body, which includes Nobel prize-winning scientists, said it could find “no adverse health effects” to date that were directly attributable to consumption of foods derived from such crops. Nor did they find any “conclusive cause-and-effect evidence” of environmental harm.

Although they could not account for longer term effects (GM is too new a phenomenon) or the newest plant strains, these findings are not the usual rhetoric we hear when it comes to GM. Given the recent horsemeat scandal and the prevalence of counterfeit food and drink, public mistrust is at an all-time high. So, will anybody really accept the idea that GM is safe?

Angus Oliphant, managing director at organic baby food company Miniscoff, says a lot of contradictory evidence is “bandied around” in support of vested interests and that is “the big obstacle”.

Oliphant adds he is “not a fan” of GM and worries that profit carries more weight than safety.

“I’m all about building trust with parents and that comes down to being as transparent and worry-free has possible,” he tells FFD. “What we do is aim to have a product that’s as clean and natural as possible.”

The price of organic meat and its feed has been volatile, which Oliphant says has inflated prices because of the difficulty in sourcing organic feed for livestock.

“You have a vast industry established on non-organic processed food production. You’re not going to break that overnight and it’s largely a

Despite recent scientific studies backing genetically modified crops, like this corn in north east China, the debate will continue to rage

profit-led sector.”

The founder of retailer Planet Organic René Elliott “prays” GM food will not ultimately be foisted on the public.

She became a trustee of the Soil Association in 1999 and joined the anti-GM fight, putting up information in her stores and targeting sympathetic politicians, such as Michael Meacher. She even argued with then Prime Minister Tony Blair, who was supportive of the technology.

Elliott believes big biotechnology companies, such as Monsanto, now

found 61% of farmers would grow GM, but only 15% would eat it.

Elliott is worried about the increased cost of providing guaranteed non-GM food because of the expense of testing to gain proof.

“So the best food could end up more expensive,” she adds.

Butterbees, the specialist butter shop in Malton, North Yorkshire, which uses organic cream in the production process, says some of its customers are “very particular” about its products being organic.

Lucy Briden-Kenny, co-owner, says GM food is not something

You have a vast industry established on non-organic processed food production.

You’re not going to break that overnight.

ANGUS OLIPHANT, MD, MINISCOFF

subject to a proposed $62bn (£44bn) cash bid from Bayer, will never give up. But people do not want to eat GM food, she says.

She points to a Barclays/Farmers’ Weekly poll three years ago that

What supporters say GM foodstuffs will: • Lead to increased crop yields • Keep food prices down • Feed a burgeoning world population • Decrease need for weed-killers • Be resistant to pests, viruses, fungal and bacterial disease • Enable the creation of higher-protein, modified-fat food, highervitamin fresh produce and longer lasting fruit and vegetables.

she would want. “The public are probably scared of it…it’s one of those things you can avoid if you go organic and shop in higher-end stores, but for other people, they might have to accept it.”

Jamie Landale, managing director of Delight Deli in Aberfeldy, Perthshire, believes the genie has already escaped the lamp. “I suspect a lot of stuff we are eating is GM and we don’t know we are eating it.”

He personally likes to know where his food comes from, see the raw material in the field and talk to the people who make it.

Landale adds that shoppers are already moving to organic and

GM is fundamentally unnatural and I feel we don’t know enough about the long-term consequences to humans and environment.

Many of our customers have concerns about health-related and ethicsrelated issues with food.

Danny Lidgate, managing director, C Lidgate, London A lot of people are interested in locally sourced product and provenance. Very few people ask if it’s GM. Claire Bruce-Clayton, owner, Lawsons Delicatessen, Adlebrough, Suffolk I’m sure some of the stuff we’ve got is already a little bit genetically modified. You cannot be sure. It’s not necessarily bad. We would have to go with whatever our customers are demanding. I try to make sure I have as much organic as I can.

Ludovic Piot-Williams, Epicerie Ludo, Manchester

wholefoods. “You only have look at the horsemeat scandal,” he says.

“Our very rural customers absolutely like knowing exactly where everything comes from and they like to know they are supporting the local people.”

Professor Chris Elliott, director of the Institute for Global Food Security, chairman of food safety and microbiology and Queen’s University Belfast, told the City Food Lecture in February that it was becoming increasingly difficult to source nonGM soya and wheat.

Europe was starting to soften more on GM and it was “the way the world’s moving”, he said.

Vol.17 Issue 7 | August 2016

25

The natural choice for cheese

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Introducing 3 new packs of sourdough crispbreads: Caraway, Pink Peppercorn, and a Selection Box featuring Original, Charcoal & Rye and Spelt & Poppy Seed.

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August 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 7

baruchocolates

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Vol.17 Issue 7 | August 2016

27

product focus

Sweet ringing in the tills In a year of uncertainty, Christmas remains the one guaranteed chance for retailers to coin it.

Get planning now with ANDREW DON‘s round-up of new festive ideas Tracklements has gone big on gifting with its Christmas spice chutney, which comes in a new size for 2016.

The product is made with Bramley apples and spices, and comes in cases of 6 x 399g Le Parfait jars (£5.25 RRP). British piccalilli and cranberry, port & orange sauces also feature in the range.

Mixed mushroom, roasted pepper and Sticky Pickle Bruschettini are three more newcomers, suitable for festive canapés (cases of 6 x 100g, RRP £2.95).

O Hider Foods’ Christmas brochure includes a new 100g ‘Real Fruits’ Turkish Delight range from Hazer Baba (RRP £2.49-£2.75).

The distributor has a larger selection of Christmas by Hider festive nuts, dried fruit, snacks and confectionery gift boxes this year, with prices to suit all pockets.

Schlunder stollen cake is always a popular choice at this time of year, with many O

alternatives to choose from: 220g (RRP £2.09£2.25), 750g (RRP £4.09-4.59) and 750g luxury gift boxes (RRP

£6.25-£6.75).

The Busy Baking Company has a range of baking mixes in packaging suitable for gifting, to sell between £5 and £6.

Products include

O

“How we plan for Christmas...”

MATYLDA CZERWICK, Bayley & Sage, Turnham Green We’ll probably start preparing for Christmas at the beginning of November. I have two buyers who organise a Christmas schedule for me. I’m responsible for the volume of orders but the buyers advise me.

Last Christmas – our first – we learned we needed to order, and cut, more cheese. We weren’t expecting so many customers.

Our four shops, which are all in west London, helped each other. Christmas wasn’t stressful but it was busy, so everyone was running around like headless chickens. We took advanced orders for collection or delivery and we will do that again.

28

August 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 7

Christmas biscuit mix with cutter in a bauble (RRP £6), ginger bread mix with cutter in a jar (RRP £7.50), sweet treat cookie mix in 1 litre jars (RRP £12), Christmas cake mix in a tin (RRP £15) and Flower Pot cake kit in a tin (RRP£16).

O Alta Valle Scrivia’s artisan pasta shapes from

the Italian coastal region of Liguria are available in six new vintage-style gift boxes with brown or purple cotton rope (RRP £26.99). They contain a choice of six 500g packs of artisan, durum wheat semolina pasta in a variety of shapes, including chestnut tagliatelle, foglie d’ulivo, trofie and croxetti.

They come with a book, Pasta in Liguria: History, Tradition and Future, by food historian Sergio Rossi.

O Innovations from Cotswold Fayre for Christmas 2016 include

Grow Your Own Snails kits from S’Cargo, a range of edible flower kits from Plant’n’Grow and what it says is the UK’s first sweet potato spirit range, from The Sweet Potato Spirit Co. The distributor says two stand-out confectionary options this year are Simply Chocolate, from Copenhagen, and chocolate nuts and flavoured liquorice from Danish producer Møn Dragee.

christmas “How we plan for Christmas...”

SHARON CURTIS-WHITE, Docky’s Delicatessen, Midsomer Norton, Somerset We’ve already got the Christmas brochures and my first appointment with reps should be early July. I will order much more chocolate this time.

We make a lot of bespoke hampers and the one thing everyone wants in it is a box of chocolates. I ordered loads of £5 boxes last year but still ran out.

I also have to remember not to be cautious and to order more cheese, crackers and chutneys. I’ve always erred on side of caution and then run out, which is better than having too much stuff left over.

We do a special window display, which people appreciate. I love trading at Christmas – ordering, putting together hampers and making them look beautiful, and doing the window.”

The Fine Cheese Co has launched a limited edition Partners for Cheese range to deliver something “a little bit special”. It comprises four luxury items: Toast for Cheese (RRP £4.50), damsons in gin (RRP £8.50), Sour cherry, cranberry & star anise compôte (RRP £7.50) And port, blood orange & pomegranate jelly (RRP £6.25).

Each has been inspired by popular cheese-board varieties, such as Lancashire, Wensleydale, Cheshire, Cheddar, Old Winchester, Stilton, Fourme d’Ambert and Vacherin Mont D’Or. O Twelve new brands and more than 350 new O

products feature in House of Sarunds’ Autumn and Christmas 2016 gifting collection.

They range from traditional Belgian, Italian and English chocolates to authentic Italian panettone, foiled novelty items and free-from options. Handmade Belgian chocolate shoes displayed in a transparent handbag with or without assorted truffles from Van Coillie are among the new lines, as is the Van Roy ‘prestige collection’, featuring gold blocked packaging.

O Peter’s Yard is ushering in the season with a new Selection Box (265g, RRP £6), billed as a one-

stocking fillers Guppy’s Chocolates brings a touch of fun with its 100g packs of penguin and reindeershapes in milk chocolate.

Trade price £1.70+VAT, RRP £3.

O

pack savoury biscuit solution for cheese.

The pack brings together a choice of crispbreads, including charcoal and spelt & poppy seed alongside the classic original. Charcoal is recommended for brie or soft goats’ milk cheeses; spelt & poppy seed could be paired with a Singe Gloucester, Camembert, Wensleydale or Caerphilly while the original crispbread is a great all-rounder.

O Barú’s uncoated “naked” marshmallows will be available from September to complement its chocolatecoated variants.

Vanilla bean, toasted coconut, sea salt caramel, blueberry & basil, strawberry & cacao and raspberry & mint contain “all-natural” ingredients such as dried

www. guppyschocolateswholesale. co.uk

Roots & Wings hopes its range of goodies will fly off the shelves, from its Family Christmas Pudding (454g, RRP £6.25) to its Christmas Condiments (200g, RRP £2.95).

O

raspberry, strawberry, blueberry and basil.

Key ingredients are prepared in-house. The sea salt caramel and toasted coconut are prepared in small batches. Each mallow is handcrafted and cut and packed into a 60g box (RRP £2.95).

www.rootsandwingsorganic. com

Savoury Jellies Gift Pack featuring damson jelly with gin, cranberry jelly with Cointreau and redcurrant jelly with Port (212g RRP £6.99) features among Mrs Darlington’s festive fayre this year.

O

www.tracklements.co.uk www.hiderfoods.co.uk www.thebusybakingcompany. co.uk www.pastificioaltavallescrivia. com www.cotswold-fayre.co.uk www.finecheese.co.uk www.sarunds.co.uk www.petersyard.com www.baru.be

www.mrsdarlingtons.com

Novelty products from Image on Food this year include a creative range of hand-iced gingerbread biscuits. The new Mr and Mrs Elf and Mr and Mrs Melted Snowman join the existing Father Christmas, Deluxe Penguin and Reindeer and Santa Man. RRPs range from £1.15 to £3.

Most are packaged in a retailready shelf dispenser, and some come with a gift ribbon.

Available in a cases of 12. www.imageonfood. co.uk

The scent of fresh Christmas trees is captured in the limitededition Pure Halen Môn Sea Salt. Smoked over spruce, it’s in 15g ceramic clamp-top jar in cases of 12 (trade £3.85, RRP £5.95).

O

www.halenmon.com

La Cerqua has added two new gourmet gift boxes: Da Vinci’s Italian Truffle Condiments Gift and Galileo’s Black Truffle Gift (including salt mill).

O

www.lacerqua.com

Artisan cakes and cookies producer Nila Holden’s range of contemporary seasonal gifts includes a Mini Gingerbread House (RRP £5.50) and a Large Gingerbread House (RRP £24.99).

O

www.nilaholden.co.uk

Vol.17 Issue 7 | August 2016

29

christmas

product update stocking fillers

“How we plan for Christmas...”

SANGITA TRYNER, Delilah Fine Foods, Nottingham and Leicester I’ve done all my planning already, and we are doing the final touches on what hampers we are ordering. I won’t have to think about it again until November when it starts getting busy for us.

Last year was the first time we really concentrated on corporate sales and did well with some of the hampers I put together, so I know what they’re looking for now and what they want to get for their money.

It’s a stressful time but I get the biggest buzz. You get to a point when you don’t get to spend time on the shop floor talking to real customers, but at Christmas it’s all hands on deck and all about the shopper.

Lillypuds says it handcrafts Christmas puddings in small batches with just 4% added sugar.

An abundance of fruit is used to sweeten the mix, while Chockwork

O

Lick the Spoon has updated its range of Hot Chocolate Lickable Spoons with a packaging redesign.

They come in a shelf-ready outer case of 12 (RRP £3.50).

The unusual-shaped packaging has been reduced from a three-piece plastic and paper pack to a fully recyclable single piece of card with a biodegradable window. The savings made on reducing packaging materials have been passed on to the customer with the twin-pack product weight increased from 50g to 70g.

O Welsh Speciality Foods’ festive menu this year features brandy butter (190g, RRP £2.59) Christmas mincemeat (315g, RRP £3.50), cranberry sauce (227g, RRP £2.25) and spiced Christmas marmalade (340g, RRP £2.90).

All the labels feature a new silver snowflake motif, in keeping with the season.

All products are handmade in Wales in small batches.

O

Premium craft gin distiller Warner Edwards says its new 20cl bottle option makes the perfect gift for gin lovers.

RRPs are £15 for Harrington Dry, Harrington Elderflower and Harrington Sloe, and £16 for Victoria’s Rhubarb.

O

www.warneredwards.com

cinnamon. Boxing Day Chutney is apple-based, with cumin and coriander spicing, and studded with dried cranberries. Bellringer chutney is a savoury vegetable-based product with ale.

O Fudge Kitchen is celebrating its new Fudge Fondues and Tempters gift boxes. The new Tempters Sea Salted Caramel and Best of British come in 205g and are recommended for sale for £8.50.

New Fudge Fondues come in Sea Salted Caramel and Rich Chocolate (80g, RRP £4). Others include Sharing

Miena’s nougat kitchen has cooked up three new variants: almond and cranberry, chocolate and hazelnut, and almonds, figs, orange peel and cinnamon. RRPs range from £2£15

O

Bar Trio (495g, RRP £15), The Xmas Slim Slider (150g, RRP £6) and The 12 Flavours of Christmas – gift boxed multi-flavour gourmet fudge (150g, RRP £15). www.lickthespoon.co.uk www.wsf.uk www.lillypuds.co.uk www.inapicklefoodco.co.uk www.fudgekitchen.co.uk

Orange beer, from the Brentwood Brewing Co, and brandy are also added.

Suitable for vegetarians, and including a glutenfree option, LillyPuds are available in 2 x 120g (RRP £6.45), 454g (RRP £9.75) and 908g (RRP £15.50).

O In a Pickle Food Co has redesigned its Christmas packaging, using a new foiled label to enhance shelf impact. Christmas chutney, Boxing Day chutney and new Bellringer chutney are available in 290g jars, packed six to a case (RRP £3.95, wholesale £2.55).

Christmas chutney is a rich red preserve with a fresh cranberry base and hints of orange and

Essential Cuisine has launched “easyto-use” Turkey Gravy Powder Mix which can be made in advance.

Each 76g pot (RRP) £2.50 makes one litre.

O

www.homecook. essentialcuisine.com

Miles has introduced Heavenly Hot Chocolate sachets topped with marshmallows in a latte glass (RRP £5.74) and 100g spiced Festive Chai Tea (RRP £3.95) O

www.djmiles.co.uk

Confiture de Noël (220g) sourced by The Fine Food Forager from Maison Francis Miot, includes fig, raisins, dried apricot, crystallised orange, crushed almonds and a pinch of rum (RRP £3.95, trade £2.10).

O

www.burrensmokehouse.ie

August 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 7

Pandora Bell Ireland is sweetening confectionery with its new liquorice collection in Classic Sweet, Authentic Salty and Smoked Sweet (10 x 120g packs with £4.50 RRP).

O

www.pandorabell.com

Irish eyes will be smiling this Christmas with Burren Smokehouse’s Doolin Fisherman’s Platter (RRP €29.95/£25): 850g of Burren Classic cold smoked Irish organic salmon, Burren Classic hot smoked Irish organic salmon, smoked Irish rainbow trout and smoked mackerel in both plain and spiced versions.

30

www. mienas.ie

www.thefinefoodforager.co.uk

Three jars of artisan-produced all-natural preserves

Truly Artisan Irish | Traditional Smokehouse Discover the True Taste of Heritage We offer our Irish Organic Smoked Salmon all year round but all orders for our Irish Wild Smoked Salmon must be received by no later than 15th August. Please place your orders for Christmas today!

Ours is a family business with fourth and fifth generation fishermen working to give you the very best quality, artisan smoked salmon using beech wood chips in our 60 year old traditional smokehouse in Ballyhack, County Wexford, Ireland.

Our wild salmon is is caught in sustainable fisheries using traditional draft and snap nets which means the fish are caught stress free resulting in a top quality product.

00353 860284283 | info@ballyhacksmokehouse.com www.ballyhacksmokehouse.com

Comp et trade itive & price RRP s

Availab le in a ran ge o eye-catc hing the f mes

To find out more about our gift boxes call: 016973 45974, email claire@claireshandmade.co.uk Details of our full product range can be found on our website www.claireshandmade.com

St

Spice up your Christmas sales with our naturally delicious winter warmers

an

dN V 17 isit u 42 s: at th eS

FF

F

Rich and spicy comforting winter warmers.

Delicious on their own, or mix with wine for quick and easy mulled wine at Christmas.

You can view our whole range of drinks at: www.belvoirfruitfarms.co.uk

Vol.17 Issue 7 | August 2016

31

W

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HE’S NOT REALLY ONE TO GET ‘INTO THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT’ UNLESS THAT SPIRIT IS SHERRY. ALL HE CARES ABOUT IS DELIVERING THE BEST DAMN COFFEE THIS SIDE OF THE NORTH POLE. AND HE DOES THAT 365 DAYS A YEAR. GRUMPY YULE COFFEE AND A RANGE OF KICK-ASS GIFTS WILL BE AVAILABLE FROM THIS SEPTEMBER.

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August 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 7

Telephone: 01472 355217 contact@bigfishbrand.co.uk www.bigfishbrand.co.uk @BigFishBrand bigfishbrand.co.uk

christmas

product focus “How we plan for Christmas...”

stocking fillers

KAREN PHILLIPS, Tastes Delicatessen, Eton, Berkshire We placed our first Christmas orders on May 10. We were a bit early this year because one of our suppliers arranged a Christmas event which got me in the mood and I met the producers who supply us.

Every year I tend to order a bit more than the year before because we always sell out. I go up 10% on everything. We tend to stick to the same brands if they work.

I love trading over Christmas because customers are all buying gifts, which makes them happy. We get in things they’ve never seen before, things that are a bit special, and I prepare hampers to suit the people that customers say they’re buying for.

Claire’s Handmade has launched a new gift box range, each holding three mini jars of its artisanproduced preserves.

Various themes are available including the Festive Collection, comprising a chutney, fruity jam and fruit marmalade.

The company says the gift boxes offer eyecatching and competitively priced presents for sale by independent retailers, delis, and farm shops. (Pack size 3 x 120g/130g, RRP £7.95, trade price £4.95) O Footprint Coffee has launched a new speciality blend just for Christmas.

O

season.

Winter Warmer Granola comes with cranberries, white chocolate and mulled spices. Christmas Pudding Granola comes “full of the flavours of the

Pip & Nut has launched a festive limited edition Crunchy Maple Peanut Butter (RRP £2.30) in a 250g jar, giving a seasonal slant on nut butters.

O

www.pipandnut.com

The Fine Cocktail Company wants to shake and stir with 200ml 12.5% ABV cocktails made from vodka, raspberry, lemongrass &

O

festive season” and, like all the company’s products, is certified gluten-free.

Both come in 400g packs (RRP £4.15, trade £2.91).

Minimum order is eight packs.

O Elderflower Martini is the fourth flavour from packaged cocktail company Köld. The new variant joins

Mojito, Cosmopolitan and Lychee Martini.

All the products come in boxes of 2x225ml pouches (RRP £6.99). The company will distribute them through Cotswold Fayre, Cress Co and Blakemore Fine Foods as well as selling directly. Trade prices vary per distributor.

Köld says they are ideal for stocking fillers and gifts and are great for Christmas and New Year parties. www.claireshandmade.com www.footprintcoffee.co.uk www.mostmarvellousbaking. co.uk www.koldcocktails.com

agave; gin with lychee, elderflower & ginger, and whisky with mango, mint & agave (RRP £4.99£5.49). www.thefinecocktailcompany. com

New red onion & Port marmalade (227g) from Rosebud Preserves is said to work particularly well with Stilton and cold meats. £2.20 trade, £3.75 RRP.

O

www.rosebudpreserves.co.uk

Punch with a twist has come out of the Belvoir Fruit Farms stable with a spiced ginger variety mixed with real pressed orange and lemon juices and spices (RRP £3, 75cl) O

www.belvoirfruitfarms.co.uk

Buttermilk Artisan Confectionery’s festive range includes sharing boxes of mince pie crumbly fudge, cranberry and orange smooth fudge, Irish cream crumbly fudge (all £2.50 RRP, 100g boxes) and a 250g Christmas selection gift box (RRP £9.99)

O

Its Essence of Christmas coffee “with warming spice and chocolate undertones” is presented in a 227g gift tin (RRP £7.50).

Available as whole beans or ground, the 227g tins cost £4.85 each (trade) in cases of 24.

O Most Marvellous Baking has increased its range of breakfast cereals to include two limited-edition granolas for the festive

www.buttermilk.co.uk

Scarlett & Mustard’s Just Add Christmas gift pack includes six sweet and savoury condiments, in cases of six (RRP £19.99, trade about £14).

O

Herb Fed, which takes pride in its husbandry, will have oven-ready free-range herb-fed Bronze turkeys (RRP £10/kg) available from the beginning of December until Christmas Eve. Sizes will range from 5kg to 12kg. Crowns and butterflies will also be available.

Herb Fed’s free range roosters (from 3kg-4.5kg, RRP £7.25/kg) are chickens reared only for Christmas day, available from December 21. The birds are fed a diet of more than 10 varieties of fresh herbs and are free to graze in acres of Yorkshire pasture

www.scarlettandmustard.co.uk

www. herbfedpoultry.co.uk Vol.17 Issue 7 | August 2016

33

reduced sugar

LillyPuds

®

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August 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 7

beer

focus on

Stranger brews British beer is enjoying something of a renaissance, spearheaded

by American-inspired IPAs, but one Somerset producer has chosen to explore the merits of different styles and unusual ingredients.

MICHAEL LANE visits The Wild Beer Co.

The Wild Beer Co specialises in sour and barrel-aged beers made with wild yeasts

S

ome adverts on TV would have you believe that all food and drink production in Somerset is a sleepy and traditional affair but one farm near Shepton Mallet definitely busts that myth.

Lower Westcombe Farm is home to not one but two of the most innovative producers in the country.

Not to be outdone by the Alpinestyle maturing cave and cheeseturning robot recently installed by its cheddar-making neighbours at Westcombe Dairy, The Wild Beer Co’s latest new toy is a centrifuge for filtering its brews.

It’s not a common piece of kit in British breweries but this isn’t what you would consider a normal operation.

While it is considered among the elite of the new generation of brewers, The Wild Beer Co hasn’t surfed in on the same hoppy wave of pale ales that have come to define the ‘craft beer’ movement.

“We don’t really use ‘craft beer’ around here because it’s confusing and it means different things to different people so we just generally ignore it as a term,” co-founder Andrew Cooper tells FFD. That’s not to say Wild Beer doesn’t make pale ales or use hops but the company was set up by Cooper and brewer Brett Ellis to create sour and barrel-aged beers using wild yeasts and a variety of

unexpected ingredients.

“For too long, people were too bogged down in brewing things to style. That’s what you did,” says Cooper. “We don’t come in and go ‘Let’s brew a porter today’. We get inspired by a flavour, or an ingredient or technique and then we make a beer that reflects that.”

Their varied repertoire includes beers made with a 60-yearold sourdough bread culture, gooseberries and even salted caramel.

But perhaps the beer that illustrates Wild Beer Co best is one of their first creations, Modus Operandi.

It starts out as an old English ale which is aged in Bourbon and then Burgundy Pinot Noir barrels for as long as a year. The resulting beer is then inoculated with wild yeast strains to produce a complex, slightly

acidic drink.

“To us, sour beer is the final frontier of brewing,” says Cooper.

“It’s unpredictable, it has lots of ifs, buts and maybes around it, and we love that.”

Cooper adds that in the sour beer’s traditional heartland of Belgium, brewers are not as adventurous and prefer to stick to style while others brewing similar beers in the UK cannot match the scale of Wild Beer’s production, which makes the Somerset outfit a unique proposition.

The keys to making these kinds of beers are space and time, both of which are a luxury that few can afford. Wild Beer’s tenancy at Westcombe Farm has afforded them both. And the arrival of the cheddarmaker’s new cave has freed up even

Sour beer is the final frontier of brewing. It’s unpredictable, it has lots of ifs, buts and maybes around it, and we love that.

ANDREW COOPER, THE WILD BEER CO

more square footage on the farm so Wild Beer has taken over two former cheese production buildings and it will also be extended at the rear.

Some 50 extra barrels have already arrived along with the centrifuge – essentially a series of 169 spinning discs in a cone-shaped housing – which can filter a batch of beer in an hour, as opposed to gravity working its magic in a tank for three days. Cooper says this expensive piece of equipment will improve both the quality of and the yield from each brew.

When it’s all up and running, the enlarged brewery will be able to operate at almost double the capacity – so between 12 and 15 brews of 2,500 litres weekly.

If you needed proof of The Wild Beer Company’s rapid rise then Cooper says that this extra capacity will be taken up within months as demand from bars, export markets and retail continues to increase.

Shops looking to stock some Wild Beer have several entry points. If you don’t want to jump in at the deep end, it produces a number of pale ales in beer’s trendiest format, the can. The line-up includes the heavily hopped Madness IPA and the newly launched Pogo, which offers popular tropical fruit flavours at a sessionable strength.

Some of these “everyday” beers also come in the 330ml screenprinted bottles that also serve as vessels for a host of Wild Beer’s more unusual beers.

For those that really want to make a statement on their shelves, a good starting point might be Ninkasi.

Made with 10% apple juice, the beer is finished with Champagne yeast for an effervescent brut-like drink.

Cooper describes it as a “celebration beer” and it comes in the producer’s signature 750ml sharing bottles sealed with wax.

“At 9% it’s much lower in ABV than Champagne and much cheaper,” adds Cooper.

With so much already behind them, you might speculate where the Somerset producer could possibly go next but Cooper says there are plenty of new beers in the offing, including an export strength version of its salty, citrus-y Sleeping Lemons beer and range of seasonal lines made with smoked ingredients.

“I think, as a beer industry, we’re only past ‘yellow and fizzy’, ‘brown and flat’ or ‘sometimes black’,” he says. “We’ve still got a long way to go.”

The Wild Beer Co also has ambitious growth plans. A second bar in Bristol has just joined its existing outlet in Cheltenham and Cooper says that they are also searching for a second brewery site.

Maybe one day they’ll have even their own TV spot to rubbish the myth about their home county. www.wildbeerco.com Vol.17 Issue 7 | August 2016

35

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tea

product update

Hot and steamy

products in brief

LYNDA SEARBY’s round-up is boiling over with new products, from matcha powders to frozen herbal teabags and rare Scottish single estate teas At September’s Speciality & Fine Food Fair, London-based zigzag teas is previewing three new loose leaf tea collections: Pure (ancient classics), Plant (herbal infusions) and Signature (modern infusions).

O

Margarets Hope Darjeeling, China Pai Mu Tan white tea and Formosa Fancy Oolong are the newest varieties from Cheshire Tea Company.

The loose leaf tea specialist has also introduced new foil lined kraft pouches to keep its tea fresher for longer, new labels and bar codes on all products.

The teas come in 50g retail pouches with a wholesale price of £2.80 (RRP £3.95).

Selected 500g catering packs are also available to the trade priced at £19 which works out at 11p per cup.

O The use of wild, hand-picked and organic French plants gives Le Bénéfique a point of difference.

The French tea firm has built on its inaugural O

www.zigzagteas.com

Brighton’s Balcony Tea promises to transport tea drinkers to the Mediterranean with its two new blends.

Breakfast tea blends Assam and Kenyan black tea while Soothing with Chamomile tea features lime flower, rosehip, rose petals and lavender.

O

New start-up Tea & the Gang has set out to “break down the barriers for all ages to try different tea blends” by injecting some personality into tea. Its eclectic collection of whole leaf and herbal teas is presented in eye-catching packaging and has a wholesale price of £2.99 to £3.39 for 15 bags (RRP £3.99 to £4.49). www.teaandthegang.com

Sultan herbal tea collection with a second range, King’s

collection, comprising elderflower, primrose, red clover and yarrow teas.

Available in the UK via the Fine Food Forager, the

teas already count Harrods, Burford Garden Company and The Larder in London among their stockists. RRP £13.95. www.cheshiretea.co.uk www.lebenefique.com

www. balconytea. co.uk

Following the relaunch of its herbal teas last October, Steenbergs has rolled out a new look across its black, green,

O

Matcha: the cult green tea The matcha trend is showing no sign of waning, and Matchaeologist and Teaforia have become become the latest brands to join the party.

Matchaeologist is positioning its “artisanal grade” matcha at the “highest end of the quality spectrum”. Its matcha undergoes a proprietary artisan roasting process which is said to result in matcha blends characterised by a “sweetsavoury umami flavour profile, unrivalled by other industrially processed

matcha”.

Formulated by sommeliers in Kyoto, the three blends in the line-up are: Misaki (ambrosial with sweet umami undertones, RRP £24 for 20g), Matsu (intense with a mellow roasted flavour, RRP £20 for 20g) and Meiko (full-bodied with subtle floral aromas, RRP £12 for 20g).

Teaforia has also moved into the matcha space, citing hand-picked young green tea leaves sourced from

organic Japanese farms as its point of difference. Its Ceremonial matcha has an RRP of £20 for 50g, while its Premium matcha has an RRP of £15 for 50g. Stockists so far include Amazon and Partridges.

Bloom has been in the game for a while and counts Harrods among its stockists.

It has gone for a functional positioning with its three newest tea powders: Nutrifusion matcha for an “all-natural nutrient boost”, Powerdrive matcha for a “natural energy booost” and Trimtime matcha for those

who want to shed some pounds. RRP £16.99 for 30g.

For the uninitiated, matcha is the world’s most potent green tea.

The powder is produced by grinding the dried tips of shade-grown tea leaves between granite stones. Because of the way it is grown, matcha is said to have a much higher content of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants than other teas. www.bloomtea.co.uk www.matchaeologist.com www.teaforia.com

white and oolong loose leaf teas. www.steenbergs.co.uk

Cotswold Fayre is now carrying an innovative liquid instant tea from No More Tea Bags. Each 200ml bottle will make 50 cups of tea simply by adding hot water. There are currently three flavours in the range: instant, instant jasmine and instant Earl Grey.

Wholesale price: £2.683.41.

O

www.cotswoldfayre.co.uk

Vol.17 Issue 7 | August 2016

37

tea

product update

How we stock it…

SALLY BUTCHER, OWNER, PERSEPOLIS, PECKHAM

With tea playing a central role in Iran’s culture, it’s not surprising that this cornucopia of Persian specialities goes to town with its selection.

“Among our Iranian customers, best sellers are loose black Ceylon teas with different aromas and spices” says Butcher. “In the Middle East they usually blend their black tea with Earl Grey or add cardamom or saffron to make it more interesting and fragrant.”

These teas are bought from Iranian tea importers, of which Ahmad Teas is one

products in brief Re-Invigorate herbal tea with organic tulsi herb and lemon peel is the latest variety in Ayurveda Pura’s collection of teas based on the principles of Ayurveda, the 5,000-yearold ‘science of life’.

O

www.ayurvedapura.com

Henny and Joe’s has built on the success of its Masala chai infusion with the launch of a chocolate chai. The spiced tea can

O

be added to milk to make chai latte. Wholesale price £4.75, RRP £8.45. www.hennyandjoes.co.uk

Whittard is marking its 130th anniversary with a new collection. The Tea Discoveries Collection showcases the company’s most inventive blends and signature recipes, from English Breakfast to mango & bergamot, in bespoke caddies.

O

www.whittard.co.uk

38

August 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 7

of the best, according to Butcher.

“This is an authentic Iranian company that really knows what it is doing.

It also makes some lovely blends and caddies for the British market,” she says.

Butcher has noticed that Brits are getting ever more curious about teas too, particularly when it comes to the green variety.

“People can’t get enough of green tea at the moment – it’s got the same hipster chic as drinking Chinese bubble tea. We sell the real stuff from

Central Asia, which we joke separates the men from the boys, but we also stock more accessible Moroccan green teas.”

Herbal teas are perenially popular and, while Butcher has “flirted” with all the brands in the past, nowadays she sticks to Pukka and Yogi.

There’s lots of crossselling with the café too. For example, Butcher serves her own recipe “cold busting” blend containing borridge, calendular and marshmallow in the café, which often leads to people picking up a retail pack in the shop.

O Edinburghbased botanical tea specialist Miss IntegriTea has rebranded as Cindy’s Tea and launched new packaging and new blends.

Although best sellers such as Deep Sleep Tea and Clear Skin remain untouched, medicinal herbalist Cindy Ledgerwood has created several new blends, including Relax with Poppy – a combination of remembrance poppy with camomile, liquorice and fermented blackberry leaf.

The resealable pouches and caddies have respective RRPs of £5.50-6 and £7-7.50 for 30 servings.

O Not to be outdone by neighbouring Dorset, Devon now has its own regional tea brand.

Devonshire Tea debuted last year, with a range of black teas with

coastal styling to represent the South West lifestyle.

The brand has now extended the line-up to take in four black tea blends – Classic Breakfast (a blend of Assam and Ceylon), Earl Grey, Delightful Afternoon (a

blend of Assam-Darjeeling) and single origin Assam – and two selection packs. RRP £2.95 for 25 bags.

O Tea Shirt is a hip new tea brand whose labels mimic textiles from the country of origin.

The brainchild of Hungarian couple Kriszti Nagy and Andras Toth, the brand stands for loose

leaf and powdered teas sourced from all over the world.These range from Japanese matcha, benifuuki and kabuse powders to classic Earl Grey and Darjeeling teas and original flavours such as marshmallow and gin & tonic.

They are currently only available on-line and at Camden Market, but the duo are planning to target the independent trade as a next step.

O Fifth generation tea merchant Robert Wilson has announced the arrival of a new “superb classic Ceylon black tea” from an estate in the Dolosbage Hills that was owned by his family in the early Ceylon coffee days.

Wilson believes the Dotaloya DOP tea will appeal to discerning drinkers with a genuine interest in quality

It’s iced tea but not as we know it Sussex entrepreneurs Gilly and Simon Cowley, aka Pure Tisanes, have come up with a solution for delivering the freshest possible herbal teas.

By taking fresh ingredients and snap freezing them, the duo claim to be able to create infusions that present “a superior alternative to dried herbal teas”.

“Snap freezing is another term for blast

freezing, which is a super fast process used to freeze down the herbs to encapsulate all the natural flavours and avoid moisture loss and crystallisation,” explains Gilly Cowley.

The tea bags are

supplied frozen, for storing/ displaying in the freezer and using directly from the freezer. So far there are six blends to choose from, including cucumber & mint, kaffir & lemon thyme and juniper & sage. These are available in re-sealable, freezer-ready catering pouches of 25 teabags priced at £12 and retail pouches of 10 teabags (RRP £6.25). www.puretisanes.com

tea. The loose leaf tea is available in 125g retail packs and 1kg food service bags.

O A focus on sourcing loose leaf teas from some of the world’s highest altitude farms is how newcomer Himalayan Treasures plans to set itself apart in the speciality tea market.

Founded less than 12 months ago by Sunder Lama, the company deals

with estates located at the foothills of the Himalayas, where a unique climate and traditional, small-scale methods are said to produce higher quality crops.

O BRUU The Tea Club has started wholesaling its tea and has introduced a new blend called Teatox, which is aimed at helping people kickstart a healthier lifestyle.

O Eight Secrets of the Far East – the latest blend from Novus Tea – combines eight different types of green and white tea with fruity flavours to create a “full-bodied, flavoursome and refreshing” drink for experienced green tea drinkers looking for something different. www.cindystea.love www.devonshiretea.uk www.tea-shirt.co.uk www.wilstea.com www.HimalayanTreasures.net www.bruutea.co.uk www.novustea.co.uk

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Vol.17 Issue 7 | August 2016

39

www.teaforia.co.uk groundrules@teaforia.co.uk +44(0)208 1444 150

To tea or not to tea, quite simply, is never the question but here at Hope & Glory® we believe the tea you take should always be top notch!

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Our organic teas are hand-picked from around the globe and selected and blended particularly for the British palate.

When it comes to good quality tea a little goes a long was so go on, make every day a good quality tea day. You deserve it.

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For more about our award-winning Black Mitcham peppermint chocolates and teas: visit www.summerdownmint.com 40

August 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 7

Retail | Wholesale | Events | Hospitality

tea

product update

Tea Fellows – a range of gifting teas that promises to inject some humour into the category – makes its debut at the Speciality & Fine Food Fair.

Each tin contains 25 bags of English Breakfast and the tags on each tea bag are printed with light-hearted quotes and quips. There are three different themed tins: Get Hooked (for fishing aficionados), Tea-Off (for golfers), and Good Advice for Tough Times (humorous instructions for tackling life in general). www.ceylonteaplantation.com

While fruit tea doesn’t always taste as fruity as it smells, newcomer Phrooti has come up with a product that doesn’t disappoint on either front.

The tea is made entirely from natural dried fruit

O

powder, giving an intense fruity flavour. There are three varieties – raspberry & strawberry, blackcurrant, blackberry & blueberry and sour cherry & cranberry – available from Cotswold Fayre as of last month.

Wholesale price for a 30g pouch is £2.95; RRP £4.95.

O Retailers looking for a brand of herbal teas that aren’t stocked anywhere else should check out Cantinho das Aromáticas.

Despite having several Great Taste stars between them, the Portuguese company’s herbal blends, which include lemongrass, cinnamon basil & globe amaranth and spearmint, peppermint & anise hyssop, aren’t yet on sale in the UK. O Hampshire’s Ahmad Tea claims to have come up with a new concept in tea with the launch of Cold Brew – iced tea from real tea leaves.

The old fashioned method of preparing fresh

ice tea involves boiling water, brewing and then chilling the infusion down to drinking temperature, whereas these cold brew bags result in freshly brewed iced tea in under

five minutes. Three flavours are available at launch: English tea, lemon & lime and peach & passionfruit.

O Indies on the lookout for teas from more unusual origins may be interested in Matsesta Tea Factory’s new gift set of loose leaf Russian teas. The traditional black, steamed green, bergamot black and green with jasmine bud tea varieties are grown on a single estate in the foothills of Matsesta valley, Sochi. RRP £20-24 for a 140g (4x35g) case.

O We Are Tea has

developed a new trio of functional ‘super teas’ in partnership with nutritionist Amanda Hamilton.

The three varieties – Svelte, Glow and Soothe – are designed to address specific health areas, from skin radiance to digestion, The whole leaf bags come in packs of 12 and are listed with Sainsburys nationwide from this month. RRP £3.49. www.phrooti.com www.cantinhodasaromaticas.pt www.ahmadtea.com www.matsestatea.ru www.wearetea.com

products in brief Two former teachers have set up a Hong Kong-based tea business that helps impoverished children access education.

Man Cha Teas sources all its loose leaf tea from farmers across Asia and won three stars at last year’s Great Taste awards.

O

www.manchateas.com

On shelf in Harrods and Harvey Nichols, the two latest varieties of Chinese tea from Choi Time are lemongrass and genmaicha made from first growth sencha green tea leaves mixed with brown puffed rice.

O

www.choitime.com

Royal Dragon – a blend of black tea, bergamot oil, orange pieces and lemon verbena – is the latest addition to Chantler Teas’ Dragon range of loose leaf teas, which are blended and packed in Pembrokeshire. Wholesale prices for a 75g pouch or caddy are £2.55 (RRP £3.95) and £4.35 (RRP £5.95) respectively.

O

www.chantlerteas.co.uk

Online retailer Chinalife Tea House, a specialist in Chinese herbs and tea, is now offering its teas wholesale to the independent retail trade.

Duck Sh*t Oolong and Tiger Spirit Wild Pu-erh tea are among the latest varieties on its menu.

O

Doing the lowland fling Following the launch of its single estate Garrocher Grey last summer, Scotland’s first lowland tea garden has two more teas in the pipeline. The stem tea with blackcurrant leaves and the Russian Earl Grey will be available for sale next month.

Situated in Dumfries and Galloway, Garrocher Market Garden is just

the second tea garden in Scotland and the first in the lowlands.

Garrocher Grey is a

premier leaf black tea made by blending the fresh leaf and the flower of the monada.

When finished, the tea is lightly smoked over oak. It is one of the rarest teas in the world, which is reflected in its price tag – the tea retails at £35 for 15g via the Wee Tea Company. www.weeteacompany.com

www.chinalifeweb.com

Somerset’s Miles Tea & Coffee is now offering its Smugglers Gold teabags as a loose tea blend. The “bright, flavoursome” mix of Assam, Kenya and Ceylon comes in a range of pack sizes, from 50g (RRP £1.88) to 250g (RRP £10).

O

www.djmiles.co.uk

Vol.17 Issue 7 | August 2016

41

TEA TIME WILL NEVER BE THE SAME

S TA L

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Perfectly packaged for the g ift market, this delightfully quirky and orig inal new brand initially launches with three themes, with many more in the pipeline. Each tin contains 25 bags of premium quality tea with unique and humourous witticisms on every tag. Our handpicked, pure Ceylon Tea proudly supports the environment by being certified Ozone Friendly.

is it

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42

August 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 7

tea

A legion of loose leaves Covent Garden’s The Tea House is a paradise for lovers of a specialist cuppa, but it’s not just for tea snobs. ‘If you like it, don’t worry what someone else thinks,’ director Katherine Smith tells ANDREW DON.

T

ake a walk down Neal Street, in London’s West End, and sandwiched between Dr Martens and teen fashion store Brandy Melville is The Tea House.

Its Dickensian-style window sports an expertly crafted, eyecatching display of speciality teas and accessories.

Exotic names such as Summer Passion, Ceylon Pekoe Lovers Leap and Iron Goddess of Mercy could make you rue the day you formed a coffee habit.

The Tea House is today run by managing director Katherine Smith, but it was her aunt Christina who opened the 520 sq ft shop towards the end of 1982, around the time Culture Club’s Do You Really Want to Hurt Me topped the charts.

Katharine, a co-owner with brother Alex and her aunt, joined the business in 2011 when Christina was looking to retire.

Katharine’s background was in software and she admits to knowing little back then about specialist brews. So there was a “transition period” while she and her brother learned the fundamentals of running a business – and got to grips with the world of tea.

“The early days were about knowing what our range was, knowing our suppliers, how we operate and running the business. In year two, I focused much more on the product itself, and sourcing.”

Space is at a premium in the Neal Street store, with 250 tea varieties in stock as well as accessories, including teapots, infusers and “DIY teabags”.

Current big sellers are green teas – “definitely on trend”, she says. “Green tea in particular is quite good food you, and low in caffeine, as well as being a nice, refreshing drink, so there’s interest on many different levels.

“We have some very nice plain greens, and a lot of flavoured greens like guava, passionfruit, mango, cranberry and rose. Purists won’t go for those, but they’re amazingly popular.”

Jasmine tea, she points out,

is a ‘flavoured’ tea, as is another favourite at The Tea House, Rose Gongou, which is a black tea flavoured with rose petals.

“I appreciate people have lots of different tastes,” says Katherine, whose view is: “If you like it, enjoy it. Don’t worry about what someone else thinks.”

Flavoured teas really come into their own in their own in the festive season. “Seasonal teas, especially Christmas blends, are huge sellers for us,” Katherine tells FFD, “and I can’t change them too much because customers like to come back for them year after year.

“They tend to be lightly spiced, or slightly fruity or almondy, or a mixture. We have them across the black teas, green teas and fruit blends, and they have their own Christmas names.”

There are spring and summer seasonal teas too, she says, such as varieties with peach, apricot or mint for making iced tea.

The only thing missing KATHERINE SMITH, MD, THE TEA HOUSE

Purists won’t go for flavoured green teas,but they’re amazingly popular

from The Tea House, says Katherine, is an in-store tea bar where customers can sample the scores of varieties sold in the shop. Sending people off to other cafés is far from satisfactory, but the problem is how to reconfigure space.

“We obviously like to refer them to local establishments that serve

Tips for tea retailers • Hold tastings to encourage sales. The Tea House can provide training for trade customers to help them pass on tea knowledge to shoppers.

• Make serving simpler by selling accessories, such as DIY teabags and teapots • Don’t over-buy any one variety – it’s important to maintain freshness.

• Stock seasonal teas, such as Christmas blends or varieties like peach, apricot or mint for summer iced teas.

our tea but it’s not the same as being able to offer something that’s definitively our own,” she says. “We don’t want to send them away!”

One option is to reduce the space given over to accessories. But it’s the mugs, tea towels and cosies and other accoutrements that help “novices” feel more comfortable when confronted with lots of different tea varieties.

“It’s very important we can offer the DIY teabags and the infusers so we make it as easy as possible for people to make the tea and to dispose of the leaves,” she says.

“Once you people taste proper loose tea they ‘get it’, and realise it’s not as difficult as they thought.”

She adds: “We have our regular customers who know what they want, as well as people who are interested to learn more, and then others who are just intrigued by the fact this is a specialist tea shop. They come in and are just amazed by how much there is to see.”. www.theteahouseltd.com Vol.17 Issue 7 | August 2016

43

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www.gff.co.uk | 44

August 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 7

@guildofďŹ nefood

AINING

focus on

cakes & puddings

Sweet temptation Shoppers are set in their ways when it comes to splurging on puds, with Bakewell tart and sticky toffee perenially popular, while anything salted caramel sells. LYNDA SEARBY reports.

A

t The Food Company in Marks Tey, pastry chefs bake all of the desserts for both the in-store ‘chef’s counter’ and the 120-seater restaurant, where possible utilising products from the shopfloor.

“This gives customers the opportunity to replicate cakes and desserts at home and works from a profitability point of view too,” says general manager Nick Pilcher.

Home-made cheesecakes are the store’s most popular item, along with roulades. “Our bestselling cheesecake is probably butterscotch or Oreo cookie, and we always have a supply of traybakes including gluten-free brownies, Rocky Road and tiffin,” he says. “Our counter changes daily and our customers often expect something they’ve never tried before. That said, American-style cakes decorated with recognisable products such as Oreo cookies and Mars bars are always popular.”

In terms of trends, he notes that peanut butter and salted caramel are still big flavours, aned have recently been joined by tonka bean. “Our chefs keep an eye out for developing trends on social media channels such as Instagram,” he says.

By contrast, at Rhug Estate farm shop in North Wales, regional delicacies Bara Brith and Welsh cakes are by far the best sellers, followed by traditional cakes and puds, such as sticky toffee, fruit pies, Bakewell tarts and lemon drizzle, all sited close to the main entrance to “tempt” customers.

“I find that cakes work best if they are immediate on entering the shop or close to the till points,” says shop manager Graham Webster.

“Normally people come in to go to, say, the butcher’s counter rather than to buy a cake, so it is about

The Food Company’s home-made cheesecakes are its best-sellers

putting temptation in front of them.”

While Rhug describes itself as a “traditional farm shop”, current trends do influence ranging decisions, and since joining the business seven months ago, Webster has started stocking flavoured meringues from Merangz and increased the shop’s gluten-free offering.

“Meringues are the new macaroons, and gluten-free is becoming a dietary choice for a lot of people. We have also noticed that some suppliers are now offering cakes with reduced white sugar

André Birkett and the varied selection at Chatsworth Estate farm shop

content,” he says.

Gluten-free is also gaining traction at Rumwell Farm Shop near Taunton, where gluten-free cakes baked by Katy’s Cakes are one of just a handful of ranges sourced externally.

“We would find it difficult to bake cakes that meet special dietary requirements, because of the nutritional information that has to be declared on the label and the volumes – to be economically viable, cakes have to be made in large batches, and we wouldn’t be able to sell that many,” says owner Anne Mitchell.

With the exception of glutenfree cakes and sponges supplied by a local WI member, Rumwell bakes everything in store.

“In the early days we advertised for home bakers to sell via the shop, but this didn’t work out, as people had no idea of commercial requirements – they thought it was enough to bring five cakes in at the weekend,” says Mitchell.

Taking control of production has enabled Rumwell to take a far more commercial approach – pricing for each product is calculated using the Eureka Recipe Module.

But it’s not just about hard profit

– there is a less tangible benefit to baking in-house, as Mitchell explains: “The bakery is right near the door, so customers can see the cakes being made and the smell wafts out onto the shopfloor. It’s worth more than the price you get for the cakes.”

Making its own cakes also allows Rumwell to respond to seasonal trends, for example, ramping up production of sticky toffee in winter, and cheesecakes and lemon tarts in summer.

This is a point that is echoed

by André Birkett, head of the Chatsworth Estate farm shop.

“Where we have the skill set, we make our desserts and puds inhouse, as this makes it easy to turn on or off,” he says. “Summer pudding might be our top seller now but in winter it will be a steamed pudding.”

Combining in-house production with external sourcing allows Chatsworth to cherry-pick the best of both worlds. For example, Birkett claims that Chatsworth’s home-made “extremely almondy” battenberg is superior to any he can find on the market, whereas on sticky toffee, he concedes that the shop’s bakery “probably can’t better” Cartmel’s creations.

However, it’s not just what you stock, but how you stock it, and at Chatsworth, last year’s investment in a two-metre long patisserie counter within the deli section of the shop is already yielding dividends.

“This has proved hugely successful for displaying lines like tarte au citron, Belgian chocolate mousse slices and French-style patisserie. We were expecting a three year payback but it has already paid for itself within the first year,” says Birkett.

Rumwell Farm Shop bakes the majority of its cakes in store Vol.17 Issue 7 | August 2016

45

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46

August 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 7

Country Puddings Lodge Farm, Dacre, Penrith, Cumbria, CA11 0HH tel: 017684 80864 fax: 017684 80249 email: info@countrypuddings.co.uk

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shelf talk

packs, promotions, people

Ross & Ross goes large with BBQ range

BY MICHAEL LANE

A major departure from its previous NPD, Ross & Ross Food’s latest launch is a 15-strong range of BBQ ingredients developed with fellow producers, including Halen Môn and Cotswold Gold.

Until now, the Cotswolds-based business was best-known for its bacon curing kits and it also produced a nowdiscontinued range of potted meats but this new offering spans several categories with dry rubs, oils, preserves and salts.

The line-up of eight dry rubs has all been blended by the producer’s team inhouse to work specifically with certain meats and fish and not to overpower. It consists of BBQ, Cajun, jerk, sweet ribs, Moroccan, chilli, steak and tandoori, which all come in 50g jars (packs of six cost £10.80).

Meanwhile, the producer has teamed up with Warwickshire Chilli Tree to create three BBQ jams to be used as condiments or last-minute glazes.

Habanero & pineapple, smoky chipotle and sweet chillli & lime (6 x 110g, £10.50) are designed to be

used with pork, beef and chicken, respectively.

The two BBQ salts (6x50g, £18) – an original

blend of smoked, garlic and charcoal salts and spicy version with added chilli – have been developed in collaboration with Halen Môn Anglesey Sea Salt. Both can be used for seasoning and finishing dishes.

Completing the range are two oils for marinating or dressing. An original smoked garlic variety and a spicy oil, infused with chilli, charcoal and smoke, both come in 100ml bottles (cases of 20 for £46).

“Like all of our products, we have only used British and local artisan producers for our new range,” said Roos & Ross co-founder Ross Bearman. “Our new range has something for everyone and lets you season, marinate or enhance meat and vegetables.” All of these products are available direct from Ross & Ross.

Beech’s Fine Chocolates has created a competitively priced Champagne truffle that is will sell exclusively to independent food stores and garden centres.

The Preston-based company will not sell this new line to supermarkets as

New York-based Maya’s Jams has expanded into producing fruit syrups

used to make soft drinks or added to cocktails.

The seven flavours are strawberry rhubarb, apple quince, blueberry blackcurrant, pear ginger, hot raspberry chilli, peach orange and watermelon hibiscus. All are made by hand using real fruit and no artificial ingredients. www.mayasjams.com

Artisan producer Purple Patch Cereals has launched a range of breakfast cereals made with finely ground vanilla pods for a “touch of magic”. The two granolas (honey & nut and honey, nuts & fruit) and two

www.rossandrossfood.co.uk

mueslis (fruity and fruit & nuts) all in 450g boxes with a soft touch coating. www.purplepatchcereals.co.uk

Suffolk-based James White Drinks has added three shots to its Zingers range.

Turmeric, lime & chilli and Xtra Ginger join its Organic Ginger Zinger shot to form a line-up of 7cl intense drinks pitched as a natural alternative to sugar- and caffeineloaded energy drinks.

Each has an RRP of £1.79.

Beech’s aims ‘competitive’ Champagne truffles at indies

BY MICHAEL LANE

What's new...

it bids to gain more listings in UK farm shops and delis.

The milk chocolate (35% cocoa) truffles have a smooth Champagne ganache centre and come in 140g boxes of 10.

Trade cases of 12 have been priced at £48 and with the RRP of £9.99, which

Beech’s said is below its nearest competitor, each box offers retailers a margin in excess of 50%.

As well as the launch of the new Champagne truffles, Beech’s has recently expanded into the tourism and gifting sector with the creation of six chocolate boxes branded with images of London.

Dark chocolate English mint creams and dark chocolate fruit creams come in 150g boxes while there are 90g packs of fudge in milk chocolate, milk chocolate flowers, coconut macaroons and London Choice (a selection of milk, dark and white chocolates). www.beechsfinechocolates. com

Looking for suppliers accredited by the Guild of Fine Food? Follow the logo

Beckleberry’s looks north Now in its 20th year of making ice creams, sorbets and patisserie, serial Great Taste award-winner Beckleberry’s has offered a first glimpse of its rebrand, which focuses heavily on its origin. Bearing the tagline ‘Gourmet with a Northern Soul’, the new logo is scheduled to start appearing on products in September.

www.jameswhite.co.uk

Following its acquisition of raw coconut water brand Unoco, Rebel Kitchen has launched the drink under its own brand. This coconut water is the third product to join Rebel Kitchen’s portfolio of fully coconut-based snacks and drinks, alongside its dairy-free coconut yoghurts and coconut Mylk. www.rebel-kitchen. com

www.beckleberrys.co.uk Vol.17 Issue 7 | August 2016

47

shelf talk

packs, promotions, people

what’s new...

Chef’s selection FOOD WRITER CLARE HARGREAVES INTERVIEWS TOP BRITISH CHEFS ABOUT THEIR FAVOURITE STORECUPBOARD PRODUCTS

George Livesey

Ryan Brokenbrow

Ethical food and beverage specialist Peros has introduced Just Bee to its range of readyto-drink products for foodservice.

The three-strong range – lemon & green tea, blueberry and apple & ginger – is made with Somerset spring water enriched with mixed flower honey from British and European beekeepers. Available in cases of 12 x 330ml cartons.

Chef-patron Bulrush Restaurant, Bristol www.bulrushrestaurant.co.uk

George hails from the Peak District and trained at the Academy of the Culinary Arts, where Albert Roux was his sponsoring chef. A period at St John Restaurant followed, until George returned to Roux Fine Dining before his appointment as pastry chef at Fera, at Claridges. George subsequently worked at various London restaurants, including Club Gascon and White Rabbit in Dalston, before opening Bulrush Restaurant last year.

www.peros.co.uk

Wellaby’s is pitching its new Simple Bakes as a free-from alternative to regular potato crisps. The light and crispy wholegrain snacks are gluten-, nut-, egg- and dairyfree and come in a range of flavours, including sea salt & pepper, spicy chilli and smoky BBQ. Available through RH Amar, each 120g bag has an RRP of £1.79. www.rhamar.com

Not content with its ever expanding line-up of flavoured popcorn, Joe & Seph’s has also added to its range of caramel sauces.

Strawberry & Marc de Champagne (RRP £3.99) will sit alongside the existing six caramel sauces, which were developed from the coatings that the company uses on its popcorns. The new sauce is available direct or from Hider in cases of six units. www.joeandsephs.co.uk

La Saucy Salsa has unveiled its first range of Spanish sauces in the UK. These four handmade salsas – paprika, chilli & garlic, parsley and coriander – are suitable for vegetarians and vegans. Each of the products can be

Cornish Seaweed Company seaweeds The Cornish Seaweed Company’s hand-harvested seaweeds are great products. One way I use them is to roll pork neck – sealing the meat then wrapping it in seaweed, like cling film. I often steam fish in seaweed that I’ve previously soaked in sake and water. The seaweed gives a wonderful umami richness. I also make a dashi using the company’s seaweed and serve it with raw mackerel. www.cornishseaweed.co.uk

Toca organic chestnut bee pollen I came across this type of pollen in a market in Croatia where a woman was selling hundreds of different varieties. It’s very intense, and unlike anything else you’ve ever tasted; it’s so floral, it almost gives you a shock.

I blend Toca’s bee pollen with pine-infused yoghurt and serve this dessert with pine shoots and honeycomb. It would be great paired with parsnip, too. Of all the monofloral bee pollens, chestnut pollen is supposed to have the highest level of antioxidants. www.tocahoney.com

Fussels extra virgin rapeseed oil I enjoy using this local rapeseed oil – it’s wonderful to have a product that’s from our terroir. It has good flavour and is nice and nutty, so I often use it to finish dishes. I love using it with asparagus and I drizzle a bit over meat and fish, too. used in cooking or as condiments, salad dressing, dips or canapé toppings. The four salsas can be purchased separately (RRP is £4.50 each) or as a four-pack (£18). www.lasaucysalsa.com

Burts Chips has launched two new flavoured crisps made under licence from other well-known brands.

Hobgoblin Hamageddon (made with the famous beer from Wychwood Brewery) and Levi Roots Caribbean Coconut Curry both come in 40gs bags with an RRP of 79-99p. www.burtschips.com

www.fusselsfinefoods.co.uk

Lammas Fayre Roman blend stoneground wholesome white spelt flour I heard about this flour on Radio 4’s Food Programme.

It’s milled by John Letts from a blend of heritage wheat varieties grown organically at Collings Hanger Farm in Prestwood in Buckinghamshire. I add a dash of this to bread mixture and it really lifts it. It gives an extra level to my sesame tuiles too. www.bakerybits.co.uk

Akashi-Tai ‘Honjozo’ Japanese cooking sake This light, medium-bodied sake is incredibly versatile, so you can drink it, cook with it, or pop it into ice creams. It really stands out from many of the other cheaper sakes, which are not always good. I blend it with sea buckthorn juice and make it into a granita. I also use the sake when I cook mackerel – I soak kombu in it and wrap the fish with it, then I use the liquid to deglaze the pan. www.akashi-tai.com/eng

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August 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 7

Looking for suppliers accredited by the Guild of Fine Food? Follow the logo

GIFTS

RENARD GILLARD received the GOLD medal at the annual competition of BRIE DE MEAUX, 2015/2016

For more information, please contact Tel : 07929 418672 ; E-mail : orichard@lfb54.com Vol.17 Issue 7 | August 2016

49

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The perfect ďŹ nish to winter roasts – rich, glossy gravies from Kent’s Kitchen The chicken, beef, onion, turkey and lamb & mint gravies will enhance any roast, are easy to make and don’t need refrigeration after opening.

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www.berkswellcheese.com

50

August 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 7

Visit www.kentskitchen.co.uk, email emma@kentskitchen.co.uk or call 07966 888240

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shelf talk

packs, promotions, people

Peter’s Yard adds to cracker range

what’s trending...

NICK BAINES keeps you up-to-date with the newest dishes, flavours and innovation in the food and drink world

William Mathie

Poke Bowls Currently pounding the trend treadmill is poke (pronounced ‘po-keh’), a Hawai’ian dish made of marinated tuna and rice.

At the high-end, you have Mayfair’s Black Roe Poke Bar, while at the low you have street vendors like Eat Poke. At its most basic, raw tuna is dressed with soy, sesame oil, spring onion, and garlic, but from here poke can go on to include octopus, avocado, mango or even seaweed.

The producer has launched two crispbread flavours and a versatile selection pack

BY MICHAEL LANE

Peter’s Yard has unveiled three new packs to extend its line-up of crispbreads, including two new flavours and a mixed selection box.

The new caraway and pink peppercorn varieties will both come in 90g packs (RRP £2.50) while the 265g selection box (RRP £6) features three flavours to cover all eventualities on a cheeseboard – original, charcoal and spelt & poppy seed.

The caraway crispbreads

have been developed with strong hard cheese in mind while the pink peppercorn variety will pair with a wide selection of cheese but is also recommended as a partner for rich patés.

The selection box has been developed to be a “one-pack solution” for cheeseboards and is being launched in time for Christmas, when the producer expects it to perform well.

“Like all of the Peter’s Yard range, the new

varieties follow an authentic Swedish-inspired recipe that uses all-natural ingredients and a precious, naturally fermenting sourdough starter which develops over 16 hours,” said Peter’s Yard co-founder Wendy WilsonBett.

“We are delighted to extend our range using the same high standards and philosophy and bring retailers new flavours that perfectly complement the existing core range.” www.petersyard.com

Zaytoun repackages traditional grains from Palestine Palestinian food brand Zaytoun has upgraded the packaging for two of its grains – smoky freekeh and organic maftoul. Both of the new boxes (250g, RRP £3) for these traditional staples bear the Fair For

Life certification for social responsibility in businesses.

The more familiar of the pair is freekeh – durum harvested while still green, roasted on an open fire and then rubbed to de-husk it.

Available in cases of

six units (£13.30), it can be used in salads, risottos and pilaf dishes but is also used in Palestine in soups.

Maftoul (meaning “hand-rolled”) is a traditional Palestinian grain made from bulgur and whole wheat flour for a firm texture and nutty flavour.

It is certified organic by the Soil Association and comes in cases of six boxes for £12.48-£15.05. The grains are available from a number of wholesalers, including Cotswold Fayre.

Zaytoun’s range also includes extra virgin olive oil, dates, almonds and za’atar spice mixes as well as a number of soaps made from olive oil.

IPAs with extra zing With the Citra hop the dominant force in IPAs, some brewers have been looking at ways to deliver bigger, juicer citrus hits.

Innovative beer geeks, Brew By Numbers first made their grapefruit IPA late last year, while Brewdog just commercially released one under the name Elvis Juice.

For cult brewers Beavertown, citrus fruit is a common component and they have produced beers using lemon, blood orange and yuzu.

UberEats Revolutionary taxi app Uber has been rapidly expanding into the food delivery market with UberEats.

The app launched in London last month and offers an opportunity to expand into food delivery without having to manage couriers yourself. In today’s culture of ‘on-demand, all-the-time’, this is one to keep a close eye on.

Shakshuka This Middle Eastern dish could topple avocado toast as the hipster’s go-to brunch item.

The versatile, gluten-free dish is being pimped up with a range of herbs, spices and additional items like feta and merguez.

Find it in cool coffee spots like Workshop in Clerkenwell and Brighton’s Café Noor.

Urban honey You only have to look at the honey from Fortnum & Mason’s rooftop hives to see how great urban honeys can be and momentum is certainly gathering.

The London Honey Company has hives scattered around the Capital, while Papadeli in Bristol sells honey harvested within the city limits.

www.zaytoun.org Looking for suppliers accredited by the Guild of Fine Food? Follow the logo

Vol.17 Issue 7 | August 2016

51

JOIN THE GUILD OF FINE FOOD FOR THE GREAT TASTE GOLDEN FORK AWARDS DINNER 2016 Be the first to hear the major results of Great Taste 2016, when the Golden Forks and Supreme Champion are revealed.

Monday 5 September The Royal Garden Hotel, Kensington, London Drinks reception followed by dinner and award presentations Hosted by John Farrand and Nigel Barden Ticket price includes a drinks reception and four course award-winning menu, showcasing winners past and present curated by Executive Head Chef, Steve Munkley. £140 including VAT for Guild of Fine Food members £160 including VAT for non-members

18.30 Drinks Reception 19.15 Seats for Dinner 23.00 Carriages Dress: Jacket & tie Tickets are limited. To avoid disappointment, please reserve your tickets today. Contact joanne.myram@gff.co.uk or call +44 (0)1747 825200

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Martyn & Melanie Reynolds Tel 01768 863841 Fax 01768 868900 info@burbushs.co.uk www.burbushs.co.uk Vol.17 Issue 7 | August 2016

53

shelf talk

Keeping it in the family Joe Gazzano is the fourth generation to run one of London’s oldest delis. He is also managing to balance a century of Italian tradition with a modern approach to retailing.

D

on’t be fooled by the unassuming appearance of Gazzano’s. Behind its demure frontage is not just a bonafide deli but a backstory that might be worthy of a movie script.

Although it is a stone’s throw from London’s Exmouth Market it predates this trendy food hotspot by at least 80 years.

In fact, it has stood on exactly the same spot on Farringdon Road for over a century, serving an area of the capital that was once known as Little Italy.

Over the years, it has endured heart-rending romance, World Wars, unjust deportation, a close call with maritime disaster and a total rebuilding of it premises.

Current owner Joe Gazzano – a seamless blend of North London cheerfulness and Italian charm – represents the fourth generation of his family to have stood behind the counter. As well as upholding decades of tradition, he is also in the process of modernising and remodelling the family business.

With Brexit very much a reality, you might assume that he is preparing for the latest turbulent event in the family saga. But you’d be wrong.

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August 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 7

Deli of the Month INTERVIEW BY MICHAEL LANE

“Regardless of Brexit, Italy is struggling and suppliers over there are looking at any which means to bring in extra income [via exports],” he tells FFD. “The only thing that Brexit looks like it’s doing, for us going direct to Italy, is shaking up the exchange rate.”

He is confident that any resulting price hikes can be absorbed by the shop and its customers with little noticeable effect.

“As long as you’ve got that quality, you’ve always got an argument for the price.”

Pursuing quality has driven Gazzano, who has worked in the business since he was child, to increase the number of lines he imports directly and to develop his own family brand.

The Gazzano’s range now includes over 50 products, ranging from staples like passata, dried

porcini and pesto through to fruit compotes, panettones and white truffle cream.

The line-up has its own fixture, topped with a large version of the yellow and black logo, at the far end of the shop floor. And the striking logo is slowly being added to all of the handwritten price tickets across the store. In due course, it will be introduced to the windows and their individual awnings.

Although it is decidely modern, the logo features a combination of facial features that pay homage to the three preceding generations of owner.

The moustache refers to Gazzano’s great grandfather Alfonso Mariani, who arrived in England from the Amalfi coast in 1911, taking a job at a grocery shop that he would eventually buy and rename Mariani’s.

The bowtie was a favourite of Joe’s grandfather Giuseppe Gazzano, who came to London from Liguria in the 1930s to sell the wares of his family’s olive oil business (a company Joe has since tracked down and whose oil he now stocks) and fell in love with Mariani’s daughter lolanda. Their subsequent courtship was scuppered by

Churchill’s order in 1940 to deport many Italian nationals in Britain and Giuseppe was moments from boarding the ill-fated SS Arandora Star – sunk by a German U-boat north of Ireland – when a passenger asked him to swap boats.

He eventually made it back to his wife-to-be and took over the business in 1952, renaming it Gazzano & Son. The spectacles in the logo represent Joe’s father, also called Giuseppe, who ran the business from the late ‘70s until he passed away in 2010. His tenure included the enormous upheaval of closing in 2004 and completely redeveloping the building that Gazzano’s occupies.

Today, the shop has a very simple layout. One long wall heaving with various brands of pasta and a plethora of ambient goods faces a multi-section chilled counter, with separate compartments for charcuterie, cheese and marinated olives. Deli customers are served nearer the door while coffee and food-to-go can be ordered at the back of the shop.

Despite a couple of gaps as stock levels are wound down ahead of Gazzano’s annual fortnight-long

deli of the month vital statistics Location: Farringdon, London Floorspace: 900 sq ft (1,800 sq ft including back office) Staff: 5 No. of lines: 1,000+ Annual turnover: c £500,000

must-stocks l Fresh

handmade pasta (direct from Italy) l Parmigiano Reggiano (24-month-old) l Buffalo Mozzarella (Campania) l Burrata (Puglia) l Mauri Gorgonzola l Arigolas Pecorino l Amoretti & Gazzano extra virgin olive oil

l Villani

July summer holiday, there is a wealth of choice on the shelves and in the chillers.

The charcuterie counter features classics like porchetta, prosciutto cotto and coppa. There are no less than 12 different salamis, mainly produced by Villani, which include both classic and lesser-known varieties like the coarse Stofelotto and Felino.

“You have no idea how many people come in and say ‘It’s not cat is it?’,” says Gazzano, assuring me he is not joking.

And while the old wives’ tale about donkeys and Mortadella still crops up, he says his mortadella with pistachios, made by Veroni, is extremely popular.

Of course, there is Parma ham – from the consortium president’s own company, Tanara. Gazzano only carries 18-month-old hams because they deliver the best depth of flavour while covering the majority of tastes. You get the impression that he would stock other ages if he thought it was worth it.

“I still find that over here, Parma ham is Parma ham. Full stop. And it’s not,” he says. “There’s so many different levels and each one has got a completely different flavour.”

to order in volumes that would be too high for smaller producers.

Now he is applying this logic to the shop’s sprawling range of ambient goods and hopes to trim down the range on the shelves.

“Over all the years, we’ve added too much variety,” he says. “We sell everything, not a lot of one thing.”

Gazzano says that his fresh counter – which also does good trade in olives marinated in house, sausages made in London to a 50-year-old recipe and fresh pasta imported from Italy – provides the larger proportion of sales.

He acknowledges that, as good as his ambient selection is, customers are not making a pilgrimage to him for it.

What’s more, as Regardless of Brexit, Italy is struggling Italian food and suppliers over there are looking at any has become increasingly means to bring in extra income mainstream so have a good deal of the brands. Gazzano Campania every Thursday, Pecorino says Cirio tomatoes and De Cecco and no less than four different types pasta are particularly good examples of Gorgonzola. of products that are pretty much Gazzano says he would like to everywhere thanks to suppliers stock more artisanal and regional flooding the market. varieties but customer demand and Although this scuppers certain economies of scale mean he needs He adds that it’s the same case with Parmesan, of which he carries just a 24-month version because it strikes the best balance between strength, saltiness, creaminess and the amount of grain in the cheese.

There is no San Daniele ham or Grana Padano cheese on the counter (“I was raised by my father that you stick with Parma and Parmigiano in this business”).

Gazzano adds diplomatically that they are both more delicate in flavour compared to their bolder flavoured rivals from Parma.

Generally, the cheese range is kept pretty straightforward with a cast of mild varieties, like provolone and ricotta, sitting alongside mozzarella brought in from

salamis – 12 different ones, no similarities between them l Tanara Prosciutto di Parma (18 to 20-month-old) l Veroni Mortadella pistachio l Gazzano’s jarred tomatoes l De Cecco Orecchiette pasta

l Gazzano’s l Bio

pesto Sol jams

Vol.17 Issue 7 | August 2016

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points of difference, it hasn’t exactly led to a price war with the multiples.

In fact, the supermarkets’ prices are on a par with Gazzano’s.

“There’s no way in the world a shop like this should be able to get anywhere near supermarket prices but we can, which means they’re exaggerating [their margins].”

Gazzano sells tins of Cirio tomatoes for 85p but some supermarkets price them at £1 each only to run BOGOF promotions to spur sales. “Just set it at 70p a can and sell it.”

He admits to being equally infuriated with bags of De Cecco suddenly dropping to £1 in supermarkets and suspects that they could sell it at something closer to that price year-round.

“Anybody can get away with packing some sort of Italian produce in their shop and they will sell certain things. It doesn’t help specialist stores like this.”

That said, Gazzano can’t drop these kind of brands if they are catering to the kind of “old school” customers that have been coming to the shop for years.

“You need a slightly lower quality product for a better price to help those sort of people out, rather

or triple that £35 mark, but scaling down the volume on the shelves is the first stage in remodelling the shop.

Less product would reduce shelving and free up room in the basement warehouse, so Gazzano could move the office downstairs, shift the deli counter and reintroduce tables and chairs in view of the front door. He says seating was largely unused and scrapped from a previous incarnation of the shop because it was out of view.

In theory, anything on the fresh counter, including some pasta ready-meals he already offers, will be available to sample and Gazzano may also introduce some small plates – all with goal of boosting take-home sales from the deli. The plan, which was Anybody can get away with originally conceived with packing some sort of Italian his father, should be set in motion during September. produce in their shop. It doesn’t He even speculates help specialist stores like this. that, one day, the bulk of the dry goods could be removed from the shop floor entirely comes naturally to Italian foods but and replaced by computer terminals. isn’t necessarily shouted about.

Customers could order their pasta It might seem strange that and tinned tomatoes to be delivered Gazzano is rationalising his offer from the warehouse straight to their when his average basket spend is so home and just pick up the fresh healthy, and it can even be double than just looking after the foodie types and going berserk.”

His own branded range seems to be the solution and most things that have been added to the shelves over the last two-and-a-half years have come in under this banner.

“You get the quality, the price and it’s stuff you’re not necessarily going to find anywhere else. For us that’s the way forward.”

While he works out what to trim from the line-up, Gazzano is also thinking about what he needs to bring in. Top of the list is more gluten-free items – he says pasta used to be the preserve of pharmacies in Italy – and organic lines. In the case of organic, it often

items in the shop. Before he gets ahead of himself, Gazzano says he needs to improve his online sales and hopes that listing his branded range on Amazon will drive more traffic to his own site.

If the Tuesday lunchtime crowd that arrives for sandwiches is anything to go by, then the newlook Gazzano’s should have no problems filling its tables but don’t expect the fundamentals of the business to change. Some 85% of turnover is deli sales and Gazzano always tells his staff not to prioritise serving sandwich customers over those waiting for a piece of cheese or a slice of salami.

“We’ve always been a deli and if people want to spend in the deli you’ll take more money. How many sandwiches at £3.95 have you got to make to get decent return? A lot.”

“When my father passed away, we made a conscious decision to carry on the deli, for that exact reason, every other shop seemed to be changing into a sandwich bar and let it take over.”

If you ever needed proof that being a traditional deli is still a valid business model then surely Gazzano’s is it. www.gazzanositaliandeli.co.uk Vol.17 Issue 7 | August 2016

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