FFD August 2019

August 2019 Volume 20 Issue 7 gff.co.uk

Present and correct Get your Christmas right, with our bumper guide

ALSO INSIDE Broadway Deli’s succession plan Potato smoothies arrive in the UK Clock ticking on Natasha’s Law

ARTYSAN Our festive range has been branded in strikingly individual artistic packaging.

Perfect for stacking and brightening up any festive display.

Embrace centuries of authentic festive traditions with the Organico Artysan range. From our growing Panettone range baked in a family bakery in the Veneto province of Venice, to the rich butter shortbread pastry of our Scottish mince pies. We use the best quality, all organic ingredients, with no nasty additives or unnatural preservatives. www.organico.co.uk Tel: 01189 238760

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August 2019 | Vol.20 Issue 7

CONTENTS 5

BIG PICTURE

7

NEWS

Given the soaring temperatures and recent political tumult, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Armageddon is upon us

14 SHOP TALK 19 CHEESEWIRE 27 CUT & DRIED

By Michael Lane, Editor

29 CAFÉ CONFIDENTIAL

I don’t know how you’re feeling as you wilt behind your counters and in your production kitchens, but our press week here at FFD felt distinctly Doomsday-ish. Given the soaring temperatures and recent political tumult, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Armageddon is upon us – especially if you are tapped in to social media.

Luckily, some of the more traditional lines of communication have left me feeling uncharacteristically positive about the rest of this year.

I don’t want to give too much away about what we’re planning for our September issue but it has involved assembling some seriously smart retailers for an in-depth discussion about our sector.

One especially savvy operator I’ve been talking to suggested that it’s actually a very good thing that Brexit was deferred from March to October. As a result, a good deal of

33 SPECIALITY & FINE FOOD FAIR PREVIEW 38 CHRISTMAS SPECIAL 51 SHELF TALK 58 DELI OF THE MONTH 65 GUILD OF FINE FOOD NEWS

stock for Christmas should make it to the UK (or is already here). So, we won’t get caught short during the most profitable time of the year.

Of course, if you are a little behind in your festive preparations, FFD has you covered with a full rundown of the products being launched and some handy advice (starting on page 38). I would also suggest that you “cut out and keep” Jilly Sitch’s 10-month plan in that feature so you can up your game in 2020.

Speaking to the organisers and ambassadors of the forthcoming Speciality & Fine Food Fair (page 33) has also proved a welcome tonic as we assembled this issue.

Yes, the industry is very different from when the event (in its current incarnation) began 20 years ago but – to paraphrase one interviewee – those changes are shifts rather than declines. There will be exhibitors from some interesting and far-flung countries, sustainability is becoming

a norm rather than a niche and frozen food could be gaining more traction in our market. That last one was especially comforting as I was wilting on a train with failing airconditioning.

Another conversation I seem to be having regularly is about the career prospects in our industry.

There’s more to come on that next month but gloom merchants should check out our Deli of the Month (page 58). The vigour and rigour of the 20-something owners of Broadway Deli was a very heartening thing to witness in person.

If pragmatism is more your thing, you might prefer to read the account (on page 14) of how The Olive Tree Delicatessen, in Flintshire, set about tackling cash flow difficulties.

I’m not going to deny it’s going to be tough (isn’t it always?) but this edition has reminded me that we all need to stay cool.

August 2019 Volume 20 Issue 7 gff.co.uk

EDITORS’ CHOICE Chosen by Lauren Phillips, Assistant editor

Coldpress

Present and correct Get your Christmas right, with our bumper guide

Vitamin fortified smoothies ALSO INSIDE Broadway Deli’s succession plan Potato smoothies arrive in the UK Clock ticking on Natasha’s Law

Once demonised as a sugar-laden drink, smoothies are repositioning themselves as functional health foods and one brand doing this particularly well is Coldpress

EDITORIAL

ADVERTISING

GENERAL ENQUIRIES

Assistant editor: Lauren Phillips

Sales director: Sally Coley

Fax: +44 (0) 1747 824065

Sales executive: Becky Haskett

Editor: Michael Lane

Contributing editor: Mick Whitworth Reporter: Andrew Don

Art director: Mark Windsor

Contributors: Nick Baines, Patrick McGuigan, Sam Pelly, Ioan Said, Lynda Searby

advertise@gff.co.uk

Sales manager: Ruth Debnam Sales support: Sam Coleman

ADDRESS Guild House, 23b Kingsmead Business Park Shaftesbury Road, Gillingham, Dorset SP8 5FB United Kingdom

with its new ‘vitamin fortified’ range.

Both varieties have clean, clear branding (probably to reflect the clean label of the ingredients), but it was the ‘Mend & Defend’ that won me over.

The consistency is slightly thicker than a juice and the flavour profile has a pleasant earthiness coming from the beetroot which balances the sweetness of the red berries, apple and banana.

Read more on page 52. coldpressjuicesonline.co.uk

Tel: +44 (0) 1747 825200

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

editorial@gff.co.uk

© The Guild of Fine Food Ltd

Printed by: Blackmore, Dorset

2019. Reproduction of whole or

Circulation: Bill Bruce, Emily Harris

publisher’s prior permission is

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

in articles and advertisements are

part of this magazine without the prohibited. The opinions expressed

not necessarily those of the editor

Turn to page 65 for news from the Guild

or publisher.

Vol.20 Issue 7 | August 2019

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HAWKSHEADRELISH.COM

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August 2019 | Vol.20 Issue 7

THE BIG PICTURE A crust above the rest Top chefs, retail buyers, food bloggers and journalists all descended on the Guild of Fine Food’s headquarters in Dorset last month for the final round of judging at this year’s Great Taste.

Melissa Hemsley of Hemsley + Hemsley (pictured here) was one of those judges reassessing this year’s three-star products to find out which food and drink will take home the regional awards and the all-important Supreme Champion trophy at the Golden Fork dinner on 1st September.

Photograph: Sam Pelly

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August 2019 | Vol.20 Issue 7

NEWS

Vendors have two years to get labelling correct for incoming Natasha’s Law

By Andrew Don

Shops and cafés have a two-year window to comply with new laws on ingredient labelling for packaged foods, which are being introduced following the death of teenager Natasha EdnanLaperouse.

Current legislation dictates that food prepared on the premises is not required to carry allergen information in writing, but staff must provide details in person if asked.

Now under “Natasha’s Law” to be implemented in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in summer 2021, food businesses will be required to include full ingredients labelling on pre-packaged foods such as salads and sandwiches without any exemptions.

Fifteen-year-old EdnanLaperouse suffered a fatal allergic reaction after eating sesame in an artichoke, olive and tapenade baguette

Godminster top of the BOOMs The winners of this year’s Best of Organic Market (BOOM) awards were unveiled at the end of June, with Godminster’s Vintage Organic Cheddar crowned The Nation’s Favourite Organic Product.

The Somerset cheese also took home Best Of Organic Dairy at this year’s awards, run by the Soil Association.

Pip Organic won Best New Organic Product for its Rainbow Fruity Lollies with Cheeky Veg, while Tideford Organics’ lentil & spinach dhal soup was named Best of Organic Chilled & Frozen.

Glasgow-based social enterprise Locavore Community Interest Company won Best of Organic Independent Retailers.

See the full list of BOOM award winners at soilassociation.org/ boomawards

bought at a branch of Pret A Manger at Heathrow Airport on 17th July 2016.

During an inquest into her death, the coroner said the victim had been “reassured” the product was safe for her by the fact there was no specific allergen information on the packaging.

The Department for the Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) believes varying rules or implementation timescales for different sizes of business would create confusion and would be difficult to enforce, FFD understands.

FFD’s conversations with speciality food businesses show the artisan sector is supportive of changes which Michael Gove, environment secretary, said would make food labels clear and consistent and give the country’s two million food allergy sufferers confidence.

Heather Hancock,

CHANGING LABELLING UNDER “NATASHA’S LAW”

DAVID JOSEPH, OWNER,

PANZER’S

DELICATESSEN,

LONDON:

Natasha’s Law will require all packaged food made on site to be labelled with full ingredient list to identify allergens like sesame

chair of the Food Standards Agency (FSA), said the impact of food allergy and intolerance on quality of life could be as great as, or even greater than, any other, foodborne diseases.

“While it is impossible to eliminate the risks entirely, we believe the secretary of state’s announcement of this change in the rules will mean better protection for allergic consumers.”

Many food businesses have already taken steps to improve labelling, the FSA

said, but it urged others, who had not, to take steps now.

Carla Jones, chief executive of Allergy UK, said the food industry needed to do more than the bare minimum when it came to catering for those with allergens.

“This move towards full ingredient labelling for pre-packed direct sale food will improve the lives of the allergic customer.

DEFRA said the new legislation would be introduced to Parliament by the end of summer.

Spread of tree-killing disease threatens to bump up Italian olive oil prices A disease that is rampantly spreading among Italy’s olive trees is threatening to inflate the retail price of olive oil if not brought under control soon.

Pathogen xylella fastidiosa, which the European Commission considers the world’s most dangerous threat to groves, has been destroying olive trees in the southern region of Puglia for several years but there is evidence of its spread northwards.

Charles Carey, owner of London-based importer and wholesaler The Oil Merchant, warned that the disease’s destruction of olive trees and the burning of trees as a method of control would affect the price of Italian oil overall due to “the basic principle of supply and demand”.

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING ABOUT...

He added: “It seems that government agricultural departments have been slow to react to the disease. But one would assume that as it spreads and more concern is given to the overall economic consequences of the disease, then more money will be pumped into research to try to combat it, worldwide.”

Carey said that he has

so far been lucky that none of his suppliers have been affected.

“As we buy from single estates, there will be little competition between, for example, one from Tuscany and one from Catalonia,” he added. “On the bulk market, though, prices throughout the EU will start to rise if the disease is not brought under control soon.”

Everyone wants to make it as clear as possible but our kitchen is a general one, so a surface may have peanut butter on it one minute and roast beef the next. We sell six varieties of bagel – from plain to sesame seed, which are in baskets next to each other.

Effectively, you should have a sign saying ‘This shop contains nuts’.

ANNE MITCHELL, JOINT OWNER,

RUMWELL FARM SHOP & CAFÉ,

SOMERSET:

We can easily deal with this. The only problem is the size of our labels and fitting all the ingredients on. We are starting to implement it now because we do feel it’s very important.

We always put on our labels something to the effect of ‘not made in a nut-free environment’ so people are aware if they are hypersensitive.

IAN COMER, RETAIL

DIRECTOR, BECKETTS

FARM SHOP,

BIRMINGHAM:

Labelling takes minutes with the facilities we’ve got available on site. I’m not going to start complaining about something that’s going to save someone’s life. If you go back five years, no one was talking about allergens. Over the past 12 months, we’ve put all our staff through an allergen on-line training course to try to do as much as we can.

Vol.20 Issue 7 | August 2019

7

NEWS

CYBER CRIME

Sourced Market to join the motorway services food revolution via the M1

By Andrew Don

Motorway service areas are increasingly opening up to the speciality food sector as they seek to provide alternatives to the mainstream brands and concessions with which they have become synonymous.

FFD has learned that London-based Sourced Market was in legal phase of agreeing a deal to open a 4,500 sq ft shop on the new Leeds Skelton Lake services, which operator Extra is building at J45 on the M1.

Only last month, Roadchef revealed plans to include a farm shop selling produce supplied by local farmers at a new £45m motorway service area in North Yorkshire.

Fellow operator Westmorland has already proved the concept works with its farm shops at Gloucester Services on the M5 and at Tebay Services in Orton, Penrith.

Ben O’Brien, founder and chief executive of Sourced Market, confirmed that the

The forthcoming Leeds Skelton Lake service area, operated by Extra, on the M1 looks set to include a new branch of speciality retailer Sourced Market to boost its foodie credentials

retailer was working with Extra and will open on the M1 in November this year.

“We are working with them on a 4,500 sq ft site.

It will have retail, food on the move, coffee and bakery, a small café with a bit of seating and speciality retail like craft beer, wine and cheeses.”

Andrew Long, group chief executive of Extra, said it had pioneered a greater range and choice for customers.

“Sourced Market for us is extending that range of different food offers. It’s very good quality food and we think customers are

Hampshire farm shop goes to the dogs Cherished Farm Shop in Andover, Hampshire, hosted a dachshund beach party event on 7th July. Some of the hounds, more commonly known as sausage dogs because of their elongated bodies, came in fancy dress as hot dogs complete with buns and dollop of ketchup. More than 70 people and 65 dachshunds attended.

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August 2019 | Vol.20 Issue 7

increasingly becoming more discerning.

“I like the Westmorland offer and, for me, we would like to have Sourced Market and other operators of that nature as part of our tenants and brand line-up and we see that as complementing other major brands.”

Catherine Shuttleworth, chief executive of marketing agency Savvy, said motorway service stations had always had a “terrible reputation” when it came to food but over the past few years standards had improved in the shape of new retail formats from Marks & Spencer and Waitrose.

“Standout motorway services remain Tebay and, of course, their new format on the Gloucester services where Westmorland services specialise in artisanal food.”

Shuttleworth said the costs of delivery have been off-putting and a barrier to entry for many small businesses because space has come at a premium.

“However, travellers will continue to expect high standard of product whether they are at home or on the move so opportunities for smaller producers and operators who can create a simple method of delivery will be welcomed.”

IN BRIEF The Food Standards Agency has appointed Emily Miles as its new chief executive effective from September. She is currently acting directorgeneral for the European Union Exit Delivery Group in the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

The European Union (EU) has granted Ayrshire New Potatoes, also known as Ayrshire Earlies, Protected Geographic Indication status under the EU Protected Food Name scheme.

Low-fat dairy-free Lemon, Fresh Mint & Zesty Lime Ripple from Baci & Co gelato parlour in Louth, Lincolnshire, has won top prize at the 2019 Gelato Festival, held at Canopy Market in London. Second place went to Crème Glacée for its Moroccan Mint Tea flavour with optional CBD.

Eat 17 supplying other indies with branded fresh product range Pioneering independent chain Eat 17 has started supplying fellow delis and other speciality food retailers with its fresh ownlabel range.

Yardarm, a speciality food retailer in Leyton, east London, and Thornton’s Budgens in Belsize Park, north-west London, are among those that it has begun supplying.

Eat 17 makes and supplies a list of 70 products including pork, Marmite & mature cheddar sausage rolls, Thai vegan mushroom cashew curry, and a summer squash & pea risotto.

The four-site retailer produces all of these lines in a central kitchen in Hackney and reviews its list seasonally.

Chris O’Connor, Eat 17

co-founder, told FFD the products were supplied under the Eat 17 brand but could be co-branded as ‘Eat 17 for…’.

“The kitchen is very well managed and run and they’re capable of taking on more,” said O’Connor.

“We have capacity to work with more local indies and delis, too. We make fresh salads and sandwiches

every day and a range of ready meals.”

Andrew Thornton, owner of Thornton’s Budgens, said he chose Eat 17 because he wanted someone who specialised in sandwiches, salads and prepared meals.

“We felt they could add some value and we are just finalising the details of what we’re going to do.”

Tel: 01905 350788 | e-mail: info@croomecuisine.com

www.croomecuisine.com Vol.20 Issue 7 | August 2019

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August 2019 | Vol.20 Issue 7

NEWS

Happerly takes traceability tech on tour as businesses sign up

By Andrew Don

A high-tech food provenance assurance scheme that launched three years ago could be on its way to becoming the leading provider of farm-to-folk traceability technology.

Three years after FFD first wrote about the launch of Happerley – the scheme which enables consumers to trace the origin of core food ingredients by scanning a QR code – the company has embarked on a tour, which runs until November, to promote the launch of its new “Gold Standard” marque.

Those that carry the marque can provide traceability all the way back to a specific animal, field or farmer.

The scheme’s profile will be further raised next March when Happerley England will open the first national centre for provenance at Lock29, Castle Quay, in

Dimbleby to run govt food review

The government has appointed Henry Dimbleby to lead the first major review of the UK food system – “from field to fork” – in what it says is nearly 75 years.

Dimbleby, co-founder of restaurant chain Leon and the Sustainable Restaurant Association, will investigate the entire food system – covering safety, health, affordability, sustainability, economic contribution, efficiency, and costeffectiveness.

His recommendations will lead to what Defra called a “trailblazing” new National Food Strategy, to be published next year.

Banbury, Oxfordshire – for “inspiring, educating and engaging consumers” with an auditorium and cinema.

Companies that Happerley certifies are provided a licence to apply the marque on packaging or at point of sale.

Only products that can name the exact sources of their core ingredients back to the primary products are awarded the marque.

Matthew Rymer, founder and chief executive

of Happerley, said businesses with less than £1m annual turnover pay a one-off £150 plus VAT fee, plus £15 a month plus VAT to become “Happerley Transparent”.

Retailers who apply to become “Happerley Transparent” would be audited by the scheme managers tracing the farmto-fork journey.

“For any independent that gets this gold standard they will have a marketing

DOWN ON THE FARM

The latest from farm shops across the country Falconhurst Estate in Markbeech, Kent, has started building a farm shop that will showcase a wide range of products, including food produced from its own organic dairy farm and produce from the estate. It secured full planning permission in February. The estate is well known for its pedigree free-range Gloucester Old Spot pigs.

Rumwell Farm Shop & Café, near Taunton in Somerset, is building a bakery extension to its kitchen so it can make its own bread, sandwiches and other baked goods for its café and shop. Anne Mitchell, co-owner, said she hoped it would be up and running before Christmas. rumwellfarmshop.com

A new farm shop, café, butchery and deli at Old Hall Farm in Woodton, Bungay on the Suffolk/Norfolk border, created an 18-inch sausage roll [above] for the Latitude Festival extravaganza from July 18th-22nd. Rebecca Mayhew, owner, said the pastry was made from scratch and the pork from its own large black pigs – the only native black pig in the UK. oldhallfarm.co.uk

edge,” added Rymer.

Individual producers can provide confidence about their own provenance and get extra marketing kudos via the QR codes which lead to information that provides everything there is to know about the product, producer and ingredients.

Midcounties Cooperative, is one retailer to have made Happerley Transparency mandatory for its local range.

Happerley said hundreds of producers have signed up, including Miss Macaroon, from Birmingham, The Handmade Scotch Egg Company, and Somersetbased Fenton Farm Eggs.

Rymer has now challenged every food and drink business to allow it to validate and publish their ingredient supply chain through an audit process.

Rymer said he believed Happerley would become the industry standard.

The Guild of Fine Food and Great Taste are considering throwing their weight behind the Happerley tour of every English county.

Having recently celebrated 20 years in the business and following a successful relocation, Hartley Dyke Farm Shop in Kent has also changed its trading name to Cranbrook Farm Shop & Nursery. Now incorporating a garden centre, Cranbrook Farm Shop stocks everything for a full weekly shop, all sourced as locally as possible. cranbrookfarmshop.co.uk

IN BRIEF UK mussel supplies could shrink because of noise pollution, marine scientists from Edinburgh universities Napier and Heriot Watt have warned.

They found a decline in mussel banks in some parts of the UK could be down to excessive noise.

Beer giant Molson Coors has rescued Thamesmead-based craft brewer Hop Stuff from administration in a pre-pack deal. Hop Stuff called in administrators from KPMG on 12th July after facing mounting cash flow pressure and stiffening competition.

Almost a quarter (23%) of British consumers used plant-based milk alternatives in the three months to February 2019, according to research from Mintel. Although, plant-based varieties account for just 4% of all milk sold in the UK.

Railway Farm Shop in Saxmundham, Suffolk, is under new ownership. It now offers home deliveries, and stocks an array of Suffolk produce, along with home-grown vegetables and freshly laid eggs. facebook.com/ railwayfarmshop Not content with one barn, Essex retailer Ben & Ella’s is currently transforming a smaller building that sits opposite its farm shop into The Gift Barn at Ben & Ella’s. The Halstead-based operation’s new barn will sell homewares, pet accessories, jewellery and more. It will also maintain the farm shop’s approach to reducing plastic. benandellasfarmshop. co.uk

In association with

Fabulous Farm Shops fabulousfarmshops.co.uk

Vol.20 Issue 7 | August 2019

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NEWS

CYBER CRIME

North East Wales event shows how regional approach can benefit indies

By Lauren Phillips

A food & drink event showcasing products from North East Wales proved to be a lesson in how taking a regional approach can present a new marketing angle for producers, retailers and tourist bodies.

Discover North East Wales, which was held at the Senedd in Cardiff on Wednesday 26th June, saw producers from Wrexham, Flintshire, Denbighshire and Clwyd showcase their products to buyers with the aim of shining a spotlight on the expanding culinary sector as part of the region’s wider tourism offer.

Producers exhibiting at the event included Cariad Gin, Hafod Brewery, Llaeth y Llan (Village Dairy) and The Patchwork Traditional Food Company.

Hannah Blythyn, AM for Delyn – who organised the event as part of tourism organisation Visit Wales’ Year of Discovery campaign – said she wanted to show buyers there was

The Discover North East Wales event at the Senedd in Cardiff is part of the Welsh Government’s plan to grow food tourism in Wales

more to North Wales than Snowdonia and the Llyn Peninsula.

“We know that North East Wales is home to some of the most successful and unique food & drink producers anywhere in the country,” said Blythyn. “It is a growing industry and an important sector to our economy in terms of the

Entries open for Britain’s Best Small Shop 2019

The annual search to find Britain’s Best Small Shop has begun, with entries now open to indie retailers.

The competition – managed by the Independent Retailers Confederation (IRC) – is open to any UK independent retailer selling goods or services to the public.

Entries opened on 4th July to coincide with Independent’s Day, the national campaign to celebrate the UK’s indie retailers.

Specialist food shops have done well in the past, with deli, café and bookshop 12

August 2019 | Vol.20 Issue 7

The Mainstreet Trading Company [pictured, left] taking home the title of Britain’s Best Small Shop last year. While York-based Hunters of Helmsley received the top honour in 2015.

Aside from completing an online entry form, entrants will have to promote the benefits of their retail offering to consumers via a public-facing listing on the Indie Retail website with the initial selection being voted on by consumers.

Submissions close at 8am on Monday 9th September.

The shortlisted retailers will be invited to attend a reception at the Houses of Parliament in November to meet MPs and trade representatives before the winners are announced. bestsmallshops.uk

jobs that it provides as well.”

She added the increasing public interest in food & drink tourism is something which tourism bodies can capitalise on as part of their broader tourism offer.

The government believes this regional approach can also benefit independents.

Head of Food Division

for the Welsh Government Keith Smyton said: “Wales has the largest amount of independent butchers shops, cafés and specialised food & drink shops. The linkage [between indies, producers and food tourism] is creating an interest in that area of Wales. It doesn’t matter where you are on the tourism route, if you’re adding to the sense of place in Wales you’re getting that payback.”

Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths said: “Welsh food and drink is an essential part of the tourism offer in Wales and gives the tourism and hospitality industry an opportunity to provide visitors with a real sense of place.

“Consumers increasingly value quality and products with an attractive story and we have those strengths in Wales and we must look to build on them throughout our supply chains and routes to market.”

Macknade Fine Foods to open second site in Ashford Macknade Fine Foods has bought a second site, in the Kent town of Ashford, after the South East business celebrated its 40th anniversary.

The retailer announced the acquisition during its birthday celebrations and plans to transform the 5,136 sq ft space in Ashford’s Elwick Place into an all-day dining experience with groceries and delicatessen counters.

It will also be able to accommodate 100-120 people with individual and communal tables, allowing customers to engage with each other in an informal space.

“We have a really strong spirit of family and community at Macknade, so this will be reflected

in our new space,” said managing director Stefano Cuomo. “As well as shoppers and diners, we will welcome business meetings, specialist tastings, birthday parties and music nights.”

A new menu will consist of freshly prepared breakfasts and locallysourced salads, sandwiches, vegetables, delicatessen platters and meat dishes as well as vegetarian and vegan options, fresh coffee and

IN BRIEF Constantly touted as a new food trend, insects – including ants and crickets – have now been found to contain high concentrations of antioxidants, which scientists say protect against cancer.

Daylesford hopes to roll out its Zero Waste Pantry concept across its four London stores after hailing a successful launch at its flagship Gloucester farm shop in June. It said sales of products had jumped 25% compared to the same month last year.

M&S is opening Simply Food concessions in WH Smith stores with the aim of boosting its high street presence.

Two will open in September at sites in Darlington and Sutton Coldfield, offering M&S food-to-go and ‘food for tonight’ ready-meals.

home-baked cakes.

There are also plans for a bar, stocked with local beers, ciders, wines and spirits. Mixologists will also be on hand to create cocktails for visitors.

“We’ve seen a real increase in the number of consumers choosing to shop locally and engage with independent businesses. People want to know where their food comes from and that the business they are spending money with is sustainable.” macknade.com

Vol.20 Issue 7 | August 2019

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

RICHARD HOWELLS owner, The Olive Tree Delicatessen, Mold, Flintshire I opened the deli after a career with Sainsbury’s, where I had spent 10 years as a food safety auditor and another 10 managing 20 sites regionally – in terms of their deli, pizza, meat and fish offerings.

Things looked uncertain after a restructure in 2015, so I handed in my notice in January 2016 and spent every evening researching products, equipment, premises and so on, opening the deli in May 2016.

Because I was upskilled to a high level in food safety, decisions about what equipment to use and where it should be placed, as well as HACCP control, were second nature. What I hadn’t been taught was how to run a business. When you work for a company and you make a mistake, you learn from it and move on. When it’s your own business, every mistake has a cost.

If I had my time again, I would make sure I had larger cash reserves before opening. I spent a business loan mainly on setting up. On day one, there was virtually nothing in the bank. This worked initially, but then I had to think about replenishing stock, invoices started trickling in and cashflow became a squeeze. Two years in, turnover was strong but cashflow became untenable. I sought advice from a business consultant friend. She told me to call every single supplier and tell them I would be paying them a set amount each week (not necessarily the full amount they were owed). To my surprise and relief this worked. All that people want to know is that they are going to get paid.

Now, I pay suppliers upfront where possible and with the help of my wife (an accountant), we carried out a thorough review of expenditure and identified ways of cutting back.

I like to see the shop full of stock but this is not a profitable way to operate. Cheese is the bedrock of the business. It accounts for a third of our revenue and should be our priority but I was also spending £1,000s on products that looked pretty, such as speciality baking products, but didn’t sell particularly well.

Now I buy little and often and challenge every purchase: does this fit with the shop? And do I need to buy it today or can it wait a week?

The shop can get a bit ‘gappy’, but sales are as good if not better, and, most importantly, expenditure is down considerably versus last year.

I review profit and loss daily, rather than quarterly as I was doing. It’s never going to be easy and since we opened footfall has gradually been declining in Mold – but the decisions I made last year are having a positive impact.

Interview Lynda Searby Photography Ioan Said

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August 2019 | Vol.20 Issue 7

CONFESSIONS OF A DELI OWNER ANONYMOUS TALES FROM BEHIND THE COUNTER WHEN I THINK OF HOT sunny weather, my blood runs cold. There is nothing about summer weather that brings me more customers, so I pray for freezing rain. All year.

On an ordinary day, the customer has a coffee.

On a cold wet day, they stay for two – plus a piece of cake and a lasagne to take home. Lovely jubbly.

On a very hot day, you see more tumbleweed than customers. A small market town like ours doesn’t do it for them compared to country pubs with breezy gardens (and their pizza ovens – what is that about?). Or just their own back gardens with £20 of cheap supermarket booze and a disposable barbie. Even I, grumpy bugger that I am, like the sound of that.

My ever-faithful EPoS tells me a ‘good weather’ week will cut my takings by 30%, sometimes more.

I think it’s a uniquely British disease called FOMS – Fear of Missing Summer. One day of bright sunshine somehow makes the average Brit run for the nearest bit of grass, strip off to the flabby bits and make like a beached whale. “It could be the only sunny spell this year. Quick,

ls

MODEL RETAILING B

el

Ji

n

ells J i n g l e gle B

Come on everyone. Let’s get in the spirit!

One day of sunshine makes the average Brit run for the nearest bit of grass, strip off to the flabby bits and make like a beached whale

charcoal some chicken wings and get a couple bags of ice for the prosecco from the Nisa store.”

Then there’s the strain on my shop. I walk in and my cheeses are sweating worse than London commuters. To begin with, we had compressors within the fridges – that kicked out so much heat we lost all our chocolates. Who knows how many

we sold before we noticed they were going white inside the packaging. So, we spent some hardearned money on an air con unit. Kind of worked but we have a large open plan shop and it really wasn’t big enough. Then that blocked up and dripped water all over £200 in stock.

Next, we installed a compressor outside – more money and drilling holes without the landlord’s permission. It worked, but we had to abandon it in a refit when we moved the deli counter. So, we put another air con unit in the new deli area and it started to blow all the chilled air out of the cheese counter. More money was spent getting the air flow redirected across the ceiling, through the expensive overly-hot lighting (it’s bright but you could raise battery chickens under it).

Let’s sum up. In hot weather, we cool the air with air conditioning to reheat it with lights that stop the cool air, displacing the cold air in the chiller whose compressor circulates hot air, which is why we need the cool air in the first place. All for customers who aren’t there anyway. Got it?

Let’s call that FUCEM. Fear of Unaffordable Crippling Energy Meter readings.

SOLVING EVERYDAY SHOPKEEPING DILEMMAS. IN MINIATURE. This guy might wish it was Christmas every day, but it’s August. I’m off!

Hey. Where did everybody go?

FFD says: In-store music will always prove divisive but festive tunes at this time of year are a retailing crime. Even though you should have started your Christmas ordering, it’s not quite time to bring the merriment onto the shop floor. If you want to get your timing right, turn to page 44 in our Christmas feature, for a month-by-month schedule.

With kind permission of Geobra Brandstätter Stiftung & Co. KG, Germany. PLAYMOBIL is a registered trademark of Geobra Brandstätter Stiftung & Co. KG, for which also the displayed PLAYMOBIL toy figures are protected.

Vol.20 Issue 7 | August 2019

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DINE WITH THE GASTRONOMIC GREATS GREAT TASTE GOLDEN FORK AWARDS DINNER SUNDAY 1 SEPTEMBER 2019 THE INTERCONTINENTAL LONDON PARK LANE, ONE HAMILTON PLACE, LONDON The evening kicks off with a drinks reception and the chance to meet a host of producers who will serve up their award-winning products.

TICKET PRICE INCLUDES:

A four-course 3-star dinner, curated by Executive Chef Ashley Wells, will be served in the glittering setting of the Ballroom. The evening will unfold, revealing the Great Taste Golden Fork winners from each region, before the climax and announcement of the 2019 Supreme Champion.

1800

Drinks and Reception

1945

Four-course Dinner with wine

2230

Cheese boards & dancing

Guild of Fine Food Members Non-members

£145 + vat £175 + vat

Dress: Jackets Tickets are limited & sold on a first come first serve basis.

After dinner you can enjoy live music and dancing, a pay-bar and a giant cheese-board curated from the World Cheese Awards.

Tables of 10 or 12 are available on request.

To avoid disappointment, please book early.

Contact: Joanne Myram +44 (0)1747 825200 or email joanne.myram@gff.co.uk

To reserve tickets or a table, please contact joanne.myram@gff.co.uk

RESERVE YOUR •Limited

TICKET(S)* TODAY

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Since 2014 we have been awarded 24 Stars in the Great Taste Awards for our outstanding products

Order for Christmas from our unique range TODAY! Extra Virgin Olive Oils and Balsamic Vinegars Gluten Free, Fresh and Dried Pastas Pannetone Antipasti and Charcuterie Prosecco Artisan Craft Beers Limoncello Christmas Gifting Confectionery NEW Italian Calloni NEW Lobster Tail cakes NEW Ambient Salamis For more Information on our full range; www.tenutamarmorelle.com or call: 01189 29 84 80 Vol.20 Issue 7 | August 2019

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SUMME R E ATI N G W I TH SNOWD ON I A C H E E S E

We have created a range of delicious recipes using our award-wining cheese.

Perfect for Summer sharing, al-fresco dining, picnics, and every-day eats.

Contact us on 01745 360 246 or email sales@snowdonia-cheese.co.uk for more details and for your Summer Eating promotional kit.

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Meet Affineur Walo and22/07/2019 find 13:07:16 out more about his cheese at: FindMeet out more about Affineur Walo Affineur Walo and find International Food Exhibition, cheese onabout The Fine Co out more his Cheese cheese at:

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Stand No N2900, The Fine Cheese & Co (1-3 September) Awarded original Swiss cheese since five generations presented

by Affineur Walo von MĂźhlenen.

18

August 2019 | Vol.20 Issue 7

CHEESEWIRE

news & views from the cheese counter

Anaerobic digestion becoming a more popular whey to go

By Patrick McGuigan

Wensleydale Creamery

Cheesemakers have long struggled with the question of what to do with leftover whey, using it in everything from pig feed and fertiliser to butter and ricotta, or just paying for it to be disposed of.

But a growing number are now using anaerobic digestion (AD) to turn the by-product into energy, reducing bills and cutting carbon in the process.

The Wensleydale Creamery recently signed a deal to send whey permeate (whey with the protein removed) to a local AD facility, where it is converted by bacteria into enough methane to generate over 10,000 MWh of energy a year – the equivalent of heating 800 homes.

Iona Capital, which owns the Lemming biogas plant, told FFD it is in discussions to source whey from other cheesemakers, and would be open to working with artisan producers.

“The Wensleydale story has sparked a lot of interest,” said Mike Dunn, co-founder of Iona.

“Whey permeate can be classed as a ‘Goldilocks’ feedstock (just right) for anaerobic digestion.

It has a high energy content and is easily digested by the anaerobic bacteria. In most cases, the energy produced will directly supply the cheese production facilities, so creates a circular economy. Smaller artisan cheesemakers also have the opportunity to supply waste and by-products to

Wensleydale Creamery’s decision to send whey for anaerobic digestion will create enough energy to heat 800 homes for a year

generate renewable energy.”

Some cheesemakers are taking matters into their own hands, investing in AD systems fed with slurry and whey to generate electricity and heat water. Stephen Temple, co-owner of Mrs Temple’s Cheeses in Norfolk, invested £800,000 in a digester 10 years ago, which generates 170 kW of electricity for the grid and the farm.

Somerset cheddar-maker George Keen also installed an AD plant 18 months ago and expects to achieve payback in the next 6-8 years. “As energy becomes more expensive and we become more ecologically minded, it was the right time,” he said.

At AD specialist Clearfleau, marketing director Richard Gueterbockin said new modular digesters were being developed, which would lower prices, while the government’s commitment to net zero UK carbon emissions by 2050 will also drive the market.

“The landscape is changing with greater pressure to reduce carbon and be more sustainable,” said Gueterbockin.

“If tech suppliers can develop smaller scale AD solutions – and there are some already - there’s a future for gas from cheese.”

NEWS IN BRIEF

The Welsh cheddar-style Hafod was named best raw milk cheese in the country last month, after it won the James Aldridge Memorial Trophy.

The award, which is voted for by members of the Specialist Cheesemakers Association, was announced at the Annual General Meeting and farm visit at Loch Arthur Creamery in Scotland.

Cáis na Tíre Gouda This aged sheep’s milk gouda was named Best Irish Cheese at this year’s British Cheese Awards. A newly launched product, the cheese is made

by Lorraine and Barry Cahalan at their farm in County Tipperary, using milk from their flock of Friesland sheep.

The texture is hard and crystalline with intense confectionery notes and an underlying earthiness.

Bourbon The sweet vanilla notes of bourbon make a pleasing match for the fruity caramel flavour of the cheese. There’s also a savoury depth to the gouda, which stands up nicely to the boozy bite of the whisky. Works with everything from Jack Daniels to more specialist brands, such as Woodford Reserve Double Oaked.

Coffee Aged goudas often have coffee notes, making them natural bedfellows with the black stuff. Cáis na Tíre’s cheese is no exception matching up nicely with a washed Kenyan coffee’s sweet floral and dried fruit notes recently developed by coffee expert Tim Ridley. Another good option is Dark Woods’ Common Grounds – a washed Ethiopian coffee, that is aged in Bourbon barrels before roasting.

Exports of British cheese to Asia have nearly quadrupled in value in the past five years, according to latest HMRC data. The region bought £62.5m of British cheese last year, with China the fastest growing export market.

Demand has increased there from £67,000 in 2013 to £6.5 million in 2018.

The Ethical Dairy has sold out of cheese for the next three months following high demand for its products, which are made with raw milk using the pioneering ‘cow with calf’ method. Calves are kept with their mothers during the day when they are free to suckle, but are stopped from taking milk at night.

THREE WAYS WITH...

The world’s first cheese conveyor belt is coming to London. The 38-seater Pick & Cheese restaurant and bar, which is part of the new Seven Dials Market from street food business KERB, will feature a 40-metre-long electronic belt laden with British artisan cheese and charcuterie. The concept has been developed by Mathew Carver, who runs street food business The Cheese Truck and The Cheese Bar in Camden.

Dark chocolate Cocoa is another flavour often found in aged goudas, while the cheese’s trademark butterscotch notes work with chocolate. Look for a dark chocolate with fruity notes, which will tie in with the slight hints of pear drops in the cheese. We’re fans of Åkesson’s Brazil 75%, which contains crunchy cocoa nibs that echo the crystal texture of the cheese.

Vol.20 Issue 7 | August 2019

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CHEESEWIRE

news & views from the cheese counter

Curd & Cure launches own brand with cider-washed Tiddly Blue

BEHIND THE COUNTER TIPS OF THE TRADE Lucie Inns, Cheesology, Sussex

By Patrick McGuigan

Kent-based wholesaler Curd & Cure has launched its first own-brand cheese as part of a plan to build up a range made in collaboration with artisan cheesemakers.

Tiddly Blue is a 1kg semisoft cow’s milk cheese washed in Dudda’s Tun Original Kent Cider, which has not been spiked so has a blue rind, but little veining. The unusual cheese was developed in partnership with Burt’s Cheese in Cheshire.

Curd & Cure MD Stuart Grant told FFD that he plans to work with other artisan cheesemakers to build up a range of cheeses that are unique to the business.

“We want to have a local link with each one and for them to be different to what’s already out there,” he said.

“It’s about having a point of difference from the multiples and other wholesalers.”

Curd & Cure was set up in 1989 by the Stimson family as Cheeseworks, but changed its

CHEESE IN PROFILE with Mayfield What’s the story?

This Alpine-style cheese is made every morning

by Arthur Alsop at his dairy in East Sussex using full-fat pasteurised cows’ milk that is delivered the previous evening from several local farms. It is named after a village nearby and has won multiple awards, including a Great Taste 3-star. It often gets compared to Emmental or Dutch Gouda but Alsop insists it has its own unique flavour – 20

August 2019 | Vol.20 Issue 7

Made by Burt’s Cheese, Tiddly Blue is washed in Dudda’s Tun Original Kent Cider. It is the first of a planned Curd & Cure own-brand range.

name to Curd & Cure in 2016.

The company, which tripled capacity with a move to a new 10,000 sq ft warehouse and cheese cutting and wrapping facility in Staplehurst last year, supplies around 1,500 products to independent retailers and restaurants across Kent, Sussex and Hampshire.

“We’ve spent a lot of money and put a lot of passion into developing the Curd & Cure brand,” said Grant, who took over the business in 2018, after joining in 2006. “When you look at wholesale it’s sometimes a faceless industry. We want to put ourselves out there with a strong brand.”

The high rents and rates faced by many retailers are not a problem for cheesemonger Lucie Inns. She specialises in selling cheese at markets across Sussex, where pitch fees start at just £20. While low overheads are a plus, making a living from markets requires knowhow, she says.

“It took a while to work out which were the good markets. The good thing is you’re not tied in so you can leave if it’s not working. But you also have to be prepared for ebbs and flows. If it’s too cold or too hot, trading will be slow, but it averages out.”

Retail theatre is also key with Inns donning a top hat with feathers and offering tasters on slate boards. “Like any retail business it’s important to build up loyal trade. I’d say 70% of the people I serve are regulars.”

And just like bricks-and-mortar cheese shops, Christmas is vital.

buttery caramel with a hint of almonds.

Variations: None.

Milk: Pasteurised cows’ milk How is it made?

Mayfield is a semi-hard cheese and rather than cooking the curds, they are heated to 36°C and washed by replacing some of the whey with hot water.

Cheesemonger tip: The whole 18kg wheels are a show-stopper for any counter or cheese room. Create theatre by cutting, wedging and sampling in full view of customers. Suggest it as a British alternative to Continental Alpine cheeses.

It is pressed and brined before waxing and maturing for 5-7 months. The holes in Mayfield are produced by a bacterium – Propionibacterium – which is part of the starter culture mix. The bacteria creates carbon dioxide and as the cheese matures, the gas is trapped in the cheese and creates the small holes, sometimes called eyes. It is made using vegetarian rennet.

Appearance & texture: These large wax-coated cheeses have a holey, golden paste that is semisoft with a smooth pliable texture and flavours of caramel and almond.

During the summer months, the cheese is lighter and creamier but it becomes more dense and buttery when the cows’ diet changes in winter.

Chef’s recommendation: Serve thinly sliced on breakfast buffets, in dishes as a substitute for Emmental or on a cheeseboard with sparkling wines from neighbouring winery Ridgeview.

Whether you have a professional or personal interest in cheese, the Academy of Cheese is a not-for-profit organisation, providing a comprehensive industry recognised certification. Level One courses are available across the UK. Visit academyofcheese.org to start your journey to Master of Cheese.

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Vol.20 Issue 7 | August 2019

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Kentish Handmade Cheese A traditional unpasteurised, cloth bound cellar matured hard cheese from the county of Kent.

TRADITIONAL CHEESE HANDCRAFTED O N O U R FA M I LY FA R M

One of the most local farm produced cheeses to London One of the most local farm produced cheeses to London and soon achieving carbon neutral production. and now carbon neutrally produced.

From our family farm in West Limerick, we produce a range of handcrafted, artisan, award winning cheeses, including: Cahill’s Original Irish Porter Cheddar, Cahill’s Irish Whiskey Cheddar with Kilbeggan Whiskey, Cahill’s Ardagh Red Wine Cheddar, Cahill’s Blueberry and Vodka Cheddar.

The cornerstone of our business is that each cheese is individually made and handcrafted thus retaining the subtlety of flavour that is invariably absent from the mass produced product.

www.winterdale.co.uk +44 (0)1732 820021 Winterdale, Platt House Lane, Wrotham, Sevenoaks, Kent TN15 7LX

E:info@cahillscheese.ie, Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram @cahillscheese, www.cahillscheese.ie +353 6962365

Stoney Cross suits a very broad section of customer.

Even those that like a strong cheese will enjoy the subtle flavours and the smooth texture of this little cheese.

www.lyburncheese.co.uk 01794 399982

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August 2019 | Vol.20 Issue 7

CHEESEWIRE

news and views from the cheese counter

We’ve been quite happy to fly under the radar

Bucking trends, backing British Switching focus from French to British has proved a prudent move for Cambridge’s Cheese Plus Interview by Patrick McGuigan

Some of the headlines in FFD about artisan cheese wholesalers have not made pretty reading in recent months. Just before Christmas we reported on Bridgehead Food in Wales going bust owing tens of thousands of pounds. Then French cheese specialist Abondance (previously Androuet) went the same way in March, blaming currency fluctuations and rising costs, swiftly followed by Oxford-based Premier Cheese, which was forced into administration by stiff competition.

“It is a scarily competitive market,” admits Perry James Wakeman, sales director at Cambridge-based wholesaler Cheese Plus.

“There are very big players with economies of scale – like Harvey & Brockless and Rustic – and at the other end retailers, such as Neal’s Yard and La Fromagerie, who also do wholesale.

We’re somewhere in between. We’re about independence, personal service and batch selecting, but we’re also competitive on price.”

Far from being part of the squeezed middle, Cheese Plus is maturing nicely with turnover more than doubling in the past five years to £6.2m in 2018. Set up in 1988 by Mark and Jan Hulme, who still head the company, the business employs 26 people and has 12 vans supplying restaurants and delis from Bury St Edmunds to Birmingham and Peterborough to London.

“We have very little competition in our area and we’ve been quite happy to fly under the radar,” says Wakeman. “When you have really big players with millions in investment and resource, as an indie business we always have to be careful, but our foundations are firmly built.”

The company has been insulated from the

worst effects of the fall in the value of the pound because 80% of its cheese is British. When Wakeman joined the company in 2012 it was the other way around, with 90% coming from France.

“There was a resurgence in British cheese that we needed to be part of,” he says. “It also meant we could control quality more in a way you can’t with French cheese. It wasn’t feasible to fly over all the time and pick batches from French suppliers, but I could just jump in a car and visit Jonny Crickmore [maker of Baron Bigod] in Suffolk. Being British and independent puts us in a good position as we go down the Brexit road.”

Wakeman samples every batch that comes into the Cambridge depot with Rollright, Cornish Kern, Sparkenhoe Blue, Westcombe and Innes Brick all currently featuring on ‘Perry’s cheeseboard’, which changes weekly. This is tasted with the sales team, so they can in turn pass on knowledge and details of provenance to their customers over the phone, in person and through detailed tasting notes.

Construction work is also taking place on a new maturing room, which will quadruple storage capacity and allow the company to buy in bigger quantities and age cheese to its customers’ tastes.

“It goes back to control over quality,” he says. “It will mean we can buy whole batches more easily and help guarantee consistency.”

Other recent projects include running Academy of Cheese courses (Wakeman is an accredited trainer) and redeveloping the online ordering system to include a smart-looking retail site aimed squarely at the general public. One unexpected consequence of this has been that wholesale customers are ordering more online.

“Wholesale is becoming more like retail,” he says. “Chefs and retailers want to be more connected to their food, just like the public.”

That’s good news for cheese wholesalers everywhere. cheese-plus.co.uk

CROSS

SECTION

The Duchess Cheese Plus worked with Lincs-based cheesemaker Cote Hill to develop two raw cows’ milk cheeses for its range, called The Duke and The Duchess (they were inspired

by Prince William and Kate Middleton, but for legal reasons there are no direct references to them). The Duchess [below] is a tomme-style washed rind cheese.

2

1

3

The Duchess is made using Alpine starter cultures, giving the cheese a sweet, fruity flavour. The rind has a meaty aroma thanks to being washed three times a week with English Sparkling Rosé from Chilford Hall.

Aged for just six weeks the cheese has a pliable texture with small holes, while the flavour is sweet, buttery and mild, with a savoury depth from the rind.

Vol.20 Issue 7 | August 2019

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The Guild of Fine Food’s training arm, the School of Fine Food, sees over 1,000 delegates a year learn everything from the basics of cheese and deli products to the detail of running an independent retail business.

BUSINESS Our Retail Ready two-day training programme is designed to equip managers or owners of prospective, new or developing delis & farm shops with the business essentials of fine food & drink retailing CHEESE RETAIL Our one-day course is designed to help independent retailers capitalise on customer interaction, ensure they have the correct range and guarantees that you and your team talk intelligently about cheese to your customers ACADEMY OF CHEESE The Guild is a founding patron and training provider of the Academy. It’s trusted and structured learning provides an academic pathway for anyone in the business, and equally cheese-loving consumers. It does for cheese what the Wine & Spirits Education Trust does for wine

For more details of all School of Fine Food programmes, courses, fees and dates, visit gff.co.uk/training or contact jilly.sitch@gff.co.uk, +44 (0)1747 825200

PROGRAMME 2019 ACADEMY LEVEL 1: £195 inc VAT Day course 18 September (London) 6 November (London) RETAIL CHEESE: MEMBERS £100 + VAT NON-MEMBERS £195 + VAT 10 September (London) 17 September (London) 1 October (Gillingham, Dorset)

gff.co.uk/training | academyofcheese.org

24

August 2019 | Vol.20 Issue 7

@guildoffinefood

8 October (London) 29 October (London) 12 November (London) DELI COURSE: MEMBERS £100 + VAT NON-MEMBERS £195 + VAT 28 October (London) RETAIL READY: Contact Jilly Sitch for further information and course fees.

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Vol.20 Issue 7 | August 2019

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The taste of pure English mint revived for the 21st century

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

COLLECTOR’S EDITION

Introducing six NEW Steven Brown Art design gift tins for 2019, containing Dean’s melt in the mouth, all butter shortbread.

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August 2019 | Vol.20 Issue 7

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d

CUT&DRIED

making more of British & Continental charcuterie

Italian-size pigs add weight to Dingley Dell product launch

By Mick Whitworth

A Suffolk farming business producing 350 pigs a week for high-end foodservice has launched its own charcuterie operation in a joint venture with its main distributor.

Dingley Dell Pork and partner Direct Meats, an Essex-based catering butcher, have spent a reported £500,000 on a purpose-built facility to produce a range of Continental-style whole muscles and cured sausages.

It is one of the biggest upfront capital investments in British charcuterie since the sector emerged more than a decade ago.

Dingley Dell, whose fine dining clients include The Gordon Ramsay Group, Fortnum & Mason and Aqua Shard, is a third-generation business run by brothers Mark and Paul Hayward.

They specialise in Red Duroc-based pigs which deliver a high level of intramuscular fat, or marbling.

The pigs are “born, reared and grown outdoors all year round” on a farm where

30% of the land is under conservation management.

According to Hayward, around 10 pigs a week are currently being diverted from fresh sales to the new charcuterie operation to build stocks.

“We’re using the whole animal, and we’re taking them very big - probably 190kg liveweight,” he told

Fine Food Digest. “That’s twice the size of a normal commercial pig and similar to what the Italians would do.”

Despite giving its products names drawn from ancient British history and mythology – such as Albion (coppa) and Moccus (salami, named after a Celtic swine god) – Hayward said the

products are firmly based on Continental styles.

They are being seen by Direct Meats as a straight replacement for the Italian meats it has previously supplied, he added.

“We’re not trying to do anything overly clever, but we’ve brought in some really good technology and we’re very much trying to emulate the best of the Europeanstyle meats.”

Whole-muscle meats in the new line-up include lomo (named Guillinbursti, after a boar from Norse mythology),

a dry-cured prosciutto-style ham (Cerrunos) and an air-dried beef or bresaola (Boadicea).

There is also a range of hard, semi-soft and spreadable sausages, including cooking chorizo (Elidure), ’nduja (Nuada) and a Felino-style mild salami (Iceni).

With its strong customer base in top restaurants, Dingley Dell has looked to foodservice initially to take the new charcuterie, which is currently sold in whole pieces. However, Hayward said he was keen to talk to potential retail clients and distributors, with sliced packs to be added “further down the line”.

The taste and texture of meat from the producer’s “highly specialised” Red Durocs is likely to be a key point of difference, Hayward said, along with its strong environmental and welfare credentials.

Last year Dingley Dell attracted headlines when it sowed 33 hectares of nectar-rich plants, again in partnership with Direct Meats, in a bid to feed “one million bees” and help reverse the decline in pollinators. dingleydell.com

Cannon’s new sliced range boasts ‘distruptive and different’ design

By Mick Whitworth

Specialist British wholesaler Cannon & Cannon has revealed the packaging for its new four-strong range of sliced packs, following a full rebrand of the business by agency The Space Creative.

The “Selected by Cannon & Cannon” range of 60g modified-atmosphere retail packs (trade £2.75, RRP £4.50) kicks off with two products each from suppliers Moons Green in Kent and Cornish Charcuterie.

They are Kentish rosemary & garlic salami,

Kentish mushroom & truffle salami, Cornish seaweed & cider salami, and Cornish coppa.

Available from September, they come in cases of 16 packs, with a minimum of six weeks chilled shelf life.

The new designs feature powerful black-andwhite woodcut-style line illustrations, each making a nod to the provenance of the product, with beach huts to hint at the north Cornwall coast and oast houses signifying the Kent countryside.

Sean Cannon told Fine Food Digest: “We wanted the new branding to be modern and visually striking.

“Generally, the way charcuterie has been presented in-store is very simple, in a see-through vac-pack. So we wanted something that was exciting to look at, but was clearly British and clearly spoke of the provenance.”

New illustrations will be introduced as meats from Cannon & Cannon suppliers from other regions are added to the range, he said,

adding: “It’s a contemporary look, and when you see it on shelf it’s distruptive and

different - and much more interesting.” cannonandcannon.com

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

Vol.20 Issue 7 | August 2019

27

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CAFÉ CONFIDENTIAL

the secrets of smarter foodservice

Do your own deli food

BLOOMFIELDS’ TIPS TO GETTING STARTED:

From sausage rolls to scotch eggs, making your own deli food has its benefits. Lauren Phillips discusses the perks of DIY with Tim Belcher of Bloomfields Fine Food.

By Lauren Phillips

It might seem like a daunting undertaking at first but making your own food on site to sell on your deli counter and in your café can be a worthwhile decision – with the right planning.

Bloomfields Fine Food makes its own scotch eggs, sausage plaits, quiches, cakes and many more items for its three deli-café sites, in Oxfordshire, Swindon and Wiltshire.

This has given its outlets a real point of difference, says co-owner Tim Belcher, who runs the business with wife Sue. “Multiples don’t make their own deli-products on-site,” he says. “We’re famous in our area for our deli products and people come to us especially for something different.”

There is also the added value and theatre that freshly-made instore products can bring to your

shop. “When our sausage plaits come out of the oven everything, from the smell to the look of them, really creates a theatre in the deli which our customers love,” says Belcher.

But the biggest attraction of in-house production is the sizeable profit margin it offers.

The Belchers aim to make 6070% profit on products they make themselves, which also has to cover overheads such as labour costs.

This is a big difference compared to the 40% they target on bought-in products.

While quiches are a classic

FROM THE DELI KITCHEN

product to offer, they also provide an easy and versatile solution any leftover cheese or vegetables close to their sell-by date.

Producing items in-house also allows the retailer to have more control over product quality and quantity. Bloomfields’ popular sausage plaits and scotch eggs are made using local free-range pork, which Belcher says provides traceability and uniqueness angles when selling them.

But the profit doesn’t come without some practicalities to consider. Belcher says quantity control and portion sizes must be managed during production to limit wastage. The retailer must also jump through numerous legal hoops and maintain designated areas in the kitchen to handle different ingredients, like raw meat.

This can be tricky with limited space and expanding or refurbishing can be a costly exercise.

Prep time: 15mins Cook time: 10mins Makes: 1 sandwich Ingredients 2 fish skins and 1 small fish fillet, weighing approximately 80g 2 slices of sourdough bread Oil, for frying A dollop of mayonnaise 4 small gherkins, or 1 large, sliced Juice of ½ a lemon For the batter 45g cornflour 40g flour Pinch of turmeric powder 80ml soda water Sean Callitz

• Get your profit margin right.

Calculate all the ingredients required to make sure you’re not ordering too much.

• Portion control is paramount.

You can be generous with your portions – just make sure you take it into account against your margins.

• Remember secondary costs like staff training and buying any specialist equipment needed.

Bloomfields refurbished one of its sites and installed a product development kitchen to help it make larger quantities.

Then costs must be factored in for staff training and any specialist equipment that must be bought.

Not all deli items can be easily made on-site, either. The business doesn’t make its own pies or bread because of the kit required, such as fiddly pie machines and commercial baking ovens.

Simple recipes to boost your margins. Sponsored by Tracklements Fish skins are often discarded and cheap to purchase from your fishmonger. You can mix up skins with fish fillets, or just keep it all about the skins. If you prefer a lighter batter, just add a little more soda water. We’ve added a little turmeric for a more golden colour, but feel free to omit this.

Crispy fish skin sandwich

• Realise demand. Gauge with your customers that this is what they want and what products they want from you.

be. Set aside.

• In a large bowl, whisk the cornflour and flour with the turmeric. Slowly add the soda water until the batter is coating consistency.

• Heat the oil in a pan for frying.

At a medium heat, dip the fish fillets and skin into the batter and then into the hot oil. Fry for 6-8 mins or until golden brown and cooked through.

• Remove from the fryer and drain on kitchen roll.

• Butter the bread, spread over mayonnaise and then layer the gherkins and fish. Squeeze over lemon juice, top with dill and serve.

Recipe by Fine Food Digest

Transforming simple into scrumptiousness

Method • Wash and pat dry the fish fillet and skin so that it’s as dry as it can Vol.20 Issue 7 | August 2019

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August 2019 | Vol.20 Issue 7

SHOW PREVIEW

Speciality CYBER & Fine Food Fair CRIME

Back to the future

The fine food sector’s biggest trade event may well be celebrating its 20th year but the show’s ambassadors are looking forward rather than dwelling on the past. FFD talks to some of them to get you thinking before Speciality & Fine Food Fair kicks off next month.

By Michael Lane

There’s a movement away from meat analogues and highly-processed vegan products to more natural things

JASON GIBB, CO-FOUNDER, BREAD & JAM

A LOT CAN CHANGE IN 20 MINUTES these days, let alone 20 years. And the fine food industry is not immune to the whims of evermore demanding consumers or the economic and political pressures that infiltrate everyone’s lives.

Speciality & Fine Food Fair (SFFF) has remained a constant throughout and is still very much a “barometer” for the industry, according to Soraya Gadelrab, portfolio director at Fresh Montgomery – the show’s organiser.

“Looking at the past it’s interesting to see how the speciality world has changed,” says Gadelrab, for whom this year’s event is the 14th she will have been involved with. “Back then, there were jams, pies, chutneys – all the things that are synonymous with British food – but not many global brands.

“And the innovation was coming from bigger companies but now it’s coming from the entrepreneurial end.”

One man who knows this area very well is new show ambassador Jason Gibb. He did eight SFFFs as an exhibitor when he was running his Nudo olive oil, and since he sold the business he has become something of a magnet for start-ups by setting up the Bread & Jam events company, aimed at helping fledgling food brands.

“Everyone is talking about vegan,” he tells FFD. “It’s by far the biggest influence on what’s coming through.”

Gibb himself has entered the market with a new brand, Planet Jason, specialising in plant-based foods. He says we are starting to see a change in what is available to vegans and vegetarians.

“There’s a movement away from meat analogues and highly-processed vegan products to more natural things.”

Adrian Boswell – one of the top buyers at

SFFF

takes place at London’s

Olympia 1st-3rd September

CONTINUED ON PAGE 34

Vol.19 Issue 7 | August 2019

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Speciality & Fine Food Fair Selfridges’ food hall and a returning ambassador – agrees. But he feels there is still a lot more potential for consumers to differentiate between ‘vegan’ and health-orientated ‘plant-based’ items.

“There are a lot of vegan products which aren’t actually good for you,” says Boswell, whose remit includes both classic deli products and the health & wellbeing category. “Some of them will have 10 different ingredients in them that you can’t even pronounce.”

Suppliers and retailers can rest assured that this is one category that has a broad scope, though.

“It’s actually being driven by flexitarians rather than vegans – people choosing to eat less meat but, when they do, it’s good quality.”

Boswell is also tipping gut health to go mainstream, beyond well-known brands like Yakult and Actimel.

“Your kombuchas and your kefirs are already on the market but they’re still quite niche,” he says, adding the all-fermented foods could be due a spike if general consumer interest in health continues to swell. “It’s not just what you eat but how you digest it.”

While healthier options with less fats and salt are influencing NPD, the packaging format itself is becoming more and more important for consumers and buyers alike.

Gibb says he has been talking to one new business that is developing recipes with a Michelin-starred chef, to be sold in tins. And it’s not as far-fetched a prospect as you might think.

“Millennials are much more willing to look at these different formats and not be constrained by perceptions,” he says. “It just has to offer convenience, quality and full-on flavour.”

He thinks another much-maligned category, frozen, could also be due a renaissance – citing the new Deliciously Ella range as one example.

“The food wastage is less,” says Gibb. “You don’t need to put loads of crap into the product to increase shelf life and the nutrients are locked in.

“The only problem for speciality retailers is that they have small frozen sections, or none at all.”

That might well change given the sustainability credentials of frozen food and very palpable demand from consumers for things to fit the bill.

Gadelrab says there is a long checklist of what people look for in products, convenience and quality especially.

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Low alcohol beer is going to be mega RUPERT PONSONBY DIRECTOR, R&R TEAMWORK “Now we want all of that and it has to be sustainable,” she says, pointing out brands addressing wastage like Pinkster Gin, who use their by-product raspberries in their jarred Boozy Berries, or Toast Ale’s beer made with stale bread.

Adrian Boswell says we’ll never get away from sustainability. Given its numerous eco statements (including banning single-use plastic bottles), Selfridges is a retailer that you could say is ahead of the curve but its buyer believes that there is a lot more to develop and for people to learn in the UK. “The Scandinavians don’t freak out about plastic like we do because they have found mechanisms for what to do with it.”

It’s not just in retail that this is coming to the fore, as SFFF’s new event manager Elena Attanasio points out.

“I’m very conscious that events is not the most sustainable industry,” she says, revealing her plans for 2020 to have a sustainability zone within the floorplan, with an alternative ecofriendly shell scheme, exhibitors who must meet certain criteria to take space – and no carpet!

Another aspect we’ll all have to get wiser on, says Jason Gibb, is carbon footprint. He even feels its time for labelling – similar to the nutritional traffic light – to appear on packs.

“An apple that is grown in South Africa could be better than one that has been stood in a freezer in Kent for 6 months.”

That’s not to say that buying British should be off the table. Another new show ambassador, Rupert Ponsonby, director of PR firm R&R Teamwork, has been testing this notion to its limit when FFD catches up with him.

“I’m only eating and drinking British during July,” he says, adding that he has encountered and cracked numerous problems – from trying roasted barley as a coffee alternative through to deploying marrowfat peas instead of avocado. “But what do we do instead of bananas or soy sauce?”

Although it might not reach the extremes Ponsonby is taking it too, buying British is certainly going to be a factor if or when Brexit eventually happens. The political climate has been reflected with some of the European pavilions getting slightly smaller at this year’s show but Attanasio is keen to point out bigger stands being taken by countries outside the EU trading bloc, like Japan, South Korea and Mexico.

Soraya Gadelrab adds: “It’s more of a shift in the landscape than a decline.”

All of the ambassadors FFD has spoken to see growth opportunities as a result of Brexit.

Boswell thinks it will bring parity between the price of British Charcuterie and its Continental competition, Gibb says he is already seeing more “ultralocalisation”, but Ponsonby can see lots of potential in the drinks market – his speciality.

He says English Sparkling Wine is maturing as an industry and we should see smaller vineyards gaining some prominence. He is also enthused about the arrival of mead, flavoured and in cans no less. But there will also be something for those health-conscious millennials.

“Low alcohol beer is going to be mega. Where we were drinking Becks Blue, now you have breweries like Adnams and Small Beer Co all making them.”

Whatever your concerns, or tipple, you’ll be pleased to know there will be a bar at SFFF, too. specialityandfinefoodfairs.co.uk

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CHRISTMAS SPECIAL

Deck the halls You might still be selling ice cream on the shop floor, but it’s time to get your festive hat on and prepare for the biggest trading season of the year.

Luckily, FFD has listed some food and gift ideas to get you started. Look out for some retailing guidance and insight into what the big boys are planning, too.

Compiled by Lynda Searby and Lauren Phillips

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Paxton & Whitfield has created two gift packs for cheese lovers. The blue cheese-themed selection pack (RRP £17) contains Cornish buttermilk biscuits (100g), quince & apple confit (120g) and spiced plum chutney (198g), while the cheddar gift pack (RRP £19.50) pairs a wax-coated Hundred Dram cheddar with caramelised onion chutney (227g) and the London cheesemonger’s ‘original’ crackers. paxtonandwhitfield.co.uk

Swiss cheese wholesaler Affineur Walo has added two new hard cheeses to its portfolio. Produced using a wood fire, Gallen is a strong, creamy, hard raw cows’ milk cheese that “melts on the tongue”. The second is a strong but pure-tasting mountain cheese from Jura – one of the last regions in Switzerland to continue the raw milk tradition. affineurwalo.ch

An imperial stout from Arbor Ales, that has been aging in Amarone wine barrels for over a year, brings a “deep and boozy flavour” to Ginger Beard’s 2019 fig & sour cherry Christmas chutney.

Available from early November, the chutney is said to pair well with rich, creamy cheeses. RRP £4.50 (wholesale price £3). gingerbeardspreserves. co.uk

Filling a gap in the market is Roots & Wings with the launch of an organic marzipan that is made by hand from fresh eggs, sugar and almonds. One 350g pack (RRP £7.75) is enough to top a six to nineinch Christmas cake. The organic food specialist has also introduced a miniature 200g Christmas pudding and a nut-topped Christmas cake. rootsandwingsorganic. com

Bean-to-bar chocolate maker Solkiki has introduced two limitededition bars that are dairyfree, organic and vegan. Its eggnog white chocolate bar is infused with festive spices and mandarin, while its Dutch breakfast cake is a single-estate bar from Kablon Farms (Philippines) studded with crumbs of gingerbread. Wholesale price is £3; RRP £7.50 for 56g. solkiki.co.uk

Divine Chocolate has developed a new Fairtrade milk chocolate advent calendar (RRP £4) for Christmas 2019 that is illustrated with a Stephen Waterhouse design and features an animal fact and milk chocolate heart in each window. The company has also released an organic gift set of three full-sized 85% dark chocolate bars in blueberry & popped quinoa, lemon & turmeric, and ginger (RRP £10). divinechocolate.com

Peckish Kitchen haspickled rebranded Best known for its itswalnuts rhubarband jamcocktail to become cherries, Yorkshire rhubarb &Opies custardmakes jam, every Christmas, using local rhubarb range grown of within a limited-edition the rhubarb triangle of West Ideal fruits steeped in alcohol.

Yorkshire.

It isfillers, also launching a as hamper this year’s new Raspberry Collins gin jam,Jim releases are: apricots with made steeped Beamwith andraspberries mixed berries within Divine Gin. RRP £6.99.

Prosecco. peckishkitchen.co.uk opiesfoods.com

After reaching its firstCompany year of Harrogate Biscuit business, Squirrel has addedHungry a seasonal twist to its has added to its flagship allmaple butterpecan shortbread flavoured nut butters.

Made with recipe, launching a ‘festive’ pecans,packed almonds, maple syrup variety with currants, and a hintorange of mixed spices,peel the sultanas, & lemon smooth butter hasRRP a trade price of and mixed spice. is £3.85 £3.95 perof150g jar (RRP £5-6). for a box 8 (224g). feedthesquirrel.co.uk harrogatebiscuitcompany. co.uk

Womersley is now Kentish OilsFoods is presenting selling jamsoils, in a newly four of its fruity rapeseed designed gift box.

Theherbbalance of including three new herbs andoils, chilli the case three jams blended inincarry – raspberry & chilli,The blackcurrant format for gifting. & rosemary,original, and strawberry & producer’s rosemary, mint –and is said to intensify theall basil garden mint oils flavour of feature in the thefruit. pack. RRP £15womersleyfoods.com 18; wholesale price £11.90. kentishcondiments.com

>> Italian chocolatier Venchi has created a round festive box filled with an assortment of its most popular chocolates, including Chocaviar pralines, Cremini, Giandujotti and Piedmont hazelnut IGP chocolates.

The box has an RRP of £24 and is available to the trade via the Fine Cheese Co, exclusive distributor for Venchi in the UK, at a cost of £12. finecheese.co.uk

Stag Bakeries has added a pistachio fruit cake to its gifting range for Christmas. A festive twist on the bakery’s light fruit cake recipe, this cake is packed with pistachios and cranberries and topped with a marsala and chestnut glaze. It comes in a presentation tin depicting the producer’s location in the Outer Hebrides. RRP £11.99 for 300g. stagbakeries.co.uk

The master charcutier behind Fekedi Sifolder has released two of its salamis in a limited-edition deluxe salami selection. The gift box features 2 x 350g sticks of Hungarian spicy grey cattle and classic stifolder salami. Wholesale price £24. bestofhungary.co.uk

Jen Grimstone-Jones of Cheese Etc, The Pangbourne Cheese Shop suggests some alternative varieties to carry the Christmas cheeseboard beyond the classic Stilton and cheddar. cheese-etc.co.uk Kirkham’s Lancashire This cheese takes me back to my northern roots and is a must in our house at Christmas. It has a deep, tangy taste with that traditional Lancashire crumbliness.

Pair with: Our brandy-soaked fruit cake pairs beautifully for a perfect dessert.

Mince pies that are completely egg- and dairy-free

An ‘ethical’ mince pie option is now available from OGGS, which has developed a vegan recipe that is egg- and dairy-free. The pastry is made from vegetable oil instead of butter and aquafaba – an egg substitute made from chickpea water. The packaging uses 100% recycled plastic which is fully recyclable, and even if it ends up in landfill, is completely biodegradable. RRP £2.75 for a four pack. loveoggs.com

Five alternative cheeses for the festive cheeseboard

Gouda with Truffles This eight-week-old Gouda retains its gentle taste but the chopped Italian truffles give it an irresistible flavour which lingers in the mouth long after eating.

Pair with: Peter’s Yard sourdough crispbread. The taste and texture of the crispbread provide the perfect backdrop to the cheese.

Injecting some humour into Christmas gifting is Lincolnshire Brewing Company, with a ‘hangover survival’ gift box of three vintage-themed ales.

There are four ales and retailers can choose any combination: lethal injection American pale ale, mouthwash mint porter, medicinal purposes stout and lactose intolerant milk chocolate stout. RRP £10. lincolnshirebrewingco. co.uk

MM has introduced three gift boxes for Spanish food afficionados. All The Salsa features a spicy brava sauce, Catalan romesco dip and garlic mayonnaise.

Snacks & Picteo includes olives, candied sunflower seeds and spicy Espelette peanuts, and Best of Spain showcases three of MM’s best-selling Spanish products. RRP £21. mimofood.com

Bloom Bakers has drawn on its northern European heritage to offer dark chocolate coated Lebkuchen (German gingerbread). The Leeds bakery says it uses lots of nuts but adds no wheat flour for an authentic, soft texture. RRP £10 for a tin of four biscuits. bloombakers.co.uk

Developed for the festive season, Celtalan of Conwy’s mulled plum and spiced crab apple jams are made from fruit either grown in the producer’s own orchard or sourced within North Wales.

RRP £3.50 for 227g or £0.88 for 42g. celtalan.co.uk

Vacherin Mont D’Or You can’t beat Vacherin at Christmas. The cheese itself is at its peak and I love the way it oozes on the cheeseboard.

Pair with: The Fine Cheese Company’s Moscato Grape Nectar.

Simply drizzle it over the cheese and hey presto Christmas has arrived!

Brightwell Ash This smooth, creamy goats’ cheese has a great fresh taste. It’s made by Norton & Yarrow who (alongside their herd of Anglo-Nubian goats) are Oxfordshire based.

I especially love it as the cheese starts to break down under its ash layer and the flavours really shine through.

Pair with: Chocolate truffles.

Barkham Blue Made by Sandy and Andy at Two Hoots Cheese, this is blue cheese at its best. The richness of guernsey milk combined with strands of blue running through it give the cheese that “melt-in-the-mouth” quality that it is famous for.

Pair with: A really good sweet dessert wine such as a Late Harvest Viognier Valle Secreto.

Vol.20 Issue 7 | August 2019

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CHRISTMAS SPECIAL September sees the launch of Godminster’s organic black truffle cheddar, a cheese that is said to marry the “umami and aroma of truffle with the smooth creaminess of Godminster’s vintage organic cheddar”. It forms part of Godminster’s latest foodie giftset, the triple cheddar collection, which features three 200g truckles. RRP of the black truffle cheddar is £7.50. godminster.co

>> Wiltshire chocolatier Lick the Spoon has gone plastic free with its 2019 Christmas collection, which includes chocolate salamis, ‘Humbug’ chocolate sticks and – new for this year – Lebkuchen. These moist cakes, rich in ground nuts with gingerbread spicing, are small batch baked and finished with 75% dark chocolate and hand-piped designs. RRP £5.95 for a pack of three. lickthespoon.co.uk

Fusing tradition with innovation Snap crackers, or Knekkebrød, are a traditional staple of Scandinavian cuisine, and MØR Hjerte Bakeri has captured the essence of this snack in retail format, available to the UK trade via the Fine Cheese Co. With the emphasis on natural ingredients and authentic recipes, MØR Hjerte’s snap crackers are presented in packs that depict scenes of Norwegian natural beauty. There are three varieties: rye & butter milk, cornmeal & poppy seed, and wholemeal spelt & sourdough. finecheese.co.uk

Tapping into the craft gin trend is Steenbergs with a new Old Hamlet botanicals gift set containing the botanicals needed to make your own gin from vodka, the gin summer cup mix and the hot gin toddy spice mix (RRP £12). steenbergs.co.uk

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Pegasus Bio Hyperfoods has selected two of its Tea Odyssey botanical tea blends for presentation in special-edition gift tins this Christmas. Named after characters from Greek mythology, the Suitors blend combines green tea with fruits & spices (60g) and Athena is an organic certified blend of Greek herbs such as mountain tea, lime and chamomile (35g).

RRP €19.50 for 20 bags. pegasus-bio.gr

Deli Farm Charcuterie has refreshed its range of Christmas hampers, all named after the rugged Tors of nearby Bodmin Moor.

There are six hampers in the range, each presented in a rustic box packed with an assortment of deli products.

New to the line-up this year is a hamper themed around ‘high protein’ meaty snacks.

RRPs range from £19.90 to £79.90. delifarmcharcuterie.co.uk

Guppy Chocolates is building on the success of its chocolate santas, which were launched last year, with the introduction of two more seasonal hand-made chocolate lines: bite-sized milk chocolate reindeer and penguins (RRP £3.20). guppyschocolateswholesale. co.uk

Thursday Cottage’s Christmas cracker gift pack brings together three festive recipes.

Christmas jam (strawberry with Champagne), marmalade (fine cut orange with whisky) and chutney (spiced apple & cranberry with Port) all feature in 112g jars. RRP £7.99. thursday-cottage.com

What the big players are doing this Christmas…

Get ahead of the game with our insight into what some of the big players in fine food retailing are planning this festive trading season SELFRIDGES It’s a futuristic angle this year from Selfridges and its modern, digitalised Christmas vision (think neon colours, reflective surfaces and galactic patterns).

This is the first year the high-end retailer has changed the colours of its hampers from traditional brown to light grey with yellow leather straps. It’s also the first time Selfridges has launched avegan Christmas range, including a pumpkin spiced panettone (RRP £20), figgy pudding (£24.99) and chocolate pralines from Brightonbased Be Chocolate. Livia’s Kitchen will be offering a vegan, gluten-free advent calendar exclusively, too (RRP £40).

Other advent calendars include Selfridge’s popular Mince Pie variety (RRP £35) and Cambridge Gin’s flavoured-gin advent calendar. This will be stocked alongside the distillery’s ready-made G&T packaged in a champagne-style bottle exclusive to Selfridges and pitched as a “celebratory” drink similar to sparkling wine. selfridges.com WAITROSE Aside from the go-to turkey this Christmas, Waitrose will be offering prepared joints like Highland beef rump with red wine sauce, saddle of venison with plum, spiced ginger & honey, and a honey-cured with plum & spiced ginger glaze.

These all nod to the high-end supermarket’s signature flavour this Christmas: plum, spiced ginger & honey.

Meat alternatives are also a big focus, with Waitrose offering a full vegan Christmas menu. Products include two new vegan patés (mushroom & chestnut and butternut, pumpkin seeds & pine nut, RRP £2.50,140g), a Root en Croute main course (RRP £5.99, 350g) and vegan seitan streaky slices and apple & cranberry sausages.

A smoked burrata is being launched exclusively by the retailer (RRP £2.85, 125g), which has been notoriously difficult for the supermarket in the past given the delicate nature of the cheese. waitrose.com BOOTHS Booths is offering traditional flavours with a festive twist for its Christmas 2019 range. There are party centrepieces like its Farm Festive Wreath – a sausage roll wreath made by Cinderhill Farm – bakery items such as Booths own-label gingerbread crumble slices, and a mulled wine cheesecake.

Own-brand party food range is also strong for the northern supermarket and its party food supplier Gazebo will be offering traditional favourites like goats’ cheese & port crostini sitting alongside Asianinspired canapés like spicy lamb koftas.

The gin boom shows no sign of wavering either and Booths continues this trend by stocking regional brand The Lakes Distillery’s Lakes Gin as well as a gin & tonic smoked salmon from familyrun smokehouse Bleikers. booths.co.uk

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CHRISTMAS SPECIAL

>> Made at home in Warwick

by Mike Duckworth, this peanut-free nut spread is described as tangy, warm and slightly spiced – best eaten with stewed apples, rhubarb crumble or fruit loaf. RRP £4.99; wholesale price £3.49. Nutcessity currently supplies 40 independents but is looking to scale the business next year. nutcessity.co.uk

Ouse Valley’s seasonal take on marmalade, Christmas pudding marmalade, is made from oranges, lemons, brandy-soaked fruit and Christmas spices. RRP £4.60 for 340g. The East Sussex producer has also conceived a cranberry & blackcurrant conserve with Port for “livening up any Christmas dish”, whether fish, meat, game or cheese.

RRP £4.35 for 227g. ousevalleyfoods.com

The key to maximising sales is in the serving

Couture Surprises’ cake pops and other Christmas treats make a refreshing change from the usual chocolate shapes, mince pies and fruit cakes. The bakery, run by Vuyisa Henry Akuchie, offers santa cake pops, gold and pink pearl swirls cake pops, Christmas cake balls, and Chocolo chocolate-covered marshmallows with sprinkles and swirls. There is also a cake pops gift box containing a snowman, red swirl and Christmas tree (RRP £14; wholesale price £12). couturesurprises.wixsite.com Billed as the ideal gift for “really hot chilli lovers”, South Devon Chilli Farm’s ‘super sauce’ gift pack is too hot for most to handle.

The sauces – made from fresh ghost, scorpion and reaper chillies grown on the producer’s own farm – are packaged in pocket-sized 50ml bottles as only one drop is needed for extreme heat. RRP £19.30. southdevonchillifarm. co.uk

Fudge Kitchen’s Christmas crackers pull open to reveal three squares of hand-made fudge, in sea salted, chocolate orange and speculoos flavours… and no silly hats! With an RRP of £3.75 for 65g, they are around the stocking filler price point and are new to the company’s Christmas collection, along with a Christmas sharer selection box of 15 fudge pieces (RRP £15) and a new Belgian speculoos nut brittle. With the brittle, Fudge Kitchen says the key to achieving a perfect texture lies in the small 7kg batches and hand-stretching on marble counters for 15 minutes – the entire process takes a skilled artisan an hour. RRP is £6.50 for 125g. fudgekitchen.co.uk

Bones are slow-cooked for 24 hours with organic veg and seasoning to make Borough Broth Co’s new free-range organic duck bone broth, which is pitched as the ideal base for a Christmas gravy or soup. RRP £5.99 for 324g. boroughbroth.co.uk

A novel gifting idea for dog lovers, Spoilt Bitch biscuits can be enjoyed by both canines and humans.

The brainchild of Rowena Kitchen, the biscuits are hand-made in Dorset from organic produce and vegan cheese, and are said to be delicious with cheese or jam. Three varieties – Dogestives, Bitch Tea and Bark Olivers – have an RRP of £6.99 for 200g. spoiltbitch.dog

Working from her home kitchen in the Lakes, Jeannie Murray, aka Jeannie’s Kitchen Garden, has developed a limited-edition festive fig & plum chutney. Rich with fruit and Christmas spice, the chutney has an RRP of £3.95. jeannieskitchengarden.com

Retailers with plans to offer warming festive beverages such as mulled wine or spiced cider may want to consider sourcing a dispenser from Burco.

Its stainless steel water boilers and urns feature a manually controlled temperature dial and an inbuilt element for consistent heating.

Prices start at £137 for a 2.5l boiler up to £206 for a 30l boiler. burco.co.uk

Dylan’s has created a gift pack for retail containing the BBQ, red and brown sauces made by its chefs and served in its waterside restaurants in North Wales. The trio pack of sauces has an RRP of £9.95 (wholesale price £7.50). dylansrestaurant.co.uk

Vol.20 Issue 7 | August 2019

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CHRISTMAS SPECIAL

Your 10-month plan to cracking Christmas The biggest trading season of the year doesn’t start when you get those decs out.

Retailers should be planning for the festive season well in advance to really maximise those sales, as The School of Fine Food’s course tutor Jilly Sitch outlines in a month-bymonth schedule to make sure you have a jolly Christmas.

JANUARY TO JULY January • Study your December figures from last month. What sold well? What didn’t? Was it worth opening late some evenings? This is vital – you think you will remember the following Christmas but believe me when I say you won’t!

• Draw up a shopping list (and I don’t mean the weekly groceries) using last year’s figures.

• Allow some budget for last year’s performers. It’s a good idea to have specific budgets for each supplier, but leave some room for new lines you may discover at trade shows, like Speciality & Fine Food Fair, throughout the year.

• Try not to focus all your attention on Christmas-themed stock, but include products which work well as gifts ‘under a tenner’ and stocking fillers.

• Assign shop space to different lines. Why not draw a map of your shop floor to help visualise where this stock will go?

• Note down staff costs against turnover and make a dummy rota for the coming Christmas.

• Hold team meetings with everyone, from senior managers to part-timers, to get their feedback on last year’s Christmas trading.

By the end of January you should have an outline plan ready for the months ahead.

Cornish Charcuterie is challenging consumers to play Cornish roulette with its spicy chorizo game in a gifting tube. All ten of the chorizo in the pack look identical and, while nine are made to the company’s traditional recipe, one is “devilishly hot”. RRP is £15; wholesale cost is £10.20. cornishcharcuterie.co.uk

Franklin & Sons’ cloudy apple & Yorkshire rhubarb with cinnamon can be mixed with red wine, lemon juice and a dash of pimento dram to make a festive ‘mistletoe and wine’ cocktail. The flavour comes in two bottle sizes – 275ml (RRP £1.20) and 750ml (RRP £2.50) – as well as a newly released 250ml can format. franklinandsons.co.uk

Shaws of Huddersfield is launching a new chutney twin set to celebrate its 130th anniversary. The pack showcases the family’s piccalilli recipe and beetroot & horseradish chutney – a nod back to the days when Shaws produced tonnes of pickled beetroot.

The gift sets are available via Suma Wholefoods and Springvale Foods at a trade price of £15.80/case of three gift packs. RRP £6.99. shaws1889.com

CoccoMio is giving away a free coconut wooden spoon with each jar of its organic virgin coconut oil this Christmas. The oil is produced via a fresh centrifuged cold process that is said to generate four times more antioxidants than cold pressing. It is available in 300ml and 500ml jars, with respective RRPs of £9.95 and £14.95. coccomio.com

The Bay Tree has stocking fillers covered with a trio of individually boxed preserves.

The ‘my marmalade’, ‘my chilli’ and ‘my pickles’ lovers’ gift boxes each contain a 100g jar of either Seville orange marmalade, hot chilli chutney or farmhouse pickle. RRP £2.50. thebaytree.co.uk

The Garden Pantry’s branded three-jar gift boxes give stockists the flexibility to mix and match any lines from its range (RRP £12). There is also a selection of larger themed gift sets (RRP £19.50), including the BBQ, cheeseboard, breakfast and cocktail gift sets. thegardenpantry.co.uk

Christmas puddings that cater for all dietary requirements

Christmas puddings that cater to all dietary requirements are now available from LillyPuds.

Besides its traditional Christmas pudding, the Essex producer now offers vegan, gluten-free, alcohol-free and without nuts Christmas puds. It has also launched a Great British Favourites range of saucy sponge puddings as alternative Christmas desserts. The line-up includes sticky ginger, chocolate cherry and saucy lemon plus two gluten-free options: sticky toffee and chocolate with chocolate sauce. lillypuds.co.uk

April-May • Wholesalers’ Christmas brochures will start hitting your store at this time, so check for new stock items and draw up orders using your (January) shopping list.

June • Place orders for ambient goods – get in early so you don’t miss out!

• Schedule delivery times throughout September to December. These should be staggered to allow time for pricing products and reorganising display areas on the shop floor.

July • Work out your opening times and plan your rota accordingly. Look at what else is going on locally in the area. Is there a Christmas Fair nearby one weekend? A late-night shopping promotion?

• Collaborate with local producers who are supplying you for Christmas. Booking some in-store tastings for August and September is a good way of introducing your customers to new products which will appear on shelves later on.

• Place your final orders for ambient stock.

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Kingfisher Chilli has created two different gifting formats for its range, which includes a chilli jam, mayo and paste.

The two-jar gift boxes have an RRP of £9.50, while the tubes, which contain all three products, have an RRP of £14. chilli-products.co.uk

>> The Smokey Carter has branched out beyond its core rubs and sauces offering, introducing Gin Botanicals Infusion and Make Your Own Bacon tubes. The kits, which contain everything needed to infuse gin or cure bacon at home, have an RRP of £15; trade price is £30 for a case of three. thesmokeycarter.com

This 1kg assortment of Italian truffles from La Perla di Torino is pitched as the “ultimate gift for fine chocolate lovers”. There are six different glutenfree chocolates to choose from – tiramisù, triple chocolate, salted peanuts, honey & ginger, coconut milk and pistachio. Other, smaller assortments are also available, starting from a pack of six truffles (RRP £6.50). laperladitorino.it

AUGUST TO DECEMBER August • This is your last chance to make your Christmas orders with wholesalers.

• Stock up on non-food supplies too. Have you got enough paper bags? Cheese wrap? Price labels?

• Prepare early order forms on turkeys and cheese for customers, and make a plan about December’s order collection. The more organised you are for this now, the less of a headache later.

• Draft some Christmas newsletters ready to email from September to December. Content ideas: opening hours, hamper ideas, recipes, cheese buying and how-to guides. Be savvy and schedule these to go out on the Thursday before each month’s pay day.

The essence of Christmas dinner in a sausage

Indies in and around the Capital might want to get their orders in for Dolcetta’s Italian Christmas cannoli, billed as the only vegan cannoli in London.

Following an old family recipe minus eggs or dairy, the hand-made, crisp shells are lined and dipped in dark chocolate and filled with a sweet vegan ricotta.

Minimum order quantity is 100 and trade price is £2.50 per piece. dolcettalondon.co.uk

West Yorkshire roaster Dark Woods has treated its Snow Stone Christmas coffee blend to a packaging revamp for 2019. A blend of Brazil washed and Ethiopia natural arabica coffees, Snow Stone is roasted slightly darker to bring out those subtle dark chocolate flavours alongside notes of chestnut and dried fruit. darkwoodscoffee.co.uk

The Crafty Swine has captured the essence of Christmas dinner in a sausage, with a recipe that combines tastes of sage & onion stuffing, pork and gravy. The newcomer launched in 2017 with the goal of making “the best sausages available anywhere”. To this end, all of its pork is British and Red Tractor approved and it only uses shoulder and belly meat. Earlier this year the business moved into a new unit in Crawley to enable it to scale up production. RRP £6.50 for a 500g retail pack.

The-Crafty-Swine.com

September • Get your cheese orders in, and stagger the delivery times. Make sure to check the sell-by dates on arrival.

• Start teeing up your customers for what’s coming to your store this Christmas. No tree yet, but all sales opportunities and conversations should be about Christmas from now on.

• Prepare your shop. Tidy the store-room, defrost fridges, chillers and freezers, get equipment serviced, and begin rearranging your shop floor to accommodate new displays (remember that map you made in January?).

• Send out the first wave of those carefully planned newsletters.

October • Start bringing Christmas stock onto the shop floor and make a note of how initial sales are going. A slow start may be discouraging but hold your nerve and stick to those planned margins and budgets!

• Begin pushing your pre-orders on turkeys and cheese. This secures revenue early on and guarantees customers will return closer to the 25th. But always take a deposit – even from your best customers.

• January’s dummy staff rota should now be up and running. You might want to bulk up your team for extra customer services, like carrying shopping to cars, or receiving those deliveries.

• Ramp up your displays a little more towards the end of the month. Remember: maximise space for efficient sales.

November • It’s the 1st of the month. Halloween is over. Get that tree out and dress those windows. Now is the time to turn your shop into Santa’s grotto.

• Finalise your order collection plan and assign staff to deal with pick-ups.

• And most importantly – sell, sell, sell!

December • Stock should be looking low now but DO NOT BE TEMPTED TO ORDER MORE. Even if a sales rep calls with a BOGOF deal. You’ve been planning all year to stock to sell out.

• Keep your displays tight. Bulk out any gaps with Christmas decorations and move slow sellers into prime spots.

• On Christmas Eve, make sure your store is tidy and in a state that you can open post-Boxing Day.

La Despensa De Palacio’s 240g gift box of authentic canalillos is sure to appeal to Spanish food afficionados. The crispy wafer rolls are handfilled with hazelnut, praline and amaretto creams and coated in chocolate. RRP £22. ladespensadepalacio.com

Essex’s Sticky Pickle Company has presented two of its best sellers – pickled red cabbage and piccalilli – in a Christmas cracker gift box format. RRP is £10.95 for 2 x 280g jars; wholesale price £8.95. stickypickleco.co.uk

Launched earlier this year using Dorset grown chillies combined with spiced cranberries, Barbara’s Kitchen’s cranberry & chilli jam is described as a “wonderful pairing for Christmas savouries”, such as duck, cheese platters or sandwiches. RRP £4; trade price £2.99 for 200g. barbaras-kitchen.co.uk Vol.20 Issue 7 | August 2019

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August 2019 | Vol.20 Issue 7

CHRISTMAS SPECIAL Truffle Pastura is Brindisa’s pick for the cheeseboard.

This soft and dense cheese with crushed Italian black truffles combines the fresh aromas of a young ewes’ milk cheese with earthy truffle notes. RRP £17.45 for 380g. The Spanish food specialist is also offering a selection of hampers, including the best of Brindisa box (RRP £45), cheese box (RRP £35) and charcuterie box (RRP £65). brindisa.com

Harvested sustainably from the south coast of Devon, Seaspoon Seaweed is said to bring all the goodness and tastiness of nutrientdense seaweed to the table in easy to use, fine flakes that serve as an alternative to salt. The Captain’s Collection features a pouch of each blend: seaweed boost, seaweed seasoning, umami blend and herb mix.

RRP £17.95. seaspoon.com

Swap chocolates for popcorn

Popcorn Shed is offering an alternative to the usual chocolate advent calendar with a popcorn version.

Behind each of the 24 windows there is a bag of handmade popcorn in six flavours: sea salted caramel with Belgian milk chocolate, cheddar cheese, raspberry & dark chocolate, peanut butter caramel with roasted peanut halves, chocolate caramel with Belgian milk chocolate, and caramel with roasted pecan pieces. popcornshed.com

Providing a shelf companion for its Christmas chutney, Myrtle’s Kitchen launches an apricot-based Boxing Day chutney next month. The sweet chutney contains 39% fruit and is recommended as a partner for Christmas Day leftovers.

RRP £4. myrtleskitchen.co.uk

Adlington is introducing a cold-smoked turkey as an alternative centrepiece for the Christmas roast. The bird is marinated with herbs, sea salt and honey, before being cold wood-smoked then cooled rapidly to maintain shelf life. Adlington says the smoke flavour is “subtle, almost sweet” and only becomes apparent once the turkey is cooked and ready to eat.

The cold-smoked turkeys are produced from a 3.5-4.5kg whole slow grown, oat-fed turkey. They arrive boxed and presented in greaseproof and have an RRP of £69.50; wholesale price £46.20. adlingtonltd.com Ethical and organic chocolate brand Seed and Bean has a range of ideas at various price points, from its cracker gift box (£7.49) to its seasonal dark chocolate spiced ginger mini bar (£1.20). Then there is the mini bar gift set (RRP £6.39), an all-rounder that gives chocolate lovers a taster of four different bars: extra dark, espresso, orange & thyme and sea salt & lime. seedandbean.co.uk

Now those with food intolerances can participate fully in the Christmas countdown, following the launch of a vegan, glutenfree and soya-free chocolate advent calendar from Free From Queen. Retailers have until 10th November to place their orders for these 25 x 30 cm handmade house-shaped gifts, which have an RRP of £6570; wholesale price £53 (minimum order 10). freefromqueen.com

The English Whisky Co has unveiled four gift sets that combine whisky that is made from Norfolk barley and aged in oak casks with hardware such as nosing glasses and flasks. The gift packs range in price from RRP £19.99 to £39.99. englishwhisky.co.uk

Kent’s Simply Ice Cream has translated three traditional festive treats into frozen format, with the launch of Christmas pudding, mince pie and gingerbread flavours in 500ml and 120ml retail tubs.

RRPs from £5.15 for 500ml. simplyicecream.co.uk

Following their popularity on artisan markets last Christmas, The Magnificent Chocolate Company’s mince pie truffles are now available in retail format, in boxes of six (RRP £5; wholesale price £3.50). They combine a milk chocolate ganache with a rich, fruity homemade mincemeat and a generous measure of brandy. The shell is milk chocolate and they are decorated with a festive white chocolate star. Started by Karen Garner in early 2018, the company is a newcomer to the scene and makes all of its chocolates by hand in Marple, Cheshire. magnificentchocolate.co.uk Vol.20 Issue 7 | August 2019

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Join us at the industry’s fair

Register now to make the most of sourcing new and exciting products under one roof, networking opportunities that are second to none, and the unveiling of the winners of the Great Taste Awards 2019.

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OUR AWARD-WINNING RANGE INCLUDES COCKTAIL INSPIRED JAMS & MARMALADES, CHOCOLATE SPREADS, CHUTNEYS & PICKLES.

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NO COMPROMISE ON QUALITY Vol.20 Issue 7 | August 2019

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Sarah Gray’s is a husband and wife team who make jams, marmalades, curds, and chutneys, they have as much fun making their range as they do eating them with their family.

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SHELF TALK

Peter’s Yard eyes vegan snack market with new flatbread range

By Lauren Phillips

Established brand Peter’s Yard is looking to gain a foothold in the snacking category with its new range of vegan-friendly sourdough flatbreads that are designed to be eaten with dips.

The flatbreads come in three varieties – sea salt (115g), smoked chilli (115g) and seeded sourdough (135g) – and have a trade price of £1.60 per unit (£9.59 per case of six) with an RRP of £2.45.

The brand, well-known for its popular Original Sourdough Crispbreads, conducted research to establish whether there was a market for a product to accompany dips.

It found that 40% of UK shoppers purchase and enjoy dips at least once a week, with younger, more affluent shoppers consuming

dips several times a week.

“We have for a long time thought dipping was an opportunity to cater to,” said new product development manager Abigail Bond speaking to FFD. “We have a range of crispbread bites specifically for dipping but felt they were not optimised effectively.”

Peter’s Yard is also hoping the new flatbreads will cater to the rise in veganism and consumers adopting a more plant-based diet and sees dips tying in with this new trend.

“People following a vegan diet are getting their protein from chickpeas, which is why hummus is so popular,” she said.

“Our co-owner Wendy [Wilson-Bett] was sure that people had hummus in their fridge and that dipping was huge, but we had no evidence to prove it, which is why we did the research.”

The flatbreads are still made with the brand’s own sourdough starter (which is fermented for 16 hours) but with an adapted version of the brand’s Swedish crispbread recipe, which traditionally contains milk and honey.

“This is our first vegan range, so we’ve adapted the original recipe slightly for this,” said Bond. “The sweetness in these flatbreads comes from muscovado sugar instead of honey and we use rapeseed oil.”

The new range joins the brand’s popular biscuits for cheese and lunch ranges. It will be available to order from Hider, Cotswold Fayre and The Cress Co as of this month. petersyard.com

World’s first potato smoothie launches in the UK

By Lauren Phillips

A Swedish company has launched to the UK what it says is the first range of smoothies made from emulsified potato and rapeseed oil.

Veg of Lund developed the potato-based organic drinks, under the MyFoodie brand, in 2016 at Lund University and has been selling them to the trade in Sweden ever since, with the company now looking to export to the UK. Combining potato, rapeseed

oil, apple juice and one type of berry, the smoothies come in three varieties: blueberry, raspberry and sea buckthorn (an orange berry likened to a lemon). They are packaged in 250ml glass bottles and retail at £3 per bottle.

The company claims to be the first to blend potato and rapeseed oil together using a patented method discovered at the Swedish university,

resulting in a drink that is high in potassium and Omega 3.

Co-founder Thomas Olander said the products are more of a “drinkable snack” than a drink.

“These fill you up, they don’t quench your thirst,” he said. “This is not just a smoothie either, those are sweet and heavily fruit-based.

MyFoodie is perfect for a quick on-the-go lunch with something else.”

“The combination of potato and rapeseed also gives a neutral taste,” he added. “A lot of plant-based products have a specific taste profile. Generally plant-based products will include soy, rice or oat so that is what you taste first and foremost.” vegoflund.co.uk

Displays that pay PEP-UP YOUR SHELVES WITH THE GUILD OF FINE FOOD’S RESIDENT MERCHANDISING QUEEN JILLY SITCH There are two things to remember with crossselling: Keep it simple and Make. Every. Sale.

Count.

Try cross-selling products around meal ideas. Do you have a great tasting pasta? Put it with some jars of pesto or ready-made sauces, fresh basil and pecorino cheese. Et voila! You’ve turned that £2 bag of pasta they came in for into a £12 sale.

The supermarkets cross-sell brilliantly, so don’t be afraid to copy them. Waitrose do recipe cards, so why not create your own? Or speak to producers. Tracklements, Snowdonia Cheese Co and Quicke’s all have their own recipe cards.

Go one step further and put all those ingredients in some shopping baskets next to the display. Shoppers don’t have time to think about trying new things, so do the shopping for them. I repeat: Make. Every. Sale. Count.

WHAT’S NEW An elderflower chilli jelly has returned to South Devon Chilli Farm’s range in a bigger jar with refreshed branding. Consisting of apples, elderflower, lemon juice, sugar and the producer’s own chillies, the jelly is recommended as an accompaniment to sweet (think ice cream and cheesecake) or savoury (sandwich fillings) dishes. Trade £2.54, 250g (RRP £3.90). southdevonchillifarm.co.uk

Brindisa has introduced Cuttlefish Ink to its seafood range. Sourced from Nortindal in the Basque country, it has an “umami-rich taste” and is traditionally used in Arròs Negre, a dry black rice dish.

The ink is available in 4g sachets (6x4g RRP £1.50) for single recipes and larger 500g jars (RRP £11). brindisa.com Vol.20 Issue 7 | August 2019

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SHELF TALK My magic ingredient

WHAT’S NEW Fentimans launched its Tropical Soda to the trade at Imbibe Live last month with the aim of developing a mixer specifically for rum. The drink has a sweet, tropical pineapple flavour with spicy, savoury notes. fentimans.com

Olive Oil with Thyme Nudo ANDY CLARKE TV food series producer & writer

Juice brand Coldpress has launched what it says is the UK’s first HPP, cold-pressed smoothies, a method of processing that produces a “fresher tasting smoothie”.

The new drinks come in two varieties: Mend & Defend (apple, banana, cherry, raspberry & beetroot) and Survive & Thrive (kiwi, cucumber, apple, mango & mandarin).

RRP £3.20, 750ml. coldpressjuicesonline.co.uk The Isle of Wight Distillery has introduced a 38% ABV pink gin under the Mermaid Gin brand.

Strawberries grown on the island are distilled in the gin for four days before distilling half of the mixture and adding it back to the remaining infusion for an intense strawberry flavour. RRP £39.99, 70cl. mermaidspirit.uk

I love using olive oil in my cooking and my store cupboard is full of different types. When an oil is infused with natural ingredients it’s a dream to taste and use as an ingredient.

Nudo’s Specialità Olio di Olive e Timo has the most beautiful hint of thyme that doesn’t overpower the oil itself. I discovered its versatility by accident: I used it to fry scallops and cod as I had run out of lighter oil.

It’s subtle but herbaceous. I’ve since taken to using it to rub over chicken before roasting. But my favourite thing is to use it instead of normal extra virgin olive oil on bruschetta. Once the bread is toasted, rub raw garlic on the crispy surface and drizzle the oil over the top. It’s simply delicious!

At this time of year, I scatter Isle of Wight tomatoes on top. It is just divine, especially when washed down with a glass of rosé!

It’s subtle but herbaceous. I use it to rub over chicken before roasting.

Andy bought his at Papadeli in Clifton, Bristol

Surrey producer seeks national market after rebrand

By Lauren Phillips

A gourmet Indian frozen ready meal producer has undergone a major rebrand in aid of pursuing national distribution.

Surrey Spice – set up by owner Mandira Sarkar three years ago – will now be known as Mandira’s Kitchen as it looks to gain listings outside the south east of England.

“We currently supply 30 shops but we’re ready to go national now and are looking to work with a distributor,” said

Sarkar, speaking to FFD about the rebrand. “We’re hoping to roll out to 100 shops in the next 12 months.”

The rebrand has been rolled out across the 16-strong range of Indian meals from its vegetable pulao (trade price £4, RRP £7) to the higher priced lamb-based keema mattar (trade price £6, RRP £8.50-8.99). The producer has also added accompaniments for the ready-meals including a pineapple chutney, tamarind chutney and organic ghee.

The Surrey-based business worked with design agency Nude Brand Creation for the major rebrand and name change, which Sarkar felt was restrictive to that location.

“Now, the word Kitchen reinforces that these products are not produced in a factory and instead suggests family and artisan,” she said.

It was Sarkar’s saris that inspired the decorative logo on the new branding which features a cooking pot over a flame and the tagline ‘Quintessentially Indian’, a nod to her Indian heritage and English home.

“I wanted to emphasise that our products are made in the traditional way,” she said. “When you see Indian food brands there is a lot of chilli and spice imagery, but I wanted to us to look cleaner and vibrant while creating a design that was personal to me.”

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Frozen food specialist Field Fare has created a vegan Cornish pasty as part of its expansion to cater to the vegetarian and vegan market.

The traditional pastry features vegan-friendly hand-crimped pastry filled with Cornish potatoes, swedes, onions alongside a soya-based vegan mince and brushed with a vegan-friendly glaze.

Sold loose by unit, the pasties have a wholesale price of £1.90 and RRP £2.70, 283g. field-fare.com

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SHELF TALK Compostable crisp brand brings two new eco-formats to market

By Lauren Phillips

After entering the snack market with the UK’s first 100% compostable crisp packet late last year, crisp-maker Two Farmers has introduced two new formats to sit alongside its 40g range.

The crisps now come in 150g bags (trade price £1.41) and 400g sharing tins (trade price £7.50). The new bags are available across all flavours – salt & cider vinegar, lightly salted, Hereford Bullshot and Herefordshire Hop cheese & onion – while the tins are only available in lightly salted.

The tin is also recyclable but the Herefordshire-based brand says it is encouraging consumers to find a new use for it at home. While the bags contain an improved film in its compostable packaging that now offers a longer shelf-life for retailers.

The new formats also include a plastic-free accreditation mark, making it easily identifiable as a sustainable option on shelf for eco-

WHAT’S TRENDING NICK BAINES KEEPS YOU UP-TO-DATE WITH THE NEWEST DISHES, FLAVOURS AND INNOVATIONS IN FOOD & DRINK 1

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1 Sea-cuterie A number of progressive chefs are coaxing interesting new flavours from seafood through curing and aging techniques. Tom Brown at Hackney’s Cornerstone is dabbling with aged monkfish, cod fat caramel and a swordfish bacon, while Josh Niland of Sydney’s St. Peter is a pioneer in nose-to-tail seafood. Techniques include creating a paste from fish eyes and creating black pudding from fish blood. Given that the Spanish cured tuna, mojama, continues to pop up in delis, there might also be potential for these kinds of products in the retail environment.

2 Malaysian cuisine As traders continue to push regional cuisines from across south east Asia, it was only a matter of time before Malaysia got its moment. Euston’s Roti King has been celebrated for its roti canai – a multilayered, Indian-inspired flatbread served with a curry dhal. But since the Marina O’Loughlin review in the Guardian, this humble restaurant has exploded to the point where the owner Sugan Gopal has now opened Gopal’s Corner in Victoria – specialising in Tamil-Malay food including murtabak (a mince-filled roti) and kari laksa.

@saintpeterspaddo @ldnfeasts C

conscious consumers.

The brand made an impression in the snack market with its eco-conscious packaging when it launched at the end of 2018, and was recently recognised by the Countryside Alliance’s Rural Oscars 2019 for its sustainable endeavours, winning the Rural Enterprise category. twofarmers.co.uk

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3 Freshly Ground Sponsor advert 2016 print ready.pdf

3 Seitan Once the objectionable meat alternative found in dusty health food shops, 1 16/08/2016 10:37 seitan has undergone a makeover and is now leading the charge for vegan meat alternatives. At Club Mexicana, this rinsed and cooked wheat gluten is used to create a hedonistic fried ‘chick’n’ wing, while London’s Temple of Seitan bang out a wide variety of burgers and ‘fried chik’n’ pieces. As plantbased diets continue to dominate the media, this often-maligned ingredient may finally be having its day.

WHAT’S NEW JCS Fish has refreshed its BigFish branded smoked salmon and sea trout in both the 100g and 200g chilled and frozen packs.

The first step in the company’s wider project, the redesign aims to improve the packs’ visual appeal and recyclability (reducing pack dimensions by 10% to cut the use of plastic film). jcsfish.co.uk Franklin & Sons has added a Mallorcan tonic water to its repertoire. Taking inspiration from the Balearic island, the company combines lemon, lime and grapefruit with rosemary and thyme to create a Mediterranean-style tonic.

Available in 200ml bottles, the tonic is recommended served with citrus forward and sweeter gins. franklinandsons.co.uk Since being crowned Supreme Champion in last year’s Great Taste for its Ecuadorian cacao coated pili nuts, Mount Mayon has returned with two new coated varieties of the nut native to the Philippines.

The Chiang Mai chilli lime and Kerala coconut curry come in both 28g (RRP £5.25) and 85g (RRP £12.59) pouches. mountmayon.com Plant-based compostable foodservice packaging specialists, Vegware has added sandwich wedges and soup containers as part of its sustainable Green Tree collection.

Catering for the food-to-go sector, the new packs are made from sustainably-sourced board and lined with plant-based PLA. Trade prices per cases of 500 include £100.92 for the bloomer sandwich white carton, £79.83 for the deep fill 75mm white sandwich wedge and £79.52 for the standard 65mm sandwich wedge. vegware.com

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Bergamo will provide the setting for an epic gathering of cheese and cheese people at the fourth edition of our thriving FORME event, during our time as a UNESCO Creative Cities candidate.

As the World Cheese Awards continues to shine a spotlight on small cheesemakers in every corner of the globe, I’m excited to be with the team as it takes its powerful event to Italy.

Francesco Maroni, president of the Progetto FORME, Italy

Cathy Strange, global cheese buyer at Whole Foods Market, USA

FIND OUT MORE AND ENTER YOUR CHEESE FROM 22 JULY AT

www.gff.co.uk/wca

WCA at FORME – Thursday 17 to Sunday 20 October 2019, Bergamo, Italy The World Cheese Awards has been at the heart of the global cheese community for over three decades, bringing together cheesemakers, retailers, buyers, consumers and food commentators in a unique celebration of all things cheese.

Visiting Italy for the first time in 2019, the competition will be hosted by FORME in Bergamo, joining forces with a bustling consumer cheese festival and the brand new international dairy trade show, B2Cheese.

gff.co.uk/wca | @guildoffinefood #worldcheeseawards

We supply our exceptionally high quality ancient grain products for retail sale, wholesale and direct to the bakery and restaurant trade.

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01740 629 529 | info@craggsandco.co.uk | www.craggsandco.co.uk Vol.20 Issue 7 | August 2019

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DELI OF THE MONTH Regardless of success, so many food businesses face the problem of what to do when it’s time to hand over the reins. Luckily for one busy Cotswold deli-café, the management team was ready and willing. Meet the new owners of Broadway Deli.

Interview by Michael Lane

And the quartet played on...

MOST INDEPENDENT RETAILERS have their quirks but they are in abundance at the Broadway Deli, tucked away on the northern edge of The Cotswolds.

Its grand double-fronted premises is a bit of a warren inside and has plenty of historical features – centuries-old wooden beams, flagstone floors and the upstairs loo still contains the bath from the building’s previous residential use.

Then there’s the vintage Piaggio threewheeler parked out the front, heaving with produce, that attracts plenty of tourists and their cameras. Look closer and you’ll notice another vehicle – a cross-sectioned Fiat 500 – that doubles as a bread shelf in one of the front windows.

Yet perhaps the most curious thing about this establishment is its custodians – not the typical moneyed early retirees that tend to

VITAL STATISTICS

Location: 29 High Street, Broadway, Worcestershire, WR12 7DP Average basket spend: £15-20 Floor area: (retail) 1,330 sq ft, (café) 1,164 sq ft No. of staff: 5 full-time (plus 4 owners)

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inhabit this part of the UK. When I try to assemble the deli’s four co-owners into posing together for a single photo, they wryly suggest that it may end up looking like a boyband shoot – but this group is certainly not a bunch of tuneless amateurs.

“There’s over 30 years’ deli experience here between the four of us,” says one of them, George Courts. “We’re all under 30 as well, so that’s quite a lot of time committed to one place between us.”

Not only is this shop a fine example of a bustling deli-café, it is also a bit of a pioneering study into a problem that affects so many at the smaller end of food: succession.

The young owners have only been in charge of Broadway Deli a few weeks but, like all good boybands, they have been mentored well. All of them have worked for years under the previous owners Louise Hunt and Alan Frimley, who set

up and ran the shop for 17 years across a couple of locations in the village, before eventually settling in its current home five years ago.

Until two months ago, none of the foursome had any idea that Frimley and Hunt were planning to retire and hand the reins over to them.

“There’s a few things that happened in the last three years but, at the time, no bells were ringing,” says Will Doyle, who at 24 is the youngest of the four and has worked in the deli for eight years. “But when you look back you think ‘Actually, you’ve got me to do that now so I’m comfortable with this’.”

Alongside Courts and Doyle, the selfprofessed “deli family” is completed by Shane Brotherton and Billy Powell, who is the longest-serving team member having joined initially as a Saturday boy 14 years ago. All four have bought an equal share in a business that is

MUST-STOCKS Cotswold Bees honey Ozone Coffee Empire Blend Holmeleigh Dairy Gold Top milk Cotswold Gold rapeseed oil Cotswold Raw dog treats Billy’s Woodland eggs Peter Cooks bread Local vegetables (Drinkwaters) George Courts

Will Doyle

seemingly thriving.

When FFD arrives on a sunny Tuesday, there are customers all over the shop browsing the nooks and crannies of the building that are stuffed with all manner of ambient goods.

In what you might call the shop’s two front rooms are the deli counter and a fully stocked greengrocer’s display. And where there aren’t products for sale, there are tables – some 60 covers are packed in across the two floors and the rear patio.

“The whole point of the café is to showcase the shop,” says Court. “That’s always been the rule ever since I’ve been here. The café is hard work and takes a lot of staff but the shop massively benefits.”

This is borne out by a turnover that is split roughly 70:30 in favour of retail. He adds: “We’ve never had a day when the café’s more than the retail till.”

A prime example of this theory in action is the Seggiano green pesto that Broadway Deli counts as one of its bestsellers. The café kitchen ploughs through 4-litre jars of it in various recipes, including the pesto salad on the counter. As a result of getting customers to sample it this way, the deli is selling as many as two dozen 1kg jars (at £20 each) every fortnight.

The café menu changes daily. It contains a soup of the day, soufflé, Ploughman’s, sandwiches (available to takeway from the counter too) and a Goodness Bowl made with cauliflower rice but there are regular variations on all of these, as well as seasonal dishes like Serrano ham, roasted nectarines and burrata.

This approach allows Broadway to account for short-dated produce and deli items from retail and to promote new lines, but it also keeps things interesting for everyone.

Courts says: “It would be a lot easier to

Shane Brotherton

Billy Powell

keep the menu the same for a period of time but we’ve got a massive amount of locals that come here three or four times a week so we need to do it for them as much as anything.”

Despite the location and a recently revived steam railway between Broadway and Cheltenham Racecourse boosting the already hefty tourist footfall, these visitors are still outnumbered by regulars. On busy days in the height of summer, the café will serve 300 covers (or their full capacity five times over), between opening for breakfast and closing.

While Powell has recently become the primary chef and the other three patrol the shop floor and café areas constantly alongside other staff, the four owners are experienced enough to be able to work in any part of the business that needs the most help.

“I don’t think any of us would enjoy being an office person,” says Doyle, “because we like being busy and juggling serving tables with placing an order, or thinking ‘That table needs a dust’, or coming up with a sandwich for the next day.”

None of the quartet has entered into this venture thinking it will be an easy ride and they have to laugh behind the scenes at customers who come in and whimsically suggest they will open delis when they retire.

“It is hard work and is a career. I don’t want to work anywhere else and I don’t want to do anything else,” says Doyle, adding that his old school was dismayed he was the only pupil in his class not applying for university. “There is the outside opinion of ‘Oh, you work in a shop?’ which can be really derogatory and it’s a bad thing that has developed in society.”

“We always joke that we have degrees in Deli-ology,” says Court, highlighting that all

Branded hessian bags Two Farmers crisps Merrylegs apple juice Kingstone Dairy - Rollright Macneill’s smoked salmon Homemade sausage rolls Seggiano green pesto

CONTINUED ON PAGE 61

Vol.20 Issue 7 | August 2019

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Pat Gorman Pies: Great taste, Great Quality

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August 2019 | Vol.20 Issue 7

of them chose working at the shop over going into higher education. And it’s been very much an old-school course, with the influence of Frimley – who comes from a long line of London greengrocers – particularly apparent.

There is no EPoS system, the management team prices everything by hand and jots down all their orders on brown paper bags (they even present their must-stocks list on one!). The old bosses were also sticklers for hands-on effort in merchandising – Doyle has phrases like “Make a little look a lot” seared into his memory.

He adds: “We don’t have a regimented ‘Pickled eggs are here, real ale chutney is there’.

It’s all constantly evolving and changing. If a range of something goes down, it creates more space for something else.”

The odd customer grumble about things migrating around the shop will not deter this strategy, either.

“It’s what we’ve learnt from Alan and Louise. That’s how they ran their shop and that’s how we’re going to run ours.”

Frimley used to arrive very early every morning to build the produce display in old

market barrows outside the shop. And even though they recently moved the majority of the produce display into an air-conditioned room at the front of the store to make it more manageable, the team still breaks down the display on the three-wheeler and drives it round to their lock-up every single evening, only to do it all again the next day.

When they’re not tackling the endless presentation challenge, Doyle and Courts in particular have an army of suppliers to order and receive deliveries from. During the shop hand-over, the list of suppliers written out filled several sides of A4. The greengrocer section alone has six different wholesalers, including one that sells curiosities picked up at Rungis market in Paris.

Many items in the shop are sourced from local suppliers but there are also a number of familiar distributors that Broadway Deli uses, including Holleys, Diverse Fine Foods and Suma.

The last of these is almost entirely used for vegan products, an area that has exploded since the shop ran a trial of items in line with the Veganuary marketing campaign. Surprisingly,

the team decided to alter its deli counter permanently, replacing its sliced-to-order cold meats and charcuterie (now covered mainly by pre-packs) with vegan dishes, like lentil-based Shepherd-less Pie, vegetable bakes and even a frittata made with chickpea batter.

“We’d always had a 2kg, rare roast beef joint in the counter,” says Doyle, “but we were selling half of it and throwing the other half away, which doesn’t work out for anyone really.”

The Broadway Deli approach to all dietary requirements, particularly allergens, is a cut above most retailers. There are plenty of options for sufferers, but only a member of the management team can take and will personally handle any customer’s café order – separate even to fellow diners – to ensure that they are safe and have a good meal.

However you look at it, running Broadway Deli seems to be a four-man job. And a good one at that.

“We have a slicker operation now than we did two years ago, purely because we’re comfortable now with the juggling act”, says Doyle.

Long may it continue. broadwaydeli.co.uk

We always joke that we have degrees in Deli-ology

Vol.20 Issue 7 | August 2019

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Established in 1988, Select Drams has grown to be a very successful family run wholesale business specialising in miniatures, alcohol gifting, craft gin and malt whisky. We stock a wide variety of whisky, gin, vodka, liqueurs and other spirits – plus a few select beers, tonics and mixers!

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Organic goodies galore www.rootsandwingsorganic.com Vol.20 Issue 7 | August 2019

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Raydale Preserves

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GUILD TALK

View from HQ

It was once in our DNA to know and understand where our food and drink came from. Can we claw it back again?

By John Farrand managing director

>>

news from the guild of fine food

“CAN YOU SEE the food in our view, John?” asked a charismatic Spanish hotel owner as we stood on his terrace looking at the Picos de Europa National Park and on to the Atlantic Ocean.

A little contrived, possibly, but well-meant and backed up with genuine knowledge of his terroir.

He therefore got away with it.

July saw me considering two contrasting gastro-views. And I do

mean actual mountains, hills and green stuff, not opinions. One was on a sunny day in Gloucestershire, at the launch of Happerley England.

Here, Happerley’s Matthew Rymer told us why he is on a mission to get food producers embracing traceability and the provenance of every ingredient listed on their labels.

The high-profile launch (see page 11) included a panel discussion where I was the least famous or sensible: Adam Henson (farmer turned Sunday night TV fixture), Phil Vickery (the rugby one) and senior dudes from the Co-op and Clydesdale Bank.

Then, at the end of the month, Tortie and I were whisked to Oviedo in Spain, where that ‘seeing the food in the view’ thing was actually real.

We were taken into the caves in those mountains at Cabrales (a Roquefort-bashing blue cheese), the hotel was harvesting everything from the land and the sea in that view, and we took part in a tutored

cheese-tasting given by a 23-yearold lady freshly qualified from the Slow Food university. She was unfazed by the Asturian dignitaries and eminent cheesemakers that were in the 30-strong delegation.

Was it the heady mixture of the excellent local ciders at that tasting (where there is amazing cheese there is normally quality cider), the number of protected-name cheeses in this region when we have so few, or the fact that I was pretty travel weary? I’m not sure. But suddenly I was in a grump.

Awareness of local food is instinctive in much of Europe.

Maybe we’re getting it back, but I resented the need for folk like Matthew Rymer to go on a worthy campaign to expose cases of style over substance.

It was once in our DNA to know and understand where our food and drink came from, whether it was safe to eat and whether it tasted great.

Can we claw it back again and see the food in our own view?

EASY TO READ For the real cheese aficionados, a packed counter is a joy to behold. For the more nervous customer it can be baffling and intimidating – hence the popularity of grab-and-go.

Help your shoppers ‘read’ your counter with clear labelling and a structured, well signposted layout that your staff can easily explain.

S IN TH ’ T

Want to be a Shop of the Year winner?

Feedback from our expert judges reveals those retail details where crucial points are won and lost

GENERAL ENQUIRIES

Guild of Fine Food Guild House, 23b Kingsmead Business Park, Shaftesbury Road, Gillingham, Dorset SP8 5FB UK Tel: +44 (0) 1747 825200 Fax: +44 (0) 1747 824065 info@gff.co.uk gff.co.uk

HANDLE WITH CARE Using gloves, tongs or greaseproof consistently when handling loose fresh foods is respectful to the product and will reassure shoppers about hygiene, even if it looks a bit over-the-top. (Saying “’scuse fingers” is never a good look.)

HAVE A PARTY PLAN Let your team get creative with buffet or finger food ideas, drawing on products from all round the shop. Showcase them to customers through tastings, and promote party platters with a tight range of price and product options that suit what you want to sell.

Travelling-light/dreamstime.com

ETA IL

THE GUILD TEAM: Managing director: John Farrand Marketing director: Tortie Farrand Sales director: Sally Coley Sales manager: Ruth Debnam

gff.co.uk

Sales executive: Becky Haskett Sales support: Sam Coleman Operations manager: Karen Price Operations assistants: Claire Powell, Emily Harris, Janet Baxter

Wavebreakmedia/dreamstimecom

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

• Compiled from feedback by retail experts and Insight6 mystery shoppers on visits to shortlisted stores in the Guild of Fine Food’s Shop of the Year competition. Visit gff.co.uk/soty for details.

Training & events manager: Jilly Sitch Events manager: Stephanie HareWinton Events assistant: Sophie Brentnall Financial controller: Stephen Guppy

Accounts manager: Denise Ballance Accounts assistant: Julie Coates Chairman: Bob Farrand Director: Linda Farrand

Vol.20 Issue 7 | August 2019

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E D DA R

news from the guild of fine food

The word on

Westminster

By Edward Woodall ACS

BY THE TIME you read this article, our new Prime Minister will have been confirmed. But there will still be many questions about the shape, direction and philosophy of this new leader and his administration.

Based on commitments made in the leadership campaign, we will see an administration that is pro high street, seeking to further amend the business rates system and potentially less interventionist than previous Conservative governments.

But there is often a void between what is said in the heat of an election campaign and what is delivered when the cold hard fiscal facts sit before you. The next leader will of course

The deli doctor Paul Thomas Technical and regulatory advice from the Guild’s deli helpline Q: I am opening a new deli. How many critical control points are appropriate for the HACCP plan for a retailer? What should they be.

A: Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) is a system that identifies the food safety hazards present at each stage of a food business operators’ processes, as well as the controls that are in place to

have to pick his way through the labyrinth that is Brexit. It will continue to dominate at least the first 100 days of the agenda and the potential outcomes have never been more uncertain. Parliament could bring down the Government through a vote of no confidence to block no deal, leading to a General Election. A new leader in Number 10 could re-open negotiations with the EU and strike a new withdrawal agreement or the UK could leave the EU without a deal on the 31st October. Regrettably the

Specialist food shops are one of the services people want to see more of in their communities

most likely option, at the moment, looks like no deal, which would raise huge concerns for the food industry and small shops in particular.

When any change in Government occurs, there are decisions about what policies they pick up from their predecessors and there is a lot on the books for Jeremy Hunt or Boris Johnson to choose from. These early decisions will be analysed closely remove the hazard or reduce it to an acceptable level.

European regulation (EC) 852/2004 requires that food businesses base their food safety management systems upon HACCPprinciples.

Even when a full HACCP plan is implemented, food safety first depends upon ‘pre-requisites’. These are the basic hygiene requirements that might be expected of any food business.

They include things such as temperature control, staff hygiene, traceability, cleaning and disinfection, and pest control.

After the pre-requisites have been considered, additional controls might be necessary to prevent a hazard. These might be determined to be Critical Control Points, or CCPs. It is not possible to define the ‘correct’ number of CCPs in a HACCP plan as this will depend on the specific operation of the business and the hazards identified at each stage.

The preparation of a HACCP plan should only be undertaken by someone with appropriate training or experience.

(probably too closely) as an indicator of their future approach.

We will be looking out for decisions on the introduction of a deposit return scheme, the regulation of promotions and store layouts for high fat salt sugar products, action on crime and the cost of employment.

Our message on all of these issues is for the new Government to think carefully about the implications for food businesses at a time of significant uncertainty.

To make our case to the new Government, we have commissioned new research: the Community Barometer. This seeks to show which businesses consumers think have the most positive impact on their communities. The results show that Post Offices, convenience stores and pharmacies are top for positive impact, but specialist food shops are one of the services people want to see more of in their communities. The power of this research is the consensus it reveals among consumers, councillors and MPs about the business ecosystem they want in their communities. It’s the new Government’s job to enable this to happen across the country.

Visit acs.org.uk to find out more.

Edward Woodall is head of policy & public affairs at small shops group ACS

edward.woodall@acs.org.uk

HACCP is certainly jargonheavy, and this can be alienating or confusing. For some retail businesses, it might be more appropriate to base their food safety management system upon simplified versions of HACCP. In the UK, Safer Food Better Business (SFBB) has been developed for this purpose.

SFBB is user-friendly, deliberately free from unnecessary jargon, and manages safety mainly through the effective control of the prerequisites.

It is arguably much easier to implement for many retail businesses and will be more appropriate for the majority of small food retailers and caterers.

More information on SFBB, can be found on the Food Standards Agency’s website: food.gov.uk/ business-guidance/safer-foodbetter-business.

Dairy and food safety specialist Paul Thomas runs the Guild’s e-helpline for retailers with technical or regulatory queries. It can be accessed through the Guild Members’ Hub at gff.co.uk

How to make the most of this year’s Great Taste results fever 1ST AUGUST is the Great Taste results day 2019, when all but the Golden Fork winners

By Vhari Russell are unveiled.

It’s a really important date for producers, retailers – and the team at The Guild.

You may think it’s easier to celebrate as a winning producer, but it’s just as important as a retailer. Why? Because it gives you news and stories to share, whether about local suppliers or the awardwinning national brands you stock.

RETAILERS • Create Great Taste displays.

• Invite producers in to sample.

• Get involved in the conversations on social media #greattasteawards.

• Contact your local radio or newspaper inviting them to come and sample the range of Great Taste products you stock.

• Host a Great Taste party at which producers sample and share their stories to help create a buzz around their product and your shop as a destination. (As Great Taste is 25 years old this year, you have an even bigger reason to celebrate).

• Create category-led displays across the shop: BBQ winners, drinks winners.

• Sample two different winners a day in August and September.

PRODUCERS • Alert your local press and radio stations to your success.

• Call customers and tell them.

"You currently stock X, but did you know Y has just won two stars in Great Taste? Would you like to try it?”

• Create recipe cards showcasing your winners.

• Weave the judges’ positive comments into your marketing.

Not every product entered earns a star, so be proud of what you have achieved, and communicate it.

Vhari Russell is founder of The Food Marketing Experts and Grub Club Events.

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