FFD Jan Feb 2013

OUTLOOK FOR 2013 4

Cumbria’s Philip Cranston: ‘Even if the economic climate improves, people have changed the way they shop’

DELI OF THE MONTH 46 ‘Let’s put it bluntly: how would we have got a bank loan?’

WESTCOMBE’S TOM CARVER 12 ‘The way I look at it, inheriting recipes can be quite dangerous’ January-February 2013 · Vol 14 Issue 1

breaking all the rules No bank loans. No grants. No big corporate backers. Is this the shape of shops to come?

CHEF’S SELECTION 39 Phil Fanning of Paris House chooses Californian fennel pollen, Aylesbury snail caviar and Somerset smoked eel

ARTISAN BUYERS’ GUIDE 48 We get the inside stories on new processing units for cheese, charcuterie and a novel hot drink

NEWS 4 WORLD CHEESE AWARDS 17 CHEESEWIRE 25 PICKLES & CHUTNEYS 31 COFFEE 35 CHELTENHAM PREVIEW 37 SHELF TALK 39 VALENTINE’S & EASTER 43

FS&D>FFD>230x315 1713 aw_Layout 1 17/01/2013 13:19 Page 1

Looking for fresh, local and seasonal ideas?

Then visit the Farm Shop & Deli Show at the NEC, Birmingham, 14 – 16 April, to source a range of speciality products including; dairy, chocolate, charcuterie, meat, sauces, preserves, condiments, chutneys, speciality soft drinks and much much more.

For more information on Farm Shop & Deli Show 2013

No under 16s will be admitted Supported by

Co located with

Organised by:

visit www.farmshopanddelishow.co.uk @Farmshop_Deli

FarmShopDeliShow Vol.14 Issue 1 ¡ January-February 2013

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What’s new this month:

Opinion

David-and-Goliath publicity and Mr Chase sold his business in 2010 for a reported £30m.

It came as some surprise to read recently that the same Mr BOB FARRAND Chase is currently negotiating the sale of a plot of land in Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire, to Tesco for a reported £3m-£3.5m.

Over Christmas, I was mainly It’s a weird ethic, isn’t it, that wearing Tesco underpants. Coming allows a man to wallow in the from me that’s hypocritical, I know, warm glow of self-satisfaction but I had a copper-bottomed supporting independent delis and excuse. farm shops by refusing to trade with Before Christmas, Mrs F needed the country’s largest supermarket, surgery at Gatwick Park Hospital yet to be equally comfortable selling in Surrey so I booked into a local a chunk of land for a fat wedge so hotel to be close at hand. I’m good the same supermarket can open a like that and, anyway, I didn’t relish new store and threaten the survival being home alone. of the same local delis and farm I forgot to pack any underwear shops. That’s blatant hypocrisy. and the only shop close by was Tesco has also a Tesco. At £8 applied to build for three pairs, it It came as some a new store in was a no-brainer, surprise to read that Sherborne, Dorset, although it’s some 11 miles to worrying to think William Chase is whoever makes currently negotiating the west of my house. them probably the sale of a plot of It’s a lovely isn’t paid a living land in Tenbury Wells old town, with a wage. to Tesco Co-op, a Sainsbury On this and loads of good occasion, I had independent stores, including a little choice in being hypocritical, cracking deli. The locals are up in unlike William Chase. He’s the arms. potato farmer who got so fed up The closest Tesco is eight miles being screwed by supermarkets to the east of us in Shaftesbury, he invented Tyrrells Crisps and there’s another store five miles sold them exclusively through beyond Sherborne, in Yeovil, and a delicatessens, farm shops and further five are less than 16 miles Waitrose. away. That’s bloody lunacy.

In 2006, he hit the headlines You’ll be delighted to hear Mrs after threatening to sue Tesco F is mending well and, following the because they’d sourced his crisps first wash, the underpants fit my on the grey market and were 10-year-old grandson. That’s poetic undercutting everyone on price. justice.

Chase argued that if Tesco’s Have a prosperous 2013. price was cheaper, the delis and farm shops would de-list his crisps.

Bob Farrand is publisher of Fine Food Tesco backed down, sales Digest and chairman of the Guild of rocketed off the back of the Fine Food

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EDITORIAL editorial@finefoodworld.co.uk Editor: Mick Whitworth Assistant editor: Michael Lane News editor: Patrick McGuigan Art director: Mark Windsor Editorial production: Richard Charnley Contributors: Lynda Searby, Clare Hargreaves

ADVERTISING advertise@finefoodworld.co.uk Sales manager: Sally Coley Advertisement sales: Becky Stacey, Gavin Weeks Published by Great Taste Publications Ltd and the Guild of Fine Food Ltd Chairman/FFD publisher: Bob Farrand Managing director/associate publisher: John Farrand Director/membership secretary: Linda Farrand Marketing & circulation manager: Tortie Farrand Administrators: Charlie Westcar, Julie Coates, Karen Price Accounts: Stephen Guppy, Denise Ballance

GENERAL ENQUIRIES Tel: 01963 824464 Fax: 01963 824651 info@finefoodworld.co.uk www.finefoodworld.co.uk Guild of Fine Food, Guild House, Station Road, Wincanton, Somerset BA9 9FE UK Fine Food Digest is published 11 times a year and is available on subscription for £45pa inclusive of post and packing.

Printed by: Advent Colour, Hants, UK © Great Taste Publications Ltd and The Guild of Fine Food Ltd 2013. Reproduction of whole or part of this magazine without the publisher’s prior permission is prohibited. The opinions expressed in articles and advertisements are not necessarily those of the editor or publisher. The publisher cannot accept responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts, photographs or illustrations.

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Editor’s choice

Selected by Mick Whitworth

Cornish Charcuterie pork rillette www.cornishcharcuterie.co.uk

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I'm in a charcuterie state of mind at the moment, partly because we're working on a big supplement on British & Continental Charcuterie for your enjoyment next month, and partly because I've been put on a post-Christmas diet, so any chance to indulge for professional reasons is welcome. You might not have seen this brand unless you were at Exeter’s The Source show last Spring, or unless you shop at The Eden Project or Stein’s Deli in Padstow. It’s a cracking artisan rillette made from the producer’s own Cornish Lop pork, and offers a three-month chilled shelf life. In fact, it should soon be cleared by EHOs to sell ambient, but I bet it’ll still sell best from the chiller cabinet.

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For regular news updates from the industry's favourite magazine visit:

p48 www.ffdonline.co.uk Vol.14 Issue 1 · January-February 2013

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fine food news Christmas exceeded expectations, but premium retailers are realistic about the new year’s prospects

Stores forecast long slog to recovery during 2013

By PATRICK McGUIGAN

Delis and farm shops are preparing for a tough 2013, despite seeing shoppers put austerity on hold over the Christmas period.

Fine food retailers reported a surprise increase in sales during December. Retailers contacted by FFD said sales had grown on average by around 10-15% in the run-up to Christmas, compared to 2011, with many reporting even higher rates of growth.

Despite the uplift, many specialist stores also predicted a hard 2013. David Lidgate of Lidgates in Notting Hill saw sales in the fourth quarter increase 9.6% on last year, due to strong sales in December, but still forecast flat growth this year.

“2012 showed that price is very much to the forefront in customer needs,” he said. “Many customers now tell us they use supermarkets much more than our shop due to price, so we are promoting goods and changing to cheaper products.”

Premium retailers Waitrose and Booths enjoyed a bumper Christmas, with sales up 4.3% and 3.5%, respectively. This was in contrast to total retail sales in the UK, which grew by just 0.3% in December versus 2011, according to the British Retail Consortium.

Morrisons’ sales slipped 2.5% over Christmas, while Tesco’s and Sainsbury’s sales grew by just 1.8% and 0.9%, respectively.

David Gray, a retail analyst at Planet Retail, said that premium food retailers outperformed the rest of the market because of continued interest in provenance and local sourcing.

“These trends have stuck with us despite the recession. Retailers like Waitrose, which have invested in quality, have benefited, as have independents.”

Festive trading was helped by Christmas day falling on a Tuesday, which meant retailers had a full weekend to maximise sales. David Greenwood, co-owner of Arch House Deli in Bristol, echoed many of the delis contacted by FFD. “Christmas trade was up on last year by 20%, which we were delighted with,” he said. “Having a Saturday a few days before Christmas day helped - it was our busiest ever day of trade.”

However, Philip Cranston, MD of food hall, butchers and deli chain Cranstons in Cumbria, said sales over Christmas had been flat and that conditions would continue to be challenging. “Customers are budgeting

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January-February 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 1

more and buying less to avoid wastage.

Even if the economic climate improves, the way people shop has changed and we now have a generation of customers who are more savvy with their money.”

Others were more bullish about trading prospects. Tom Bowles, owner of Hartley Farm Shop near Bath, expected sales to increase by 10-15% to nearly £1m this year after sales grew 25% at Christmas.

James Nichols, MD of three-shop deli chain Caracoli, saw December sales increase by an average of 12% and predicts growth of just under 10% for 2013. “I think we are turning a corner, it is just rather a long one. Although green shoots may be prevalent, they are going to grow much slower than other more recent recessions.”

Five hot products for this year

Strong sales of premium foods and gifts helped delis outperform the wider food market last month

gourmet flavours and popcorn bars.

Try: Joe & Seph's toffee apple popcorn

Hoppy beers – Iain Keith Smith of Chandos Delis reckons the craft beer revival in pubs will make its mark in retail this year.

Think IPAs and real ales that are big on flavour.

Try: Thornbridge Jaipur

The 'new' Mediterranean – Philip Cranston, MD of Cranstons, says that Yotam Ottolenghi is the chef to watch this year. His new book Jerusalem is filled with brilliant recipes combining influences from across the Middle East.

Try: Steenbergs rose water

Popcorn – The snack of 2013, according to James Nichols of Caracoli. There’s certainly been plenty of innovation recently with

British charcuterie. Iain KeithSmith’s other big prediction for 2012 is British versions of Continental classics like chorizo and salami.

Try: Hannan Meat's Guanciale (made from the pig's jowl), named 2012 GTA Supreme Champion.

Baking – TV's The Great British Bake Off has sparked a renaissance in cake baking, which is here to stay, says Tom Bowles of Hartley Farm Shop. Expect the trend to spread to bread baking.

Try: Bacheldre’s smoked flour

Fortnums goes big on bakery for 2013 Fortnum & Mason is expanding the number of events it holds this year with more demonstrations, tastings and artisan markets, as well as a pop-up bakery.

The new 10-week Fortnum & Mason British Bakery will open in the store’s first floor kitchen on 28 January with demonstrations from baker Paul Hollywood, chef Mark Hix and food writer Rose Prince with son Jack. There will also be classes for customers and space for people to sample the bakery treats with tea and coffee.

Fortnums also launched a series of chef’s dinners in December, the first of which were hosted by Angela Hartnett

and Lorraine Pascale, and is running an in-store artisan market on January 25-26 with stalls manned by small producers.

Meanwhile, new menus are being introduced across its five restaurants.

The changes, along with the launch of a new Fortnum & Mason food and drink writers’ awards, are being overseen by new CEO Ewan Venters, who joined the 305-year-old business from Selfridges last year.

He told FFD the store had enjoyed a bumper Christmas with a 17.3% rise in sales in the four weeks to the end of December – the highest rise in the company’s Follow us on

@ffdonline

IN BRIEF

what they're saying

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Our sales were up by 35% [over Christmas]. In 2013 I hope to increase sales by 15-20%.

We plan to do more corporate work and wedding cheeses as well as cheese and wine events.

l New rules requiring firms to report PAYE data on every employee in real time, “on or before” the date when payment is made, come into force in April. HR4UK, which provides subsidised employment services to Guild of Fine Food members, is urging members to subscribe to its PayRoll service, costing £5 per month plus £3 per employee, to avoid “hefty fines” from HM Revenue & Customs. Call 01455 444222 for more details.

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Fiona Kay, Cheese Please, Lewes

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It was a good Christmas – nice and steady with a strong finish.

We are expecting the economy to pull slowly out of recession, but believe we can easily outperform general trading conditions.

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Steve Turvill, Limoncello, Cambridge

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Trading expectations are positive and we will grow our business significantly again this year. Through staff development, we will create ‘champions’ of specific parts of the business. The idea is that more of our team will play a greater role in making our business work.

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Steve Harrison, Deli & Dine, Retford

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Sales at Christmas were up 25% on 2011, but this year will be tough. We seem to be sheltered from the worst of the recession in this part of the South East but despite an affluent catchment area 80% of our growth in 2012 was driven by promotions.

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Nick Hempleman, Sussex Produce Company, Steyning

l Duncan Ellson, a former logistics

OWN-BRAND MAKEOVER: Ludlow Food Centre in Shropshire has invested £25,000 revamping the packaging and point-of-sale materials for its ownbrand products, which are made on site.

The Food Centre, which opened in 2007 and now turns over more than £3 million a year, held focus groups on customer likes and dislikes as part of the rebranding project. ‘‘We make half the products we sell, so our own packaging and labelling is extremely important, said marketing manager Tom Hunt. “The previous brand and packaging did not tell our story and after speaking to customers we established that we needed to try harder in this area.”

The new design features bright colours, silhouettes of food and places and comments from the producers.

www.shropshiresown.com

l Devon’s Lyme Bay Winery has begun work on a 24,000 ft extension to its existing production facility.

It will house a new wine press, a designated packing area for gift boxes, a dispatch area and a larger staff room.

l Wyke Farms, the UK’s largest

www.ludlowfoodcentre.co.uk

Fine wines chain begins cheese counter roll-out A fine wine merchant with shops across the UK has introduced cheese counters stocking a wide range of French and British cheeses in its London stores.

Spirited Wines, which has 52 shops in the UK under its own name and the Nicolas brand, has launched the counters in 11 of its shops in the capital with plans to roll them out to other stores in the coming months.

The counters stock around 25 cheeses supplied by French cheesemonger Fromagerie Beillevaire including Berkswell, Montgomery’s and Bath Soft, plus

manager for Uniq, has set up an online farm shop called Shropshire’s Own. The business delivers food from local farmers and artisan producers direct to consumers.

Brun de Noix, Comté aged for 30-36 months and a fermier Ossau Iraty.

“Cheese is a perfect complement for Spirited Wines’ existing business,” said a spokesperson. “Private evening tastings are regularly hosted in stores and the classic cheese and wine pairing is of course part of it.”

Spirited Wines was set up in 2010 by Benoît Thouvenin, who previously worked for Nicolas in France and Oddbins in the UK. In 2012 he acquired and rebranded the 43-strong Nicolas wine shop chain. www.spiritedwines.co.uk

history. Sales of caviar, Stilton and foie gras rose 12%, 15% and 40% respectively, while total sales on Christmas Eve were up 50% on the year before.

“Our online business is growing very well and we are seeing an increase in international sales,” said Venters.

“The economy has a long way to go before it comes out of recession or at least into some level of respectable growth.

However, I feel positive for the Fortnum & Mason business as I believe if we serve customers better than ever before and provide lots of quality innovation and service, we will do well.”

independent cheese producer, has revamped its farm shop at Wyke Champflower, in Somerset. Shop manager Paula Higgins now runs a farmhouse kitchen within the shop offering factory gate prices on the full range of Wyke Farms cheddars and butters, as well as sandwiches and local produce.

l Greenpeace says its campaigning has prompted Waitrose to put on hold plans to expand its partnership with Shell, which is planning to drill for oil in the Arctic. The retailer had been considering opening new shops in Shell petrol stations, but Waitrose MD Mark Price has confirmed that the roll-out has been put on hold until after 2013.

l One in three shoppers use the high street to window-shop, before purchasing items online. According to a study commissioned by digital wallet provider Skrill, 22.8% of people compare prices on their mobile and a third save the details of an item in-store to research later.

l London’s fruit, veg and flower wholesale market New Covent Garden has signed a deal that will see the site at Nine Elms, in South London, regenerated. The new 550,000 sq ft market will house 200 businesses and will have areas that are open to consumers.

For regular news updates from FFD visit: Spirited Wines sees cheese as ‘the perfect complement’

www.ffdonline.co.uk Vol.14 Issue 1 · January-February 2013

5

1963 - 2013

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Telephone: 01621 814529 Fax: 01621 814555 jams @ thursday-cottage.com www.thursday-cottage.com

fine food news Supermarket shopping puts French cheeses under threat

By PATRICK McGUIGAN

It has long been a bastion of traditional cheese-making, but even France is now having to fight to protect some of its most cherished varieties from the threat of mass production.

Fromagers de France ran a campaign in support of Fourme de Montbrison

©Xavier Nicostrate

Artisan producers of Camembert de Normandie, Loire goats’ cheeses and other traditional regional specialities are under increasing pressure from the supermarkets and a shortage of young blood to take businesses forward.

Fromagers de France, which represents the country’s 3,800 cheesemongers, has become so concerned by the trend that it is fighting back with campaigns aimed at preserving artisan cheeses.

Its most recent was for Fourme de Montbrison – a blue cows’ milk cheese from the central Loire region. It came under threat just before Christmas when the cheese’s largest manufacturer closed its factory, leaving only three producers of Montbrison, including just one farmhouse maker.

In response, Fromagers de France launched a campaign that saw over 200 cheesemongers promote the cheese with posters and tastings.

Similar initiatives have been previously launched for Camembert de Normandie AOP and Loire Valley goats’ cheeses.

“Cheesemongers deeply need excellent cheese-makers in order to sell excellent cheeses. With this in prospect we are trying to get closer to cheese-makers in order to develop and defend our common interests,” said a spokeswoman.

Jon Thrupp, director at Mons Cheesemongers in London, supplies

French cheese imported from affineur Hervé Mons, including Montbrison and other rare cheeses, such as Bleu de Termignon and Salers.

He said that the position of artisan producers in France had undoubtedly been eroded over the years due to the rise of large industrial manufacturers and changes in shopping habits, but the sector was still in a much stronger position than the UK. “There are still lots of small cheese producers and affineurs compared to the UK, so there is quite a high level of competition, which in turn means it’s hard for small producers to raise their prices,” he said. “That’s part of the reason why some are struggling.”

Michelson: plight of producers is ‘upsetting’ Patricia Michelson (pictured) of London’s La Fromagerie has long been concerned about the future of many traditional French cheeses.

“There is an apathy in France regarding the artisan cheese-maker, and the government won’t do anything to stop large commercial dairies from exploiting the small

If I'd known then what I know now...

more than twice that number, which had its difficulties. It was a great help to have that existing core of staff, but it takes time for new characters to settle down and understand how we Malcolm Pyne Pyne’s of Somerset, North Petherton work. We’re all about old-fashioned manners and service. It’s the complete opposite of a supermarket where customers help themselves and don’t beer, those kind of things. We can’t It’s just over a year since we moved talk to people. Finding staff who sell enough of those old fashioned from the high street to our newly built aren’t afraid to say good morning to jelly sweets called New Berry Fruits. food hall on the outskirts of town. a customer and start It’s the We’re really pleased with how things chatting with them staples that sell have gone, from the building itself to We’re in an age of has had its difficulties. well because the volumes of sales, which are above austerity, so people In the first 12 people are what we predicted. don’t want to go months we only went using us as But we’ve also learned a lot one month without somewhere to in that time. It’s always hard to tell too far out of certain a change of staff. come 52 weeks price brackets whether new lines are going to work People came and of the year. or not. We’ve found that good oldwent. They either understood our I suppose we are also in an age of fashioned products have worked best. ethics and standards or they didn’t austerity, so people don’t want to go We tried things like fancy chocolates and moved on. You can tell pretty too far out of certain price brackets. at the beginning, but we’ve got rid of quickly, as soon as a member of staff My head was pounding with them and replaced them with more is on the shop floor. You’re only as overload in the first few months after wholesome, everyday products from good as your weakest link. moving in. We went from 11 staff to local suppliers – bread, milk, potatoes,

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dairy herds, swallowing up their farms or just buying up their milk and not giving them the full potential of producing cheeses themselves,” she said. “It is upsetting, since I am getting such wonderful handmade raw milk cheeses from Germany, Sweden, Denmark and now Norway, from small enterprising farmers and cheese-makers, that are eventually going to put France in the shade.”

We’ve got parking for 30 cars out the front, but we really needed more than that. Luckily we’ve come to an arrangement with the local cricket club who provide overflow parking at the weekends, otherwise it could have been more of a problem.

We also moved on one of the franchises. The florist didn’t really work, but we’ve still got a fishmonger, which is going well. He has to work hard because he’s self-employed. The florist had other businesses and we were really just an add-on for them.

I didn’t have enough control over it either, so we went our separate ways.

Finally, one thing I’m really pleased about was that I wasn’t tempted to open on Sundays. I thought about it before we opened, but you need a day to yourself. It’s the old fashioned way and that’s what we’re about.

Interview by PATRICK McGUIGAN

Vol.14 Issue 1 · January-February 2013

7

fine food news new openings

Opening or expanding a shop? Email details to editorial@finefoodworld.co.uk

Cornish butchery beefs up with £700k food hall As well as the butchery counter and shop, the new outlet features a 1,000 sq ft bakery and butchery training centre

At a glance l Products sold in the farm shop include Nicky Grant chocolates, Rodda's clotted cream, Helford Creek apple juice, Cornish Meadow preserves and Cornish Sea Salt.

l There is parking space for 80 cars at the new site and there are plans to open a coffee shop serving homemade cakes from the bakery later this year.

l First floor conferencing facilities include a video link to the butchery academy, so larger numbers can be trained at the same time. The academy is headed by Francis Linn, who has worked in the meat trade since 1979, while the bakery is run

by Ian Trevithick, who has been making pasties for over 30 years.

l Around 30% of the expansion project was funded with a grant from the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE).

By PATRICK McGUIGAN

Cornwall-based catering butcher Brian Etherington Meats is flying the flag for locally sourced food, while also improving butchery skills, after opening a new £700,000 food hall and training centre.

The new shop, which is located at the company's processing plant at Wheal Rose near Scorrier, also features a 1,000 sq ft bakery, which produces Cornish pasties and bread to sell on site and wholesale to the

company's existing customer base of pubs, hotels, nursing homes and schools.

Around 90% of the products sold in the shop are sourced locally while the large meat counter is supplied directly from the butchery.

The new building is made from cedar wood and glass, with energy-saving features such as solar panels and heat recovery systems.

It is also home to Etherington’s

Butchery Academy, which will run courses for butchers, chefs and the general public.

“Butchery is a dying trade.

Schools and colleges just don't focus on it enough,” said MD Mark Etherington, who took over the running of the company from his father Brian in 2010. “We plan to link up with local colleges to offer courses ranging from health and safety through to traditional butchery training like knife skills and

tying meat.”

Etherington said the idea for the academy came after training up several school leavers in the wholesale business. The shop and the bakery will also provide the business with valuable new sales opportunities. “Margins are tight in wholesale. It's a cutthroat business,” he said. “If you stand still in a recession, you get left behind.” www.etherington-meats.co.uk

Greens of Lincolnshire Market Rasen

Deli & Dine A new farm shop in the heart of Market Rasen is part of a series of measures being introduced to reinvigorate the town’s high street after it was awarded £100,000 of government funding as part of the Portas Pilot scheme. The shop, Greens of Lincolnshire, is staffed by volunteers and a salaried manager.

It stocks locally sourced produce, including fruit and veg from nearby allotments. Many of the products come from food businesses that have stalls at the town's market and any profit will be ploughed back into improving the town centre. www.greensoflincolnshire.co.uk

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Retford, Nottinghamshire

Jones Deli

Chelford, Cheshire Drinkers at the award-winning Egerton Arms pub in Cheshire can now pick up some truffle-infused treats when they pop in for a pint after the owners opened a new deli.

Jones Deli, which is housed in an annex of the pub, specialises in charcuterie, French cheese and truffle products from suppliers

January-February 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 1

such as Seggiano, Rowcliffe and Trufflehunter. The shop was the brainwave of Jeremy Hague and his wife Anne, who acquired the Chelford pub from Punch Taverns in 2010, after running it for six years. It was named one of Britain's Best Pubs by CAMRA last year. The Hagues now plan to develop their own brand of food such as tapas and ready-meals.

Deli & Dine has moved to larger premises on Retford high street, which is twice the size of its old site. As well as a larger range of local, British and Continental foods, the new store’s on-site kitchen allows the deli-café to provide a range of branded ‘Made by Deli & Dine’ takeaway dishes. There is also space for a new wine tasting table and an expanded range of cheese and charcuterie. The company now plans to hold tapas nights every Friday, regular wine tastings and to hire out the café for private events.

www.jonesdeli.co.uk

www.delianddine.co.uk

Vol.14 Issue 1 路 January-February 2013

9

fine food news

l The Government has set up a new grant fund to help dairy farmers looking to develop their businesses. Farmers have until February 28 to submit outline applications for a slice of The Dairy Fund, which is being managed by the Rural Development Programme for England. Grants range from £25,000 to £1m. www.rdpenetwork.defra.gov.uk

l Cornish fudge producer County Confectionery is expanding its kitchens in a move that will see it double its output and take on 26 new employees. The St Ives-based firm, which produces own-label fudge as well as the Copperpot Originals brand, has invested £500,000 in the project as it targets more export business as well as domestic sales.

For regular news updates from FFD visit:

www.ffdonline.co.uk

Fortnums on look-out for media stars Ewan Venters’ first high profile move since joining Fortnum & Mason as CEO last summer is to launch a food and drink award scheme, celebrating the best food and drink writers, broadcasters and photographers in the UK media.

There are 10 categories in the awards, which include Best Food Book, Best Drink Book, Best Food Writer, Best Drink Writer and Best Television Programme.

Most winners will be chosen by a panel of top chefs and food writers, but the TV Personality Award will be decided by the British public, who can vote for their favourite celebrity chef online Winners will be announced in an exclusive awards ceremony at the store in May. www.fortnumandmasonawards.com

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January-February 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 1

Harrods has been named as the new lead sponsor for Great Taste 2013, as the annual award scheme opens for entries.

The famous London food hall takes over sponsorship of the Supreme Champion trophy from Fortnum & Mason, which is focusing on its newly launched awards for food writers, broadcasters and photographers (see story below).

Harrods will sponsor the Great Taste Supreme Champion award, won last year by Northern Ireland’s Hannan Meats.

It is also co-sponsoring a new Charcuterie Product of the Year trophy – part of a major push behind British and Continental charcuterie for 2013-14 that will be launched through a special supplement in FFD next month.

Entries for Great Taste 2013, run

by FFD’s publisher, the Guild of Fine Food, open on February 4, and this year’s scheme features a number of new elements.

They include a new category for emerging, artisan food businesses and an expansion of the drinks categories to recognise the growing number of micro-breweries and English and Welsh winemakers.

Guild of Fine Food chairman Bob Farrand said the addition of an ‘emerging producer’ category followed the success in last year’s awards of several new microbusinesses, including one that achieved the maximum three stars.

“We would like to encourage more completely new artisan producers to come forward and take part in Great Taste 2013,” he said. “Even if the person is working completely on their own, or with

one other person, to produce food or drink that is then sold through farmers’ markets or local shops, we would very much like them to take part.”

The award will be judged as a separate category and the winner will be offered a chance to receive mentoring from an established food expert.

The Great Taste scheme, which was launched in 1994, has grown rapidly in recent years and is forecast to attract around 10,000 entries this year.

Following recent Great Taste successes for firms north and south of the Irish border, part of this year's judging it to be staged in Dublin in late April, a move made possible by sponsorship from Limerick-based distributor Pallas Foods. www.finefoodworld.co.uk

Town Mill Bakery to extend artisan start-up concept

By PATRICK McGUIGAN

The entrepreneur behind Town Mill Bakery in Lyme Regis is expanding his concept of the bakery as a hub for the community and startup businesses with new sites in Plymouth and Poundbury.

Clive Cobb, a former photojournalist and creative director at Saatchi & Saatchi, set up the Town Mill Bakery in 2005 and extended the concept with a bakery and café at the new Royal William Yard development in Plymouth last year.

In October, this relocated to 7,000 sq ft premises at the Yard with space for a micro-brewery and indoor market of local artisan producers.

Plans are also in place to install several units, called ‘garden sheds’, for start-ups such as a coffee roaster, dairy, food school and arts and crafts producers.

The company is building a similar outlet at the Duchy of Cornwall’s Poundbury development near Dorchester, called Butter Market Bakery.

This will be a hexagonal bakery and restaurant with space for small artisan producers and a large outdoor area. It is due to open in April.

“Our business model is like

Henley Bailey (limeleafmedia.com)

in the run-up to Christmas because shoppers were buying less and trading down, according to research from business SymphonyIRI Group.

The firm said that the volume of products sold across the major multiples in the five week period to December 29 2012 was 1.1% less than in the same period in 2011.

Meanwhile, the total value of sales increased by 1.7%, which the researchers attributed to due food inflation.

New sponsor for Great Taste’s top slot as 2013 awards open

Henley Bailey (limeleafmedia.com)

IN BRIEF l Supermarkets’ sales suffered

no-one else’s. Everything we sell we make ourselves or we have small artisan producers make it for us.

The whole point of what we do is to connect with people with unique skills,” said Cobb.

“The bakeries are not clones of each other. They have common

Butter Market Bakery at Poundbury, currently under construction (above), will echo the Royal William Yard bakery (left) opened in Plymouth last year

thoughts and mind sets, but they have their own characters.” He added that the company is looking for a fourth site to reach ‘critical mass’.

Town Mill was forced to close its outlet in Dorchester in 2011 after a hike in rent and rates, while a branch in Sherborne, which was run under franchise, has been rebranded by the owner. www.ourbakeries.com

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Vol.14 Issue 1 · January-February 2013 19/12/2012 14:28

11

fine food news

“We’d forgotten how to make raw milk cheese” Interview Award-winning cheese-maker Tom Calver talks to MICK WHITWORTH about Jamie Oliver, ricotta and how a bit of biochemistry helped Westcombe get back to its artisan roots

T

om Calver moves in exalted company these days.

Championed by Jamie Oliver, his Westcombe farmhouse cheddar was chosen to represent Britain against France last year in “Jamie & Jimmy’s Food Fight” on Channel 4. And the eagle-eyed may have spotted the Somerset cheese-maker’s face in Waitrose’s recent TV ads.

Since being named Best Food Producer in the BBC Food & Farming Awards in November, alongside Suffolk’s Pump Street Bakery, Calver has been hailed as a hero by the dairy farming sector. Leith’s School of Food & Wine, where he trained as a chef more than a decade ago, has proudly claimed him as one of its own. He has even been awarded a Foundation Fellowship of Wells Cathedral School, where he spent his entire (if short) academic career, joining an elite that includes soprano Meeta Raval, 1970s Olympic gold medalist Danny Nightingale and Margaret Thatcher’s cabinet secretary, Lord Armstrong of Ilminster.

When FFD visits Westcombe Dairy, near Evercreech, soon after the Food & Farming Awards, it’s clear Calver hasn’t let all this go his head. He’s still clad in jeans and slightly grubby teeshirt (he changes into something white and Westcombe-branded for our photoshoot) and retains the easy-going, laddish air of a young Jamie Oliver.

It’s an apt comparison because Oliver has been “an absolute legend” to Calver since first visiting the dairy two years ago when the TV chef was filming for “Jamie’s Great Britain”. While footage of Westcombe Dairy didn’t make it onto the series, Oliver saw Calver experimenting with his latest cheese, a fresh ricotta, and urged him to press ahead with it – in typically Jamie Oliver language.

“He said, ‘Mate, get on with it – you’ll sell tonnes of that sh*t!’” Calver recalls. “Then nine months later, he phoned me and asked how it was going, because

12

January-February 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 1

he was looking for ricotta for his restaurants.”

Westcombe Dairy is now selling 200-300 1.2kg fresh ricotta cheeses a week to the Jamie’s Italian chain, and what began as an AGA-top experiment now has its own dedicated production area in the dairy.

The story of ricotta in Britain is not unlike the story of cheddar a few decades ago, Calver says, in that you can readily buy commodity cheese but will struggle to find the

the science of cheese-making inside out, which makes it hard to believe he left school at 17 and has never formally studied dairy technology.

Westcombe Dairy is a partnership between the Calver family and the Clothiers, who owned the original farm and started cheese-making here in 1890. They later bought out several other local dairy farmers and now produce 3.2m litres of milk annually. The dairy takes 1.2m litres, the rest goes to nearby Barbers.

Tom Calver’s father Richard started work here We went through 45 years ago, but his son initially vowed an interesting never to follow phase where, to be dad into the family honest, our cheese business. He wasn’t cut out for academic wasn’t very good life either, it seems. real thing, leaving most serious “I decided, with the headmaster chefs importing it from Italy. The of Wells school, that second year smoother, creamier and virtually A-levels was not my thing,” he says. flavourless supermarket version “So I went to London and cooked.” is a poor substitute for fresh He trained on the diploma course ricotta, which should be made, at Leith’s, and subsequently did like Westcombe’s, using whey left most of his “real” cooking at the over from earlier cheese-making corporate kitchens of Barclays processes. “Commodity ricotta Capital, serving up breakfasts and looks like Mr Whippy,” says Calver, lunches for its then boss, Bob “because it’s squirted into the Diamond. containers. But we’re just ladling the How did the stress of cheffing curds into the baskets, which gives it compare with cheese-making? this lovely texture, and it goes out as “When I was cooking,” Calver says, fresh as you like.” “it was short periods of intense Since real ricotta-making is about stress during service, then you’d get squeezing a few more solids out of these incredible highs. But when a cheese-making by-product, the you’re dealing with a company like yield is not great, he adds. “You this, it’s more of a constant stress! only get 6-7% out of the whey. So “There’s the whole idea that it’s a bit of a labour of love.” you have to make money out of Calver first told FFD about his new decaying milk, and something that ricotta at a supplier day staged by is constantly evaporating – there’s Cheese Cellar last autumn 2012. He an ‘angel’s share’ with milk, not just was at the distributor’s London HQ with whisky. Then there’s the fact chiefly to talk farmhouse cheddar: you can’t get people’s feedback how it’s made, the importance of on what you’ve made for a year or terroir and the flavour difference more.” between revered West Country rivals Westcombe Dairy has three core like Montgomery’s, Keen’s and his products: farmhouse cheddar, own Westcombe’s. He delivered his farmhouse Caerphilly (it took over message in trademark Jamie-like the respected Duckett’s Caerphilly “bish bosh” style but clearly knew business from the late Chris

❛

❜

Tom Calver says cheese recipes handed down through generations can be ‘dangerous’ if no-one understands why things are done in a certain way

Duckett) and now ricotta. Many small Somerset producers went into Caerphilly, says Calver, because it could be sold at 4-8 weeks. “When you’re ageing something for 18 months it’s murder on cash-flow, so there’s a tradition of shipping Caerphilly over the Bristol Channel.”

Westcombe’s aged Caerphilly is today being sold as far afield as the US, its cheddar was best in show at the Royal Bath & West in 2011 and its stockists include all the big British names, including Paxton & Whitfield, Neal’s Yard and The Fine Cheese Co. But it wasn’t always like this. After decades of making cheese in the traditional style, Westcombe Farm, like many others, went over to block cheddar production in the post-war period, only to find commodity cheese-making wasn’t sustainable for any but the biggest operators.

In the 1990s, unable to expand in a viable way, Richard Calver had the cheese factory knocked down.

Then, after a five-year hiatus, he and his co-director Christine Clothier decided to re-start cheese-making on an artisanal scale, going back to their original recipes.

The problem, says Tom Calver, was that Westcombe had, like other cheese-makers, lost many of its traditional skills after decades of producing for the mass market.

“Almost at a national level, we’d forgotten how to make unpasteurised cheeses.”

So, while Westcombe initially picked up plenty of sales, at around the time Calver came home to join the family business the quality and consistency of its products had begun to slip. “We went through an interesting phase where, to be honest, our cheese wasn’t very good. Then, around 2007, we were in the terrible position of being dropped by Neal’s Yard, and we thought Waitrose was going to be next. So I went into the dairy, and decided I had to get into the science of cheese-making.”

He was helped by the arrival of food scientist Jemima Cordle. She was working with Chris Duckett, whose production had just moved to Westcombe Dairy, and for a short while after Duckett’s death in 2009 Cordle became a 50:50 partner with Westcombe in the Caerphilly business. “It was great having a bio-

says, and “the whole process gets squished, so you’ve narrowed the window of opportunity to make any changes to the structure, like deciding when you add your rennet, when to cut your curd, when to take the whey off. And then you can’t make these amazing flavours.”

Now, with renewed confidence in the way it makes its cheese, Westcombe Dairy is concentrating on making it better. “And that’s about taking a long-term view, getting out in the field, planting more deep-rooted and herbacious grasses, and enhancing our terroir by growing as much of our cows’ feed as possible. We’re already producing 80-90% of our own feed.”

To improve his Caerphilly, Calver has added a ‘hastening room’ to the dairy, to give a staged temperature fall to the cheese and enables it form a good rind before it goes into the traditional cool, damp cellar.

Cheese-making isn’t the only activity Commodity ricotta looks like Mr Whippy, because it’s squirted at Westcombe Farm.

Calver has taken on into the containers. We just ladle UK distribution of the curds into the baskets, which rennets and cultures for Danish ingredients gives it this lovely texture.

chemist in the dairy,” says Calver. “It really turned things around.”

Cordle gave the business more reliance on science and less on gut instinct, helping Carver and his team understand what was going on beneath the artisan magic.

“The way I look at it,” he says, “inheriting recipes can be quite dangerous. When you ask the person who handed down a recipe why they do certain things, you often get the answer, ‘Because we’ve always done it that way’. You don’t get an understanding of why.

And while you don’t necessarily want to change it, you do need to understand it.”

In the pasteurised cheese world where Westcombe had operated for many years, the thinking seemed to be “make it quickly, make it acidic by adding lots of starter culture, and it will be safe”. But shorten the cheese-making time, Calver

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supplier Chr. Hansen, and is also running what amounts to an informal business incubation unit on-site. James Chocolates started life on the farm before moving to bigger premises nearby. So too did The Bay Tree Food Co, which still rents office space at Westcombe Farm. The latest tenant is The Wild Beer Company, a fabulous craft brewery developing niche beers such as an Imperial stout flavoured with Valrhona chocolate nibs, vanilla pods and Columbian coffee. Its initial range is being sold through a newly opened farm shop in another converted barn on the farm, and Calver is clearly enjoying both the business crossover and learning more about brewing.

Beyond this, despite the successes of 2012, he isn’t letting ambition get in the way of his cheese-making ideals. “People have been asking me about my ‘expansion programme’ after winning the Food & Farming Award. But as soon as you expand, you become dependent on larger customers, and that would be the death warrant for us.” www.westcombedairy.com www.wildbeerco.com

Vol.14 Issue 1 · January-February 2013

13

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January-February 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 1

Y 3 EN TR 01 OP EN 4 2 R RY FO UA BR FE Isabel Domecq, Jamones Juan Pedro Domecq, 3-star Jamon Iberico de Bellota

Jim Harrison, Thornbrige Brewery, 3-star Jaipur IPA

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January-February 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 1

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2012

world cheese awards 2012

Spain pips Italy in tight finish In an action packed event, this year’s World Cheese Awards champion was the first ever from mainland Spain. MICHAEL LANE’s four page report starts here.

I

n a year that was already packed with top sporting competition, it is fitting that 2012’s World Cheese Awards was the closest contest ever.

Eventually it was a Manchego from Albacete that took the World Champion crown and became the first cheese produced in mainland Spain to take the top spot at the awards.

The Manchego Gran Reserva, produced by Dehesa de los Llanos, won the prize in a close final judging session that saw it tied for first place with the Italian Blu di Bufala, made by Azienda Agricola Gritti Bruno e Alfio.

In an unprecedented move, the panel of 16 supreme judges was asked to sample the Spanish sheep’s milk and the buffalo milk blue cheeses for a second time and cast a deciding vote with a show of hands.

The winner was described as

It came down to a show of hands from the supreme judging panel before the Manchego Gran Reserva was crowned

“light, with high notes like a choral song and an aromatic, long finish” by one of the panel of judges who gathered from around the world for the Awards, which were held again at the BBC Good Food Show.

“This Manchego is an exquisite example of an artisan cheese made with incredible skill,” said Guild of Fine Food chairman and awards organiser Bob Farrand.

“It was obvious to the panel of judges that this was a world class cheese and they were glowing in praise for the cheesemaker.”

The fact that the Blu di Bufala was championed by Roland Barthelemy, Prevot of France’s Guilde des Fromagers, highlights just how tough the final decision was.

Beyond the main event there were a number of new additions to this year’s week-long celebration of cheese.

Visitors to the show were able to

sample some of the award winners at the World Cheese Deli and they were also able to see top retailers in action thanks to a new Le Gruyèresponsored competition, held live on stage, to find the country’s best cheesemonger.

Meanwhile, Europe’s emerging cheese-producing nations featured more prominently with a new trophy, sponsored by Kozí Vršok, for Best Central & Eastern European Cheese, which was won by Croatian producer Paška Sirana’s hard cows’ and sheep’s milk Dalmatinac.

Not to be outdone, American cheesemakers were sampling their award-winning products as they launched a new import deal that will see more artisan cheeses available in the UK (read more on p23).

The full list of all 55 Super Gold winners is on p 20.

HERO WORSHIP: After claiming the title of Britain’s Best Cheese Counter, the Jermyn Street branch of Paxton & Whitfield enjoyed a double triumph as the store’s assistant manager was crowned Britain’s Best Cheesemonger. The aptly named Hero Hirsch saw off three other experienced cheesemongers: Svetlana Redpath of The Guid Cheese Shop in St Andrews, Fiona Kay of Cheese Please in Lewes and Kate O’Meara of The Cheese Society in Lincoln. The contestants tackled five rounds of cheese challenges, including a quick-fire quiz and a cutting task, in front of judges and a live audience at the World Cheese Tasting Theatre. www.paxtonandwhitfield.co.uk

www.finefoodworld.co.uk/wca

Vol.14 Issue 1 · January-February 2013

17

Quadrello is a delicious soft cheese made with 100% buffalo milk. Using Bergamo’s best traditional recipe for washed-rind cheeses, with a characteristic aroma. Square-shaped, soft and straw yellow in colour, with a texture created by small holes.

Blu di Bufala is a blueveined cheese made with 100% buffalo milk. It has a dry and wrinkly amber grey rind. The cheese is creamy, with a light cream colour and characteristic blue veins run through it. The scent is pleasantly intense, while its taste is unique and persistent. You can perceive the sweetness of buffalo’s milk

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January-February 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 1

2012

world cheese awards 2012

This year more than 2,700 cheeses from over 30 different countries were assessed by some 255 judges, from all corners of the country and the globe. The morning judging session saw the award of bronze, silver and gold medals, with the entries whittled down to just 55 Super Gold cheeses. From these cheeses, the supreme judging panel picked just 16 for the final session.

Vol.14 Issue 1 路 January-February 2013

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2012

world cheese awards 2012

2012’s Super Gold winners Here are the world’s 55 best cheeses, selected from over 2,700 entries by the WCA judges THE TOP 16 WORLD CHAMPION Manchego DO – Gran Reserva Dehesa de los Llanos, Spain www.dehesadelosllanos.es

Spenwood Ewes Village Maid Cheese, England Soignon Chevre de Caractere (produced by Eurial) Eurilait, France

featured winner Le Gruyère AOC 1655 (produced by Le Crêt) Fromage Gruyère, Switzerland This Le Gruyère AOC is so-called because 1655 is the year that the famous cheese first took the name of the Swiss market town as its own. Only three dairies are involved in the making of Gruyère AOC 1655. The salt used in the cheese-making process comes from the Swiss mountains while the milk is from cows that graze in the lush pastures of those same mountains. Each cheese is carefully matured by master cheese-makers for several months, resulting in the award-winning finished product. www.fromage-gruyere.ch

Melkbus Boerenkaas Uniekaas Nederland, The Netherlands

Stärnächäs Extra Würzig Walo von Mühlenen, Switzerland

Harbison Cellars at Jasper Hill, USA

Blu di Bufala Azienda Agricola Gritti Bruno E Alfio, Italy

THE others featured winner

Le Gruyère Emmi, Switzerland

Sunset Bay Rivers Edge Chevre, USA Rivers Edge Chevre makes this French-style ash-coated soft cheese using the milk from its small herd of Alpine dairy goats fed on the green pastures of the Central Oregon Coast Range in America’s northwest.

The “visually striking” Sunset Bay, which features layer of smoked Spanish pimenton through its centre, develops a bacon flavour as it ripens and its paste turns creamy. This predrained curd cheese is hand-packed and has a longer shelf life than many soft ripened cheeses. Sunset Bay comes in wheels of around 900g.

Kaltbach Le Gruyère Emmi, Switzerland

www.threeringfarm.com

Tunworth Hampshire Cheeses, England

Midnight Moon Cypress Grove Chèvre, USA Extra Oude Beemster Cono Kaasmakers, The Netherlands Sartori Limited Edition Cognac BellaVitano (Remy Martin Cognac), Sartori Company, USA Queso de Cabra Semicurado Leche Pasterizada Quesería Artesanal “Las RRR”, Spain

Manchego D.O. Gran Valle de Montecelo (3 Months) Quorum Internacional, Spain Untado en Pimenton Duro Finca de Uga, Canary Islands

Queso Elaborado Con Leche De Oveja Pasterizada Quesos de Almazora, Spain Maxorata Tierno Grupo Ganaderos de Fuerteventura, Canary Islands Cabridoux (produced by Sevre et Belle) QST / Cheese de France, France Bloomsdale Baetje Farms, USA

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January-February 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 1

Vacherin Fribourgeois Rustic (produced by 2409 Cremo) Cremo/von Mühlenen AG, Switzerland El Lligat de cabra Formatges Camps, Spain

Comte AOP (produced by Arnaud) QST / Cheese de France, France Barkham Blue Two Hoots Cheese, England Bandage Wrapped Cheddar Fiscalini Cheese Company, USA Sierra de Albarracín – Blue Label Queso Artesano de Teruel, Spain

Le Gruyère AOC Switzerland – Cave Aged Walo von Mühlenen, Switzerland

Rotwii Bärgler, Red Nose Walo von Mühlenen, Switzerland

Rogue River Blue Rogue Creamery, USA

Shepsog Grafton Village Cheese Co., USA

Mountain Cheese, 10 months, PDO (produced by Bergsennerei Lutzenreute) Rupp, Austria

Kaltbach Le Gruyère Emmi, Switzerland

Gorgonzola Dolce DOP Creamy (produced by IGOR) C. Carnevale, Italy Just Delicious Extra Mature Cheddar Wyke Farms, England Gruyère Premier Cru (produced by 4204 Straus) Cremo/von Mühlenen AG, Switzerland

featured winner Rachel White Lake Cheeses, England First developed in 2006, this washed rind semi hard goats’ cheese is aged for around 4 to 5 months depending on seasonal variations in the milk.

It is the third of cheese-maker Pete Humphries’ handmade creations at White Lake in Somerset. Rachel is named after a friend of his who is said to share similar characteristics: “sweet, curvy and slightly nutty”! It comes in cases of three 2kg cheeses with a wholesale price of £13.70/ kg and is available from a number of wholesalers nationwide. petethecheese@hotmail.com

Bengotxea (produced by Manuel Bengotxea) CRDO Queso Idiazabal, Spain Hispanico Quesos Marsan, Spain Queso Elaborado Con Leche Pasterizada De Oveja Quesos de Almazora, Spain Woodside Wakame Woodside Cheese Wrights, Australia Blue Cornflower 60 Thise Mejeri, Denmark Coloured Cheshire Appleby’s, England Nonnenstolz (produced by Niklaus Käser/Käserei Niklaus) Jäckle Frische (Germany), Switzerland Blue Bay Ticklemore Cheese, England Montagnolo Affine (produced by Kaserei-Champignon) Elite Imports, Germany Alpha Tolman Cellars at Jasper Hill, USA

Tasmanian Heritage Red Square Lion Dairy & Drinks Tasmania, Australia

Serra do Alvelhe Reserva Martins & Rebello, Portugal

Le Délice de L’Horloger Val d’Arve, Switzerland

Keltic Gold Whalesborough Farm Foods, England

Oak Blue Berrys Creek Gourmet Cheese, Australia

Aldi Scottish Vintage White (produced by Lactalis McLelland) Aldi Stores, Scotland

KEEN’S CHEDDAR Traditional, unpasteurised, award-winning Cheddars from Wincanton Somerset For details call 01963 32286 email: info@keenscheddar.co.uk www.keenscheddar.co.uk

Vol.14 Issue 1 · January-February 2013

21

kers of Award-winning ma n Great British Stilto methods ed r u o n o h em ti g in us

Gorwydd Caerphilly, traditional, mature, hand-made Caerphilly

since 1780

for details contact: info@trethowansdairy.co.uk tel : 01570 493 516

Award Winning organic sheep milk cheeses made on the farm in Sussex, which include; Little Sussex, Duddleswell, Sussex Slipcote, and Halloumi, and from organic cows’ milk; Saint Giles, Ashdown Foresters, and Sussex Cheddar.

Little Sussex Saint Giles

Su

ss

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Smoked Ashdown Forester

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Please contact the Dairy for further information.

High Weald Dairy, Tremains Farm, Horsted Keynes, West Sussex RH17 7EA. Tel: 01825 791636, email: info@highwealddairy.co.uk www.highwealddairy.co.uk

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January-February 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 1

2012

world cheese awards 2012 US producers exhibit prize-winners as export deal gets go-ahead

By PATRICK McGUIGAN

With a new distribution deal set to bring more US cheese to the UK, several artisan producers were on hand at the NEC to offer samples to the trade and the media after the supreme judging session.

The tasting, featuring producers such as Rogue Creamery and Uplands Cheese, was hosted by Wisconsin-based supply chain and marketing company The Artisan Cheese Exchange, which is now shipping a wide range of cheese to the UK from many of America’s most respected cheese-makers. The new deal is expected to see around 10 shipments of cheese enter the country during 2013 with distribution carried out by Neal’s Yard.

Other producers on the roster include Beehive Cheese, Cellars at Jasper Hill, Beecher’s Handmade Cheese and Fiscalini.

Chris and Julie Gentine, who set up the Artisan Cheese Exchange in 2006, visited the UK last year to gauge interest in US cheeses with tastings at Paxton & Whitfield, Neal’s Yard, The Fine Cheese Co and Whole Foods.

“American cheeses have a ‘stigma’ – that they are all processed

Andy Hatch of Uplands Cheese offers Paxton & Whitfield MD Ros Windsor a sample at the American cheese showcase

and wrapped in cellophane,” said Chris Gentine. “But after the cheesemongers tasted the cheese, they really thought there was something unique there. The cheese

is well made, it utilises interesting affinage techniques and the Americans are getting quite good at their craft.”

The retail price of US cheeses in

the UK will inevitably be high due to heavy import tariffs – Neal’s Yard sells Rogue River Blue (winner of the 2012 trophy for Best American Cheese) at just over £77/kg, while a mountain-style cheese called Pleasant Ridge Reserve made by Andy Hatch at Uplands Cheese in Wisconsin retails for around £55/ kg. However, Gentine said that UK retailers would still be able to build a following for the cheeses.

“One of the unique and great features of a cheese shop in the UK is that the managers really focus on getting the cheesemongers trained on new cheeses and where they come from,” he said. “It is critical to the cheeses, because they are going to have a higher cost and it is important to explain to consumers how unique these offerings are.”

It was another good year for Americans at the awards with its producers bagging four of the final 16 Super Gold spots. These were Rogue River Blue, Grafton Village’s mixed milk Shepsog, Fiscalini’s bandaged wrapped cheddar and a bark-wrapped bloomy rind cheese called Harbison from Cellars at Jasper Hill. www.cheese-exchange.com

Honouring the architect of modern cheese retailing

By BOB FARRAND

The world was a very different place when the 2012 winner of the Exceptional Contribution to Cheese Award began importing and wholesaling cheese from the Continent. In the early sixties, John Webb started buying cheese from the famous Rungis Market in Paris, having it sent over to London by rail, and collecting it at 5.30 in the morning from Victoria Station. He would often have to roll the larger cheeses by hand along the platform.

Not a fridge in sight.

These days, health and safety requirements are very different but so is the wide range of international cheeses in our supermarkets, delis, farm shops and convenience stores.

It is possibly difficult for our younger readers to imagine, but in the 1960s stocking foreign cheese was an exception rather than the rule.

John Webb changed all that by growing a business, H T Webb & Co, that concentrated on developing new markets for new cheese, new packaging formats for a different style of merchandising and selling at prices that placed fancy ‘foreign’ cheeses at a level most, if not all,

cheese lovers could afford.

In 1966, Webb took a step that would change his business forever.

He made an exclusive agreement with a single affineur to import high quality Swiss cheese into the UK, which at that time, was unknown in this country. Over the next few years, similar exclusive agreements were forged with producers in France, Austria, Italy, Spain and so on.

By 1984, his company had moved to purpose built facilities in Kent, employing over 350 staff working in four warehouses, six cutting rooms and two labelling areas and generating a turnover in excess of £52 million.

He had developed the largest portfolio of cheese and chilled delicatessen products in the UK, delivering them to the largest portfolio of retailers. But one factor singles him out for me, particularly when you examine our industry today. When he retired in the mid ’90s, he was still doing business with every one of those Continental producers he made exclusive agreements with in the 1960s.

Since its inception in 1988,

John Webb collects his Exceptional Contribtution trophy from Bob Farrand

he has been a keen supporter of the World Cheese Awards. I recall him purchasing two new cabinets to display his trophies in his reception area and, even in his long retirement, he has retained his association by sponsoring the trophy

each year for the World’s Best Unpasteurised Cheese.

Not only is John Webb one of the principle architects of modernday cheese retailing in the UK, he is also a true gentleman of the cheese world.

Vol.14 Issue 1 · January-February 2013

23

AOC, the sign of special products...

A traditional cheese

The cheese of western Switzerland, with a delicate, distinguished flavour.

Made since at least 1115 AD in and around the small town of Gruyères, today it is still produced by village cheese dairies in western Switzerland according to the traditional recipe.

Le Gruyère AOC owes its characteristic delicacy and flavour to the top quality raw milk produced by cows fed on grass in the summer and hay in winter, coupled with the skill of the mastercheesemakers.

No less than 400 litres of fresh milk are needed to produce a single wheel weighing around 35kg.

During the slow maturation process, which takes several months in special cheese cellars, the wheels are turned regularly and rubbed down with saltywater. The maturing process lasts between five and 18 months.

Each cheese is systematically identified by the number of the mould and code of the cheese dairy. The day and month of production are also noted on the wheel. These black markings are made with casein, the cheese protein. No artificial additives are involved here either.

Le Gruyère AOC takes pride of place on any cheese platter. It makes for a delicious desert and can be used in tasty warm dishes. What’s more, no real fondue would be complete without genuine Gruyère AOC.

From this time on, the name ‘Gruyère AOC’ and the code of the production facility appears on the heel of each wheel of Gruyère AOC as an effective way of preventing fakes and guaranteeing authenticity.

This technique employs branding irons, which give an indentation in the wheel. It is this marking that makes it possible to identify and trace each individual cheese.

The humidity and rind washing process develops the characteristic appearance of the cheese and assists in bringing the cheese into full maturity.

This is what gives Le Gruyère AOC its famous, distinct flavour. It’s no great surprise that this authentic gift of nature is appreciated by cheeselovers throughout the world.

www.gruyere.com ruyere.com Cheeses from Switzerland.

Switzerland. Naturally.

30 January-February 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 1

www.switzerland-cheese.com

cheesewire

news & views from the cheese counter SECOND’S OUT: Gloucestershire start-up Feld Fere Produce has added a soft goats’ milk cheese called Wells Brook to its range, which kicked off last year with the hard, cloth-bound Old Hovel.

While Old Hovel is matured for at least three months, the company’s second cheese is sold fresh, with a shelf life of three weeks. “We use whole unpasteurised goats’ milk for our cheese and apart from starter and vegetable rennet, only salt or herb is added, dependent on which variety is being made,” said Riz Atkins, who runs Feld Fere with husband Psi. Producing their own goats’ milk on an 18-acre smallholding near Evesham, they now have around a dozen deli and farm shop customers in a patch stretching from the Cotswolds to Leicestershire.

Le Grand Fromage Bob Farrand

L

actalis is arguably the largest cheese business on the planet. It’s certainly the most profitable family-owned cheese producer in the world, with brands such as Président, Galbani, Salakis, Bridel, Lubborn, Seriously Strong, Societé and countless others. It owns 198 production sites in 150 countries employing over 52,000 people.

France’s 10th wealthiest man, Emmanuel Besnier, runs the business. He and his siblings hold 100% of the group’s shares.

Only three photographs exist of the mysterious Besnier and he never gives interviews. Increasingly however, he stands accused of dumbing down French cheese.

Alongside their mainstream brands, Lactalis also produce over 25 AOC (PDO) cheeses including Roquefort, Comté, Reblochon, Saint-Nectaire and Fourme de Montbrison. The latter is – according to president of the Fromage de Terroirs Association Véronique Richez-Lerouge – at risk of extinction with just three producers left and only one made on a farm using fresh, unpasteurised milk.

She is concerned about large dairy producers infiltrating

Fourme de ❛Montbrison is at

risk of extinction.

❜

the governing bodies of French and European labels of origin and convincing them to amend AOC rules to allow recipes using pasteurised milk.

90% of French cheese is made industrially and 70% of all Fourme de Montbrison is produced

by Lactalis using thermalised milk, a process which involves briefly heating milk to a high temperature.

Purists argue the process impairs flavour in exactly the same way as pasteurisation does.

I’ve not tasted Lactalis Fourme de Montbrison, but I am familiar with their Istara Ossau-Iraty AOC. Following intensive lobbying of the authorities, it’s now made using pasteurised sheep’s milk. As a result, it’s a pale imitation of the World Champion Ossau Iraty AOC made by Fromagerie Agour using unpasteurised milk.

Monsieur Besnier, it’s time you started protecting the legacy that made your family so extraordinarily rich.

FFD publisher Bob Farrand is chairman of the UK Cheese Guild

feldfereproducehq@gmail.com

Mousetrap owners sell up to focus on cheese-making

By PATRICK McGUIGAN

West Midlands retailer Mousetrap Cheese is under new ownership, after the founders sold the business to devote more time to their cheesemaking operation.

Mark and Karen Hindle, who set up the firm 25 years ago, sold the chain of three shops in Hereford, Leominster and Ludlow just before Christmas. They are now looking to expand their cheese company, Monkland Dairy, which has been in operation since 1996.

Karen Hindle makes cheese with unpasteurised cows’ milk from a single local herd, most of which is sold through the three shops. Mark Hindle, who ran the retail operation, said he would continue supplying Mousetrap, but also wanted to increase the amount sold through wholesalers, such as Cheese Cellar and Fromage to Age, and directly to local delis and farm shops.

“We could have opened more shops, but it’s difficult to make it work when it’s a larger chain,” he

The Hindles will now concentrate on selling the range they produce at Monkland Dairy

said. “You need to be behind the counter, which is harder when you have more and more shops. We took a view that now was the time to see if we could find a younger couple to take over from us.”

The new owners of Mousetrap are Claire and Matt Knowles, who have given up their respective jobs as the head of a personal assistant company and a sales analyst to focus on their new venture. The couple worked in the shops for several weeks prior to taking over

before Christmas. They told FFD that they plan to launch a full e-commerce site with options such as hampers, cheese wedding cakes and cheese boxes later this year.

Monkland’s range of cheeses includes Little Hereford, a five month-matured cheddar/Caerphilly cross; Monkland, which is similar to Caerphilly; a Camembert cheese called Other Monk; and Blue Monk.

The company currently processes around 3,000 litres of milk a week. www.mousetrapcheese.co.uk

Experienced Swinscoe sets up in North Yorks

By PATRICK McGUIGAN

Andy Swinscoe with wife Kathy

After amassing more experience in the cheese world than most people do in a lifetime, Andy Swinscoe has set up shop on his own with a new venture called the Courtyard Dairy in North Yorkshire.

While he is only 26, Swinscoe has worked for both The Fine Cheese Company in Bath and Paxton & Whitfield in London, as well as training under renowned affineur Hervé Mons in France and making cheese at a number of the world’s top producers.

His new shop, which he runs

with his wife Kathy, is part of a small, independent, out-of-town shopping and dining destination close to Settle.

The Courtyard Dairy sells just 30 cheeses, from artisan producers from the UK and the Continent.

“I believe less is more,” said Swinscoe, who also has a first class degree in Culinary Arts & Hospitality.

“If you have a few cheeses that you know really well, then you sell them much more quickly. It means we always have fresh product and because of that it’s always in great condition.” www.thecourtyarddairy.co.uk

Vol.14 Issue 1 · January-February 2013

25

cheesewire

Supplying demand Interview

Edinburgh distributor Alastair Clark talks to PATRICK McGUIGAN about the challenge of servicing Scotland’s burgeoning restaurant scene and the producers thriving north of the border

W

hen Scottish cheese distributor Clarks first set up 20 years ago, Edinburgh didn’t have a single Michelin star to its name. Today, Scotland’s capital has more restaurants bearing the car tyre company's seal of approval than any other city in the UK outside London. Order the cheeseboard in one of them and the plate (or slate) of curdy delights that arrives at your table was probably sourced from Clarks' 10,000 sq ft warehouse in nearby Penicuik. have found it harder because of As restaurants like The Kitchin, the recession they've added more Martin Wishart and Castle Terrace and more to their ranges and prosper, so does the business set cheese is seen as something easy to up by Alastair and Jill Clark in handle. There is actually much more 1993. Today it turns over £3.8m competition in cheese today than and employs 28 people with a 10 years ago, so we need a range 300-strong line-up of cheeses plus a that really stands out.” growing range of fine foods, ranging Being a veteran of the cheese from Valrhona chocolate to caviar. industry helps in this regard. Before Foodservice remains the setting up the business, Clark ran mainstay of the business with hotels, his own deli called Gourmet’s in caterers and restaurants accounting Edinburgh before working for a for around two-thirds of Restaurants are more and more sales. Specialist demanding in terms of expectations cheese shops of service. Orders are left at midnight and delis make and they expect it to be prepared and up the rest. delivered by 10am the next morning.

It's not just Edinburgh that has a vibrant dining scene. cheese wholesaler in Yorkshire. He Eating out across Scotland, from has built up strong relationships cities such as Aberdeen and with cheese-makers over decades, Glasgow to rural hotels and farm which enable him to source shops, has also improved. On the exclusive products. surface, this is all good news for “A producer might vac-pac Clarks, but as the market evolves it their cheeses for everyone else also presents new challenges. but they will do a rinded version “Restaurants are more and for me,” he says. “It means more demanding in terms of we have something different expectations of service,” says to everyone else. Errington's Alastair Clark. “Cheese orders are Dunsyre Blue, for example, left at midnight and they expect is traditionally made with it to be prepared and delivered vegetable rennet, but they by 10am the next morning. They make special batches for also want their cheese delivered in us with animal rennet, small pieces and very frequently. called Oggs Castle.”

Deliveries could be as often as five Scottish cheese times a week, but usually not less is in rude health at than three for a lot of our busier the moment with restaurants.”

Clark estimating the Clarks has a fleet of six delivery country makes over 50 vans on the road to keep its exacting farmhouse or artisan customer base happy. This has cheeses. And the next brought its own demands as fuel generation of producers prices have increased and customers is experimenting with new have been reluctant to swallow price types. increases, says Clark.

Selina Cairns, who has At the same time competition in taken over the reins from father wholesaling has increased. “Cheese Humphrey at HJ Errington in South is something easy to add on if Lanarkshire, is a good example. She you're supplying fish or meat or has recently launched Corra Linn you're a veg merchant. As people – a Manchego style cheese – and

❛

❜

26

January-February 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 1

While Alastair Clark carries a range of British and Continental cheeses, it is Scottish varieties, such as Isle of Mull Cheddar and Dunsyre Blue, that are most popular

a goats’ milk cheese called Biggar Blue. Likewise, Ruaridh Stone from Highland Fine Cheese has developed new goats’ and sheep’s milk bries called Jezebel and Fearn Abbey.

British classics such as Stilton and Stinking Bishop also sell well at Clarks, as does an excellent range from French affineur Hervé Mons, but it is Scottish cheese that the restaurant trade is keen to put on its menus with Isle of Mull, Dunsyre Blue, Lanark Blue, Criffel and Loch Arthur all best sellers.

A surge in national pride in Scottish food and drink was one of the reasons why Clarks launched a new online business last year, which is aimed directly at consumers.

The company used to run its own

bricks and mortar cheese shop in Edinburgh, but closed it two years ago because it was distracting from the core business. The online shop (www.clarksfoodsonline.co.uk) demands much less in terms of staff and overheads, while providing a potentially lucrative new area of sales with better margins.

“It's doing well already and we're keen to start doing hampers, cheese boxes and wedding cakes,” says Clark. “In five years’ time, the way the internet is going, it could be the largest part of the business.” www.clarksfoods.co.uk

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Vol.14 Issue 1 · January-February 2013

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“A n d th o u s h a l t h ave g o a t s’ m i l k e n o u g h . . .”

Proverbs 27:27

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28

January-February 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 1

A promotional feature for Wyke Farms

Talking C heddar

with Richard Clothier

S

omerset is my home and also the home of farmhouse cheddar, the most famous cheese in the world and here at Wyke Farms, we’ve grown into one of Britain’s largest farmhouse cheesemakers. It hasn’t always been like that as my family have been farming and making cheese here on the Mendip Hills since the late 1700’s and by the early 1900’s, we were just of around 3,500 cheddar makers in the region. Today, there are fewer than 10 of us are left although we’ve grown enormously since the early days when my great-great grandmother, Ivy Clothier made our cheddar. One thing hasn’t changed - we still use Ivy’s same recipe.

Nowadays, we collect fresh milk every day from farm assured local farms where the cows graze the same lush pastures found throughout

the heart of Somerset. These farms mostly lie within a 15-mile radius of our dairy near Bruton, in Wyke Champflower where the local milk is perfect for making the best cheddar because we are right on the doorstep of where it all started.

The technique for turning fresh local milk into cheddar has changed little over the years although modern technology has enabled us to take much of the real heavy work out of it without compromising the cheese makers’ art. Our cheese is still made in individual batches but the new technology enables us to produce great cheddar far more consistently than would have been possible a century ago. Having said that, Ivy would still recognize the fundamentals of how we run our family business and she would undoubtedly recognize the 150-yearold secret family recipe.

Making great cheese is only half the challenge. Maturing it to the point of perfection, which for some of our cheddars can take up

to two years, needs experience and the watchful eye of our head cheese maker. It’s his task to slowly nurture the young cheeses to their full development of body, texture, flavour and complexity that prompted the 19th century food guru, James T Law to once describe as; "rich and mellow, with consistency of body, of close silky texture, true and even colour-- a prepossessing appearance and finish..."

Our family remains passionate about farming and cheese making and we still tend our own herds of dairy cows living in harmony with the wildlife in the Brue Valley.

We have brown trout in the pools of the River Brue and often catch fleeting glimpses of Kingfishers hunting on the riverbanks in the uncultivated areas we leave to allow them space to live. They share the space with flocks of lapwings that a visit each year and we are completely committed to ensuring our business has minimal impact on the environment. That’s why you’ll

see solar panels on the roofs of our cowsheds and why we focus so much of our business operation on minimizing our carbon footprint.

We want future generations to enjoy this area as much as we do and we also want them to continue enjoying our cheddars. Perhaps that’s why we now match 150 years of tradition with over 150 trophies, awards and prizes won by our cheeses at national and international competitions. We have so much to thank Ivy and her recipe for.

Further information on our award winning range can be found at: www. wykefarms.com, email sales@wykefarms. com or call: 01749 812424

Vol.14 Issue 1 · January-February 2013

29

No less than 35 different chutneys and relishes

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30

January-February 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 1

If you would like to enquire about Barties products – please contact him on 07711 239663 or email enquiries@sussexfaire.co.uk

Lovepickle is an authentic Indian chilli tomato pickle made from the finest ingredients.

To place an order or for more information please call: Michael Sohel

07748 839619

or email info@love-pickle.co.uk www.love-pickle.com

product focus

pickles & chutneys

A bit on the side

l The new Carved Angel gold collection includes three confits - caramelised onion & raspberry, caramelised onion & tomato basil and caramelised onion & purple fig - which are said to be suited to use as a relish for cheese, meats and salads. www.thecarvedangel.com

LYNDA SEARBY includes a jelly made from foraged nettles and a Bloody Mary chutney in her rundown of the latest accompaniments Autumn saw the arrival of a new aromatic tomato & coriander chutney infused with star anise from Dorset condiments company Pink’s. Empire chutney will form part of the new natural range of condiments, due to be launched in Spring. The chutney is currently on sale for £4 per 150g jar and is designed as an accompaniment for cold meats and cheeses or as a marinade for lamb and chicken. www.pinksorganics.com

l The pineapple & chilli chutney When the new Radnorshire Ales micro-brewery opened its doors last year, Radnor Preserves founder Joanna Morgan saw it as the perfect opportunity to join forces with her neighbour. The collaboration has resulted in the development of a Radnorshire ale chutney made with local Smatcher Tawny Radnorshire ale (RRP £3.95 for a 227g jar). www.radnorpreserves.com

Foraging is one of the latest gastronomic food trends, and Hawkshead Relish Company is capitalising on the craze with the launch of a nettle jelly, made from hand-gathered nettles from Randy Pike Estate in Hawkshead. It might not seem a straightforward sell, but the Cumbrian producer insists the jelly is “wonderful with pork, roast lamb – instead of mint jelly – or an extra mature farmhouse cheese”. Hawkshead Relish has also relaunched its damson & basil jelly, which it says is “absolutely phenomenal with steak, when warmed in a pan and drizzled over”. Trade price for both jellies is £12.60 for 6 x 200g jars (RRP £2.95 per jar). www.hawksheadrelish.com

Top sellers…

Deli, Wotton …at Cicada ire sh er st ce Glou under-Edge,

armalade rm onion m The Garlic Fa with garlic le ish plum pick eese Co Engl Ch ne Fi e Th eart-shaped chilli jam (h ts en em kl Trac jar)

s Old Spot den Preser ve Kitchen Gar ney real ale chut s autumn den Preser ve Kitchen Gar y apple chutne

www.houseofceylon.co.uk

l Mrs Darlington’s has launched baby onions in balsamic vinegar and updated its pickled onion and pickled shallot recipes, switching to Stuttgart pickling onions and adding herbs and whole pickling spices to both products. www.mrsdarlingtons.com

l In September 2012, Karimix rolled out a new image for its range of fusion store-cupboard essentials, which includes lines like aubergine pickle, mango chutney and tamarind chutney.

Usk River’s Indian Summer chutney might have been rather optimistically named, but the Eastern-inspired product has apparently been a “runaway success” since its launch during last year’s midsummer monsoons. The chutney combines whole Indian spices with apple, apricot, banana, ginger and garlic, which are slowly cooked in the traditional way in the Abergavenny producer’s new dedicated premises. Described as “equally at home with cheeses, cold meats and sausages and useful as a cooking ingredient”, Indian Summer chutney comes in one-litre catering tubs and 300g retail jars (RRP £3.99).

www.karimix.com

www.uskriver.co.uk

of chutneys and pickles has been revamped to better tell the story behind the products, which are made on the Elveden estate in East Anglia by former royal chef Peter McBurnie using produce from the farm and local area.

Asiri Foods has launched a brand called Giggy & Goo for more price-conscious consumers, building on the success of its Asiri Foods label. The Malvern producer says the new range of Sri Lankan-inspired lines has been developed to satisfy consumer demand. The first lines to be introduced under the new brand are red onion marmalade chutney, pineapple & chilli chutney and brinjal pickle. Asiri Foods has just moved into bigger premises, enabling it to comanufacture for other producers, grow its export business and increase store listings with Waitrose and the Co-op. www.asirifoods.co.uk

from House of Ceylon blends Sri Lankan pineapple chunks and local chilli to make a condiment that can be added to gammon, pork chops, chicken & cashew nut stir-fry and pancakes.

The Truckle Cheese Company believes it has spotted a gap in the crowded chutneys and pickles market, which it is hoping to fill with its new fruit chutneys. Touted as an alternative accompaniment to cheese, the spicy strawberry & caramelised onion and blackberry & hot chilli chutneys retail at £3.95 for 320g and 300g respectively. www.trucklecheese.co.uk

l Following the Ludlow Food Centre’s £25,000 rebrand, its own-label pickles, chutneys and preserves are all sporting a new ‘more attractive and more informative’ jar design. www. ludlowfoodcentre. co.uk

l Branding for the Elveden range

www.elveden.com

l Kitchen Garden Foods has redesigned its piccalilli recipe, adjusting the spices and reducing the sugar content to improve the flavour of the sauce.

It adds the vegetables at a later stage in the production process so they don’t overcook, creating a less watery sauce. www.kitchengardenpreserves.co.uk

Vol.14 Issue 1 · January-February 2013

31

product focus

pickles & chutneys

Kühne’s pickles offer an opportunity for retailers to tap into the UK’s growing appetite for German foods, according to ambient fine food distributor RH Amar. The German producer has just unveiled two new relishes mustard gherkin and tomato gherkin – both billed as a great accompaniment to cheese, German sausages, burgers or breads, and available from RH Amar in 350g jars (RRP £1.59). www.rhamar.com

Onion & chilli Gubbins (RRP £3.50), the latest introduction from Jim & Jules Big Adventure, is described as “somewhere between a chutney, a marmalade and a relish”. Initially founded in 2008 to pay for a wedding, the Buckinghamshire-based business is now supplying farm shops and pubs in the local area and plans to add cranberry & red onion relish and pear, walnut & fig to its range in the coming months. www.jimandjules.co.uk

a

www.paxtonandwhitfield.co.uk

The introduction of an apple & plum chutney (RRP £2.49) represents Nene Valley Orchards’ first foray into chutneys. The product is said not to be over-spiced ‘as some chutneys can be’, with a fruity Farmshop, …at Padstow flavour that does not detract Cornwall from or overpower cheeses and illi relish cold meats. rah’s hot ch

Yorkshire food and cookery business Curry Cuisine has developed a gift box of its Chutnees condiments. The set (RRP £10-£12.50) features five products: luxury mango chutney, Indian tomato chutney, spiced plum chutney, rhubarb & mango chutney and Yorkshire rhubarb chilli jam – the first product approved to promote the PDO status of Yorkshire rhubarb. www.currycuisine.co.uk

Pickled onions are benefitting from the retro food revival, and Paxton & Whitfield is cashing in on their popularity with its own version of this British classic. The onions are pickled in the traditional way in sweet, spice-infused vinegar by an artisan producer and supplied to the trade in packs of six 454g jars. Trade price per jar is £3.20 (RRP £4.95). Paxton & Whitfield has also developed a new fig paste with walnuts, in collaboration with an an artisan food producer from the French Pyrenees, and launched gooseberry chutney with a difference - the old British recipe has been updated to include English mustard and green peppercorns. ‘Nuts about figs’ has a trade price of £1.90 and an RRP of £2.95 for 90g, while British gooseberry chutney has a trade price of £3.08 and an RRP of £4.75 for 192g.

Top sellers…

jonathan.chaplin@ nenevalleyorchards.com

Mr Todiwala’s has turned the multiples’ strict rules around fruit sizing to its advantage, creating pear chutney and apple & mustard pickle from fruits that had grown too large as a result of the wet weather and been rejected by a supermarket. RRP is £4 a jar, of which £1 goes to charity.

Sa

e chutney er’s Favourit Crellow Fath almond er, apple & Roskilly’s ging chutney o s hot tomat dow Preser ve Cornish Mea chutney chutney Cornish ale Halzephron

www.mrtodiwala.com

Taking inspiration from the drinks cabinet is Trotter’s Independent Condiments, with its A Bloody Shame chutney. The new cocktail condiment is so called because it is made from all the same ingredients as a Bloody Mary (tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce, celery, white wine vinegar and lemon juice) but without the vodka. A Bloody Shame can be served not only as a chutney with cold meats and cheese but also as a salsa with crisps, nachos, tacos, fajitas and burritos, and as a pizza topping. RRP is £4 for 280g. www.trottersindependent.co.uk

Family business Shaws of Huddersfield is celebrating its 123 year history with a new collection, which combines traditional favourites and new flavours. The five-strong ‘heritage’ range comprises spiced apricot & ginger chutney (200g), fig & honey chutney (195g), plum & rhubarb chutney (190g), beetroot & horseradish chutney (300g) and piccalilli (280g). All products have an RRP of £2.99 and are available in trade case sizes of six. www. shaws1889.com

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January-February 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 1

Tracklements is going after the gifting market with a new range of selection packs. For consumers who love a cold cuts platter, there is The Ploughman’s, which contains three 150g jars of piccalilli, apple chutney with cider brandy and farmhouse pickle. Sold in cases of six packs, it retails at £8.95 with 37% profit on return for the retailer.

In the Great British Breakfast pack, jars of tomato ketchup, fruity brown sauce, strong English mustard and wholegrain mustard are presented in a patriotic union jack sleeve (RRP £11.50). Lastly, with chilli still trending, Tracklements has introduced a Chilli Collection, featuring a selection of three hot pepper jams and jellies (RRP £8.95). www.tracklements.co.uk

•NEW•

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A range of gift boxes suitable for any retail outlet • Traditional favourites

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For more information or to request a Spring/Summer 2013 brochure, please contact our customer service team and quote FFD0113

01858 438000 Fosters Traditional Foods Ltd, Great Bowden Road, Market Harborough, LE16 7DE

www.fosters-foods.co.uk | asktheteam@fosters-foods.co.uk Vol.14 Issue 1 · January-February 2013 Fudge Tree.indd 1

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21/01/2013 13:18

I N T R O D U C I N G S H AWS H E R I TAG E C O L L E C T I O N Made by our family for your family, since 1889

Kitchen Garden Red Onion Marmalade ‘Once tried – never forgotten – pure lusciousness!’ in the words of Janice from Arch House Deli in Bristol where they pair it with a Milano Salami sandwich or with a Rosemary Goat’s Cheese and Rocket Tartlet www.kitchengardenpreserves.co.uk + 44(0)1453 759612 Follow us on Facebook & Twitter

Call us on 01484 539999 or email reception@shaws1889.com For more information visit www.shaws1889.com Shaws of Huddersfield, Shaw Park, Silver Street, Huddersfield HD5 9AF

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www.thefoodanddrinktradeshow.co.uk | www.sourcefoodanddrink.co.uk 34

January-February 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 1

product focus

Back to black We review the latest arrivals from the world of arabica, robusta and… barley coffee Taylor’s of Harrogate says its selection packs (RRP £3.99) are a great way of introducing customers to new coffees. Each contains 45g foil packets of four different coffees, which each make an 8-cup cafetière. The rich roast selection contains After Dark, Rich Italian, Café Brasilia and Hot Lava Java while the medium roast selection features Lazy Sunday, Take It Easy (half caffeine), Café Imperial and Fairtrade Organic.

coffee

Orzo Coffee is set to offer its organic barley coffee in individually wrapped pods that can be used to make a caffeinefree coffee alternative in standard espresso machines. This new line will sit alongside ground and instant versions launched early in 2012. Orzo says naturally caffeine-free espresso barley coffee is popular in Italy, both with the health conscious and as an evening drink. Boxes of 30 pods will have a trade price of £4.99, while Orzo also plans to offer table talkers for cafés to educate customers. www.orzocoffee.co.uk

www.taylorsofharrogate.co.uk

Dorset-based speciality roaster Reads Coffee launches the new-crop blends of its awardwinning Sumatra Bourbon and Firehouse dark espressos this month in new retail packaging.

Roasted and packed to order, the “full bodied and smooth” coffees are made using ethically sourced, fully traceable speciality beans from Sumatra, Brazil and Central America. They can be used in either traditional or bean-to-cup espresso machines.

Reads also offers a range of single estate speciality coffees for filters and cafetières, and a natural Swiss Water Process decaffeinated espresso blend. www.readscoffee. co.uk

Beanberry Coffee roasts whole bean coffees to order at its base in Woking, Surrey. All are certified organic by the Soil Association and come in 250g bags (trade prices £4.03-£4.35, RRP £6.20-£6.70).

The range includes single origin and single estate coffees from Bolivia, Brazil, Ethiopia, Guatemala and Honduras as well as two seasonal blends: Javascript for espresso and 8am Blues for filter brewing.

Founder Edward Grace says he will replace any stock of retail packs that are not sold by retailers within 30 days of roasting. www.beanberrycoffee.com

Drury Coffee & Tea says the acquisition of a new small-batch roaster has enabled it to add some “very special” single estate, exotic, rare and unusual coffees to its list. The Gourmet Reserve selection will vary with availability, but currently includes Brazilian Yellow Bourbon, Ethiopian Long Grain Harrar, Indian AAA Bibi Plantation and Galapagos Island San Cristobal Aribiga Old Bourbon. Reflecting their rarity, the suggested RRPs vary from £32/kg, and coffees are available in 1kg or 125g packs. www.drurycoffee.com

Grumpy Mule has been “searching the globe for unique, flavour-filled coffees” to enhance its new seasonal roast-to-order range, launched into retail just before Christmas. The next few months will see its roastery receiving batches of “celebrated” varieties including Ethiopia Nekisse from Ninety Plus Coffee (floral, berry notes), Bolivia Cafe Takesi (super sweet, creamy, complex) and Cup of Excellence award-winning coffees from Rwanda and Burundi in East Africa.

Roast-to-order coffees are available in 227g retail and 500g wholesale bags, with prices starting at £4.00 per 227g bag (RSP £6.99) and from £13.50/kg wholesale. www.grumpymule.co.uk

Nottingham-based Caffè Vero says “very favourable price points and no minimum order quantities” have helped it gain a foothold in the deli and farm shop market. Offering a range of arabica and robusta blends, the company also provides a complete foodservice package for deli-cafés, restaurants and coffee shops, backed by branded accessories, which encourages shoppers to search out the same brand on the retail shelves. The 250g retail packs include Moka d’oro, a 50:50 robusta/ arabica blend (RRP £2.25), and Miscela d’Oro, with 90% arabica (RRP £2.70).

Caffè Vero also supplies Loison brand panettone, launched in the UK at last year’s Harrogate Speciality Food Show.

This year’s gourmet Winter Blend from Union Hand-Roasted brings together coffees from Central America, East Africa and Indonesia in what’s described as “a medium to full-bodied blend with gentle notes of allspice and a lingering finish of vanilla and butterscotch”. Intensely fragrant beans from Indonesian mountains lend notes of plum, blackberry and sweet candied fruit to the flavour, the company says, while the Eastern Ethiopia beans add a honeyed aftertaste. Trade price for Winter Blend 2013 is £21.50 for a case of 6 x 227g. A 1kg foodservice pack costs £14.15. www.unionroasted.com

Bailey’s Deli in Carshalton Beeches, Surrey, has become one of the first deli stockists of environment-friendly coffee from GreenCup. The brand offers a “coffee collection service” that sees used coffee grounds turned into a natural garden compost.

Using coffee sourced by its partowner, Swedish importer and roaster Löfbergs, Greencup grew out of Redcup Coffee, a pioneer of bean-to-cup machines in the UK office market. Greencup began purely as a coffee collection service and has now blossomed into a brand in its own right. “Our main focus so far has been garden centres,” says Stephanie Lawrence of Löfbergs, “but we’re now excited about entering into new markets.” The brand’s Talia blend collected a two-star Great Taste award in 2012. www.greencup.co.uk

www.caffevero.co.uk Bar Blends and Sundries Schede CaffèVero_INGL.indd 1

Vol.14 Issue 1 · January-February 2013 27/05/11 08:51

35

FFW-Jan-2013-1_Layout 1 07/01/2013 16:33 Page 1

Grumpy Mule coffees are

sourced from farmers who are passionate about the quality of their coffee.

As an independent coffee roaster, we’re just as passionate about our products so that each one can be brewed into a great tasting cup of coffee.

Let the coffees speak for themselves.

The Grumpy Mule coffee range includes ground coffee, coffees beans and gift tins for both retail and wet coffee sales. With Fairtrade, organic and unique, award winning coffees available, this is the coffee of choice for today’s coffee lover.

The Roastery Bent Ley Industrial Estate Holmfirth, HD9 4EP

Tel: 01484 855500 email: coffee@grumpymule.co.uk

www.grumpymule.co.uk

RetailReady ❝

No one should even consider entering any form of fine food retail without completing the Retail Ready course at The Guild of Fine Food. The two day course is brilliantly structured offering advice on every aspect of the business from insider experts and successful retailers. It gave me insight I was lacking, to feel fully confident about getting started.

❞

Matthew Drennan, former editor of delicious. and aspiring deli owner 36

January-February 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 1

RetailReady is a two day course that will steer you through the minefield of opening and running a fine food store.

The course is designed to equip managers of prospective, new or developing delis and farm shops with the business essentials of fine food and drink retailing.

The next course takes place on March 12-13 2013.

Visit www.finefoodworld.co.uk/ retailready for more details and an application form.

Call us to find out more on 01963 824464.

show preview

Breaking new ground This year Hale Events has come up with a brand new show to cater for the trade in a previously unserviced area

G

iven the number of food industry shows Hale Events already stages in the West Country, you’d be forgiven for thinking there wasn’t room for any more. But the organiser, whose trade-only exhibitions include The Source in Exeter, has found a new niche on the region’s most northerly border in Gloucestershire.

The inaugural Food & Drink Trade Show, which takes place at Cheltenham’s Town Hall on February 25 and 26, will host a range of producers from across the UK as well as businesses from Wales, the Midlands and the South West.

Three regional food groups – Taste of the West, Heart of England Fine Food and Wales the True Taste – are all partnering the show.

With just under 100 firms exhibiting their products and services, Hale hopes to welcome representatives from between 500 and 1,000 businesses over the two

Need to know Venue Cheltenham Town Hall, Imperial Square, Cheltenham GL50 1QA When?

Monday 25 Feb, 10.00am - 5.30pm & Tuesday 26 Feb, 10.00am 4.30pm How do I get there?

Cheltenham is easily accessible by road from junctions 10, 11 and 11a

days. “We’ve always felt that the area north of Bristol and south of the NEC had a wealth of producers and suppliers but no show to support them,” says Hale Events director Mike Anderson adding that the firm backed this up with extensive research and surveying of buyers across the area.

While the result was an overwhelming ‘Yes’, Anderson says that buyers from South Wales were very keen on a show in the area as it was a much easier day trip than London or Birmingham.

Exhibitors certainly liked the idea of the show too, with stands selling out before Christmas.

“We’ve not had to go out and sell it,” says Anderson. “Demand is so far outstripping what we can do.

We’re looking forward to 2014 and we’re going to be moving it to a larger venue.” www.thefoodanddrinktradeshow. co.uk

of the M5. Pay and display parking is located close to the Town Hall.

Cheltenham Spa railway station is within walking distance and is well served by CrossCountry and First Great Western trains.

How do I register?

Tickets for this trade-only show are free. Visitors should register in advance online at www. thefoodanddrinktradeshow. co.uk, by emailing tickets@ thefoodanddrinktradeshow.co.uk, or calling 01934 733456.

Who will be there?

Adlington Avlaki Superb Organic Olive Oil Bibijis Black Mountain Mineral Water Boddingtons Berries Bramley & Gage Six O’clock Gin Bristol Labels Ltd Burts Potato Chips Cake Aspirations Callestick Farm Dairy Ice cream Celtic Marches Beverages Cheese Cellar Claire’s Handmade Cocobella Colston Bassett Dairy The Cornish Jute Bag Company Cotswold Gold Crumpet Cakes CSY Retail Systems Dipnation Eat Marketing Ethical Addictions Coffee Food Magazine Gastro Nicks Gran Stead’s Ginger Great Ness Oil Heart of England Fine Foods Holywell Malvern Spring Water House of Ceylon House of the Rising Bun In a Pickle Food Co Infusion Oils J & J Pont Packaging Jam Jar Shop Just Rachel Quality Desserts Kitchen Garden Foods Lakeland Computers LittlePod

Lodge Farm Kitchen Loveleaftea Marou Faiseurs de Chocolat Maynard’s Farm Bacon Metro Drinks M’Hencha Company Mike’s Smokehouse Monkhouse Food & Drink Mr Chills Sweet Emporium Mukaase Foods New Century Creative Design Okemoor Quality Foods Padfield Porkies Pegoty Hedge Pimhill Farm Shop Silverthorne Hobbs Pyman Pates Rayeesa’s Indian Kitchen Reddipak Rod and Ben’s Rolys Fudge Pantry Salt Media Samways Fine Food Distribution Shaken Oak Products Simon Weaver Organic Spanish Ham Master Stainswick Farm Oil Stevenson Newlyn Taste of the West The Sausage Shed The Victorian Kitchen Tipsy Fruit Gins UE Coffee Roasters Vale Labels Wales the True Taste Wenlock Spring Yog Zenith

*List correct at time of FFD going to press Vol.14 Issue 1 · January-February 2013

37

W inner of 10 Great Taste Awards

Olio Reddo

since 2010

An excellent range of award winning sweet and savoury food carefully prepared by hand

extra virgin olive oil Divine taste

from Greece

Visit us on stand 43 at The Food & Drink Trade Show, Cheltenham

third floor 207 regent street, W1B 3HH london, UK www.olioreddo.com info@olioreddo.com

Tel 01837 53601

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+44 (0) 7938 550 660

www.okemoor.co.uk

Discover Nem Viet, the new authentic Vietnamese range from Bespoke Foods For more information, get in touch: Phone: 020 7091 3200 Fax: 020 7091 3300 38

January-February 2013 路 Vol.14 Issue 1

Email: sales@bespoke-foods.co.uk

Web: www.bespoke-foods.co.uk

shelftalk

CHEF’S SELECTION

Top chefs tell CLARE HARGREAVES their deli essentials

Vietnamese chocolate range hits UK shelves

Phil Fanning Head chef, Paris House, Woburn www.parishouse.co.uk

Spice of Angels fennel pollen www.msk-ingredients.com

By MICHAEL LANE

A brand of bean-to-bar chocolate made with cocoa grown across five different regions of Vietnam is now available to UK speciality retailers.

Marou, founded by two French expats living in the South East Asian country, produces a retail range of five 100g bars by hand. Each bar uses beans, which are farmed, dried and fermented in different regions of the country before being processed at the firm’s base in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City). All of Marou’s chocolate is made with just cocoa, cocoa butter and cane sugar, which the firm says allows the terroir of the individual regions to come through in the taste.

The bars (RRP £5.50 each) can be

ordered from distributor Middletown Hill, set up recently by Jonathan Tailyour, who has returned to the UK after living and working in Vietnam for 20 years.

The range includes Tiên Giang – a 70% bar made using beans grown by the farmers of the Cho Gao Cooperative in the Mekong Delta – and Lâm Dông 74%, which is made with beans from the the Vietnamese Central Highlands. The strongest bar is a 78% Bên Tre, a province that has already gained recognition for its beans, while Marou also offers a 65% blended chocolate in 1kg bars for chefs. www.marouchocolate.com www.middletownhill.co.uk

www.aylesbury-escargots.co.uk

The foresty flavour of these locally produced white snail eggs is unique – like snail meat, only better. To appreciate their delicate flavour you need to eat as many as you can afford. They’re not cheap, but nor is caviar. This is definitely better than most caviar which can often be just fishy goo. As a nation we’re getting more interested in noseto-tail eating and in local and artisan foods, so I think the time is right for this product. We’ve served it on our Chef’s Table where people like to be challenged and they’ve had a 100% success rate. We often pair the eggs with snail meat to add flavour – the two are perfect together.

www.parfumdesoliviers.com

All of the firm’s products are handmade and designed to be enjoyed with a drink at the end of the day. www.taste-sundowner.co.uk

As oils go, this one is by far the most intense. It has a nuttiness that brings out other flavours. Add this colourful Omega 6-rich oil to pumpkin and it adds real depth. For instance we do a pumpkin soup onto which we pour a pool of oil, then toasted pumpkin seeds, and caramelised pumpkin on top.

We also use the oil in salads such as our marinated fennel and red pepper salad. We buy it from Ritters Fresh in 25cl bottles.

Brown and Forrest smoked eel www.smokedeel.co.uk

I love this eel as it’s so moist, thanks to its natural oils, and full of flavour, thanks to being hot smoked over beech and apple wood. We often serve it with tuna, wasabi, raw mouli and edamame beans. We also use it in our globe and Jerusalem artichoke salad with black garlic and cep tortellini. We get prepped eel fillets in kilo blocks and buy them direct from Brown and Forrest. We buy about £200-worth at a time – expensive, but worth every penny.

Black garlic paste www.blackgarlic.co.uk (now producing in the UK)

SPICED UP: Pipers Crisp Co has teamed up with a British chorizo producer to create the eighth flavour in its range of crisps. Yorkshire Chorizo, used to flavour the crisps, is made

by Chris Wildman, who produces a range of charcuterie from the rare-breed Oxford Sandy & Black pigs that he rears on his farm in Kirkby Malham. The crisps are available in cases of 24x40g, 40x40g and 15x150g priced at £10.08+VAT, £16+VAT, and £17.10+VAT respectively. www.piperscrisps.com

Aylesbury Escargots snail caviar

Roast pumpkin seed oil

Nut specialist goes crackers Sundowner has created two cheese biscuits to complement the range of nut mixes that it already produces.

Its Amalfi biscuits are a twice baked savoury biscotti made with parmesan, green olives and rosemary, while its Wessex biscuits are made with Old Winchester Extra Mature and flavoured with chives.

Both of these handmade lines come in 90g boxes, which have a shelf life of four months and a trade price of £1.60.

The brand launched last year with three nut mixes in 180g bags (trade £2.50+VAT): Arabian, Maharaja and Wild West, which won a gold star in the 2012 Great Taste awards.

Fennel is underrated and its pollen, with its aniseed flavour, is simply beautiful. We use Spice of Angels pollen, grown wild in California. Great with both fish and light meats, it’s clean and crisp and adds an interesting element to a dish. With fish, it makes a lovely spice-seasoning. We do a red mullet dish, for instance, in which we pair the fish with fennel marinated in lemon juice, salt and fennel pollen. It also marries well with subtle meats as it doesn’t overpower them. I’ve even mixed it with Noilly Prat to make a delicious sauce for snails.

This garlic is grown on Jeju island in Korea and fermented for a month on rotating trays, which removes the harsh garlic twang and enables it to develop an intense tarragon/aniseed flavour and toffee texture. We buy it as paste in 80g tubes.

Its sweet and sour flavour goes brilliantly with robust fish and meat. We serve it with snails, and with beef. As it’s black, it creates an interesting visual effect on the plate too. We turn it into a crispy sheet to garnish our dish of confit fennel, pan-fried seabass and scallops, and fennel purée.

Sponsored by

Found in all good delis Cheeses from Switzerland.

Switzerland. Naturally.

www.switzerland-cheese.com

Vol.14 Issue 1 · January-February 2013

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11.06.12 17:59

shelftalk what's new

Smoked humous

smoked teas, which have all been smoked over Scotch Whisky barrels, in the same jars and cases size. The range, which also has an RRP of £3.99. includes Scottish Breakfast, Earl Grey and Green Gunpowder as well as Ceylon.

MOORISH

www.lovemoorish.co.uk

R

D

AC

Birmingham-based radio journalist Julie Waddell has developed a range of humous products, made with chickpeas that have been naturally cold smoked over Welsh wood on the Isle of Anglesey. Waddell says this enhances the richness of the product, which she describes as having an “unusually thick” texture.

All three varieties – original, chilli harissa, and lemon & dill – come in cases of 6x160g pots with an RRP of up to £2.89 per pot.

EDITE CR

S U P LI E P

OLD SCHOOL THAI www.oldschoolthai.co.uk

KENT'S KITCHEN

www.kentskitchen.co.uk

R

AC

Kent’s Kitchen has developed a set of concentrated sauce bases. The Sauce Sensations range features parsley, peppercorn, béarnaise and hollandaise. Each 140g pot makes 16 servings of sauce by adding 3 teaspoons of concentrate to 300ml of milk or cream, heating, and then whisking. All four products, which are ambient stable both before and after opening, can be ordered from distributors Cotswold Fayre and Samways.

EDITE CR

S U P LI E P

GRANNY’S SECRET www.grannyssecret.co.uk

The Granny’s Secret range, manufactured in Serbia by Foodland and distributed exclusively in the UK by Milanovic-Knowles Ltd, features an array of all-natural Balkan specialities. All of its products are free from artificial ingredients, suitable for vegetarians and glutenand dairy-free. As well as whole fruit preserves and woodland fruit jams

R

D

AC

The Thai paste producer is introducing catering packs of its fresh green and red curry pastes. Made with 100% natural ingredients to an original family recipe from Thailand, the chilled pastes can be used to create authentic curries as well as stir-fries and marinades.

They can also be used to spice up stews, pasta sauces, chillies and soups. The 1.1kg catering tubs cost £23 each. Old School Thai pastes are also available in retail pouches (trade price £2.73 per 110g, RRP £3.99).

EDITE CR

Concentrated sauce

D

Catering packs

Serbian food

S U P LI E P

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January-February 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 1

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Smoked seaweed Uncle Roy’s

www.uncleroys.co.uk

Among the “unusual” additions to Uncle Roy’s new lines for 2013 is smoked Scottish seaweed, which can be added to soups, stews, boiled rice or ground and used as a condiment. Each trade case contains five 211ml jars (RRP £3.99 each).

The Scottish producer is also offering six new EDITE CR

S U P LI E P

DOVES FARM

www.dovesfarm.co.uk

Doves Farm, whose new Wholegrain Buckwheat Flour we featured last month, has asked us to make clear that none of its gluten-free products can become contaminated with gluten while at its site, as they have two separate mills and bakeries dedicated to the production of their organic and gluten-free products. Any possible contamination of grain occurs before it reaches the premises.

Doves Farm’s buckwheat flour is available in 1kg retail packs (trade: £10 for five bags) and 25kg catering bags (£46).

EDITE CR

R

AC

AC

R

& butters, it has a number of 100% fruit and vegetable juices (trade cases of 6x700 ml and 12x200ml) in flavours such as raspberry, wild blueberry, cornelian cherry, wild strawberry, tomato and beetroot & apple. Granny’s Secret also produces Serbian roasted red pepper spreads known as Ayvar (sold in cases of 6x180g jars).

Buckwheat flour eating at any time of the day, beetroot & ginger and carrot, apple & cinnamon also contain an array of healthy ingredients like Milk Thistle seeds, Chia and Psyllium. Each pack has an RRP of £5.95.

R

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S U P LI E P

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British Cassis has launched a ‘Proud to be British’ gift pack to showcase its range of alcoholic fruit mixers. Retailers can select three bottles for the pack from the firm’s 100ml range of Cassis, Framboise, Fraise and Poire (Blackcurrant, Raspberry, Strawberry & Pear). Each mixer is produced on the family farm in Herefordshire, where the fruit is also grown, and can be used as a cocktail base or splashed into different recipes. The boxes are available in cases of 11 units (trade price £10+VAT, RRP £16 per box) direct or from Heart Distribution.

EDITE CR

The Dorset-based artisan producer has upgraded the packaging for its two gluten-free, Coeliac UK-approved raw mueslis, both of which contain 22% fresh vegetables. Created for EDITE CR

D

The firm has redesigned the packaging for its range of Indian curry pastes and has also launched a new product, spice paste for fish. All of Shemin’s pastes are dairy- and gluten-free and contain no added preservatives. The products are chilled, so they can be placed near fish, meat and vegetables in-store to present meal ideas to customers. Recipe ideas are featured on tear-off shelf talkers and there is also a free recipe book online. Each 100g pack (wholesale £2.40 per pack, minimum order 12 units) makes a meal for four.

EDITE CR

www.britishcassis.co.uk

wwww.primroseskitchen.com

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www.shemins.co.uk

BRITISH CASSIS

Primrose’s Kitchen D

SHEMIN’S

Gift packs

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New packaging & product

Raw muesli

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BAGS FOR

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Vol.14 Issue 1 · January-February 2013

41

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January-February 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 1

shelftalk

Spring into action With Valentine’s Day and Easter nearly upon us, here are some gifts and treats for those still mulling over their orders Cranfields’ pink grapefruit marmalade is officially the best marmalade in the world, having taken the Double Gold at the 2012 World Marmalade Awards. Like all of the Exmoor producer’s creations, this 80% fruit marmalade is truly homemade in small batches in open saucepans.

It contains no additives, setting agents or preservatives; just fruit and sugar.

Available in boxes of 12 or split packs, this hand cut marmalade wholesales at £2.15 per jar (£25.80 per box) with an RRP of £3.80. www.cranfieldsfoods.com

Yemi Raiwe makes all of her Morgan House organic condiments, sauces and preserves by hand in small batches. Named after her childhood home, the range includes lemon curd, orange marmalade, extra hot pepper jam, and two dressings (honey mustard and garlic) as well as a lemon cordial. “My recipes are based on family favourites which aimed to preserve the seasonal produce while retaining their freshness and zing,” says Raiwe, whose products are all additive- and preservative-free. www.morganhousefoods.com

Beech’s Fine Chocolates, which has been making confectionery since 1920, offers its stem ginger chocolates in 100g and 200g boxes (RRP £3.49 and £6.25 respectively). Each piece of Chinese stem ginger is hand selected and coated in the Preston-based firm’s 55% cocoa solid dark chocolate made to a unique recipe. www.beechsfinechocolates.com

Image on Food has launched a wide range of biscuit designs for Valentine’s Day and Easter 2013. Among its hand-decorated gingerbread biscuits are cheeky Valentine Boys and Girls, cute Spring Chicks and a gingerbread bunny mask. Each design is individually wrapped in a clear cellophane bag finished with a satin ribbon (12 per case trade price £1.30-£1.65 each).

This range is available direct or through distributors Cotswold Fayre, House of Sarunds, Hider Foods and The Cress Co

CocoBella’s chocolate boxes are all handcrafted and decorated in a nut- and seed-free environment.

Its chocolate is made to fresh to order and has a one-year shelf life, while its milk and dark chocolate are both gluten-free.

Among the Somerset firm’s new Valentine and Easter gift collections are solid chocolate hearts (in dark, milk and white with polka dot contrast), mother duck & ducklings box and a ducklings box. Wholesale prices range from £2.60 to £3.25. www.coco-bella.co.uk

www.imageonfood.co.uk

Summerdown says a box of its chocolate peppermint creams makes the perfect springtime gift. Each dark chocolate has a peppermint fondant centre “that leaves the fresh flavour of pure English mint lingering on the taste buds”.

The fondant is made with oil distilled from Summerdown Farms’ harvest of Black Mitcham peppermint. The product has picked up a Great Taste gold star for the last three years.

“From beginning to end, our puds are made with love,” says the Cartmel Sticky Toffee Pudding Company. It adds that its two portion puddings are ideal for sharing with that special someone.

Its artisanal Great Taste 3-star gold winning sticky toffee pudding, chocolate pudding, warming ginger pudding, a mulled plum & apple crumble and rhubarb crumble have RRPs of between £3 and £3.50.

www.summerdownmint.com

www.cartmelvillageshop.co.uk

Northern Ireland’s Spirited Drinks says its Ruby Blue branded whole berry bottleaged liqueurs are perfect for mixologists and home barmen alike. Made with real fruit and Irish grain spirit, the cranberry, wild blueberry and blackcurrant varieties can all be served over ice, used in cocktails or added to sparkling wine. Spirited Drinks has previously won awards for these liqueurs in Ireland, the USA and UK. www.rubyblueliqueur.com

Described as “deliciously creamy for all the family”, the Duo Hammer Pack from Walker’s Nonsuch offers an alternative to chocolate at Easter time. Each pack (RRP from £2.50) contains a 100g bar of Original Creamy and a 100g bar of Nutty Brazil toffee. It also features the Stoke-on-Trent firm’s signature toffee hammer and instructions on how to break the “typically British” treat into bite-sized pieces. www.walkers-nonsuch.co.uk

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Chocca Mocca has recently launched heart-shaped chocolate lollipops, available in four different flavours: real pieces of blueberries in milk chocolate, real pieces of raspberry in white chocolate, real hazelnut sprinkles in milk chocolate and real pieces of orange in dark chocolate. The 40g lollipops, which are each decorated with a coloured ribbon, have a trade price of 75p and an RRP of £1.50. They are available to order direct in two mixed trays of 24 units.

Seggiano has a couple of items that will make great romantic gifts this Spring.

Its ‘Wicked’ white chocolate figs – soft baked fresh figs dipped in white chocolate – deliver flavours of liquorice, caramel and creamy chocolate and have a “gorgeous texture”. Each 200g box has a wholesale price of £5.20+VAT. Meanwhile its heart-shaped olive wood boards are ideal for Valentine’s day. Made using olive wood from the pruning of Seggiano’s trees and those in the surrounding area, each 23cm-wide board wholesales for £13+VAT. www.seggiano.co.uk

www.chocca-mocca.com

Aromo produces a range of individually foil-wrapped pods for Easy Serve Espresso machines. Made with coffee packed fresh from the roaster, its Bounce (100% Arabica), Boost (a premium blend), Buzz (French roast), and Buzz-lite (decaffeinated) blends all come in packs of 100 pods or 18 pods.

A mixed blend 18-pod pack is also available. The firm, which says it guarantees crema in every cup, is urging people to put its coffee to the test and is offering a no quibble money-back promise. www.aromocoffee.co.uk

Melissourgion is hoping that UK consumers will fall in love with its range of Great Taste Award-winning Greek honeys. Its thyme honey, a three-star gold winner, has a deep amber colour and an intense thyme scent, while its one-star winning pine tree honey is rich in antioxidants and minerals.

Meanwhile its caramel-like heather honey has both a “gourmet” taste and tonic properties. All three come in 250g jars. www.melissourgion.com

One of the Hedonist Bakery’s Hotchocspoons, which are stirred into hot milk, is perfectly suited to Valentine’s Day. Its Love Edition spoon is 60g of Belgian milk chocolate laced with red chocolate hearts that float in the resulting hot chocolate. They are available as one of a range of 25 different flavours of Hotchocspoons. All spoons are sold in cases of 20 for £33+VAT. Each has an RRP of £2.95. www.hedonistbakery.co.uk

Nature’s Path actively encourages its organic gluten-free granolas to be “just as nature intended, all craggy, uneven and blissfully natural”. Environmentally responsible grains, seeds and fruits feature in every batch of goldenbaked wholegrain clusters. This ‘Nice and Nobbly’ range, which is new for 2013, comes in three flavours: pumpkin seeds, almonds & raisins with cinnamon; pistachios, cranberries & coconut; and blueberries, raspberries, strawberries & yoghurt chunks. www.naturespath.co.uk

Fudge Kitchen has developed a new duo gift set, which contains two 230g jars of its creamy fudge sauce in gold foil packaging. Packs can feature a combination of any two of the firm’s six all natural flavours: rich chocolate, chocolate & orange, butterscotch, traditional toffee, chocolate & ginger and chocolate caramel. The producer says the sauce is perfect for pouring on ice cream, can be used as an ingredient or can even be warmed up to make a fudge fondue. Trade cases of six twin sets cost £30 while each pack has an RRP of £8. www.fudgekitchen.co.uk

Olive Branch is a single varietal olive oil is made from Korneiki olives at a community cooperative on the Island of Crete.

The firm says the oil has “the aroma of grass and freshly cut herbs” and the taste of “perfumed stone fruit and sweet macademia” with a light, spiky, peppery finish. Olive Branch’s oil also has less than 0.3% acidity. It is available in three sizes: 250ml (trade £3.50), 500ml (trade £5.15) and 1 litre (trade £8.20). www.myolivebranch.co.uk

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January-February 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 1

James Chocolates says its new chocolate chillies will be the “ideal gift for red hot lovers”.

Each pack contains 10 chilli-shaped chocolates.

Five are spiced with smoky chipotle chilli while the other five, signalled in red, are loaded with fiery habanero chilli. The Somerset firm also has a number of more traditional Valentine’s lines including strawberry & champagne truffles, heart pattern lollies and raspberry hearts. February will also see the chocolatier offer its Firecracker discs, made with Ecuadorian dark chocolate, popping candy and a touch of ancho chilli. www.jameschocolates.co.uk

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Vol.14 Issue 1 · January-February 2013

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Powered by the p

Deli of the Month INTERVIEW BY MICK WHITWORTH

It defies all the usual rules of business, but Exeter’s communityowned Real Food Store is doing £40k-plus a month in a near-prime location

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January-February 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 1

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here’s something vaguely unsettling about The Real Food Store. It looks like any other good food shop – a big choice of affordable local products, in-store craft bakery, an upstairs café serving healthy food based on the shop’s own organic veg. It has eye-grabbing branding and a fun approach to merchandising. Yet somehow it just shouldn’t exist, should it?

The shop and café, focused almost entirely on local and seasonal food, opened in 2011, slap opposite Exeter’s shiny new Princesshay shopping centre, which already houses a branch of Bristol-based deli chain Chandos to cater for the foodie end of the market. It’s hard to see how anyone thought they could turn a profit out of a second niche food store less than 200 yards away. But then, for the newcomer, turning a profit was not really the point.

The Real Food Store is a Community Benefit Society (CSB): a form of trading company legally barred from returning a profit to its shareholder ‘members’. At best, it can pay a modest amount of interest, at the board’s discretion, but members cannot even withdraw their capital without giving 18 months’ notice.

Yet before it opened, the business raised a staggering £152,000 from nearly 287 locals, who were promised little more than a chance to work for nothing in the shop for a couple of hours each week.

Last year the board of directors, all of them unpaid, had to go back to the membership and ask for a further £40k after underestimating the store’s working capital needs. In any normal business, as founder-director

David Mezzetti: ‘There’s nowhere else in Exeter that sells food you can see, touch and talk about’

David Mezzetti tells me frankly when we meet in January, the board would probably have been ousted. Instead, members covered the shortfall – “a real vote of confidence”, Mezzetti calls it – and the number of investors has now risen to 320.

By the end of last year, the shop was turning over £10k a week, looking very much a part of Exeter’s food scene, and even made it to the finals of the BBC Food & Farming Awards in the ‘best local retailer’ section. All this without grants or bank loans and without the directors putting up any form of collateral.

When I meet Mezzetti in The Real Food Store café, I ask why so many people have put their hard-earned cash into a venture that may never return anything more than a warm glow by way of dividend.

He answers with an anecdote.

He’d been into Exeter’s biggest Co-op a few days earlier, and was watching the staff stacking the shelves. “There was no conversation,” he says.

“There was something dead about it.” The Real Food Store, where volunteer members work alongside the small core of paid staff, is different. “The people here are alive.

They’re always asking questions –

products, promotions & people

e people asking when we’ll have a particular type of bread back on the shelves, asking about the free-range sausages, asking what’s new in the veg line from Shillingford Organics.”

There’s no other shop in Exeter, he says, where you can have a conversation about food. “And I don’t mean a ‘foodie’ conversation.

There’s nowhere else here that sells food you can see, touch and talk about. Nowhere.”

It’s about the idea that local food matters and that the current model of mass-market food retailing can’t go on forever. Fired up by this, many paidup members also lend their expertise behind the scenes, not just by stacking shelves. One group, for example, is lobbying the council to consider granting the store discretionary business rate relief.

There are now nearly 300, mainly rural, communityrun stores up and

“breakthrough” for the city. And they were proved right.

An initial, rushed share offer raised only £40,000 towards leasing and converting two adjacent units in Paris Street, owned by Land Securities. But after revising the business plan and running a smart PR campaign via the press and social media, a second share offer saw the sum raised hit £153,000, with individuals putting up anything from £100 to £5,000.

The store opened in Spring 2011 and sustained a first-year loss of £40,000. This wasn’t unexpected, says Mezzetti, but an overspend on set-up costs left it short of working capital. The second, £40,000 tranche of funding was needed to ensure suppliers were paid. Sales are now running at a healthy £40,000-£50,000 a month. December 2012 saw sales of £71,000, compared with A meeting staged by Transition £53,000 in 2011.

“It’s taking time, Exeter identified the need for an because we don’t do affordable, sustainable city centre any print advertising, but people are getting outlet for Devon producers to know us,” says down the country, but the CSB Mezzetti. The opening, 100 yards model is unusual for a city centre away, of a new John Lewis last year shop, and is attracting interest as far has significantly increased footfall, away as Cardiff and Lancaster. The especially in the café.

Exeter store came out of a meeting Mezzetti says the senior team staged early in 2009 by Transition spent more than a year building Exeter, an informal group concerned the trust of suppliers before The with helping the city meet “the twin Real Food Store opened its doors, challenges of climate change and which helped it secure credit terms peak oil”. One issue it identified in its early stages, and a number of was the need for an affordable, those suppliers have also bought sustainable city centre outlet for in as members. “We are here,” he Devon producers. At the time, a says, “because the local supply chain weekly farmers’ market was the only needs a viable outlet.” such outlet in a city of 120,000.

The store’s buying policy is to A team of seven enthusiasts with look in Devon first, then Cornwall, a variety of business skills began and only go outside the region for dry kicking around ideas that solidified goods or essentials that simply aren’t into a plan for a business with four available locally. elements: a retail store, a café, an Key suppliers include Shillingford “events/education space” and an Organic, a veg box operator based in-store artisan bakery. The emphasis based three miles away, which would be on locally sourced, seasonal supplies virtually all the store’s and affordable food. seasonal veg, with top-ups from The seven, most of whom Riverford Organic – including peppers later became directors of The Real and vine tomatoes. “We made a Food Store, initially looked at a codecision we needed those all year operative model, but rejected it in round,” says Mezzetti. “That was favour of the CBS, which enabled our concession to reality. We called it them to raise finance through a ‘The Tomato Question’ – it’s the sort community share offer. They were of thing that can occupy a committed convinced there were enough membership in years of debate!” people who would see the store as a The in-store bakery, Emma’s

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For a communityowned store to handle city centre rents and rates, added-value elements like the in-store bakery and café are essential, says David Mezzetti

Bread, has been central to the concept from day one, and baker Emma Parkin is on the main board.

For a store like this to work, says Mezzetti, given the unavoidable issues of high rents and business rates, it’s essential to incorporate “some real added-value, high-margin operations in addition to retail – something that showcases that store. adding £12,000-£15,000 to our costs For us, that’s the bakery and the café. straight away.”

We always knew we had to have a He and his co-directors are keen café, (a) because it assists with the to export the Real Food concept to gross profit and (b) because it uses up other towns and cities, possibly as a the tired veg and unsold meat. But complete branded package. However, the bakery really draws people in, and the model is heavily dependent on you can build a reputation on that.” board members willing to invest time Mezzetti and Parkin’s fellow and energy for little direct return. board members include Dominic But maybe it’s one that suppliers, Acland, MD of Torbay Coast & rather than retailers, should look at?

Countryside Trust, who helped set Could a jointly owned shop, served up Occombe Farm Shop & Café near by a shared distribution system, prove Paignton in 2006, and others with a viable outlet for 30-40 supplier skills in marketing and community members if they were willing to development. co-operate? “I think we need to The small staff team is currently put a message out there that we’re led by acting store manager Ian building a bigger cake, not fighting Taylor, a former National Trust over the slices,” says Mezzetti. catering manager. There are no www.realfoodexeter.co.uk heavyweight ex-retailers, but Mezzetti – whose own business background CKs MUST-STO is in tourism and book REAL FOOD sourdough loaf, regular te hi retailing – says the w ad re Emma’s B d board was reluctant and rye brea all seasonal to employ a manager vegetables s Shillingford used to the systems and s and pepper vine tomatoe ic an rg O business templates of a Riverford multiple. “They needed ats’ cheese Vulscombe go to start from scratch. A jams Shute Fruit Sainsbury-type person minced beef rm would have been used Burrow Fa rk sausage to deep management ge Farmer po e The Free Ran ion & thym support and might not Foods red on y lit ia ec Sp Hillside have been able to think marmalade ate outside the box and work chilli chocol Chilli Farm on ev D h with a different kind of ut So e) supply chain.” (whole rang ght beer y’s Otter Bri er Mezzetti admits the w Otter Bre Ale community model can be ery’s Avocet r’ Exeter Brew ‘proper cide “a bit like herding cats” s’ Devon Red rd ha rc O rd but in Exeter it has made Sandfo fudge otted cream e organic cl possible a store that might Devon Cottag never have opened under homity pie Chunk Pies conventional funding. “Let’s pie ntil & olive put it bluntly: how would Clive’s Pies le e ad cilian lemon we have got a bank loan?

Luscombe Si e juice We had no track record, the rchard appl es) Sandford O directors would have had s (from Totn alfalfa sprout to give collateral, and even Sky Sprouts olives if we’d got the money we’d ed kalamata Tried & Tast have been paying 7-8% on it, ee Origin coff paté uka salmon ehouse Man Mike’s Smok

Vol.14 Issue 1 · January-February 2012

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artisan buyers’ guide Setting up or refitting a kitchen or production unit? Here and on pages 51 & 52 we talk Fionagh Harding in the new 1,300 sq ft unit, due to be fully fitted out by March

Great expectations Fionagh and Richard Harding are investing £270k to turn Cornish Charcuterie into a serious player in this emerging food sector, says MICK WHITWORTH

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steady drizzle is falling on Norton Barton Farm, on the Cornwall/Devon border a few miles from Bude, as Fionagh Harding leads me across a muddy farmyard to a stone-clad, singlestorey building.

It’s surrounded by builders’

Neville and More’s extensive range of plastic PET bottles and jars is now compliant with the widely respected British Retail Consortium / Institute of Packaging quality standard for food packaging manufacturers. The firm’s PET packaging, which it says offers zero breakage with glass-like clarity, are available direct from stock. www.nevilleandmore.com

Instrument manufacturer Bellingham + Stanley has added to its range of OPTi+ digital hand held refractometers to help food and drink producers maintain the quality of their products. The firm says these instruments provide more reliable results than traditional optical refractometers and cover a spectrum of Brix (sugar level) measurements and equivalent scales. Some products in the range can provide dual readings while the manufacturer says that all of the new meters are less costly to calibrate than other models on the market. More details about the OPTi series are available at www.bellinghamandstanley.com or www.RefractometerShop.com

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January-February 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 1

Cheese-making equipment specialist Jongia is now supplying blue cheese piercers, manufactured by German food technology firm ASTA-eismann.

While mechanical devices that pierce cheese from top to bottom have previously been available, this machine (pictured in action at Isle of Wight Cheese Co) pierces cheeses from the sides. This method is preferable for many producers as it creates better looking veins. Another cheese-maker putting the device to good use is Mary Davenport of Cote Hill Farm, which makes its Cote Hill Blue in two sizes. “I am able to pierce a rack of 20 small cheeses in about 3 minutes, which is quicker than by hand and the large cheeses take about the same time,” she says. “But by far the best thing about it is being able to pierce cheese without worrying about stabbing myself!” Jongia says that pricing depends on the customer’s requirements, but quotes £3,500 as the average price for the machine. www.asta-eismann.de www.jongiauk.com

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to three speciality food producers as they gear up for their next phase of development. clutter, and with its new slate roof, timber windows and patio doors, it looks like a former cowshed or stables being readied for use as an upmarket holiday cottage.

But this is no conversion. It’s a new build, and despite the homely, rustic look, it’s not for holidaymaking, it’s for paté-making.

It’s the major part of a £270,00 investment by Harding and her husband Richard to move their Cornish Charcuterie operation – currently producing a small range of rillettes and patés on a virtually kitchen-table scale – from promising start-up to fully-fledged artisan production.

Supported with a “significant” grant under the Rural Development Programme for England, the move will also free up space for a move into ‘hard’ charcuterie such as salamis, for which purpose-built German fermenting and drying units will shortly be installed.

The expansion will enable the couple to capitalise on the positive reception for their initial range, developed with help from charcuterie consultant Marc-Frederic Berry and launched in 2011. Both the Eden Project and Stein’s Deli in Padstow are already stockists, and Cornish Charcuterie picked up a brace of Great Taste awards last year.

Their five recipes, made with pork, duck, and chicken, are handproduced in batches of 70 or so.

The processes vary, but for the patés the livers are cooked off with seasoning and spices on individual halogen hobs, blended, and then hand-filled into Le Parfait jars,

Industrial and commercial equipment firm Slingsby has launched the latest edition of its catalogue. As well as an increased number of items eligible for free next day delivery, the firm has held or reduced prices on more than 40% of its range. www.slingsby.com

sleep at night”.

The new 1,300 sq ft unit has been architect-designed, with detailed input from the local EHO on the food safety side and consideration too for the ‘workforce’, with big areas of glass to let in natural light.

Here, Fionagh Harding will be able to process larger batches more quickly without the old anxieties of shuffling product between tiny kitchen and separate chiller.

Richard Harding tells me: “We’re only doing two batches a day at the moment. Ideally, we want to be producing 2,000 jars a month within the next 18 months, then double that over the following 18 months.

“We’re at that awkward stage where Fionagh and I are doing everything and we’re not quite big enough to take someone on to help. By the end of the year we We do mountains of hope to employ paperwork and have ticksomeone full boxes for everything. There’s time.” no romance in it, but it The Hardings moved to the means I can sleep at night.

350-acre farm from London in 2006, with their course, and is trained to carry out four kids, giving up their jobs in her own HACCP (hazard analysis the City in a familiar lifestyle move. critical control points) audit, which Initially, they had no ambitions to has left her ultra cautious. be farmers beyond keeping a few “We do mountains of sheep, chickens and pigs – all idyllic paperwork and have tick-boxes for stuff, but no way to make money. everything,” she says. “There’s no “We quickly worked out,” Fionagh romance in it, but it means I can bought through Clipper Containers & Closures, and fitted with a twopart lid. The filled jars are cooked in a bakers’ oven, and as the product cools, the flat inner lid is drawn down to form a tight vacuum seal.

A second, decorative screw-on top lid is then added.

“We didn’t buy any specialist equipment when started,“ says Fionagh. “I was using my KitchenAid blender, which is very good for making patés, and using the halogen hobs limits the numbers I can produce.

“One of our big expenses was a Robot Coupe [commercial food processor], which was not a good buy. It’s difficult to clean down – it needs dismantling every time I use it. I would have been better off with a stick blender.”

The original kitchen, where Fionagh handles all the cooking on her own, is tiny, so achieving good separation of raw and cooked products has been a headache.

Fortunately, she was sent by her local EHO on an advanced hygiene

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Liberty Process Limited has introduced a range of small scale cooking vessels with built-in mixers. The firm says these machines are ideal for the production of sauces, soups, jams, chutneys and preserves. With sizes starting at 30 litres, these machines allow the user to accurately control temperature and mixing speed from an easy-to-use control panel.

This range also includes a high specification process vessel with a built-in vacuum unit, which Liberty Process says can dramatically reduce cooking times and enhance product quality. It says that the machine can produce 45kg of fruit based jams in 20 minutes. As the product is not overcooked, the integrity of the fruit pieces is maintained, improving the taste and texture of the final product. Prices for the range start at less than £7,000 with finance options also available. www. libertyprocess.biz

says, “that we couldn’t make a living from farming without doing it in much larger numbers.”

The charcuterie business was one means of adding value to their livestock and after initially looking at air-dried ham the couple opted for paté-style products. More specifically, they wanted to make premium, ambient, artisan patés of the kind sold widely on the Continent.

“Naively,” says Fionagh, “we thought paté was something we could do quickly.

We didn’t realise there was no-one else making ambient patés in this country.”

As the process is unfamiliar to British EHOs, the Hardings are still having to sell their products chilled, giving them three-month shelf-life, until they can get their ambient shelf-life independently verified. But they are now in touch with a thermal processing expert at food research body Camden BRI, and are confident they will, at long last, have the necessary paperwork in place soon.

When this happens, they can begin selling patés into the hamper market, and look at their next phase of investment – using a bratt pan for preparing the patés, filling jars with a semiautomatic depositor and using a retort to steam-cook the filled containers under pressure. www.cornishcharcuterie.co.uk

Commerical refrigeration specialist Porkka UK has introduced a range of “highly competitive” finance plans to help small food businesses cope with the cost of buying new, more energy efficient equipment. The finance options include interest-free credit for 1-2 years, 1-5 year lease facilities, no deposit terms and fixed monthly payments. Under the Porkka finance plan, a combined blast chiller/freezer with a cooling capacity of 30kg of food product, a freezing capacity of 70kg and a shock freeze capacity of 25kg would cost just over £52 per week for three years. Meanwhile, a fully equipped 1.8m x 1.8m x 2.1m cold room (including shelves, alarm, and controls) would cost just over £36 per week for three years. All plans include a three year parts and labour guarantee. www.porkka.co.uk

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CMT

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January-February 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 1 PS_Kaas_adv204x141.5mm_2321(43).indd 1

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artisan buyers’ guide

Hot stuff was three years in the making

MICHAEL LANE reports on the development of Fruit Broo, an entirely new product for the hot drinks category

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t the far end of Stir Ltd’s 5,000 sq ft production area is a large machine that looks like it’s just been delivered.

“If you know anyone that needs a de-dusting machine, tell them to get in touch,” says operations manager Andrew Bailey, pointing towards this large unidentifiable object still wrapped in plastic.

The machine, usually used by pharmaceutical companies to clean pills, has been dormant since it arrived months ago and is a victim of the rapid product development at Stir’s headquarters in Keynsham, north Somerset.

The firm was set up by Clipper Teas founder Mike Brehme with the goal of creating an alternative to “disappointing” fruit teas. Three years and several formats later, Brehme and Bailey have settled on a liquid version of the product, which has been branded Fruit Broo.

The product, which has been launched in four flavours initially, works in the same way as a cordial, except it is specifically designed to be mixed with hot water.

It turns out that Fruit Broo, in its current incarnation, is pretty simple to make.

Bailey mixes water with granulated fructose to form a paste and combines it with pectin powder. This is placed into a 50 litre De Danieli LT50 oil jacketed cooker, which has a built in stirrer, followed by herbs, spices and fruit concentrate. This final and most important ingredient is stored in a walk-in freezer built by specialist supplier Polar Cold Rooms, using Isark Coldkit and Rivacold components. Before it can be added to the mixture it is defrosted in Stir’s Polar fridge.

The cooking process sees the mixture heated to 65-70°C and takes around an hour. Bailey says that the heat must be monitored at all times to ensure that the mix is pasteurised and the pectin is activated to achieve Fruit Broo’s olive oil consistency.

He is particularly cautious about thermal momentum – an increase in the cooker’s temperature after the element is switched off – damaging the product.

With cooking complete, the hot liquid is pumped straight into a Riggs Autopack Option 1 depositor/filling machine with direct feed, which is linked to a compressor.

“Provided that we’re hot-filling at over 60°C then you’re achieving pasteurisation and because it’s quite

Stir’s production line features a De Danieli LT50 cooker, Riggs Autopack depositor (above) and Bottle-Matic II labelling machine

tasted good but the manufacturing process was clearly going to be very complicated,” he says, adding that this, combined with expensive raw materials, would have made Fruit Broo too costly to sell.

“One of the attractions now is it’s quite a simple product and it’s not overly complicated to produce.

It means we can introduce new products very fast.”

Given that Fruit Broo was only launched in September, production is currently run on an ad hoc basis to replenish stock when required. But, It’s quite a simple Stir planning product and it’s not overly with to launch it to the complicated to produce. independent retail It means we can introduce trade in the near future, things will new lines very fast. have to change.

Bailey says the current set-up jelly-on-a-stick or the 1cm dried gel could turn out two 35-40 litre cube Fruit Broos, which Bailey says batches in a day and, if needed, a would have required a great deal third could be squeezed in. of expense on “groundbreaking” “That is not very much capacity equipment like the discarded so we know that we’re going to de-dusting machine. need to do two things,” he says.

“We ended up with a drink that

a viscous product it’s stable,” adds Bailey.

The foot switch-operated machine is used to fill both the glass and high density plastic bottles that Stir currently supplies to independent coffee shops.

Once the bottles have cooled they are labelled and Bailey has just acquired a new piece of kit, a semiautomatic Bottle-Matic II labelling machine from Etiquette, to get the job done faster.

It’s a far cry from the prototype

❛

❜

“Scale up the capacity here and also we could outsource the production and bottling of those lines where we’ve got a predictable demand” When they do scale up production Bailey envisages a set-up with two 100 litre cookers “effectively quadrupling capacity” as well as another filling machine and some level of automation. He also hopes to add a cooling tub so bottles can be labelled sooner after filling.

“Mike is very keen to keep the production capability in-house so we can introduce new lines fast,” says Bailey. “That worked for him at Clipper and he definitely does not want to move away from that here.”

Given that Bailey has at least a dozen new flavours in the pipeline, that flexibility is going to come in handy. www.fruitbroo.com www.autopack.co.uk www.dedanieli.com www.bottlelabelling.co.uk www.polar-refrigeration.co.uk www.polarcoldrooms.co.uk www.rivacolduk.co.uk

Vol.14 Issue 1 · January-February 2013

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artisan buyers’ guide

Thinking big David Jowett tells MICHAEL LANE about the trials of setting up an alpine cheesemaking operation in the Warwickshire countryside

M

any people set up their first food businesses producing something in their home kitchen that doesn’t require a great deal of specialist equipment – jars of jam or bottles of sauce, perhaps.

Not David Jowett, a man pursuing a dream of making wheels of alpine-style cheese using very specific milk (local, raw, single-herd) and imported equipment. To add to the complications, he also decided to base his operation in a derelict barn.

For a new start-up, Jowett Cheese is certainly an ambitious project but as FFD goes to press it is on the verge of its first production run of pressed, cows’ milk cheese, which is made with a natural starter and animal rennet.

After three years of working at Paxton & Whitfield in Stratford-uponAvon, Jowett decided that he wanted to become a cheese-maker and enrolled in a year-long diploma at the School of Artisan Food.

While acquiring the skills was a relatively straightforward process, getting hold of the right kit to make this kind of cheese was “a bit of a nightmare, logistically”.

“Nobody is making this style of cheese in the UK so going to France [for the equipment] was my only option,” Jowett explains.

Thankfully his French supplier, Coquard, had the majority of what he needed including a 500 litre copper cauldron for heating up the milk, a cheese harp for cutting the curds, a draining table and a hydraulic press.

Coquard was also able to provide Jowett with the transport tank he needed for collecting the milk from the farm and the stainless steel pipelines for transferring it to his vat.

Jowett had to source the adjustable moulds for his cheeses, which will weigh around 8.5kg each,

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January-February 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 1

The Jowett Cheese dairy has come a long way since construction work began last October

from Austrian firm Hundsbichler.

Equally important are the wooden boards that the cheeses will be resting on during the 12-16 week maturation period. Jowett’s have been cut from spruce trees, which can only be done at a specific times of year, in France’s Haut-Savoie region. They have also been in the care of one of the region’s top affineurs, Paccard.

Jowett, who estimates that he has spent around £15,000 on equipment, was just as specific when searching for his premises.

“It had to be in this area,” he says. “Stratford is my home town and I was keen for the cheese to be linked to the region.”

“I was originally looking for an on-farm site, a spare outbuilding that I could convert. But somebody advised me go for off-farm in case the quality of the milk went downhill.”

As it happens, he has found a compromise by securing a milk supplier – Gorsehill Abbey Farm – within 30 minutes’ drive of his chosen plot, an 18th century barn on the Alscot Estate.

It was one of several offered to him on the 4,000 acre estate just south of Stratford.

“They were all in a pretty dilapidated condition,” he says.

“Some didn’t have roofs, some only had three walls, one even had a tree growing in the middle of it.”

In his chosen barn, you couldn’t see the floor for debris and there were mezzanine levels that had to be removed. Last October, contractors began the task of converting the 1,400 sq ft building into a space that now houses a dairy (3.5mx4m) and a maturing room (15mx4m) as well as some smaller ancillary rooms.

Work carried out includes installing drainage, dry lining the walls, and even installing a window, an idea that Jowett picked up during his time at Jasper Hill, which has big windows directly above its 3,000 litre vat, bathing the dairy in light at sunrise.

David Jowett hopes to begin making his cheese in February

“I’ve designed my dairy with a window directly above the vat,” he says. “There’s a balance between keeping it a squeaky clean, watertight box and making it a bit more humane.”

He has also chosen a light blue finish for the Altro hygienic flooring that has gone down although he had fewer options when it came to the Altro Whiterock cladding for the walls of his production area.

Jowett has added a number of other features, such as the ecofriendly timed lighting in his maturing room, that you wouldn’t see in every dairy. It has all come at a price and he says the largest share of his £90,000 budget has been spent on building work.

“It is an absolutely huge project and at times it has seemed impossible when you’re stood there surrounded by rubble and power tools,” he says.

With the building nearly complete, there is more hard work to come. Jowett hopes to start making cheese by mid February, starting with two or three batches a week and building up to four batches (24 of his 8.5kg cheeses) a week. www.jowettcheese.co.uk www.coquard.fr www.altro.co.uk www.kaesereibedarf.at

Riggs Autopack Ltd manufacture volumetric depositors and filling machines for artisan food producers.

Designed for a single operator, our semi-automatic filling machines provide damage free and highly precise depositing of hot or cold products and accurately fill most types or size of container.

Find out more at www.autopack.co.uk or call our Lancashire office on 01282 440040.

Products manufactured using our equipment include • Jam, Honey and Preserves • Chutney • Mustard • Pickles

• Relish • Mayonnaise • Sauces • Dips • Dressings t: 01282 440040 f: 01282 440041 e: info@autopack.co.uk www.autopack.co.uk

REFRACTOMETERS

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Tamper evident & film sealable plastic food packaging Reliable leadtimes and service – sensible minimum order size Products available from stock in transparent Sizes available from 30ml to 5000ml

Visit www.innavisions.com or call us for a brochure TEL; 01886 832283 EMAIL; nick.wild@innavisions.com Vol.14 Issue 1 · January-February 2013

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 

classified • baking equipment

Do you make PIES or other sorts of pastry products?

We make incredibly versatile PIE MACHINES VISIT www.johnhuntbolton.co.uk TO SEE OUR RANGE OF MACHINES, PLUS VIDEO CLIPS OF THE MACHINES IN OPERATION OR CALL + 44 (0) 1204 521831 / 532798 OR FAX + 44 (0) 1204 527306

 Packaging Ltd • food processing machinery

• ingredients

Suppliers of bottling and packaging equipment to artisan producers in the food production industry.

The heart of UK food manufacturing

Depositing & filling machines Capping and crowning machines Labelling and coding machines Label dispensers Tel: 01920 484050 E: nosborne@acosales.co.uk www.acosales.co.uk

Sugar Dextrose Sweetened condensed milk

OR EMAIL spencer@johnhuntbolton.co.uk

Butter Dairy powders Bespoke dairy blends

Tel: (01454) 411446 sales@garrettingredients.co.uk www.garrettingredients.co.uk

JOHN HUNT (Bolton) Ltd Rasbottom St, Bolton, England BL3 5BZ

• baking equipment

• labelling

• food processing machinery

Fine Food Classified 2012_Layout 2 28/06/2 • ingredients • labelling

Top Quality In Cutting Worldwide provider of high quality sharp edge products

The one-stop shop for everyone working with chocolate...

Chocolate Ingredients Décor Packaging Equipment Moulds

Rapid Steel All prices are in GB Pounds Sterling and are supplied ex-VAT and ex-Works unless otherwise stated. The goods hereby supplied shall McDonnells Ltd of P: the +353 1 6778123 remain the property seller until such time as payment for the product has been made in full. Any discrepancies to be made in E: sales@mcdonnells.ie writing within 7 days of receipt. All goods are supplied against our standard terms and245 conditions www.keylink.org Tel: 0114 5400 which are available on request.

Buy online at www.mcdonnells.ie E & O.E. Company Reg. GB996055 VAT Reg. No. 801981926

• bottles & jars

• ingredients

• labelling

• labels

HS HS French Flint Ltd FF Speciality Glassware for the more discerning producer.

Freshness & Flavour sealed in ice

Pure, Chilled or Frozen Lemon, Lime & Orange Zest & Juices

can be supplied as non-organic, organic or wax-free

Produced to order by FA Young Farm Produce Ltd., Timsbury, Bath, Somerset BA2 0FQ

Unit 4G, The Leathermarket, Weston Street, London SE1 3ER

Tel: 020 7407 3200 Fax: 020 7407 5877

01761 470523 F: 01761 471018 E: info@zumozest.com w: www.zumozest.com

T:

www.FrenchFlint.com

• food processing machinery

Suppliers of equipment for artisan producers of fruit juices, wines, ciders and oils. Our wide range extends from extraction processes to filtration, bottling and sealing.

Tel no: 01404 892100 Fax no: 01404 890263 Email: info@vigoltd.com

www.vigoltd.com

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January-February 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 1

• ingredients

• labelling

Don’t leave advertisers in the dark - tell them you saw them in Fine Food Digest.

• labelling

Ser ving the Food and Drink industr y since 1980

Self adhesive labels and swing tags for food and drinks Visit our website for examples of our work and testimonials www.inkreadible.com or ring us to discuss your requirements 0800 096 2720 email: sales@inkreadible.com

Call our sales team on 01963 824464 today to discuss the right classified heading for your equipment, ingredients or services

• labelling

• packaging

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• refrigeration

CODING AND MARKING SYSTEMS FOR FOOD AND PHARMACEUTICAL New

Refurbished

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Offline sleeve and watch strap band feeders Ink jet printers - 5yr warranty on new units Hot Foil & Thermal Transfer Printers Laser coding systems

• packaging

• refrigeration

• training

FOOD SAFETY

DEPOSITORS & PACKAGING SYSTEMS MEATS/SEAFOODS & READY MEALS Depositors for sauces and dressings Pot fillers and liquid fillers Vertical Form Fill Seal Thermoformers Tray sealers Pumps

Tamper evident & film sealable plastic food packaging Reliable leadtimes and service - sensible minimum order size Sizes available from 30ml to 5000ml Visit www.innavisions.com or call us for a brochure TEL: 01886 832283 EMAIL: nick.wild@innavisions.com • packaging

Make sure you’re meeting legal requirements for food safety.

Level 2 Food Safety online £25 Level 3 Food Safety online £125 Meat managers hygiene and HACCP training of all levels

At your own premises or in Skipton, North Yorks.

Verner Wheelock Associates Tel: 01603 721804 www.fda-packaging.com

• temperature moitoring

Training from the Guild of Fine Food What will you learn?

1. The five golden rules for increasing deli sales 2. How to select the best cheese and charcuterie 3. How to create the best counter display 4.

How to avoid bad quality • ingredients • training cheese and charcuterie 5. How to sell proactively rather than reactively 6. The difference between artisan and mass-produced cheeses and meats through comparative tastings For more information:

Training & Consultancy

E-mail: linda.farrand@finefoodworld.co.uk Tel: 01963 824464 www.finefoodworld.co.uk

01756 708526 / office@vwa.co.uk For more information call 01962 761761 info@printsafe.co.uk www.printsafe.co.uk

www.vwa.co.uk

• training

• washing equipment

• packaging

• training

Course costs

Members of The Guild of Fine Food just £70, plus VAT (@ 20%). Non-members £95, plus VAT (@ 20%). *NB. Unfortunately there is a £10 plus VAT (@ 20%) surcharge for London training dates due to higher venue costs.

Vol.14 Issue 1 · January-February 2013

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January-February 2013 路 Vol.14 Issue 1