FFD October 2015 by Guild of Fine Food

DELI OF THE MONTH 52

A KNACK FOR SNACKS? 45

Aston Marina’s Helen Webb on creating a waterside foodie destination

After cracking the crispbread market, Peter’s Yard moves into snacking

TERRY JONES 25 The SCA secretary tells us why the woes of ‘big dairy’ are bad news for artisans too

October 2015 · Vol 16 Issue 9

AUTUMN COLLECTION

Stock your shop for comfort with the latest soups, pies and ready-meals CHEF’S SELECTION 46 Chef, writer and cookery teacher Tim Maddams extols the virtues of Capreolus smoked mutton, Hodmedods dried fava beans and Heavenly Hedgerows hawthorn jelly

CHARCUTERIE 27 Dorset’s The Real Cure is gearing up to move into trade sales with its venison bacon and salami

MEET ALL THIS YEAR’S GREAT TASTE GOLDEN FORK WINNERS, STARTING ON PAGE 12

NEWS CHEESEWIRE SAUCES & INGREDIENTS SOUPS & READY MEALS CHRISTMAS DINNER SHELF TALK DELI OF THE MONTH

4 23 31 37 43 45 52

Oven baked High in Fibre All natural ingredients

Introducing our new range of baked crispbread snacks These sourdough crispbread bites are inspired by our love of Swedish baking and are full of simple, natural ingredients. Baked until deliciously crisp, they are perfect with drinks and dips. www.petersyard.com 2

October 2015 路 Vol.16 Issue 9

opinion

What’s new this month:

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shoppers will also be tempted by the hose clever Germans (I don’t kind of Continental treats and novelty mean Volkswagen executives, sweets that would otherwise take obvs) are at it again. While them into the independent deli. many of us were tracking what It just piles more pressure on Waitrose and M&S were up to this specialist shops to find a point of Christmas, it seems Aldi and Lidl difference, and that will centre on two may put the squeeze on delis and familiar themes: product range and farm shops too, this time from the in-store experience. lower reaches of the market. As importer-distributor Empire As we report on p4, discounters Bespoke Foods told us, indies need are doing an annoyingly good job to drill deep with lines like lebkuchen, with some of the deli’s festive staples identifying superior versions the – smoked salmon, gingerbread, supermarkets won’t touch. If Aldi or lebkuchen and so on – and at price to Lidl are price-promoting, they won’t be trounce all-comers. highlighting the fact that better quality Given that gingerbread houses, options are available. Independents, novelty biscuits and chocolates are on the other hand, are perfectly something of a German speciality, placed not just to their presence in flag up superior Aldi and Lidl isn’t surprising. Discounters are doing products but to What has an annoyingly good job offer comparative and changed is the with some of the deli’s tastings actually talk to presence of so customers. I can’t many middle-class festive staples remember a lot consumers in those, of friendly sales patter on the few as a rather theatrical ex-colleague used occasions I’ve ventured into Lidl. to put it, down-marché stores. Communication is key. It’s no Natural-born Waitrose devotees good having a better class of product have inverted their snobbery and if you don’t let shoppers know it’s descended on the discounters in better. The best indies I visit these droves. The risk being that while days all have really good signage that buying those “amaaaazingly good suggests they are enthusiasts for, and value” wines, meats and Christmas understand, what they stock. turkeys (and even I And that feeds into the in-store might grab a bottle experience. I’ve just interviewed Mark of Aldi’s Great Handley of London Farmers’ Markets, Taste Top 50 Glen which runs open-air markets across Marnoch single the Capital, for next month’s FFD. malt, at half the He told me one reason markets still price of a branded appeal is “the personal side – dealing Islay), wellwith a real person, not an automated heeled checkout.” Indies and their staff offer the same huge benefit. They need to think about how they can make the best of it as December looms. .

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MICK WHITWORTH Editor

EDITORIAL

GENERAL ENQUIRIES

editorial@gff.co.uk

Tel: 01747 825200 Fax: 01747 824065 info@gff.co.uk www.gff.co.uk

Editor: Mick Whitworth Deputy editor: Michael Lane Reporter: Arabella Mileham Art director: Mark Windsor Editorial production: Richard Charnley Contributors: Clare Hargreaves, Patrick McGuigan, Lynda Searby

ADVERTISING advertise@gff.co.uk Sales manager: Sally Coley Advertisement sales: Becky Stacey, Ruth Debnam Published by Great Taste Publications Ltd and the Guild of Fine Food Ltd Managing director: John Farrand Marketing director: Tortie Farrand Chairman: Bob Farrand Director: Linda Farrand Operations & Guild membership: Charlie Westcar, Karen Price, Jilly Sitch, Claire Powell Accounts: Stephen Guppy, Denise Ballance, Julie Coates

Guild of Fine Food, Guild House, 23b Kingsmead Business Park, Shaftesbury Road, Gillingham, Dorset SP8 5FB United Kingdom Fine Food Digest is published 11 times a year and is available on subscription for £45pa inclusive of post and packing. Printed by: Blackmore, Dorset, UK © Great Taste Publications Ltd and The Guild of Fine Food Ltd 2015. 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 MICHAEL LANE Deputy editor

Soda Folk root beer and cream soda www.sodafolk.co.uk

If you’ve even had one eye on the craft beer revolution sweeping the nation, you’ll know that the can is making a comeback. In fact, you could say that they’re becoming a bit of an art form. Soda Folk’s vessels are no different. The style of illustration feels fresh and stands out in a sea of wordy designs and branding clichés. I was hooked before I even knew what was in them. The good news is that both the root beer and the cream soda (which already has a Great Taste one-star to its name) deliver the required sweetness but the all-natural ingredients give them more depth than your average can of pop. The cream soda has a tasty vanilla punch, while the root beer offers a maple syrup-y finish that could convert some haters. Given the wave of enthusiasm for US cuisine at the moment, these should do well both in the chiller or merchandised with BBQ lines. They might also appeal to those homesick ex-pats, who have been cut adrift since so many additive-riddled US soft drinks were banned by the Food Standards Agency.

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Vol.16 Issue 9 · October 2015

fine food news Aldi and Lidl are bringing a new level of competition to the Christmas market

Indies facing festive threat as discounters enter deli territory FINE DISTINCTIONS: Piers Adamson of Empire Bespoke Foods says delis need to push the superior quality message – for example, stocking premium ‘elisen’ lebkuchen over the ‘oblaten’ grade sold in price-led supermarkets

By PATRICK McGUIGAN

Fine food retailers will have to up their games this Christmas to fend off the twin threat of top end supermarkets and German discounters. That’s the view of industry experts, who said delis and farm shops face tough competition this year on speciality lines from either end of the supermarket sector. While the Big Four supermarkets are still mired in a price war, upmarket retailers Waitrose and M&S have launched more sophisticated speciality food ranges for Christmas. Aldi and Lidl will also be strong in areas that are traditionally proﬁtable for delis, such as smoked salmon, gingerbread and panettone. “They are absolutely moving into deli territory and the challenge for the delis is to stay ahead of them,” said Richard Perks, director of retail research at analysts Mintel. “Aldi and Lidl have introduced a premium offer, so it’s a mistake to look at them as trading at the bottom of the market. They draw customers from across the whole range. At the same time, Waitrose has always done a good job. I went to the launch of their Christmas range and it was impressive.” At Mimosa deli in South London, co-owner Patricia Peacock echoed these comments: “The supermarkets are muscling in on the speciality sector but at the same time I still think there is room for everyone,” she said. “We can diversify and do things differently.” To this end, the retailer makes its own products, such as mince pies, and stocks unusual festive lines that can’t be found in the supermarket, such as French cider and Moroccan ceramics. “People still want to shop locally,” Peacock said. “They have

October 2015 · Vol.16 Issue 9

to drive for 15 minutes to go to their nearest Waitrose or Aldi, which isn’t convenient, and people want to support their local businesses.” Convenience is a major advantage for the independents in the run-up to Christmas, said Mintel’s Perks. “We’re seeing many more households living in rented accommodation because it’s hard to get on the property ladder. These people aren’t really in the position to do a weekly shop because they don’t have a car and don’t have storage, so they shop on an ’as needed’ basis and more locally.” This trend was conﬁrmed by distributor Cotswold Fayre, which said it was gearing up for a bumper Christmas as shoppers ‘top up’ their big shop with ﬁne food items from independents. “There’s no doubt that there has been a huge shift in consumer

buying habits over the past year,” said chief executive Paul Hargreaves. “We have seen our average orders increase by 15% year-on-year and we expect our Christmas orders to reﬂect this growth too.” Wholesaler Empire Bespoke Foods has also received strong Christmas orders from independents, said head of product development Piers Adamson, who added that they must convey the superior quality of their products. “They can’t compete on price with Aldi and Lidl, so indies have to deliver quality and ‘wow’ factor,” he said. “The discounters will sell lebkuchen at a cheaper price, but it will be the lower ’oblaten’ grade. Delis have to get the message across that their lebkuchen is the top ‘elisan’ grade, which has a higher percentage of nuts.”

Clique and deliver The award-winning Norfolk Deli in Hunstanton is launching an online subscription service as a way of differentiating itself from the supermarkets this Christmas. Called the Norfolk Deli Cliques, customers will be able to choose to be part of a different food and drink ‘clique’ by buying a subscription for a monthly delivery of cheese, wine or coffee. “It’s difﬁcult to compete on price, so we need to offer something more bespoke,” said co-owner Mark Kacary (pictured left), whose shop was named Best Independent Food & Drink Retailer at the Norfolk Food and Drink Awards this year. In-store, the retailer has moved away from panettone and German gingerbread because they are prevalent in supermarkets, in favour of speciality Turkish delight. The shop basement will also be transformed to have a Christmas grotto feel and dramatic displays. “It’s about that Christmassy experience with lots of glitz and glamour, which is different from walking down the supermarket aisle with Slade playing in the background,” said Kacary.

A special(ity) time of year: How supermarkets are muscling in on ﬁne food Hand-plucked, dry hung bronze turkey: Aldi’s free-range turkey, which is hung for 10 days and plucked by hand, leads a new range of 'super premium’ Christmas products. The discounter says the bird will cost a fraction of the £80 charged by many “premium retailers” Prosecco panettone: Made by a thirdgeneration family bakery, Waitrose’s

prosecco panettone (below left) combines 49-year-old mother sourdough with an injection of prosecco syrup. Carpaccio with olive oil & cheese: Part of Lidl’s new Deluxe Christmas products devised by chef Kevin Love, who previously headed up Heston Blumenthal’s Michelinstarred pub the Hinds Head. Delice aux Trufﬂes: Marks & Spencer has worked with Abergavenny Fine Foods to develop a range of Christmas cheeses (right), including a triple cream variety with a layer of black trufﬂes.

@ffdonline

Nostalgia-laden Irish dripping tops Great Taste for 2015

Pat Whelan, second generation owner of James Whelan Butchers, collected the Supreme Champion trophy for his Irish beef dripping. He’s pictured (right) with BBC Radio 2 food correspondent and awards host Nigel Barden By MICK WHITWORTH

Ireland reclaimed the top honours in the world’s biggest ﬁne food award scheme last month after a traditional beef dripping from James Whelan Butchers in Co Tipperary was named Great Taste Supreme Champion 2015. The top trophy, sponsored by Harrods, was presented on September 7 at the annual ‘Golden Forks’ dinner at London’s Royal Garden Hotel. Whelan’s product, made with suet from grass-fed Angus and Hereford beef clariﬁed into a clear, richly

ﬂavoured dripping, evoked a wave of nostalgia among the Great Taste ﬁnal panel. The win for James Whelan Butchers, based in Clonmel, gives the Ludlow Food Centre’s Edward Berry collected the Shop of the Year trophy

Republic its ﬁrst Supreme Champion since Woodcock Smokery’s wild smoked salmon in 2006. But it follows victories for Northern Ireland in 2011 (McCartney’s of Moira’s corned beef) and 2012 (Hannan Meats’ guanciale), cementing the island of Ireland’s reputation for simple products based on exceptional primary ingredients. Among the other major Golden Fork trophies, Berkshire craft brewer Savour Beer was named Artisan Producer of the Year for its Sparkling Beer Brut, an innovative twist on a classic Belgian Saison beer. Chocolatier Åkesson´s of London was named Great Taste Producer of the Year after four of its single estate chocolates made it into the 2015 Great Taste Top 50 Foods – the highest achieving products out of 10,000 award entries. Ann-Marie Dyas, founder of The Fine Cheese Company, received this year’s Guild of Fine Food Lifetime Achievement Award. And Edward Berry, whose departure as MD of Ludlow Food Centre was announced last month, signed off in style by collecting the Great Taste Shop of the Year trophy for the pioneering Shropshire store. • Meet the Supreme Champion and read about all this year’s Golden Fork winners – page 12. www.greattasteawards.co.uk

Scottish farm shops beneﬁt from government-backed promotion A campaign urging consumers to choose farm shops over supermarkets has been launched in Scotland, supported by the Scottish government. The First Stop Farm Shop campaign, which was unveiled by Scotland’s cabinet secretary for food and rural affairs Richard Lochhead, will see a four-month social media campaign targeting consumers across the country. It has been devised by the Scottish Farm Shops Business Club, and received around £12,000 of funding from the Community Food Fund. This fund forms part of the three-year Think Local initiative which was set up to promote local food and drink, and drive Scotland’s reputation as a ‘Land of Food and Drink’, by Scotland’s Rural College’s (SRUC) on behalf of the Scottish Government. At last month’s launch, 50 out of nearly 140 Scottish farm shops had

Rural affairs secretary Richard Lochhead launched the campaign at Craigies Farm Deli and Café

already signed up to the campaign, running events and activities in store and online under the First Stop Farm Shop umbrella, coordinator Anna Mitchell of Castleton Farm Shop in Laurencekirk told FFD. The scheme will concentrate on the provenance of local food, the importance of supporting the rural economy, education about food and farming and promoting health and wellbeing, she said. Launching the campaign at

Craigies Farm Deli and Café, Lochhead said it was a great way to encourage people to support local farmers and take advantage of the variety of Scottish fresh produce. “For those lucky enough to live near a farm shop, I would encourage them to make it their ﬁrst port of call and support their local farmers,” he said. Will Docker of Balgove Larder Farm Shop, which is taking part in the initiative, said real growth could be achieved if farming and food collaborated with the tourism sector. “Now more than ever before, there is a growing group of food pioneers that are rearing, growing and creating amazing foods in some of the most remote locations,” he said. “The commercial world is becoming a smaller place by the day and there’s a real buzz around what can be possible if you have the right ideas and wherewithal.” www.ﬁrststopfarmshop.co.uk

IN BRIEF O Specialist food shops are the most-wanted retailers on the high street, according to the Local Shop report 2015, published by the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS). They were ranked more highly by consumers and councillors than any other high street service, and were among the top ﬁve categories when it came to having a positive impact on a local area, along with convenience stores in second place, and coffee-shops in fourth.

O Isle of Harris Distillery – the ﬁrst commercial whisky producer on the Hebridean island – was ofﬁcially opened on September 24. The operation in Tarbert will eventually produce the equivalent of 300,000 bottles a year of its single malt The Hearach – the Gaelic word for an inhabitant of Harris. It will also be producing a small-batch gin made with locally harvested sugar kelp. O The World Cheese Awards is open for entry until October 18. This year’s competition, which will be held at the BBC Good Food Show Winter in Birmingham’s NEC on November 26, is expected to attract a record number of entries. Cheese-makers can enter at www.gff.co.uk/wca

O Bodnant Welsh Food, the multi-award winning farm shop, restaurant and small-scale production complex in the Conwy Valley, has opened concessions in two North Wales holiday parks and a garden centre on the Wirral – and says more could be in the pipeline. A meat counter selling fresh Welsh meat cut and packed at Bodnant’s own butchery has been installed at Gordale Garden Centre in Burton, South Wirral while two “mini Bodnants” have been added to the retail offer at Brynteg upmarket caravan park in Llanrug, Gwynedd, and Silver Bay holiday village on Anglesey. O The Guild of Fine Food will be holding cheese training days in Scotland for the ﬁrst time in four years. There are still spots available for both of the Edinburgh courses – on November 2 & 3 – which will boost cheese knowledge through tutored tastings and teach participants to sell more in their shops. For more information or to book contact jilly.sitch@gff.co.uk

O Bacchus Fumé, one of the ﬁve varieties launched by Lyme Bay Winery in its ﬁrst foray into English wines, has won the South West Vineyards Association’s trophy for the best oaked white wine. It is made from 100% Bacchus grapes, hand-picked from Nigel Howard’s Southcote vineyard in Devon. Vol.16 Issue 9 · October 2015

fine food news Ashclyst yoghurt is ‘best food’ in 10th National Trust awards By MICK WHITWORTH

Yoghurt, English sparkling wine and Pembrokeshire new potatoes took the top honours in the National Trust Fine Farm Produce awards last month. Celebrating their 10th anniversary, the awards recognise producers based on the conservation charity’s 1,500 tenant farms and estates throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland. A record 62 products from 37 producers took an award this year. Ashclyst Farm Dairy, based on the Trust’s Killerton estate in East Devon, grabbed the overall best food trophy for its organic natural yoghurt. Martyn and Lorraine Glover have held the 200-acre Ashclyst farm

since 1998 and built a processing unit three years ago to add value to milk from their herd of 80 Meuse Rhine Issel cows. Charles Palmer Vineyards near Winchelsea in East Sussex was overall drinks winner with its English sparkling wine. In a special award to mark 10 years of the scheme, Pembrokeshire potato grower Trehill Farm was named Producer of the Decade for its consistent performance in the awards since 2007. The annual award ceremony was this year held at Selfridge’s rooftop Vintage Salt restaurant as part of the store’s yearly Meet the Makers campaign. www.nationaltrust.org.uk/ finefarmproduceawards

By ARABELLA MILEHAM

Ashclyst Farm Dairy is on the Trust’s Killerton estate in Devon

Gabriel David to focus on NPD as Luscombe names new MD By MICHAEL LANE

South Devon’s Luscombe Drinks has appointed a new managing director as part of a restructure that will see founder Gabriel David take up the role of chairman. MD Adrian Collins (pictured), who has held a variety of executive roles in the food industry, will be

responsible for growing the soft drinks business, while David will now focus on new product development and ingredient sourcing. “I am incredibly proud to be leading and guiding such a committed and talented team through an immense amount of change, investment and growth,” said Collins, who has been working at Luscombe as director general manager since March 2015. He added: “It is an incredibly

exciting new phase for Luscombe Drinks and I am hugely looking forward to taking such an already established company and brand to a new level, pushing boundaries and further transforming the artisan soft drinks sector, driving Luscombe to an even brighter future.” Established in 1975, Luscombe supplies its hand-made drinks to independents across the UK but has a policy of not selling to supermarkets.

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

This has not only increased our margins, but helped us to differentiate ourselves from the competition through consistent quality. The only way to really guarantee that is by having farm-toOLIVER WRIGHT BILLY’S HILL FARM SHOP, HEMINGFIELD fork control. As a result of this shift we have minimal retail staffing. We hardly from our own farm-reared beef but I was 23 years old when I put have anyone stacking shelves but lines like jams and pork pies were together the diversification plan for have invested in skilled staff. We’ve making us much less profit. our 250-acre family farm seven years trained up two apprentices from We developed some products ago. Looking back, the business scratch: a butcher and plan was too modest: it was a case a baker. of dipping a toe in the water rather Our target is to increase We’ve invested than diving in headlong. turnover by 20% year on year. in equipment such With hindsight we should We’ve managed that most years. as bigger ovens, and have invested in production skills instead of handand capacity from the start – for forming bread we have a bread ourselves through trial and error, but example, buying bigger ovens and bun moulding line. This allows our we also brought in an expert – chef cold stores, rather than focusing so staff to be more flexible as they Stephanie Moon – to assist with heavily on the retail aspect. don’t have to be pigeon-holed in recipe development. Now we make The shop is 300% bigger and a particular role. It has also made ready-meals, pies, bacon, cured the production area 2,000% bigger us more efficient. Our turnovermeats, pastries and bread in-house than when we opened, which is a to-man-hours ratio has increased and sell them at a lower retail price reflection of how the business has significantly over the years. than we could if we bought them evolved. The recession forced us to The other focus for us is in. We still use external suppliers concentrate on driving down costs, growing the trade side of the from within a 10-mile radius for and the most obvious way of doing business, supplying lines like steak items like jam, ales and wines, and this was to produce more in-house. pies to pubs. The main challenge is cheese. We were getting a good margin

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October 2015 · Vol.16 Issue 9

EU regulation of artisan food comes under scrutiny A new study is to examine whether EU food safety laws are too rigid for artisan producers. Slow Food Europe and UK legal specialist Artisan Food Law (AFL) launched the research ahead of the international Cheese 2015 event in Bra, Italy, at the end of September. They argue EU food laws were designed to regulate industrial-scale operations and may be unsuitable for small-scale, traditional producers. Although there are derogations exempting small firms from some regulations, critics say the rules are inflexible and are not applied consistently across Europe The study will start looking at cheese, but may extend to other products later. Slow Food and AFL intend to feed their results into the European Commission, which is reviewing the fitness of food law. AFL’s Gerry Danby said the study will see if there is a case for taking small producers out of the current rules. In the USA, artisan production operates under a separate regime, although Danby said there were drawbacks to a “two-tier” system. George Rice of charcuterie-maker Serious Pig said excessive paperwork had made regulation “top heavy” for smaller firms in the UK. “Producers may be a victim of bureaucracy, which wrongly suggests they aren’t equipped to do their job,” he said.

that trade margins aren’t as good. We’re keen to push cured meats in particular. I think people are moving away from Danish bacon and the market for regional cured meats is opening up. Our target is to increase turnover by 20% year on year. We’ve managed that most years. One of the biggest challenges has been coming up with new ideas and making sure the business doesn’t get stale. If you churn out the same standard pork pies all the time, people will lose interest. But there is a balance to be struck between familiarity and innovation. If you stray too far into the exotic it turns people off. Steak & ale pies have sold steadily from day one. However, our Great Taste award-winning bacon cured in port and cinnamon doesn’t fly at any time other than Christmas. It’s just too niche for most of our customers, most of whom associate bacon with a fry-up rather than an ingredient for combining with poultry or game. Interview by LYNDA SEARBY

@ffdonline

Winners of 48 Great Taste Awards since 2003 (we’ve just won another 6 awards for 2015) At Luscombe, we … • ;W]ZKM \PM ÅVM[\ WZOIVQK ingredients direct from growers all over the world

• Meticulously control the pressing, blending and bottling of all our drinks in Devon

• Never compromise on quality

• 6M^MZ ][M IZ\QÅKQIT ILLQ\Q^M[ XZM[MZ^I\Q^M[ WZ ÆI^W]ZQVO[

Find out how soon you could stock Luscombe – we’ll handle everything else

Tel: 01364 643036 www.luscombe.co.uk

Vol.16 Issue 9 · October 2015

路 Vol.16 IssueLimited 9 8 October 2015 COMING SOON Edition

- coffee grown by women

fine food news new openings

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

Liverpool’s Lunya deli targets affluent Manchester crowd By ARABELLA MILEHAM

Liverpool’s Catalan deli and restaurant Lunya is opening its second store on Manchester’s most exclusive street. The new deli on Deansgate is due to open this month in a refurbished 150-year-old Grade II listed building in Barton’s Arcade, uniting three previously separate units. Totalling 5,000 sq ft, it will include 1,200 sq ft on the ground floor devoted to the retail deli, alongside a bar. A further 3,000 sq ft of restaurant space will be split across two levels and include a covered balcony inside the Victorian shopping arcade. Owners Peter and Elaine Kinsella told FFD around 20% of their existing customer base came from Manchester and they were confident now was the “right time” to expand. “We were adamant we didn’t want to expand too quickly, but we have a very good and stable team, and the time was right,” Elaine Kinsella said. “The growth in popularity of Spanish food shows no

The 5,000 sq ft Manchester unit includes a 1,200 sq ft deli and adjoining bar, plus a restaurant on two levels

signs of slowing.” Peter Kinsella admitted rents and rates on both the existing and new site were “eye-watering”, but said Deansgate was an ideal high profile location. “For our model to work we need a thriving metropolitan city with a cosmopolitan clientele and a growing Spanish population,” he said. The Liverpool deli and restaurant has a “symbiotic relationship”, with the retail section contributing a “substantial” 25% of sales or

around £600k to the annual £2.4m turnover. “We do around 2,500 covers a week and around 80% of our diners buy something from the deli. And people pop in for something in the deli, stop for a coffee and then stay for a glass of wine and some tapas,” he explained. “We need the restaurant and bar to make it sustainable.” The Manchester deli will stock the same range as the Liverpool store, with around 1,200 food lines,

including nearly 40 different cheeses, and 300 wines, spirits and Sherries. Around 90% of the products are sourced from Catalonia. “We have long standing relationships with our suppliers,” said Elaine Kinsella. “But we’re always on the lookout for new products.” The new venture will be run by the current Liverpool team leaders, who are moving to the Manchester site and handing over the reins in Liverpool to their current deputies. www.lunya.co.uk

Charcuterie Board sets up shop in Serious Pig’s HQ

First purpose-built shop for West of England farm

By ARABELLA MILEHAM

Specialist wholesaler The Charcuterie Board is set to launch its first permanent charcuterie shop and bar in London. The new outlet, which will run on Saturdays from the beginning of November, will be housed in part of snack charcuterie brand Serious Pig’s new HQ and packing facility in a railway arch in Peckham The Charcuterie Board was founded in March 2014 by charcutier Matt Bedell and Owen Davidson Knight, the former wholesale manager at Cannon & Cannon, to exclusively represent artisan producers Native Breeds and Moons Green in the Capital. It currently operates weekly stalls at Crystal Palace Food Market and Woodgrange Market. The new shop will carry a range of British charcuterie from producers including Serious Pig, Native Breeds, and Moons Green, and the firm has applied for a license and planning application so it can serve craft beers.

Gloucestershire-based Court Farm, at Stoke Orchard near Cheltenham, is looking to build on the success of its honesty-box run Egg Shed by opening a purpose-built farm shop. The unit, opened on September 24, has been planned for two years by fourth-generation farmer Simon Knight and his partner Lisa Grayson. The couple have sold their own free range eggs and honey, and locally produced fruit and vegetables from a small outbuilding on the farm, attracting an average of 240 visitors a month. Building work on the new 550 sq ft unit started in May, comprising a 270 sq ft shop with 4m butchers’ counter, a large meat preparation area, cold store, storage facilities and an office.

Currently 95% of The Charcuterie Board’s business is wholesale, but Davidson Knight told FFD it was actively looking for retail opportunities and interesting partnerships. “If [the shop] goes well, it has the potential to develop its own identity within the brand,” he said. “If viable, we will open on more days of the week.” Serious Pig’s new London HQ, which opened in August, comes off the back of a successful crowdfunding operation in May, which raised £126,000 through Crowdbnk. www.thecharcuterieboard.com www.seriouspig.london

Managed by Lisa and open seven days a week, the new shop will let the family sell beef from its own herd, as well as lamb and pork, some of which was previously supplied to Sainsbury’s. It will also stock around 650 lines from more than 35 small and local producers, including baked items, deli products, jams and chutneys, ales and ciders, gifts, seasonal plants and Christmas trees. www.courtfarmshop.co.uk

Vol.16 Issue 9 · October 2015

A promotional feature on behalf of Hider Foods PACKAGING | DISPLAY | BAGS FOR LIFE

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s our 50th anniversary year draws to a close, I am finding time to analyse what has won us our place as market leader in our sector and crucially how we can remain there! A business’s brand profile is vital to the success of every modern company but, with the myriad marketing avenues available to us these days, how important are they to us respectively and how are we to rank their efficacy and importance? How does the reach and influence of internet-based marketing, for example, compare with the personal touch that has served Hider so well in our half century of trading? Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube all have their merits for sure but it’s very easy for a slick online presence to paper over cracks elsewhere. We are rightfully proud that for the last three years, we have won the Best Distributor category in the FFD Best Brands survey. We are prouder still that this is voted for by retailers, so we must be getting certain things right. We have worked hard over

the last 50 years to develop relationships with our customers that are based on solid customer service, competitive pricing and an unbeatably diverse product offering. But how do these aspects of a company’s appeal compare with the individual relationships between our teams and our customers and suppliers? The reality is that members of our sales team and buying team have been with us for well over 20 years. They have watched retail and supplier businesses grow and worked with them to develop their product offering over time. I believe that this is at the core of our success – that sense of having a distributor as a partner. I am also convinced that this has grown our ‘Fine Food Family’ and we are resolved that this will continue for the next 50 years. Right… I’m off to update my Facebook status.

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October 2015 · Vol.16 Issue 9

fine food news Truro development is in trouble again after Waitrose attacks ‘partner’ Taste of Cornwall in local press

Doubts over Cornish Food Hall as Waitrose admits ‘revising’ the deal By ARABELLA MILEHAM

Producer consortium The Taste of Cornwall (ToC) is hopeful its planned Cornish Food Hall in Truro will go ahead, despite rumours of a major rift with Waitrose, one of its main partners in the project. The controversial plan for a 6,000 sq ft local food showcase under the same roof as a new 15,000 sq ft Waitrose in Truro was given the green light in 2012 after a long planning battle. It is slated to open in 2016, three years behind schedule. The concept is a partnership between ToC – a group of farmers, growers and food producers – and Waitrose, Cornwall Council and the Duchy of Cornwall, which owns the land. It forms a cornerstone of the Truro Eastern District Centre development, a £40m complex on the city’s outskirts that includes a park-and-ride and housing. However, last month the deal was called into question after Waitrose released a statement to local press saying it had no confidence in ToC to deliver the

Three years after winning planning approval the combined development remains on the drawing board

project and claiming key milestones had been missed. In response, ToC shareholders were reported to have accused the retail giant of reneging on promises and moving the goalposts to such as extent it would be impossible to make money. Speaking to FFD Waitrose said

that while it was committed to delivering a food hall for Cornish produce alongside its new store – as required by the planning consent – it was actively looking for other partners. “We would be open to continuing discussions with Taste of Cornwall if they are able to

demonstrate they can deliver the shop, but as this has not been forthcoming we must start looking at alternatives,” a spokesman said. However, Waitrose also admitted changing the original agreement with ToC, blaming changing market conditions and delays from planning challenges. “We had to revise the agreement or it was not viable for us to open, let alone to do the Taste of Cornwall unit,” a Waitrose spokesman said. He insisted “core” promises – including Waitrose building the unit, helping to fit it out and providing it rent free for at least five years – had not been changed and that it was still trying to find a solution acceptable to all parties. Sensitive negotiations are understood to be ongoing, but ToC chairman Philip Warren dismissed Waitrose’s statement as “commercial wrangling”. “Taste of Cornwall are looking forward to delivering what is agreed under the planning permission, and deliver our long established contract with Waitrose,” he said.

Taste of the West in share issue to fund national marketing push

British brewing boom shows no sign of slowing, says CAMRA

By ARABELLA MILEHAM

By MICK WHITWORTH

Regional food group Taste of the West (TotW) aims to raise £250,000 through a share issue to boost its members’ chances of competing on national and international markets. The organisation, representing over 1,000 West County food businesses, aims to strengthen its commercial arm, invest in sales and promotions and appoint more account management staff. The funding drive, launched last month, is open to both TotW members and private investors, including private equity groups. Shares are priced at £1 each, with a minimum investment of £350. The food group hopes to raise the money by November. Chief executive John Sheaves told FFD there was a gap in the market for regional producers to sell nationally and it was important to act collaboratively to promote south west England as a brand. “The region is now known as a top quality producer but we have to reach markets both in the UK and internationally in a way that represents brands not as individuals, but together as a group,” he said.

The British beer revolution appears “unstoppable”, according to the editor of CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide, after the real ale campaigning body revealed a 10% rise in the number of breweries for a third consecutive year. “More and more breweries have been launched to keep up with demand for full-bodied, full-flavoured beers,” said Roger Protz. “Britain now has more breweries per head than any other country and the range of beers on offer is the best in the world, ranging from the palest golden ale to the darkest, pitch-black stout.” Over 200 new breweries are featured in the Good Beer Guide 2016, published last month. CAMRA says there are now 1,424 UK brewers – more than at any time since World War II – producing over 11,000 different real ales. While one in every six pints sold in British pubs is now real ale, the range of local and regional bottled ales available for off-sales has also risen. Bottled beer entries to the Great Taste awards scheme have almost doubled in the past three years, with 178 products entered this year.

John Sheaves: Provenance is now more important than ‘local’

“Together, through us, smaller producers can achieve more.” Consumers’ interest in artisan food was now less about ‘local’ than about the provenance, Sheaves added. “A common theme in the market is that it’s not about large national brands, but smaller ones with a story to tell,” he said. www.tasteofthewest.co.uk

CAMRA says variety is also increasing, with breweries now producing an average of eight products each. “Gone are the days when a brewery made just one or two different beers,” it says, “as brewers expand their repertoires to include porters, stouts, IPAs, fruit beers, or even beers aged in wine and whisky casks.” Roger Protz said that while the movement is UK-wide, London is reclaiming its place at the centre of British brewing “London is the most remarkable success story. Today there are 74 breweries operating in the capital, compared to 54 a year ago.” www.camra.org.uk

There are now more UK breweries than at any time since WWII Vol.16 Issue 9 · October 2015

the big winners

Respect for the b As co-author of The Irish Beef Book, Tipperary butcher Pat Whelan has gone from champion of nose-to-tail eating to Supreme Champion of Great Taste 2015. As we round-up all this year’s major trophy winners, MICK WHITWORTH spoke to Whelan about making the most of Ireland’s ‘world-class’ beef.

hen James Whelan Butchers of Clonmel, Co Tipperary, picked up a three-star Great Taste award for its traditional beef dripping back in 2014, it turns out to have been a happy accident. “The only reason we entered last year was that [community food group] Tipperary Food Producers wanted to take part in Great Taste en masse,” says Pat Whelan, who has run his family meat business since 1999. “The group wanted every member to enter something. I was their chairman, and said ‘good idea’. Then I was in the sticky situation of finding one of our products that I could actually get to England. I only sent the dripping because I knew it could travel!” A year later, entered into Great Taste 2015, the humble block of beef fat not only picked up its second three-star award but took a place in this year’s Top 50 Foods. And then, at the annual ’Golden Forks’ awards night in London on September 7, Harrods food chief Bruce Langlands took to the podium to name Whelan’s beef dripping Great Taste Supreme Champion 2015, swept to the top on a wave of foodie nostalgia. It’s the third Supreme Champion title in five years for an Irish meat product, after Northern Irish butcher George McCartney’s corned beef in 2011 and his near neighbour Peter Hannan’s guanciale (cured pig’s cheek) in 2012. Made from a carefully balanced blend of back fat and body fat from grass-fed Angus and Hereford beef, rendered and clarified, the Whelan dripping’s complex sweet-andsavoury taste was said by one of the final judges to distil all the flavours of roast beef, roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding and gravy in one neat package. James Golding, chef director of The Pig hotel group, said the product took him straight back to his childhood, while restaurant critic and MasterChef judge Charles Campion described it as “an old friend”. “It touched the hearts of all the judges,” said the Great Taste judging regular, adding: “I’ve never seen such an outrageous reaction to a simple product.” “It’s an extraordinary thing,”

October 2015 · Vol.16 Issue 9

HARRODS TROPHY SUPREME CHAMPION 2015 Beef dripping James Whelan Butchers

L-R Guild of Fine Food MD John Farrand, Harrods’ director of food Bruce Langlands, winner Pat Whelan and BBC Radio 2’s Nigel Barden

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says Pat Whelan, when we meet in Dublin at the Speciality & Fine Food Fair Ireland, a week after his Great Taste triumph, “but what I’ve learned about dripping is that it’s quite an emotive product – certainly for anyone over the age of 30. If you’re under 30 you’ve probably never tasted it!” He continues: “People think dripping is just rendered fat, but it’s the blend that’s important. Fat is flavour, and it’s one of the most misunderstood ingredients on the planet.”

It’s one of those great contradictions in British food culture that, just as healthy eating is again moving up the media agenda, interest in fat from well-reared animals has been rising among chefs and food columnists. But Pat Whelan won’t take any credit for spotting a commercial opportunity. “People say to me, ‘You obviously really understand the trends’. But it was in no way contrived.” In fact, like that first foray into Great Taste, the development of Whelan’s beef dripping came about

has world-class beef, and I need ❛toIreland make the most of it out of respect for my trade and for nature, which has given us this wonderful animal. To discard any piece of it is a sin.

Pat Whelan

❜

through a mix of chance and the company’s progressive attitude to business improvement – in this case, the Irish government’s Origin Green programme. “Origin Green is an initiative that’s all about making us a sustainable, carbon-neutral nation,” Whelan says. “In that context, I was already looking at what we were doing with fat and bone and other by-products of what we produce. “And then I got a phone call from the guy who had been paying me a nominal amount for taking them away, saying ‘From now on, you’ll have to pay me.’” So Whelan did what any good Irish son should do: he consulted his mother, asking what she and his father James used to do with their waste fat when they started James Whelan Butchers back in 1960. To which the answer was: “We made dripping.” “We go back five generations as butchers on my mother’s side,” says Pat Whelan. “So she gave me my grounding in making dripping, and then we have a good team who were able to develop it from there.” Since then, the product has also benefited from a continuous improvement process at James Whelan Butchers that its boss calls Good to Great, focusing on the firm’s added-value products. “Every six to eight months we identify three or four products that we think are good and have the potential to be better, and we try to make it great. And the dripping was one of those.” Both of Whelan’s parents were farmers’ children, and with his mother also from a butchery family he says there was never any real doubt what he would do for a living. He absorbed the business simply by sitting down round the dining table each day, listening to the conversation and eating produce from the family farm, which is still “at the core” of the operation. The company had a single shop when he took over in 1999, and Pat Whelan effectively opened its second a few years later when he established a website and then a full e-commerce site. It sold initially to what Whelan calls the “Clonmel diaspora” – people who loved their local butcher but have moved to other parts of the country. They in

e big beasts turn have become ambassadors for the firm’s meat, creating new customers among their friends and neighbours. Speaking to FFD at Speciality & Fine Food Fair Ireland, Edward Horgan of wholesaler Horgans Delicatessen Supplies said Pat Whelan had “changed the face of butchery retailing” in Ireland, and in recent years the business has achieved a step-change after forging a relationship with stylish food, clothing and lifestyle chain Avoca. The first James Whelan in-store butchery opened in Avoca Monkstown in 2011, and the idea is gradually being rolled out to other sites. “We felt their ethos was a particularly good fit for us,” explains Pat Whelan, who describes Avoca as “a magical, magical business”. “They’re very good at creating an atmosphere without it feeling in any way considered. It’s like a stage set.” Whelan is eloquent, in the Irish way, about his business and about food in general. He has even coauthored The Irish Beef Book, with food writer Katy McGuiness, with thoughts and recipes encouraging people to use every part of the animal, from nose to tail. Anything less is “disrespectful” to the animal, he tells me, revealing that James Whelan Butchers is in the early stages of developing another oldfashioned product that is starting to make waves again: beef broth. “Ireland has world-class beef,” he says, “and I need to make the most of it out of respect for my trade, for my craft and for nature, which has given us this wonderful animal. To discard any piece of it is a sin.” He is certainly doing his bit for nose-to-tail consumption with this year’s Great Taste champion. Since the award created a surge of interest, messages have apparently been flying around the company to make sure not a scrap of trimmed fat is being discarded. But Whelan doesn’t think he’ll need to start buying in beef fat to satisfy demand. “There’s a lot of tonnage of meat going through this business,” he says, “so I think it’s possible for us to build a considerable customer base for dripping. “And the wonderful thing for James Whelan Butchers is that we’ve taken something that was so undervalued and we have premiumised it.” www.jameswhelanbutchers.com

Pat Whelan: ‘The wonderful thing is that we’ve taken something that was undervalued and we have premiumised it’ Vol.16 Issue 9 · October 2015

the big winners GOLDEN FORK FROM LONDON & THE SOUTH EAST Sicilian Pistachio Sorbet La Gelatiera

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GUILD OF FINE FOOD LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT Ann-Marie Dyas, The Fine Cheese Co This year, the Guild of Fine Food presented a lifetime achievement award to Ann-Marie Dyas for her extensive list of accomplishments in the industry. Since setting up shop in Bath during the late ‘80s as The Fine Cheese Co, Dyas has grown her business from cheese retailing into wholesale, production and even global export. Having risen to prominence selling Continental classics and the new breed of British artisan cheeses to both consumers and independents across the UK, the Fine Cheese Co brand expanded further with a range of its own branded biscuits. Dyas’s distaste for cheese

with additives inspired the idea for crackers and biscuits that would add to cheese without overpowering it. The range has become a staple at delis and farm shops across the country but will never be sold to the supermarkets. When her baker Ashbourne Biscuits unexpectedly came up for sale in 2006, Dyas made the decision to buy it and she has since spearheaded the growth of her own and the Artisan Biscuits brand to all corners of the globe. Currently The Fine Cheese Co supplies products to some 45 different countries, including Japan, Kazakhstan and even France, something Dyas lists as one of her proudest achievements.

L-R: Guild of Fine Food chairman Bob Farrand, Ann-Marie Dyas of The Fine Cheese Co and Paul Hargreaves of Cotswold Fayre Sponsored by: Vol.16 Issue 9 · October 2015

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LE GRUYÈRE AOP

BORN IN SWITZERLAND, 1115 A.D. And remains the only cheese that’s 100% Natural, 100% Traditional, 100% from Switzerland and 100% Le Gruyère AOP *AOP = PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) – must be traditionally and entirely prepared and produced within the region, thus acquiring the unique properties of Gruyère AOP cheese, to bear the name Le Gruyère AOP.

The uniquely smooth, savoury flavour you’ll find only in Le Gruyère AOP is a product of its upbringing – where the cows that supply the milk are grazed (only in the villages of Western Switzerland), the way the cheese is aged and cared for (slow-aged in the region’s cheese cellars and caves), and the recipe that’s remained, unchanged, for centuries (hand-made, in small batches). For a smooth and mild yet extremely satisfying taste, Le Gruyère Classic is aged 5 months minimum. Le Gruyère Reserve, which has been aged for 10 months or more, has a smooth but more robust flavour. Both varieties are great in recipes, or sliced as a snack. Either way, we’re sure you’ll enjoy the only cheese that can call itself Le Gruyère AOP.

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October 2015 · Vol.16 Issue 9

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cheesewire Unsung heroes Hidden gems from British producers

news & views from the cheese counter

‘Creator’ up in arms at rivals’ mega Lancashire Bomb deal

PENDRAGON In a nutshell: The Somerset Cheese Co is known for its Pennard Ridge and Vale goats’ cheeses, as well as Fosseway Fleece sheep’s cheese, but it also makes an unusual hard buffalo’s milk cheese called Pendragon. Because of milk supply problems, the cheese was out of production during 2014, but after finding a new supplier in Aberystwyth, Pendragon is back with a new recipe. Made with pasteurised milk, the Caerphillystyle cheese is matured for 4-8 months and comes in 2kg or 3.5kg rounds. Flavour and texture: The cheese used to be made to a cheddar recipe, but now has more in common with Caerphilly. It is a softer, more open texture, which enhances the creaminess of the milk, and has earthy and savoury notes with a long salty finish. History: The Somerset Cheese Company was founded by long-term friends Philip Rainbow and Nicholas and Anita Robinson in 2005. Rainbow has been a cheese-maker for more than 40 years. Anita Robinson was once one of his assistants. Cheese care: Store and cut it in the same as any hard cheese. Why stock it? Hard buffalo milk cheeses are a rarity in this country and Pendragon would make an interesting counterpoint to traditional cows’ milk cheddars and Caerphillys. Perfect partners: Supplier Paxton & Whitfield recommends a bold, spicy red wine, such as a Malbec. Where to buy: Paxton & Whitfield, Longmans or Hawkridge. FFD features a different ‘unsung hero’ from Specialist Cheesemakers’ Association members each month. To get involved, contact: patrick.mcguigan@gff.co.uk

JJ Sandham’s Lancashire Bombs will be part of a deal to export 70,000 cheeses to America but Shorrocks Cheese (inset) claims to have created the waxed cheese By PATRICK McGUIGAN

A Goosnargh cheese-maker has accused two local rivals of copying his Lancashire Bomb cheese after they announced a huge export deal to the US. Barton-based JJ Sandham and Longridge-based Singleton’s Dairy revealed last month that they had secured an order to supply US retailer CostCo with 70,000 black waxed cheeses, which are also called Lancashire Bombs. But Shorrocks Cheese, which claims to be the original creator of the cheese, reacted angrily to local press reports on the deal – billed as

“largest single export of Lancashire cheese from the UK ever” by Singletons owner Tilly Carefoot. Shorrocks, which is run by Andrew Shorrock, criticised the two companies and staked its claim to the Lancashire Bomb in a post on Facebook. “It’s such a shame that two local cheese producers think it’s acceptable to copy our original product and call it their own,” it said. “Andrew Shorrock is the original creator of the Lancashire Bombs, he came up with the name and the design over 27 years ago. “He has worked tirelessly to

Two blues to join Stinking Bishop in Martell’s stable By PATRICK McGUIGAN

The creator of Stinking Bishop is venturing into blue cheese for the ﬁrst time with two new products in development. Gloucestershire cheese-maker Charles Martell is planning to launch the two new pasteurised cheeses – Blue-cow (cows’ milk) and Blewe (sheep’s milk) – in time for Christmas. Both foil-wrapped cheeses are matured for 6-8 weeks. Best known for making the perrywashed cheese Stinking Bishop, and Single and Double Gloucester, Martell said the 700g cheeses were large enough to be cut on a deli counter and small enough to work on a restaurant cheeseboard. “Wholesalers are always asking me about new cheeses and if they can pick up a bigger range from me in one go then that’s all the better,” he said. “But at the route of it all is just the fun of

doing it. Our cheese-makers (Daniela Welsh and Justyna Musial) have really enjoyed coming up with something new and different.” He added that the cheeses have a semi-soft texture and dark blue veins. “In terms of ﬂavour, they are not too strong, but there is something to them with a sweetness rather than bitter notes.” www.charlesmartell.com

The sheep’s milk Blewe is one of two new creations at Charles Martell’s dairy

get the Lancashire Bombs on the market by standing [at] thousands of farmers markets ... And now when they have become an established, wellloved product, two bigger companies have joined forces and are massproducing a cheaper copy and claiming it’s theirs!” The post received hundreds of likes and dozens of messages of support from the public. Andrew Shorrock submitted a trademark application for the term Lancashire Black Bomb in 2010, but told FFD that he withdrew it after opposition from the Snowdonia Cheese Company, which makes Black Bomber cheddar. Chris Sandham, MD of Sandham, told FFD: “I’ve been making these since 1997 so it’s not like I’ve just jumped on it. It’s not a trademarked product or a protected product. I don’t know what his beef is. “Not only are we selling in a different country, we’re selling on a different Continent. If anything, it’s going to raise the proﬁle for everyone. This deal is great news for the local farming industry, which is made up of small family businesses.” www.jjsandham.co.uk www.grandma-singletons.co.uk www.lancashirebombs.co.uk

London fromagerie Androuet has launched a new seasonal cookbook, which advises readers on which cheeses to eat when. A Year in Cheese, written by French brothers Alex and Leo Guarneri who run the Spitalﬁelds shop, also features recipes devised by La Fromagerie head chef Alessandro Grano. Split into four sections with information on how to build the perfect cheeseboard and complementary wines, the book encourages people to think of cheese as a seasonal product like fruit, veg and meat. Androuet was ﬁrst set up in 1909 and has eight shops in Paris. Its London shop was opened in 2009. The 192-page book is published by Frances Lincoln. Vol.16 Issue 9 · October 2015

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cheesewire

SCA sees milk crisis driving more into cheese-making Interview

With low milk prices continuing to take a toll, the Specialist Cheesemakers Association is seeing membership rise as farms search for ways to add value. PATRICK McGUIGAN spoke to SCA secretary Terry Jones.

he joke at this year’s Specialist Cheesemakers Association visit to Fen Farm Dairy was that if the evening bonfire spread to the dinner marquee cheddar maker George Keen would be rubbing his hands. That’s because Keen was about the only artisan cheese-maker in Britain who couldn’t make it to the event. One stray spark would have wiped out his entire competition. The fact that so many of the SCA’s 370-strong membership went to the weekend of tours, tastings and networking, hosted by the makers of Baron Bigod cheese in Suffolk, shows just how important and popular the organisation is among the cheese fraternity. The event was also notable for the announcement of the SCA’s much coveted James Aldridge Memorial Trophy, which recognises the best raw milk cheese in the country, as chosen by other cheesemakers. This year’s winner was Appleby’s Cheshire, while bursaries were also awarded to several up-and-coming makers. Set up in 1989 in response to a threat from the Minister of Agriculture to ban the sale of unpasteurised cheese, the SCA is made up of producers, retailers and wholesalers, and counts Prince Charles as its patron. It has been an integral part of the great British cheese revival since startup, providing the industry with a single voice and a forum for sharing knowledge. Headquartered in the same Clerkenwell office as the mighty Provision Trade Federation (PTF) – the body representing most of the UK’s major meat and dairy suppliers – the SCA’s secretary is Terry Jones, who combines the job with his position as PTF director-general. Appointed a year ago, Jones previously worked at the NFU and most recently as the communications director at the Food and Drink Federation. Just as importantly, he has milk in his veins, hailing from dairy farming stock in Monmouthshire, while his wife is a partner in a Cheshire dairy farm. Ironically, it is rock bottom milk prices that have helped swell the SCA’s numbers from 160 cheesemakers two years ago to 180 today.

Of those, most are tiny companies – around 130 make less than a tonne of cheese a week. “Our senior members are getting calls all the time from dairy farmers who’re disillusioned with commodity pricing,” says Jones. “There are some very successful businesses in the SCA who, three or four years ago, got fed up with milk prices and decided to do something about it by producing cheese. To quote one, ‘We were always being told it was jam tomorrow.’” At the same time, growing interest from the public in local

a major contract. While he won’t comment on individual cases, Jones says the loss of larger manufacturers does have an impact on specialist cheese-makers too. “Overall it’s bad news. Those are the places where entrepreneurs cut their teeth, where cheese-makers learn their trade before they go off to start their own businesses. Any loss of infrastructure in UK dairy is a retrograde step.” The state of the country’s ‘dairy infrastructure’ isn’t really a pressing issue for most SCA members. They

Our senior members are getting ❛calls all the time from dairy farmers

who’re disillusioned with commodity pricing

❜

Terry Jones, secretary of the SCA and director-general of the PTF food and the rise of farm shops and farmers’ markets make artisan cheese a tempting sector for start-ups. Most SCA members are insulated from the price pressures exerted by the supermarkets because they sell via mail order, through independents shops and restaurants and via export, says Jones. That stands in stark contrast to larger-sized cheese-makers, which are going to the wall in the current supermarket price wars. Just last month, cheddar company Cricketer Farm in Somerset, which employs 70 people, announced that it would have to stop production after losing

are too busy milking cows, cutting curd and packaging products. What is of concern, however, is the overzealous attentions of Environmental Health Officers (EHOs). The SCA regularly fields calls from members who have had a difference of opinion with their EHO over issues including shelf-life, pasteurisation and the conditions in which cheeses are matured. Much of the confusion comes down to a lack of specialist knowledge, which is why the SCA has worked with Cornwall Council to set up a Primary Authority

partnership. This agrees advice on food hygiene and labelling regulations, which is backed by law and laid down in the SCA Assured Code of Practice. So far 71 members have signed up to the scheme, which enables them to refer their EHOs to Cornwall Council if there is a query. Much of the guidance has come from the SCA’s Technical Committee, made up of experts including microbiologist Paul Neaves and Jo Mason of Rowcliffe’s. “The technical committee is the jewel in our crown,” says Jones. “It’s there to step into that gap between cheese-makers and EHOs and help both sides understand their responsibilities and the realities of small scale cheese-making.” To this end, EHOs can join the SCA for free and the organisation runs free training sessions to help public health officials better understand the science and methods of artisan cheese-making. While these initiatives are undoubtedly important to smooth the growth of artisan cheese-making, it’s the knowledge shared around the bonfire or over a glass of something at the SCA’s networking events that is arguably more important for the future of the sector. “It’s an amazingly collaborative sector,” says Jones. “At the farm visits, old are trying to help young, the more experienced help the less experienced and established businesses want to help start-ups.” www.specialistcheesemakers.co.uk

This year’s SCA dairy visit, to Fen Farm in Suffolk, once again drew the cream of UK artisan cheese-makers together. Cheshire makers Paul and Sarah Appleby took the 2015 James Aldridge Trophy for the Best British Raw Milk Cheese. Vol.16 Issue 9 · October 2015

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Tasting is Believing KSFJHOJFS!FOUSFNPOU DPN t

cut & dried Venison charcuterie-maker says cheers to craft beers

making more of british & continental charcuterie

Interview The Real Cure’s James Smart tells MICK WHITWORTH how artisan charcuterie is following craft brewers in

reinventing classic products for a new generation

James Smart: ‘Whatever we make, we can sell’

meat going, but it’s under-used and under-valued.” Moving to London, he started making salami at home. “I got very anoraky about it,” he says, “and after about two years the idea came to try to make it into a business.” He continues: “Our USP is that we don’t use pork. We only use wild deer from Dorset, and we try to use Sika because they put on a lot of fat – you can get 1.5ins of fat on the haunches – which means we can make sausages and burgers for events too.” These have represented the bulk of sales so far, but Smart says charcuterie is where he wants the business to go. “The shows are necessary for cash flow but we really want to be selling charcuterie in

grows the cured meats business. “We see what’s happening with charcuterie as a bit like the craft brewing movement,” he tells me. “It’s taking a product that already exists and tweaking it. In the States, they looked at our bitter beer and started messing about and doing crazy things with it. “That’s how we see it going with charcuterie. If you look at what’s made on the Continent, it’s amazing stuff but they haven’t changed the recipes in 200 years.” The Real Cure’s most obvious point A lot of craft beers have labels of difference is that are classy but also fun and its exclusive use vibrant – that’s what we wanted of venison for its meat products – a places we’re proud to be seen in.” link back to Smart’s early career. “I Last year, with grant funding studied ecology at uni,” he explains, from North Dorset District Council, “then worked for a year on a he set up a production unit on his 126,000 acre estate in Sutherland. parents farm, including a small A lot of its income came from deer chamber for fermenting, drying and shooting, but I saw that a lot of the maturing and a home-built smoker. meat was being exported. All The Real Cure’s salamis are “I think venison is just the best

smoked, as is its novel ‘venison bacon‘: a cured sika haunch, smoked over oak for three days then dried and sliced. Alongside burgers, sausages and smoked trout, there are four smoked venison salami variants, all sold at around 110g finished weight: sloe & garlic, paprika & chilli, venison chorizo and a game salami with venison, duck and pheasant. Smart makes all his own cures, and is constantly trialling new recipes and techniques. “Whenever I make a batch of salami I keep a little aside, throw in a curve ball and see what happens: fermenting at different temperatures, using different types of sugars – dextrose, unrefined sugar, fruit syrups – using hand-cut meat or different sizes of grinds...” The fermenting and maturing chamber has been the biggest bottleneck, as it can only hold around 300 salamis, which take four weeks to mature. But as FFD went to press Smart was preparing to install a new 3m x 3m walk-in maturing chamber “We’ll then be able to ferment up to 300 salamis every 24 hours and hang upwards of 1,000 salamis in the maturing room.” Over the past year, Smart’s local authority licence has only permitted trade sales in bordering counties, although he could sell direct to consumers nationally. Since last month, however, The Real Cure has been licensed for trade sales nationwide, and is already approaching potential partners such as London wholesaler Cannon & Cannon. “We’d rather supply five or six bigger people like Selfridges, Cannon & Cannon or a hamper company,” Smart says. “We don’t want to be selling at farmers’ markets forever. “Whatever we can make we can sell. So now it’s just about making more.” www.therealcure.co.uk

SIGNATIO

ORIGI

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•

n his parents’ kitchen at Hartgrove Farm near Shaftesbury, James Smart is pointing out noteable feature of the majestic Dorset landscape framed by the huge picture windows. From Melbury Down and Fontmell Down across to Hambledon Hill, with its massive Iron Age fort, most of what we can see is protected by the National Trust: Hambledon for its history of human occupation back to the late Stone Age; Melbury and Fontmell for their close association with Thomas Hardy’s Wessex novels. It’s not just a stunning location for an artisan food business, but has fed into the new branding Smart has recently introduced to his fledgling venison charcuterie business, The Real Cure, as it prepares to move on from farmers’ markets and county shows to higher-volume trade sales. “Hambledon Hill is the inspiration for the brand,” he says. “You can see it from everywhere on the farm.” The new design incorporates a Neolithic arrowhead with naïve ‘cave drawings’ of deer and fish (smoked Piddle trout is another core product), combined with bright pastel colours and presented in a fun way – a deliberate distancing from the earthy, self-consciously posh Farrow & Ball colour schemes used by many upscale suppliers. “With a lot of the products, ‘artisan’ seems to be confused with ‘aristocratic’,” says Smart. “We thought we could make something that appeared high-end without looking like it had been made for the Queen. “If you think about craft beers, a lot of them have labels that are classy but also fun and vibrant – that’s what we wanted.” Craft brewing has been providing cues for Smart since he set up The Real Cure with partner Lucy, who is holding down a day job in marketing with “a well-known Dorset olive company” while Smart

Vol.16 Issue 9 · October 2015

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product focus

sauces & ingredients

Kitchen kickstarters From East African and Peruvian sauces to veal stock and restaurant-quality jus, there are plenty of interesting new launches for home cooks, not to mention plenty of European and Asian ﬂavours. LYNDA SEARBY reports. Organico has acted on an ex-Harvey Nichols buyer’s comments about there being a shortage of good ambient pestos, and launched a vegan pesto (RRP £2.95). After much investigation, the London distributor found a Genoese producer of raw pesto using fresh organic ingredients. Substituting tofu for cheese made it into a vegan pesto. www.organicorealfoods.com

Essence of Morocco is targeting the gifting market with its new Moroccan Gourmet Spice Set (RRP £22.85), which contains six spice mixes for authentic Moroccan cooking, including ras el hanout, hot harissa, lamb tagine and chermoula ﬁsh & seafood.

Long the preserve of the professional kitchen, veal stock looks set to become a familiar ingredient in home kitchens too, following the launch of a 400g retail pouch (RRP £2.50) from Potts. The Newbury-based producer says the stock, a key ingredient in French recipes, elevates the ﬂavours of other ingredients rather than dominating them.

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www.pottspartnership.co.uk

Portuguese dried seasonings specialist Cantinho das Aromáticas has created four blends for boosting home cooking. The blends for poultry, meat, ﬁsh and salads are not yet on sale in the UK. RRP €3.50 for 20g. www.cantinhodasaromaticas.pt

Welsh restaurant-cum-producer The Coconut Kitchen has launched its own brand of coconut milk (RRP £1.99 for 400ml) and two new curry pastes. The Thai yellow curry and Thai red curry pastes both have an RRP of £3.99 for a 125g glass jar. www.thecoconutkitchen.co.uk

Putting a Scottish twist on an Italian classic, Trotter’s has created a rocket & pumpkin seed pesto that is nut-free and vegetarian. Rocket replaces basil, pumpkin seeds replace pine nuts, Perthshiregrown rapeseed oil replaces olive oil and – instead of Parmesan – the condiment company has used crowdie made by the Connage Highland Dairy. It comes in 280g jars with an RRP of £4.50. www.trottersindependent.co.uk

Following her collaboration with chef Jacob Kennedy on The Geometry of Pasta cookbook, designer Caz Hildebrand has launched a pasta and sauce brand that is all about matching the pasta shape to the right sauce. Made in Tuscany, the slow-dried, bronze-drawn pasta comes in two ranges – white label for everyday and black label for special occasions – and is available to the trade via Etruscany. www.etruscany.co.uk

A new start-up claims to be the ﬁrst producer to offer a “restaurant worthy” jus to home cooks, saving them the effort of “meticulous and precision simmering and reduction”. Made from British beef bones, Just Jus’ MooJus (RRP £3.90) is described as “thick and glossy with a lighter rounded ﬂavour”. So far, it is only on sale in farm shops in Surrey and Hampshire, but founders Joseph and Kay Docherty have plans to extend their retail customer base. www.twitter.com/thejusco

The Good Salt Company has three new salts that it says can lift the ﬂavours of cooking without any chopping, crushing or de-seeding. The garlic salt, chilli salt and four peppercorn salt are based on Himalayan crystal salt and have an RRP of £3.85 (80/85g). www.goodsaltcompany.com

Kwan’s Kitchen has drawn on its experience in the Chinese restaurant trade to create a range of Chinese stir fry meal kits. The four kits – sweet chilli, blackbean & garlic, spicy szechuan and aromatic curry – all have an RRP of £2.75 and contain three components: seasoning blend, stir fry paste and chilli oil. www.kwanskitchen.co.uk

The four founders of Swaadish brand have used the cooking skills learned from their mothers, grandmothers and extended family from the Gujarat region of India to develop a six-strong range of sauces. The line-up consists of fenugreek & pomegranate, ginger curry, Kalonji, Kashmiri chilli & mustard, mint curry and coconut curry. All have an RRP of £3.95. www.swaadish.com

Vol.16 Issue 9 · October 2015

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The stockpot range includes beef, chicken, vegetable and ďŹ sh that all add a great depth of ďŹ&#x201A;avour to home-made dishes. Just pop these clever gel stocks straight into soups, stews or casseroles or dissolve in water to add to risottos.

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product focus Bad Boy Chilli’s new chilli mashes are made from fresh chillies, preserved, then blended into a smooth, rich mash ready to add instant heat and ﬂavour to dishes. They come in six varieties - Scotch Bonnet, Birds Eye, Habanero, Naga, Scorpion and Kernow Gold – and have ‘Made in Cornwall’ status. RRP £3.50 for a 41g jar. www.badboychilli.co.uk

sauces & ingredients Spencer Richards is bringing some American BBQ tradition to the UK with a line of BBQ rubs that takes in US ﬂavours for livening up pulled pork, ribs, beef brisket and chicken. Launched in April, the BBQ Essentials range (RRP £2.99, 100g) comprises mild ’n’ sweet, smoky, spicy & smoky, spicy, and the sugar free Skinny Pig. www.bbqessentials.co.uk

O Macsween’s new whisky cream sauce is said to be perfect to pour over haggis as well as other meats like chicken and steak. www.macsween.co.uk

O The Fresh Pasta

Importer Valentine Foods has launched Biagi - an organic Italian range of products that are grown and produced on the Biagi family estate in Tuscany. The range - which takes in pasta sauces, stir through sauces and six varieties of pestos - is listed in Tree of Life’s May catalogue and on sale in Booths.

Company has relaunched its pasta and sauces under a new brand name – Mattarello (which means rolling pin in Italian). www.thefreshpastacompany.com

O The Garden Pantry

www.teapeople.co.uk

One deﬁnitive spice paste that can be used in a range of recipes is an attractive proposition for home cooks. This is the thinking behing Maa’s debut product – “a paste for every taste” made from fresh green chillis, garlic, ginger and dried spices. It comes in a 100g pot (RRP £3.50). www.indianspicefusion.co.uk

Cooks&Co’s new mixed forest mushroom grinder provides a convenient way to add an intense mushroom ﬂavour to dishes without having to soak or prepare dried mushrooms in advance. The 19g grinder is available to the trade via RH Amar (RRP £3.49).

There’s more to Mexican food than fajitas, and retailers looking for authentic Mexican products should check out Laterra Artisan Harvest’s cooking sauces and marinades. These have just arrived in the UK, via Mexican food importer MexImport, and include Michoacán Sauce, amde with green tomatillos, and Sinaloa sauce – a mild Mexican red tomato sauce with fresh tomatos, ser¬rano chilli peppers, sea salt and coriander. www. meximport. co.uk

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Africa: the sauce of adventure North African cuisine continues to find favour with UK consumers, but products from other parts of the continent are also appearing on the speciality scene. This is evidenced by sauce brand MaRobert’s, the brainchild of Tanzanian born Maggie Mazoleka and the only producer of East African sauces in the UK. So far, the Edinburgh company has three sauces on sale: hot Pili Pili sauce, medium Pili Pili sauce and fruity sauce. In recent months, the business has extended its sauce’s shelf life to 12 months and signed a distribution deal with GreenCity Foods. Also north of the Border, ethical fine food distributor JTS (Just Trading Scotland) has expanded its stock of fair trade Ukuva Africa cooking sauces and spices. It now sells Big Bottle sauces, a collection that is targeted at “the truly intrepid foodie” and showcases flavours from the north right down to the south of the continent. These include Baobab Chakalaka, Mombassa Peri Peri, Swazi Mamba and Zulu Fire (RRP from £3.39). JTS also offers a collection of fair trade spice grinders, including Cape garden herbs, Mozambique ginger chilli, Swahili lemon pepper and Victoria Falls rainbow pepper (RRPs from £2.99).

has added a smokey BBQ rub and a hot BBQ rub to its range www.thegardenpantry. co.uk

O Cp44 curry powder is the product of Alex Toft Nielsen’s two-year project to create the ‘best curry powder in the world’. www.aromaspices.com

O Spice Pots Indian spice blends are sporting new branding ready for the gifting season. www.spicepots. com

O Thinking ahead to Christmas, Seasoned Pioneers has introduced a traditional mulled wine spice drawstring bag. www.seasonedpioneers.com

O Bracken Hill

The well established Bim’s Kitchen has just added its third African-inspired curry sauce – chickpea & moringa – to its range. The medium chilli-heat sauce can be used with meat, ﬁsh, vegetables or tofu. RRP £4.50 for a 360g jar. Cotswold Fayre, meanwhile, is listing a new range of cooking and BBQ sauces from Gourmet Africa. The cooking sauces are available in six ﬂavours, including Classic Harira, Bobotie curry and Cape Malay curry (RRP £3.20 for 400g). There are four BBQ sauces including Lekka Peppa and Chatsworth Bunnychow (RRP £2.75 for 250g). www.ma-roberts.com www.jts.co.uk www.bimskitchen.com www.cotswold-fayre.co.uk

Fine Foods has localised its harissa recipe, and now includes locally grown Yorkshire chillies and rapeseed oil. www.brackenhillﬁnefoods.co.uk

O Italian truffle specialist Italiatartufi has introduced two new products for lovers of this luxury delicacy: a trapani sea salt with dried summer truffle slices and a classic tartufata sauce with summer truffle. www.italiatartufi.com

Vol.16 Issue 9 · October 2015

product focus At newcomer The Art of Curry, founder Sameena Thompson has made it her mission to reproduce the deep ﬂavours of authentic Indian cuisine rather than Punjabi, Gujarati, Bangladeshi or Kenyan versions of curry. King Korma, Raging Raja, Queen Bhuna and Royal Dopiaza are the ﬁrst four chilled sauces (trade £3.50, 350g) to come out of the Surrey-based kitchen. www.theartofcurry.co.uk

sauces & ingredients

Badu’s has treated its collection of curry masala kits to new look labels. All of the fresh and dried spices in its kits are sourced from organic suppliers where possible. The line-up includes mild, medium and Kashmiri Hot as well as mild and medium versions of a masala kit with coconut & almond. Each pack weighs 165g-265g (RRP £5.50-£6) and takes up to 900g of meat, ﬁsh or vegetables, enough for 4-6 portions. There is also a Tandoori masala marinade for meat and ﬁsh, an almond Pasande kit and an Aloo Gobi masala kit.

O Quay Ingredients’ herbs, spices and seasoning blends are sporting new matt black packaging. www.quayingredients.co.uk

O “Succulent” tomato sauce for pasta or meatballs is the latest creation to come out of the Susannah Sauces kitchen in Berkshire. www.susannahssauces.co.uk

www.badusindianfeast.co.uk

O Greece’s Tzekos

Capsicana claims to have brought to market the ﬁrst Peruvian cooking sauce. The chilli & lemon sauce is based on the Peruvian Aji Verde sauce and uses Peruvian grown Aji Amarillo chilli peppers. It is part of a new fourstrong range of Latin American sauces (RRP £1.99-2.29, 100g) that also features Brazilian chilli & coconut, Mexican chilli & honey and Mexican chilli & garlic sauces. www.capsicana.co.uk

The Scullery in Tipperary is one of only two producers in Ireland making premium pasta sauces. The newly created range includes tomato & basil, vine tomato & jalapeno pepper and roasted pepper & garlic sauces. RRP is €2.99 for 320g.

Following the success of its Chef’s Stocks, Essential Cuisine has introduced a line of ‘professional gravies’. Each 76g pot makes a litre of either beef, chicken or gluten-free savoury gravies. The beef and chicken gravies contain real meat stock, dripping and fat. RRP £2.50.

www.thescullery.ie

www.essentialcuisine.com/homechef

The language of taste... SPICES AND SEASONINGS

FIND OUT WHAT GREAT TASTE JUDGES LOOK FOR IN KEY PRODUCT CATEGORIES, WITH SILVIJA DAVIDSON Can a simple spice mix really be considered for a Great Taste award? That was a question genuinely asked by this year’s judges as the product appeared at the table. They were soon convinced by a dessert spice blend of True Cinnamon, Coorg Cardamom, ginger, fennel and nutmeg with its appealing sweetness, bright, fresh aromas, good balance and pleasing warmth on the ﬁnish. Single spices can wow, too. Both True and Cassia cinnamons exhibited “gorgeous, fresh, light,

October 2015 · Vol.16 Issue 9

yet warming and fully aromatic character”, with the latter’s intrinsic heat making it “dramatically pungent in a very rounded way” and earning it two stars. And how about a 3-star pepper? Described as “gloriously aromatic with ﬂowery notes when crushed”, a Cambodian red pepper proved a

showstopper. Judges hailed it as a “firework of flavour” while fennel pollen and Iranian saffron have won similar plaudits in previous years. Then there’s the “value added” products, like a smoked saffron submitted this year. Judges liked the sweet, bright notes pitched against the deep smoke but, crucially, they could envisage many practical uses for it. Oak smoked water was deemed acridly tarry sampled neat but clearly had many intriguing and transformative applications earning it a star. Another growing trend is flavoured sea salts. At one level it’s a

Single spices can wow, too. Both True and Cassia cinnamons exhibited “gorgeous, fresh, light, yet warming and fully aromatic character”.

Organic Herbs is now selling its oregano and thyme in naturally dried bunches. tzekosorganicherbs@ gmail.com

O The Smokey Carter’s new Pitmaster BBQ rub combines natural hickory ﬂavour with a mild heat from Mexican Ancho chillies. www. thesmokeycarter. co.uk

O A blend of ginger, garlic, chilli, lemon juice and ﬁsh sauce, Red Chilli Kitchen’s new Vietnamese Miracle Dressing & Marinade is said to be a “beautiful balance of sweet, salty and sour”. www. redchillikitchen. co.uk

concept as old as the hills (or the salt pans) but the modern incarnation is all too often a pretty conceit without the taste to match. Flower petal salts rarely convey the essential oils in actual use and few red wine salts (however dramatic in colour) give a hint of vinous complexity. Amongst the innovators, Icelandic liquorice salt is one to watch, but invariably it’s the almost natural pairings that win out. Salt when paired with local seaweed can yield a distinctive iodine tang and the smell of freshly tanned leather, while a peat-smoked salt won those elusive three stars for the versatility of its lingering smokiness. Perfection in simplicity. • Food writer and editor Silvija Davidson is chief judging coordinator for the Great Taste awards.

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Established for over 20 yearsand still a family concern Bake-Off Pies Nationwide distribution BBC Olive magazine â&#x20AC;&#x153;Winnerâ&#x20AC;? May 2007 for caramelised Bramley apple pie Great Taste Awards 2005, 2006 & 2008 The only English pie maker to achieve three gold stars in the GTA 2008

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A very Merry Christmas from Toppings Pies If your looking for award winning speciality Christmas pork pies, look no further. Toppings Pies is a family run business producing something truly special. Our products can be found in Booths, Selfridges and only the very best independent retailers. If you would like more information donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t hesitate to call or email us Contact: sales@toppingspies.co.uk 01302 738333 or 07775432022 Buy on line www.toppingspies.co.uk

October 2015 Âˇ Vol.16 Issue 9

Pork & Chicken Breast Smoked Ham Pie

Christmas Pie

product focus

soups & ready-meals

Little conveniences LYNDA SEARBY fills her bowl with the latest speciality pies, soups and prepared foods Frozen food supplier field fare is tapping into the resurgence of old-time comfort foods with a range of four ‘British Classic’ pies: steak & kidney, chicken & mushroom in a white wine sauce; ham hock with peas in a béchamel sauce and butternut squash, goats’ cheese & leeks. RRP £3.49; wholesale price £2.35. www.field-fare.com

Yorkshire Provender is gearing up for winter with two new seasonal varieties, a festive special edition and a new 380g single-serve range. Mushroom soup with wholegrain black rice and broccoli & Lancashire cheese soup feature seasonal veg, whilst Christmas Turkey Soup & All The Trimmings is described as “Christmas in a bowl”. Each 600g pot has an RRP of £2.49, and independents should be aware that they are on sale in Waitrose, Co-op, Northern Tesco stores, Ocado, Booths, Budgens and Nisa.

One of the downsides of pastrytopped pies is that they can’t be microwaved without going soggy. Recognising the gap in the market for a convenient pie option, Pieminister has launched Pie Pots, potato topped pots in three varieties: Moo & Brew (beef steak & craft ale), Matador (beef steak & chorizo) and Cheeky Chick (free range chicken, white wine & leeks). In another twist on the traditional pie, during September, the Bristol producer introduced Open Top pies, which have 30% less pastry as the lid has been replaced with a béchamel sauce. These are available in three varieties: Mighty Aphrodite (red pepper, aubergine & green lentils), Green Goddess (spinach, feta, chickpea & butter squash) and Tipsy Chick (free range chicken, leek, pea, mint & Orchard Pig cider). All pies have an RRP of £3.50. www.pieminister.co.uk

www.yorkshireprovender.co.uk

Friends and professional chefs David Holliday and Oliver Shute are championing British game country cooking with a new brand of soups, stocks and pasta sauces. Their venture David and Oliver Foods is sourcing game from British estates and farms to make wild game bird soup, royal game soup and pheasant mulligatawny. The ambient single-serve 300g soup pouches are available to the trade via Epicurium, DW Holleys, West Country Direct, Cotswold Fayre and Hider and are aleady on sale in Waitrose. RRP £1.99.

Two of Devon’s artisan food producers – pie producer Okemoor and curry specialist Boom Kitchen – have joined forces to create two new pies based on two of Boom’s most popular Indian dishes. The Boom Tikka Tarka pie packs in chicken in a creamy sauce spiced with fenugreek, turmeric, paprika and cumin spices, whilst the Lady Naga pie encases West Country chuck steak beef with spinach, onions, tomatoes and Kashmiri chilli. RRP £3.60. www.okemoor.co.uk

www.davidandoliver.co.uk

Kezie Foods believes the best way to introduce people to exotic meats such as kangaroo and ostrich is to present them in easy-to-cook formats. With this in mind, the Borders based business, which has supplied the UK with exotic meats – from alpaca to crocodile – for over 20 years, has released a range of pies. “With exotic meats becoming more widely available, there is a gap in the market for recognisable and easy to cook products in the exotic meats range,” says the company’s Cole Mather. “Some people are still unsure how to approach cooking meats such as ostrich or kangaroo, so products you can just pop in the oven, like a traditional pie, and enjoy with the same side dishes, are the easiest way to introduce the public to exotic meats.” He adds that many exotic meats are a lower fat, lower cholesterol alternative to traditional meats. The kangaroo chilli con carne, ostrich honey & mustard, wild boar hunters pie, Iberian pork & mushroom, game hot pot and venison, blackberry & red wine pies come frozen in boxes of 6 x 120g pies (RRP £13.50-19.98 per box). www.keziefoods.co.uk

Tideford Organics’ autumn soup range launches this month with three ﬂavours: winter beetroot with curly kale, sweet potato soup quinoa and red lentil with apricots and crushed chillies. The South Devon producer will be donating a portion of the beetroot soup sales during Breast Cancer Awareness week in October. All of these low calorie varieties (RRP £2.89, 600g) are gluten-, wheat- and dairy-free and suitable for vegetarians, vegans and coeliacs. Stockists already include Selfridges, Planet Organic and Whole Foods Market. www.tidefordorganics.com

Vol.16 Issue 9 · October 2015

Get ready for the colder months with range of wholesome ready meals.

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October 2015 · Vol.16 Issue 9

product focus Once-obscure Peruvian seed quinoa is right ontrend and Clearspring has made it easier for people to incorporate the protein-rich seed into dishes with a ready-to-serve pouch that takes just 90 seconds to heat in the microwave. A mix of white, red and black quinoa, olive oil and sea salt, the organic, glutenfree 90sec quinoa trio has an RRP of £3.99 for 250g. The grain mix is part of Clearspring’s new organic, gluten-free ‘kitchen cupboard staples’ range, which also includes a 90sec brown & wild rice mix seasoned wih tamara soya sauce (RRP £2.99). Both mixes are included in Hider’s October catalogue.

soups & ready-meals South Yorkshire’s Topping’s Pies has created a new Gourmet range of hot eating pies. Beef with golden ale, fresh cream & wholegrain mustard; creamy beef & fresh horseradish; the One Hell Of A Good Steak Pie and creamy chicken & pancetta with white wine are the ﬁrst four ﬂavours to feature. Trade price £1.98 per pie. www.toppingspies.co.uk

Salmon specialist JCS Fish says it has spotted a gap for a new flavour profile in the fishcake market, which it is hoping to fill with its new Big Fish Thai salmon fishcakes. The deep filled fishcakes are made from responsibly sourced salmon and have an RRP of £2.29 for a 2x85g twin pack. www.jcsfish.co.uk

www.clearspring.co.uk

Offering preparation times of less than 15 minutes, Cooks&Co’s new rice and grain range is aimed at shoppers who seek exciting, yet healthy and authentic mid-week meal solutions. Available via RH Amar, the line-up takes in paella (RRP £2.49 for 190g), a lemon & pea Italian risotto and a Mediterranean Risotto (RRP £2.19 for 190g) all made with carnaroli rice, as well as two polenta side dishes: countryman’s polenta and porcini polenta (RRP £1.99 for 150g). The launch comes at a time when people are looking to experiment with specialist rices, and Cooks&Co says the pouches offer an economical and easy way to create authentic, regional rice dishes without having to invest in large bags of specialist rice for occasional usage. www.rhamar.com

Soupologie is aiming its new Soup to Go concept at health conscious soup lovers who want a nutritious meal on the go. The 400g single-serve ‘superfood’ soup pots come with a 10g sachet of sprinkles, including chia seeds, hemp heart seeds, pumpkin seeds and sunﬂower seeds, for an additional nutritious boost. Varieties include spirulina greens soup, beetroot & pomegranate soup and spinach & kale with garlic soup. All are

The language of taste... READY-MEALS

FIND OUT WHAT GREAT TASTE JUDGES LOOK FOR IN KEY PRODUCT CATEGORIES, WITH SILVIJA DAVIDSON Ready-meals have a double challenge to come through with the goods. Judges are used to both good home cooking and the finest restaurant offerings so it’s difficult to meet their expectations when following on-pack instructions. Hence judges’ surprise this year at discovering a two-star Chicken Korma. Where other Korma entries had chicken that was found to be “dry and lacking in flavour” and sauce that had separated or needed more creaminess, here the judges found good coconut and almond notes as well as big chunks of moist chicken, rich creamy sauce.

The shortcuts so often employed in mass production are quickly noted, whether it’s separately cooked meat thrown into a readymade sauce or raw tasting spices. Successful readymeals should be tasty, vibrant dishes with well-balanced ﬂavours. A simple assembly (but with depth of ﬂavour) is much more likely to prove successful than a ‘full meal’ approach. So a dish that

such as beetroot & mint, watermelon & chilli, and strawberry, tarragon & lucuma – taking in ﬁbrous ﬂesh, seeds, rind, pulp and all. Because they are raw and unpasteurised, they are said to have a high concentration of enzymes, vitamins and minerals.

free from lactose, gluten, added sugar, corn-ﬂour, maltodextrin and glucose syrup. RRP £3.30. The soup producer is also blurring the boundaries between smoothies and soups with the launch of the UK’s ﬁrst raw soups. The soups are essentially blends of plant-based ingredients –

www.soupologie.com

attempted a Sunday roast in one ping of the microwave was found to have failed at all levels: dry beef, over-soft veg, soggy roasties and chewy Yorkshire puds. By contrast, judges admired the simple, deep flavours of a two-star Aberdeen Angus Steak and dumplings, commenting on the tender and deeply flavoured , generous chunks of beef and the soft complement of the moist but light dumpling with its gentle herbing. Fish dishes are particularly problematic, their delicacy damaged by the required heating process; fish cakes and pies that preserve integrity of texture are in with a better chance. With vegetable and vegetarian dishes vibrancy is so often lost but mash, curries and pasta

Successful ready-meals should be tasty, vibrant dishes with well-balanced ﬂavours

bakes that rely on a meld of ﬂavours and textures can work well. Even the occasional reheat-ready risotto makes the grade, though it’s rare: while taste is a dominant consideration, poor texture can still prove a deal-breaker. Cold-serve ready meals – most likely salads – avoid all those cooking problems but are perhaps less likely to hit the wow spot. One takeaway dish proved a surprise hit this year. A beef & tomato baguette was notable for “an excellent crust and a great crumb”, the juicy beef and beautifully ﬂavoured chargrilled tomato. Ingredients of a spicy beef salad were ‘delightfully fresh and crunchy and of excellent quality’ and the dressing was “bright and zesty”. All in all, every element must be very well thought out for ready-meals to earn their stars. • Food writer and editor Silvija Davidson is chief judging coordinator for the Great Taste awards.

Vol.16 Issue 9 · October 2015

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October 2015 Âˇ Vol.16 Issue 9

INFUSED EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OILS 250ml from Wildly Delicious庐

Divine Deli are pleased to present the brand NEW Infused Extra Virgin Olive Oils from Wildly Delicious now with new labelling. The trusted old-world mechanical top remains untouched. Each oil has a low acidity that you come to expect from an extra virgin olive oil while possessing a light fruitiness that is suitable for layering on flavour. Naturally infused with no additives or preservatives.

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Vol.16 Issue 9 路 October 2015

Ask us now for details of our wide range of artisan Spanish foods, including treats for Christmas like these Chocolate Fig Bombons, Marzipan ‘Panellets’ and delicious Christmas Pudding Trufﬂes! Helen Dean began baking shortbread in her kitchen to raise money for the Huntly Pipe Band where her husband Bill was drum major. Forty years on, Dean’s continue to bake their shortbread to Helen’s original recipe – still delicious and guaranteed to melt in the mouth. We also offer a delicious range of ‘homestyle’ biscuits and cheese oat nibbles. Browse our full product range at www.deans.co.uk

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October 2015 · Vol.16 Issue 9

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product focus

Christmas dinner

Festive feasting Still sizing up your seasonal offer? Here are some last minute ideas for the Christmas table. As well as a selection of gift packs housing its curds, dressings and condiments, Scarlett & Mustard will again be offering its Rudolph’s Left Overs Curry Sauce. Based on the ﬂavours of Coronation Chicken, the oil-free sauce can be used with cold meats, potato and rice dishes, so it’s ideal for adding some appeal to all of the turkey on Boxing Day. It comes in bottles 250ml bottles. www. scarlettandmustard. co.uk

Stock and gravy specialist Essential Cuisine has added turkey stock for the Christmas Season to its existing range of stocks (beef, chicken, lamb, veal, vegetable), all of which have won Great Taste awards in 2015. Made in Cheshire, this gluten-free turkey stock is “rich, robust and perfectly balanced”, and despite being packed with ﬂavour it is low in both salt and fat. Each 96g pot (trade £2.75, RRP £3.95) of powdered stock makes at least 6 litres of instant stock and can be added to enhance Christmas dinner gravy and turkey leftover recipes. All of Essential Cuisine’s powdered stocks, which also includes a ﬁsh variety, have long shelf lives. www.essentialcuisine.com/homechef

Stag Bakeries has launched a new range especially for Christmas. Inspired by the traditional festive bake, Rheinland Stollen is enriched with butter and rum soaked vine fruits while chocolate fruit cake is made with ale-soaked vine fruits and chocolate. Both cakes are 300g with an RRP of £8.99). Completing the range is Something Different for Cheese (200g, RRP £5.99), a luxurious fruit cake designed for eating with cheese. The cake is “generously” laced with Hebridean ale and honey. All three varieties are presented in a classic balsa wood box. www.stagbakeries.co.uk

Harrogate-based confectioner Ultimate English has developed two limited edition hand-crafted fudge blocks to sweeten up the festive table this year. Both the cranberry & clementine and salted maple fudges will come in 150g silver or black cylindrical tins. Aimed at independent retailers, the two limited editions will sit alongside Ultimate English’s other creations, including Wonderfully Tingling Rhubarb Coconut Ice made with fresh ‘Yorkshire Triangle’ rhubarb, Parkin-style Warmingly Smooth Ginger Fudge and Great Taste award-winning Salt Water Chocolate Trufﬂe Fudge. www.ultimateenglish.co.uk

Hawkshead Relish has launched three of its seasonal preserves in exclusive table-ready jars that it says will add elegance to festive spreads or serve as Christmas gifts. Made with spiced apricots and cranberries, Christmas Chutney goes well with savoury foods, particularly turkey. The “citrusy” Christmas Marmalade combines oranges with a spiced Christmas liqueur and cranberries while Hawkshead’s cranberry sauce is at home alongside roasts, cheeseboards and platters of cold meat. All are available in cases of six stackable jars (trade £25.50, RRP £6.50 per jar), which can be used to create window displays. The three jars are also available in gift boxes (trade £15.50, RRP £22). www.hawksheadrelish.com

Berries’ Sicilian Orange Christmas Pudding is made using Sicilian candied orange slices and rich fruits which have been soaked in a 9-yearold sherry. The Manx producer adds butter to create an even richer ﬂavour and matures each pudding for 6 months in a sweet, triple sec orange liqueur. The pudding, which won a three-star award in Great Taste 2015, is available in both 1lb (wholesale £7.20, RRP £12) and 2lb (wholesale £9.60, RRP £16) sizes following its launch at the Isle of Man Food Festival in September. All of Berries’ puddings are wrapped in linen and tied with satin ribbons.

Belvoir Fruit Farm’s latest product might appeal to consumers looking for nonalcoholic alternatives with their dinner. The new spiced ginger punch is made with cooked fresh ginger – “for a satisfyingly ﬁery bite” – orange and lemon juicesand exotic spices for a warming ﬁnish. The drink can be heated in a pan or the microwave and served hot or can also be used as a mixer with whisky or white wine. The punch comes in 75cl bottles with an RRP of £3. www.belvoirfruitfarms.co.uk.

www.berries.co.im

Vol.16 Issue 9 · October 2015

An extraordinary range of sweet and savoury condiments

Great Taste Great Provenance Great Branding Great Service

www.scarlettandmustard.co.uk 01728 685210 Gift packs now available to order for Christmas!

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minghella.co.uk Call us today on 01983 883545 icecream@minghella.co.uk Briddlesford Road, Wootton, Isle of Wight PO33 4RY 44

October 2015 · Vol.16 Issue 9

shelf talk

products, promotions & people

Peter’s Yard enters snacking sector with Knäcks bites

Cottage Delight reduces NPD in favour of promotion

By MICHAEL LANE

Peter’s Yard has entered the baked snacks category with the launch of three crispbread bites – in sea salt, five seed and cumin & nigella seed flavours – for serving with drinks and dips. Although the new range – branded as Knäcks – is based on the bakery’s classic Swedish-style sourdough crispbread recipe, cofounder Wendy Wilson-Bett told FFD that it represented a departure from previous NPD, which has been geared up to cheeseboards and light lunches. She added that the inspiration for the bites, which are being launched initially into independents, came from consumers who were already using Peter’s Yard crispbreads for different purposes. “People already break up the larger ones to serve with dips and use the smaller ones to snack on,” she said. Peter’s Yard developed some 15 varieties of Knäcks (pronounced Ker-Necks) before narrowing them down to three flavours using focus groups featuring consumers from its target market – professional women under 35. “Snacks with all-natural ingredients, baked snacks and snacks used for dipping are all growing at a phenomenal rate, so we are confident that our delicious

By ARABELLA MILEHAM

crispbread bites will extend well into this category,” said Wilson-Bett, adding that she wanted Knäcks – a composite of the Swedish for crispbread ‘knäckebröd’ and ’snacks’ – to have a ”brand personality in its own right”. “We didn’t want it to feel like it was a smaller version of an existing product,” she said. The new range is sold in 105g doypacks (RRP £2.40) – a resealable plastic bag designed to stand upright on the shelf – and each flavour has its own distinctive colour scheme. While the 105g bags are a “bowlful” for sharing, WilsonBett said that both smaller and larger formats were a possibility, particularly the latter given the strong growth Peter’s Yard’s crispbreads had seen in foodservice sales.

The new launch follows hot on the heels of Peter’s Yard’s latest success in Great Taste, claiming a three-star award and a spot in the awards’ Top 50. www.petersyard.com

what’s in the range Peter’s Yard’s five seed bites have a “more rustic” texture due to the addition of pumpkin, sunflower, poppy, linseed and chia seeds while the cumin & nigella seed variety has a “crunchy texture and a warming flavour” from a special whole spice mix that includes cumin, nigella, caraway, anise and fennel. The “light and crispy” sea salt bites are seasoned with Halen Môn sea salt. All three varieties come in 105g bags (RRP £2.40).

Buckley & Beale adds British and Irish producers to portfolio By ARABELLA MILEHAM

Distributor Buckley & Beale World Food has boosted its portfolio of British and Irish products following a relaunch earlier this year. The company, which was founded in 2011 as R.B. Distribution Ltd and focussed on importing American speciality food, introduced its British and Irish portfolio in April this year after changing its name in December. Products sourced in the UK and Ireland now account for around 80% of the portfolio co-director and owner Adrian Beale told FFD and are growing steadily. The portfolio includes brands such as Halen Môn, Stag Bakeries, Huffkins, Mara Seaweed, Culllisse, Dilly & Wolf, Fox Gourmet Foods and Galway-based bakery, The Foods of Athenry. Co-director and founder Noreen Finnamore said the idea had been in the pipeline for a long time, but the trigger came when the wholesaler

worked with Marks & Spencer to source and launch its British and Irish branded range. ”We gathered some exceptional products, some that were suitable for M&S and others that weren’t,” she said, adding that maintaining products for different channels was “very much” part of the strategy. “One of the joys of what we’re doing is that, as we find new routes to market with some of the smaller producers, it is helping to grow their business as well as ours. But it is not just for the UK market – our

Cottage Delight is focussing on merchandising and better supporting retailers after rationalising its programme of NPD. The company has cut the number of new product launches from around 80-a-year to 28 in order to concentrate on supporting its existing portfolio. It is channelling the money previously used to develop products into in-store tasting, demos, POS, and merchandising, sales and marketing director Gary Johnston told FFD. The move follows a 5% reduction in the range three years ago, following a previous “dramatic increase”. “We’d stretched the brand so we’ve removed the edgier products that wouldn’t become big sellers in order to focus on the classics,” he said. “We got to the stage that we’ve taken out the dead wood and looked at what we need to do for retailer, and focusing on merchandising.” NPD will now be released in two tranches, in February and the autumn, and a second seasonal brochure has been added, alongside consumer brochure featuring recipe ideas. Since its team has started visiting shops to support retailers in the spring, there has been an upturn in sales, Johnston said. www.cottagedelight.co.uk

ambition is to find export markets for the artisan producers we work with.” Finnamore said sales into delis and independents had grown after the launch of the UK-sourced lines, and it was also seeing greater pickup of its American lines as well on the back of it. Beale added that American food suffered unfairly from a poor reputation in the UK. “The US has a wealth of good, quality food and thousands of small producers, but most people dismiss American food out of hand.” The business ships to order but carries a selection of its most popular stock at its Bristol-based warehouse. “There are efficacies to the model – but what we want to offer is fresh products with a long shelf life, not something that has been sitting in a warehouse for months,” Finnamore said.

CURD’S THE WORD: Having racked up the accolades for her range of micro-batch preserves and marmalades, Sarah Churchill, aka The Artisan Kitchen, has launched a three-strong range of curds. The newcomers are summer citrus (pink grapefruit, sweet orange, lemon & lime) and passion fruit curds. The lemon curd – already a two-star winner in Great Taste 2014 – is available to wholesale customers for the first time. All three come in cases of 6x180g jars (RRP £5.50 each).

www.buckleyandbeale.com

www.theartisankitchen.co.uk

Vol.16 Issue 9 · October 2015

shelf talk

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

CHEF’S SELECTION Top chefs tell CLARE HARGREAVES their deli essentials

Kitchen Garden boosts Wolfys Tim Maddams cookery writer and range with two organic pots Chef, teacher By MICHAEL LANE

Kitchen Garden Foods is targeting health conscious consumers with two 100% organic additions to its Wolfys Porridge pots range. The Gloucestershirebased business will now offer organic blackcurrant and Plain & Simple varieties, taking the line-up of instant porridges to seven in total. “The addition of the two organic ﬂavours will be aimed very much at the health food market,” said sales manager James Horwood. “We’re using lower fat milk powder and not adding any sugar to the porridge mix.” While the blackcurrant variety sticks to the successful formula and features a pot of Kitchen Garden’s own jam alongside the instant oats, Plain & Simple is the ﬁrst Wolfys pot not to come with a portion of jam or honey.

“It has been developed for consumers who like to add their own toppings,” said Horwood. Plain & Simple and blackcurrant porridges are supplied in cases of 6x60g pots, for £6.60 and £8.10 respectively. Horwood said that Kitchen Garden was still seeing week-on-week sales growth for Wolfys, which was launched two years ago and is listed with many independents as well as Whole Foods Market, Waitrose and First Great Western trains. Last month, Kitchen Garden also added to its extensive range of preserves by relaunching organic sweet onion relish (cases of 6x280g, £15) and blueberry & apple jam (6x227g, £15.90) due to customer demand. www.wolfys.co.uk

CRAFTY PAIR: As a result of a Food Standards Agency crackdown on additives, imports of root beer from the USA were banned. But instead of wallowing in homesickness, London-based Ken Graham decided to bring an additive-free version of his favourite drink to the UK. Devised by Graham in the style of drinks from his native state of Colorado, root beer and cream soda are the ﬁrst two “craft sodas” to be launched under his Soda Folk brand. Both come in 330ml cans (RRP £1.40) and the cream soda has already won a Great Taste one-star award. www.sodafolk.co.uk

Bussle & Bliss begins life with four fondant fancies By MICHAEL LANE

Fondant Fancies are the ﬁrst cakes to be launched by the new Bussle & Bliss brand, which is looking to gain listings with independent retailers across the UK. Producer Gorg’ Cakes – which boasts 15 years of experience in private label cake-making – supplies the beehive-shaped cakes in retail packs of three cakes (RRP £5) with a shelf life of 21 days. As well as gearing up to supply foodservice, Gorg’ is also seeking retail distributors for the four-strong range, which comprises passionfruit, Sicilian lemon, hazelnut & caramel and chocolate

October 2015 · Vol.16 Issue 9

& cherry flavours. “Fancies are really on-trend at the moment, stealing the limelight from the cupcake,” said director Fiona Rooza, adding that Bussle & Bliss was aimed at female consumers. The fancies have been developed to be contemporary – Gorg’ has replaced the traditional buttercream with flavour-infused mallow – and contain no artificial colours or flavours. www.gorgcakes.co.uk

www.greensauce.co.uk

Tim is a chef, food writer and cookery teacher living in Devon. Author of the recently published River Cottage Game handbook, he’s worked for Fergus Henderson, Alistair Little, Marco Pierre White and Mark Hix, among others. From 2007 until 2012, he worked at River Cottage, heading its Axminster Canteen.

Zaytoun organic fair-trade extra-virgin olive oil www.zaytoun.org

I don’t use much olive oil but if I do, it has to be this acidic one from apostolic olive trees. It’s produced by farming cooperatives within the Palestinian Fairtrade Association who harvest their trees by hand every October. I use it as a ﬁnishing oil, rather than cook with it, and I’m blown away every time. I came across it when I was working at River Cottage. It’s not cheap, but it’s organic and Fairtrade, so one mustn’t underestimate its value. One of my favourite dishes using the oil is slow-cooked courgettes on pasta

Hodmedod’s whole dried fava beans www.hodmedods.co.uk

We don’t eat pulses enough. We’ve been growing them as animal feed, while importing huge quantities of beans from abroad, which seems mad – until Hodmedod’s came along. Fava beans are perfect in their bittersweet soupy loveliness. You can make them into humus, and they’re great in stews – which is why we serve them at our Hall & Hearty village hall suppers. I love them as a substitute for marrowfat peas in pease pudding. I also combine fava with goats’ curd as a nutritious ﬁlling for ravioli.

Heavenly Hedgerows hawthorn jelly www.heavenlyhedgerows.co.uk

I used to make this myself, but then I discovered Chris Westgate, who runs Heavenly Hedgerows, and I realised there was no longer any point – I simply can’t match hers. It has the perfect sweet and sour balance, it’s light and yet it carries ﬂavour, and it’s packed with aroma. Chrissie adds apple to help the jelly gel. I love it with cold wild duck. It’s also great on cheese, or on scones for a cream tea.

Capreolus smoked mutton www.capreolusﬁnefoods.co.uk

I was one of the ﬁrst chefs to try Capreolus’s smoked venison, their ﬁrst product. After that David, the owner, was looking for new ideas, so I suggested air-dried mutton, and he did it. It’s unique and it really works. The mutton is from sheep bred in Dorset, and it’s cured with rosemary, juniper, garlic, black pepper and port. It’s then air-dried before being smoked over beech wood. I eat it on its own or in a salad. At River Cottage we used to serve it in a salad with some leaves and a shaving of Quickes traditional hard goats’ cheese.

Southwestern Distillery Cornish pastis www.southwesterndistillery.com

When, as a teenager, I lived in the French Alps, we always used to take a bottle of pastis with us when we went walking. Then recently I heard that Tarquin, head distiller at the Southwestern Distillery, was making a Cornish Pastis, which had to be the best combination of pun and drink I’d heard of. The UK’s first pastis, it gets its aroma from foraged gorse flowers and fresh orange zest. It won a gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition in 2014. It’s great as an aperitif, but I also use it with mussels or in sauces with fish. Sometimes I add a dash to a bowl of strawberries and sugar.

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In 1980 a surplus of eggs from the family farm led Marion Darlington to produce batches of her homemade Lemon Curd following her mothers’ recipe. She sold the Lemon Curd with her eggs on a delivery round in nearby towns, paying the local brownies to collect jars for her! Such was demand, a year later, Marion’s husband Tom converted one of the farm buildings into a large kitchen and the range increased to include Marion’s Orange and Lime Curds plus her Sweet Apple Chutney and Orange Marmalade recipes. Marion was able to expand her range to include jams when Mrs Wright, a fruit farmer from Lancashire, enquired to see if Mrs Darlington would buy her surplus fruit. Fast forward to 1987 when Marion’s daughter Sarah joined her in the business, as a temporary stop gap that’s lasted 27 years and counting! With the range expanding to include more of Marion’s chutneys, sauces and marmalades, demand became too high for the converted farm kitchen and in 1997 the big decision was made to relocate to Lancaster Fields, Crewe. Since 2002 it’s been a blur. Sarah’s sister Wendy left her corporate job and together the family team has seen Mrs Darlington’s products make their way into high quality food outlets across the UK, Europe and beyond. Today there are over 80 products in the Darlington range with lots of award winners amongst them. The Darlington family have come a long way but remain a family business, committed to the aim Marion Darlington began with; to craft delicious products with a truly homemade taste.

Darlington & Daughters, Lancaster Fields, Crewe CW1 6FF Visiit our website: www.mrsdarlingtons.com You can also find us on Facebook & Twitter.

Vol.16 Issue 9 · October 2015

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shelf talk what’s new Cantina chips MANOMASA www.manomasa.co.uk

The tortilla chip specialist has added a seventh variety to its line-up. Its cantina chips are based on the snack served alongside drinks in traditional Mexican bars. Manomasa’s take on the snack is made from pressed corn tortilla wraps which are then hand-cut into quarters. Each 200g bag has an RRP of £2.49.

Pie and haggis kits THE DIY SCOTCH PIE CO / COTSWOLD FAYRE www.diyscotchpie.co.uk www.cotswold-fayre.co.uk

Consumers concerned about what’s going into their pies should be reassured by The DIY Scotch Pie Co’s new kit (cases of 10x282g kits, £60.75). It comes equipped with pastry cases and the brand’s own “special gravy mix” for combining with the home cook’s ﬁlling of choice. The producer has also created a haggis kit (cases of 10x575g, £103.40), featuring a haggis mix, vegetable suet and three bungs (skins). Both are available via Cotswold Fayre.

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of dishes. The company roasts and grinds all of the spices and blends them to its own family recipe. The spice mix, which comes in cases of six, can be sprinkled over curries and soups, stirred into rice or even added to baked potatoes.

Peppermint chocolates SUMMERDOWN MINT www.summerdownmint.com

Following the success of its original peppermint chocolates, Summerdown has created two more varieties using 70% dark chocolate and its own single estate English peppermint oil, made from Black Mitcham peppermint grown in Hampshire. Heritage peppermint fondants and Heritage peppermint crisp discs both come in 200g boxes (RRP £6.62). Boxes contain 24 foilwrapped fondants or 32 foiled crisp discs and come in cases of 8 (£26.24+VAT).

Alcohol-infused olives ALCO OLIVES www.alco-olives.co.uk

Alco Olives, “the original alcohol infused olive”, has been re-launched with new branding as it looks to gain listings in farm shops and delis. The range – developed and tested with the help of the NowFood Centre at the University of Chester – features jumbo Greek Chalkidiki olives, infused in premium brands of alcohol. Bourbon, Cognac, NB Gin, Sambuca, Spiced Rum, Tennessee Whiskey, Tequila and Vermouth Rosso varieties all come in 4oz and 8oz jars. Both sizes come in wholesale packs of 10 jars, for £20 and £33 respectively.

green and purple shiso vinegars – made with its own home-grown shiso – were created at the request of Masterchef ﬁnalist Andrew ‘Koj’ Kojima. As well as being essential for a number of Japanese dishes, the vinegars (RRP £5, 250ml) can be used to lightly pickle vegetables, added to dressings and soups or even deployed in Martini cocktails.

merchandising. The lightweight stands are supplied fully stocked (for £250) with 78x100g boxes (chosen from 12 different varieties) as well as 20 tubes of drinking chocolate and 48x40g lollies.

Potted meat trio THAT HUNGRY CHEF www.thathungrychef.com

Pratap Chahal, aka That Hungry Chef, has revamped his range of potted meats with the launch of three lines in smaller 105g jars. Bengali chicken Tikka paté,

Nut snacking mixes LIBERATION FOODS www.chooseliberation.com

Farmer-owned Fairtrade nut company Liberation Foods is hoping to promote the health-giving credentials of nuts with three new “smart snacking” mixes. Up & At ‘Em (nuts, seeds & goji berries) is a source of iron and vitamin A, while Give Me Strength’s mix of nuts provides protein and magnesium to aid muscles. Completing the trio is Get Up & Glow (nuts, pear, dark chocolate & ginger), which aids the heart with vitamin B1 and the metabolism with manganese. All three come in 40g packs with an RRP of £1.10.

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Made using Ceylon cinnamon rather than the cheaper cassia bark, Shemin’s Garam Masala (trade £2.05, 50g) can be used to add warmth and ﬂavour to a variety

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With Christmas approaching, Chocca Mocca is now offering retailers free display units alongside orders to boost

Goan spiced pulled pork and Afghan spiced potted beef are all billed as “savoury relishes” that can be used in snacks or added to dishes. All three have an RRP of £4.25.

Superfood chocolate DOISY & DAM www.doisyanddam.com

Chocolatier Doisy & Dam has added ﬁve new varieties of white and milk chocolate to its existing range of dark chocolate with superfood ingredients. There is a 30% white chocolate with lemon, poppy seed & baobab as well as its healthy take on salted caramel – milk chocolate with date & Himalayan Pink Salt. There are also three other 39% milk chocolate varieties: popped quinoa, smoked tea & vanilla; coffee & sprouted buckwheat and roasted cacao-nib-specked milk chocolate bars. Available in 40g (RRP £1.65) and 100g bars (RRP £3.50).

Shiso vinegars STRATTA www.stratta.org

Stratta has developed two savoury vinegars using shiso, a mint-like herb used widely in Japanese cuisine. The Sussex-based vinegar specialist’s Vol.16 Issue 9 · October 2015

Cheese retail, it’s all in the detail Training is vital to retail success and will dramatically improve sales. Guild retail cheese training will help you to: • Enhance your understanding of the cheese making process • Understand the impact terrior has on cheese • Recognise the main families of cheese • Learn how to select, display, sell and care for cheese • Comparatively taste over 40 cheese types • Inspire customers with your knowledge, enthusiasm and passion for your cheese counter • Succeed and increase turnover

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