Pizza, Pasta & Italian Food - Issue 136

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pizzapasta and Italian food magazine

Issue 136 February 2010 www.papa.org.uk

The 3rd edition of the Pizza and Italian Catering event.

30th 3 0 t h & 31st 3 1 s t March M a rc h 2 2010 010 Pavillon P avillon 3 - P Porte orte d de eV Versailles ersailles - P Paris aris

Order O r d e r yyour o u r ffree ree b badge adge o on: n: w www.pizzapastaexpo.com, w w. p i z z a p a s t a e x p o. c o m , ccode ode “ “PPI” PPI”

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Manufacturers an and nd Importers of Pizza Pans and Accessories, for further informa information ation or a free catalogue T: 0145 01457 57 872486 e

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pizzapasta AND ITALIAN FOOD

Editor telephone e-mail

Clare Benfield 01291 636336 clare@jandmgroup.co.uk

Advertising telephone e-mail

Andrew Emery 01291 636334 andrew@jandmgroup.co.uk

Production telephone e-mail

Jayson Berry 01291 636344 jayson@jandmgroup.co.uk

Subscriptions telephone e-mail

Suskia Bollen 01291 636338 suskia@jandmgroup.co.uk

J & M Group, Association House, 18c Moor Street, Chepstow, NP16 5DB.

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Welcome During these continuing, competitive and economicallychallenging times, this first issue of the year outlines some tried and tested marketing activities, and highlights the potential of online ordering, including some advice on how to turn your outlet into a WiFi ‘hotspot’. Picture courtesy of Domenico Crolla We also discover that outlets are spoilt for choice these days when it comes to the latest cheese products.

Neapolitan pizza has now achieved TSG status in Europe, meaning that outlets wishing to serve authentic Neapolitan pizza in the UK need to make sure that they are complying with the latest EU legislation with regard to its constituent ingredients, as well as its method of production. In-house demonstration facilities such as those recently opened at Italian ingredients supplier, Casa Julia Ltd (also featured in this issue), are no doubt increasingly likely to become a useful resource for those seeking to improve their pizza making skills without having to make the pilgrimage to Naples itself.

CLARE BENFIELD EDITOR clare@jandmgroup.co.uk

Contents

Opinions expressed in Pizza, Pasta & Italian Food magazine are those of the contributors and not necessarily those of J&M Group, Pizza, Pasta & Italian Food magazine or The Pizza & Pasta Association. No responsibility is accepted for the opinions of contributors. Pizza, Pasta & Italian Food is published by J&M group Ltd. and supports The Pizza, Pasta & Italian Food Association.

It is circulated to managers, executives, buyers, retailers and traders in the pizza and pasta business.

NEWS

ARTICLES

4 McItaly to the rescue?

26 Artisan sauces – the Little Sauce Company is now supplying foodservice customers.

© J&M Group Ltd. 2010

36 Online opportunities – web ordering and WiFi ‘hotspots’.

pizzapasta AND ITALIAN FOOD

5 Neapolitan pizzas granted TSG status.

6 Domino’s release buoyant trading figures.

10 Paris to host third Pizza & Pasta Expo 2010.

PREVIEW 14 Hotelympia 2010.

FEATURES

34 A clear route through HACCP – how to set up your own HACCP system.

44 A Campania celebration – Casa Julia opens its new showroom.

PROFILES 46 Pizza My World - Alistair Cameron of Gastronomica!

18 More flavours, more formats – a look at some of the latest cheese products.

REGULARS

28 Marketing moves – tried and tested marketing tactics to help boost trade.

48 Index of PAPA registered suppliers.

47 New products.

February 2010

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news Growth in frozen food market

McItaly to the rescue?

In the country that has famously tried to resist the widespread growth of fast food outlets that have become very well established elsewhere in the world, comes the launch of the McItaly – a Italian-themed burger now on sale at McDonalds restaurants there, and endorsed by the Italian government after agriculture minister, Luca Zaia, was photographed recently eating and promoting this latest addition to McDonald’s menu at its Rome launch.

The burger uses all Italian beef, Asiago cheese and artichoke spread and economists estimate that it will help inject some €3.5 million a month for Italian farmers who are supplying the necessary ingredients and currently dealing with very tough economic times. However, a debate is now raging as to exactly how much of the income to be generated will ultimately find its way to Italian farmers, or help to put them on the global map. The fact that the burger has received a coveted ‘government seal’

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carrying the words “Under the patronage of" the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry that is more usually seen on historic buildings or in museums has also not been well received by many.

In defence of the move, Minister Zaia has said that the McItaly will not only help bring in valued business to Italy’s agriculture sector, but will also encourage younger people to take a greater interest in Italian food and its origins (the first week of sales is believed to have seen over 100,000 McItalys sold, it is claimed).

As for the McItaly appearing on UK McDonald menus, it seems unlikely. "McDonald’s are committed to UK agriculture and in fact 100% of the beef we use comes from the UK and Ireland. We have an exciting calendar of new food news throughout the year, and although we have no immediate plans to launch a similar burger to McItaly, we do keep our menu under continuous review,” said the company in a statement.

The latest data from TNS Worldpanel for the 52 weeks ending 29 November 2009 has shown that the frozen retail market continues to enjoy strong value growth with the market now worth just over £5.1 billion.

The ice cream sector in singled out for a special mention as it has continued to rebound from two dreadful summers, and is now enjoying a 5.5% growth. Frozen confectionery, despite the economic downturn, is also experiencing excellent value growth of 6.4% year on year, report TNS, with renewed interest in frozen fruits in the wake of the launch of Del Monte Fruits.

Following two consecutive years of growth, the frozen fish

sector is still enjoying an impressive 4.6% value growth year on year with major players such as Birds Eye and Youngs continuing to launch innovative products, ensuring continued progress in this sector.

“It is most encouraging that all sectors within the frozen food market continue to enjoy good value growth,” said Brian Young, director general of the British Frozen Food Federation.

“Recent publicity by WRAP on the amount of perfectly good food thrown away by consumers has helped the frozen cause. This has reinforced the perception amongst consumers that frozen food’s locked-in goodness and exceptional value for money are particularly welcome in these difficult economic times.”

A foodservice first Brakes say that they believe they are the first foodservice company to use rail freight to transport fresh produce from Spain into the UK for Pauleys, its fresh produce specialist.

The company also report that they intend to extend the service to other European regions and product categories if the service is successful, and that they are totally committed to reducing their carbon footprint and minimising the impact their business has on the environment. The scheme will not only benefit the environment by reducing CO2 emissions of Brakes continental logistics, but will also have a positive

commercial impact by speeding up deliveries helping increase product freshness. Currently, Brakes are working in partnership with Eddie Stobart Rail Freight as part of the company’s ongoing commitment to reducing its road food miles.

“Brakes decision to use the Stobart Rail Freight Service was inspired by the need to reduce food road miles and increase the speed of deliveries from the continent to ensure the optimum freshness of produce,” said Sean Negus, product supply director for Brakes. “The first delivery was seamless with the cargo arriving half a day quicker than using traditional road haulage.”

Rail freight transport is now helping to reduce their carbon footprint, say Brakes.

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news

Neapolitan pizzas granted TSG status At a special meeting held in Brussels back in December, the European Union granted Neapolitan pizza a special label – the Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG) - in order to protect it from any fake or imitation rivals that purport to be the ‘real deal’, but upon closer examination, in fact are not according to the strict requirements of the Neapolitan pizza tradition (visit http:// ec.europa.eu/agriculture/quality/ door/registeredName.html?deno minationId=916 for details of the EU law and also visit www.papa.org.uk to join in the debate).

For a product to receive such a TSG label, it must be manufactured using traditional ingredients, or be characteristic for its traditional composition, production process, or processing, and reflect a traditional type of manufacturing or processing (the product itself, however, does not necessarily have to have been manufactured in a specific geographic area).

After rising to fame in the eighteenth century in Naples, pizza became a staple of Italian cuisine, and ever since, pizza restaurants and delivery outlets can be found right across the world, and as a result there are now many interpretations of the original pizza. Neapolitan pizza in particular has become the type and style of pizza that many restaurants aspire to worldwide, with many outlets erroneously claiming to be making and serving genuine Neapolitan pizza. However, now official, only pizza made according to the Neapolitan tradition will be able to be called Pizza Napoletana (Neapolitan Pizza), with a strict set of criteria to be put in force and adhered to under EU law.

To qualify, the crust or outer border of the pizza will need to be a maximum of 35 centimetres in diameter and one to two centimetres high. The pizza will need to feature San Marzano tomatoes, and buffalo mozzarella cheese sourced from the Campania region of Italy, as well as garlic, olive oil and basil. So far,

www.papa.org.uk

The EU has granted Neapolitan pizza produced in Naples a special label – the Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG) – which will affect outlets worldwide in terms of what they can lawfully describe as being Pizza Napoletana.

the two pizzas to be granted the TSG label will be the Margherita and the Marinara, with any establishment selling a 'fake' Neapolitan pizza potentially being fined. Under the provisions, it will not be possible to buy frozen Neapolitan pizzas in supermarkets, say the EU. "At Rossopomodoro we only use ingredients imported directly from Naples in our pizzas everything is brought from Naples, the flour, tomatoes, mozzarella, and of course our pizza chefs that have been trained for years in the art of making the best pizza dough in the Neapolitan way,” said Rossopomodoro in a statement.

“Last year, we launched a pizza amnesty where we offered Londoners the chance to exchange their 'fake' pizzas for our real Neapolitan pizzas to give people a chance to know what a real pizza should taste like. Naples is the birthplace of pizza and it is fantastic to see that the EU is giving the authentic Neapolitan pizza the protection it deserves."

However, as far as the provisions of the new EU pizza law are concerned, there would seem to be plenty of areas of potential confusion and misunderstanding. San Marzano tomatoes, for example, have been acknowledged to have been affected by a virus in recent times, so, long term, could they be under threat and increasingly hard to find in order to include in this pizza, even in Naples? Also, most high quality flours are a

blend of the best flours sourced from around the world according to the year’s crop and their rheological properties, and this regulation could mislead people into thinking only ‘pure’ Italian flour is being used, when in actual fact it is multi-national.

Also, arguably, the recent case of cow milk being alleged to have been found in buffalo mozzarella

raises questions over a committed drive for authenticity.

From his experience of judging pizza competitions in Italy, Domenico Crolla, the current UK Pizza Designer of the Year and world pizza designer champion confirms that judging there is already very strict. “The pizza must be topped with only plain tomato sauce, mozzarella di Bufala, salt, a swirl of olive oil (before cooking, not afterwards ) and hand torn basil leaves (again before cooking, not afterwards).

The sauce is not to be cooked, and no oregano,” he reports, yet oregano, for instance, is ‘allowed’ in the EU rule.

“My only objection to the TSG rules would be that since my pizzeria does not have a wood burning oven, I cannot claim to sell a real Italian pizza! Pollution laws will not allow many areas to install such an oven. Many pizzerias have a “kid-on” wood burning effect, but this still does not count.”

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news A quarter of Italian ‘buffalo’ mozzarella contains cow milk Italy’s mozzarella cheese business has had to cope with various challenges in recent times, not least a toxin scare which affected its exports, and now random tests of over 500 companies carried out by government investigators there have revealed that some (a quarter, is the claim) of the country’s production has been made utilising cow milk as opposed to solely using buffalo milk.

An investigation is now taking place with many Italian buffalo mozzarella producers now fearing for their continuing reputations in an industry believed to be worth £250 million a year. Mozzarella cheese enjoys a protected status under EU law due to the fact that it is made from the milk of domesticated water buffalo raised in specially designated areas of southern Italy, a fact which subsequently allows producers there to charge a premium price.

The cheese in question is alleged to have originated from a consortium of cheese makers in the southern region of Campania, although the consortium’s head says that he has in actual fact been at the centre of a heated campaign organised by competitors. An ongoing investigation will continue to monitor the cheese production for the next three months.

Domino’s

release buoyant trading figures Domino’s Pizza UK & IRL plc has announced its trading update for the 13 week period to 27 December 2009 revealing a system sales increase for the period of some 15.6% to £112.4m (2008: £97.25m).

System sales for the 52 weeks ended 27 December 2009 increased by 16.0% to £407.0m (2008: £350.8m) and like-for-like sales in 501 mature stores grew by 8.6% for the period (2008: 8.6% in 451 mature stores), bringing like-for-like sales growth for the year to 8.4% (2008: 10.0%).

The company opened a record 55 new stores during the year (2008: 52), including its landmark 600th store on London’s High Holborn in early December. No stores were closed during the year, bringing the total number of stores in the system at the year end to 608 (2008: 553). These new stores created around 1,500 new jobs taking the total number of people who work in Domino’s Pizza stores in the UK and the Republic of Ireland to nearly 20,000.

During the week of 26 October 2009, Domino’s report that they celebrated 10 years of e-commerce with a record e-commerce week with over a third of all orders for that week taken online and e-commerce sales in the UK and Republic of Ireland increased by 39.9% (2008: 56.2%) for the period. For the year, e-commerce sales rose by 40.4% (2008: 73.7%) to £78.5m (2008: £55.9m) and now account for 27.8% of UK delivered sales (2008: 23.2%).

“We are delighted to be in such a strong position and have much to look forward to in

2009 saw Domino’s open a record number of 55 new stores.

2010, including the completion of our new commissary in West Ashlands, Milton Keynes,” said Domino’s chief executive, Chris Moore. “We will continue our focus on great service, a high quality product and innovative marketing to build sales through new and repeat custom. We have been up against some very tough comparatives during the year, which makes these figures even more pleasing. The success of Britain’s Got Talent, the use of short-term tactical promotions and our continued focus on building our online sales have been major drivers during the year.

“In 2009, and in particular due to an exceptionally strong final quarter, we have outperformed our predicted like-for-like sales, improved our margins and opened more stores than anticipated. With this in mind, I am delighted to announce that the company will deliver full year 2009 profits comfortably ahead of current City expectations.”

New Italian inspired main courses 3G Food Service & Seafood Solutions have added a selection of Italian inspired dishes to their main course range which are supplied frozen in large individual portions and include traditional beef Lasagne (500g), Vegetable Lasagne (450g), Spinach & Ricotta Cannelloni (500g), Chicken Pasta Alfredo (450g), Chicken Arrabiata with Penne Pasta (450g) and Meatballs Marinara & Linguine (450g).

“Italian food is one of the most popular cuisines in the UK and is widely enjoyed by all types of diners. With this in mind, we decided to expand our main course range to include these traditional favourites which are

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3G’s Chicken Pasta Alfredo is made with char-grilled chicken breast strips in an Alfredo cream sauce flavoured with garlic, mushrooms and cheese on a bed of penne pasta.

great staple dishes for a variety of outlets including pubs, restaurants and cafés,” says Tim Shearer, marketing manager, for 3G Food Service & Seafood

Solutions. “The large portions will satisfy customers looking for a hearty warming meal and each dish can be cooked to order very quickly saving chefs valuable

time in the kitchen during busy periods.”

The new oven baked lasagne from 3G is made with prime ground beef cooked in sun ripened tomato, herb and garlic flavoured ragout and is layered with fresh pasta and topped with a creamy béchamel sauce.

The Vegetable Lasagne is made with a selection of sun-ripened aubergines, courgettes and mixed peppers in a tomato ragout. The Spinach & Ricotta Cannelloni is made with fresh egg pasta tubes that are filled with spinach and ricotta cheese with nutmeg, on a bed of rich pomodoro sauce and topped with béchamel sauce.

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The 3rd edition of the Pizza and Italian Catering event.

30th 3 0 t h & 31st 31st M March a rc h 2 2010 010 Pavillon P avillon 3 - Porte Porte de de V Versailles ersailles - Paris Paris

Order your free badge on: www w.. p i z z a p a s t a e x p o . c o m , c o d e “ P P I �

www.papa.org.uk

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news

Lasagne in vended hot food offering

A staff member makes a selection from the Fed Well machine at Torbay Hospital.

Torbay District General Hospital in Torquay has become one of the first sites in the UK to benefit from a new hot food automatic dispense system called Fed Well.

Staff, patients and visitors to the hospital can choose from eight different hot dishes, which may be selected, heated and automatically dispensed within 60 seconds at the touch of a button from a menu including dishes such as lasagne, red Thai curry, English breakfast and curry and cottage pie.

The Fed Well hot food vending system is a joint development between Spanish vending machine giant, Jofemar, a supplier of ready meals, Pro-Pak Foods, which supplies the Fed

Well brand to many of the UK’s leading retailers. The system at Torbay Hospital is operated by Graddon Vending the largest privately owned vending operator in the south west of England, with its head office in Plymouth and regional depots in Bristol and Cwmbran.

The machine was initially installed on trial in July and has proved so successful that it has quickly become a permanent fixture at the hospital, serving on average, 100 hot meals each week. The system enables the hospital to fulfill its obligation to provide hot food for staff 24 hours a day, with meals varying in price from £2.50 to £3.00.

New oven’s CQS launches rotating plate new web site Universe Pizza Ltd has launched what it is describing as a new generation of stone-hearth wood/gas ovens featuring a rotating plate that lets the oven turn the pizza round so that the pizza maker is free to concentrate on other tasks, and meaning that the oven does not necessarily need to be operated by a skilled pizza maker.

Thanks to the rotation of the cooking surface, the temperature is always homogeneous and guarantees a perfect pizza cooked, claim the company.

In fact, you can program the cooking time, adjust the rotation speed and change the direction, and an acoustic signal will alert you when the pizza is ready. The rotating surface can also bring the food to the operator, allowing for ease of operation via a short paddle so that space can be saved.

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No more broken or burnt pizzas, a savings on skilled staff and an increase of productivity, are other benefits, say Universe (the same pizza maker may increase the hourly productivity due to the fact that he does not lose time on turning each pizza).

Universe Pizza Ltd is a company owned by Forni Dorigo (www.fornidorigo.it, the manufacturing company based in Veneto in North East of Italy) and offers 16 models of oven from four pizzas to 12 pizzas, with wood or gas options, and with a rotating or fixed cooking surface, as well as with a window viewing. The company have a test kitchen facility at their London offices. 10 years ago, the company invented a gas burner to permit users to be able to regulate the flame up to 1.5 metres in order to keep gas consumption low.

The specialist continental food and wine suppliers, CQS (Continental Quattro Stagioni), have launched a new web site (www.continentalfood.co.uk) to reflect the growth and developments within the company and its portfolio over recent months.

The site now features distinctive and impactful branding to provide existing and potential customers with immediate access to detailed information about its broad range of products, say the company who are an importer, agent and distributor of over 1500 specialist continental foods, wines, liqueurs and spirits and exclusively represent many leading continental brand names. A monthly promotional bulletin is also available to download as a PDF, featuring all current price and product offers as well as seasonal menu ideas.

“CQS is establishing itself as a ‘true food service specialist’ with many quality and diverse product solutions and we now service an extensive and expansive UK customer base from sites based in Huddersfield, Edinburgh, Newcastle and Glasgow,” says marketing manager, Vicky Lee. “CQS products encompass frozen, chilled and ambient sectors from catering, retail pack through to bulk ingredient sizes for manufacturing - a site was needed that would really live up to the rate at which our business is developing and growing.”

CQS’s head office is based in Huddersfield and is the name behind the Taste of Italy® range. Some of the other brands which are exclusively offered by them include Mutti, Divella, Colavita, Romcaffe, Montana and Rocchetta.

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news

Spaghetti House celebrated Valentine’s Day with pasta dishes for sharing.

Dishes for sharing Valentine’s Day was celebrated at Spaghetti House recently with a new approach to pasta and tiramisu as the must-have dishes for sharing on the lovers’ menu.

Diners were able to start with a flute of Prosecco Rosé before sharing a portion of Spaghettata di Venere served at the table in

a tegamino pan, and combining generous helpings of fresh lobster, Mediterranean prawns, light tomato, chilli and white wine. Also on the Velentine’s Day menu was a sharing portion of Tiramisu dell’Amorosa – featuring strawberries and chocolate sauce – served up with two spoons of course.

Industry wheat and flour testing methods update The wheat milling industry uses standard methods to evaluate the physical and chemical properties of wheat and the flour derived from it, and these methods are continually evaluated and updated by an industry working group, then published as a Campden BRI Guideline document.

"As well as consolidating all previous updates to the third edition of this document, the fourth edition of the Manual of methods for wheat and flour testing (Campden BRI Guideline 3) features the new Tristimulus method for flour colour determination, which is being adopted by all UK flour millers from the beginning of 2010,” explains Karon Millar of Campden BRI, who edits the document.

“In addition, there is a new method for determination of starch damage using the SDmatic, and revisions to the Falling Number Glutomatic method for gluten content determination and the Brabender extensograph

www.papa.org.uk

Proven to be the best hot bag delivery system

For further information about the new wheat milling guideline document, contact Sue Hocking (pubs@campden.co.uk or call 01386 842225).

method for assesing dough rheological properties. As in the previous (2002) edition, statistical data together with details of method reproducibility and repeatability generated from collaborative trials are included in support of each method, and there are separate protocols for standard procedures that are common to more than one method."

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Paris to host third Pizza & Pasta Expo 2010 This year’s Pizza & Pasta Expo will take place in Paris, France on the 30 and 31 March 2010 and is setting out to be dedicated to Italian pizzerias and trattorias say its organisers, GL Events (www.pizzapastaexpo.com), as well as see a 20% growth in the number of visitors.

This year, the show will open a new section dedicated to franchises, with representatives from notable franchise brands in attendance.

It will have a European flavour and bring together both the trade (equipment, and professional training centres) and food components of the Italian food sector, welcoming some one hundred exhibitors with a strong “Italian gastronomy” theme.

For example, Carniato and Caserta -

distributors of Italian wines and food products - will offer for tasting the best of Italian delicatessen and fine groceries, and for the first time professional visitors to Pizza & Pasta Expo will benefit from a wide selection of products aimed at the take-away and snacking segment with a new show that has been developed by Foods & Goods called Snack & Fast Fooding. This will bring together on-the-go eating and new concepts of consumption.

The show will also host the final of the First France Pizza Tour. The rounds of this competition have been organised by the Association of French Pizzerias (Association des Pizzerias Françaises). The 70 best pizzaioli

Pricey junk food drives healthy school meals growth

Pasta King’s healthy iron enriched pasta meals are continuing to prove popular with schools.

Pasta King has identified further areas for expansion in the education sector thanks to pricey junk food, it says.

The company is now forecasting further growth in the market where it launched its business 15 years ago as parents turn away from filling lunch boxes with expensive unhealthy snacks.

Pasta King’s predicted expansion of its healthy pasta bars in the education market comes as a new report in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health suggests that only 1% of primary school children's packed lunches meet the nutritional standards set for school meals in England. Crisps, sweets and sugary drinks still dominate over fruit and vegetables, according to the survey by Leeds University of 1,300 school children's lunchboxes.

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The Pasta King concept has been boosted by the introduction of new iron enriched meals that deliver 100% of the iron required to meet the Government nutritional standards in schools.

The new iron enriched meals also provide 100% of the Zinc, Folate and vitamin C required by the standards as well as 45% of essential carbohydrates. The meals are low in fat, with less than 240 kCal per meal, as well as low in sugar and salt.

“Our healthy meals concept has been very well received in the education sector for over 15 years. However, the market is by no means saturated and we have identified further areas for growth,” says Howard Farquhar, chief executive of Pasta King. “In the recession, households evaluate budgets for areas such as food very carefully. When it comes to lunchtime meals for children, parents tell us they would rather get a value for money nutritious meal for sons and daughters rather than buying crisps, sweets and sugary drinks. Many commentators are now suggesting that the trend for thrifty spending will continue long after the recession ends, which can only help our expansion in the education sector.”

from the regional heats will meet together for the final with only one of them winning the Best Pizza in France trophy.

The French, at more than 10kg per head per year, point out GL Events, are the biggest consumers of pizza in Europe. That’s twice as much as the Italians and the English, and barely less than Americans. In this vibrant market (2.35 billion Euros/year), take-away businesses and manufacturers are devising ever more ingenious ways to retain their market share and are diversifying their ranges.

Some outlets offer products complementary to pizzas, such as bruschetta, focaccia, piadina and pasta cups, while others are developing their eat-in business.

New panna cotta With desserts being such huge potential profit earners, Brakes (www.brake.co.uk) have announced the launch of additional products to its portfolio to make sure operators have an even more varied range available to them that will bridge the dessert ice cream bridge, say the firm.

Called Sl’ice’, the new range comes in three flavours – blackforest, coconut and raspberry sundae – and also includes a Red Berry Panna Cotta.

All of the new desserts can be served straight from the freezer, requiring little preparation as they

The new Red Berry Panna Cotta from Brakes is available in packs of 12.

are pre-cut into 14 slices for accurate portion control.

The Red Berry Panna Cotta is a creamy vanilla scented dessert topped with a vibrant mixed berry compote. An individually packaged authentic dessert, it is supplied fully finished and simply needs defrosting in a refrigerator and can be served with a raspberry sorbet accompaniment.

New pizza prep counter range Selecting the right pizza prep counter is an important decision and catering equipment supplier, Parry, says that it has always prided itself on offering quality products which offer exceptional value for money without every compromising on service.

Its new style refrigerated pizza prep counters are available in two, three or four door versions and come complete with granite top to ensure that pizza dough can be kept at optimum quality

by keeping it cool. They also feature a topping unit that is ideal for ready prepared vegetables, meats and cheeses, point out the company.

Constructed from stainless steel, the sturdy doors have fitted with an automatic closing device and an automatic evaporation system saves time on cleaning (all of the new units are being offered with Parry’s two year on site not out of site warranty, www.parry.co.uk).

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Italian fresh frozen pasta for the Food Service market.

Fresh Italian pasta for chefs all over the world Laboratorio Tortellini has been the leading brand of deep-frozen fresh pasta for the catering sector since 1980 and offers a range of over 100 products including short, long, filled, oven pasta and potato gnocchi.

All our products are created for those chefs whose prime concerns are the quality of the ingredients and the satisfaction of their clients.

With Laboratorio Tortellini good fresh Italian pasta is now available all over the world – fresh as the day it was made and without preservatives, thanks to a certified deep freezing process.

The chef ’s italian favourite.

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news

In breve Food & Drink Expo 2010

Papa John’s appoint new MD

More than 600 individual suppliers will be exhibiting at this year’s Food & Drink Expo (21-24 March, NEC, Birmingham).

Companies from all over the UK and from more than 25 other countries will be offering thousands of products and services across a range of food and beverage categories covering almost every category imaginable, including bakery, dairy, meat and fish, soft drinks, and beer, wines and spirits (www.foodanddrinkexpo.co.uk).

Papa John’s have announced that their operations director, Jack Swaysland, will be promoted to the role of its UK managing director, following the announcement that current MD, Ian Saunders, has left the company to take up a new role. Jack Swaysland has headed up Papa John’s operations over the last three years, helping the company overhaul its product range to enhance its premium market positioning, and implement a 100% fresh dough policy and improve all aspects of customer service. The new role will see him become a key interface between the company and its franchise community.

Food report slammed The government’s Food 2030 report has been slammed by campaigners for failing to tackle the unsustainable nature of our food and farming system. The report is recommending only “soft” measures (such as wasting less food), and avoids tough issues such as reducing children’s consumption of junk food by, for example, properly protecting children from junk food marketing, claim the campaigners.

Diners to help raise funds For the hundredth Anniversary of International Woman’s Day (IWD) on 8 March this year, The White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood will be asking hotels and restaurants around the world to take donations from diners, such as by taking an extra optional service or cover charge to go towards the WRA (any restaurateurs and hoteliers wanting to get involved should contact James at the WRA on jcox@whiteribbonalliance.org).

Italian sausage US recall Daniele International Inc., an establishment with operations in Pascoag and Mapleville, R.I. in the US is recalling approximately 1,240,000 pounds of ready-to-eat varieties of Italian sausage products, including salami/salame, in commerce and potentially available to customers in retail locations because they may be contaminated with salmonella, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has announced.

Career chef?

Career Energy, a specialist career management consultancy, has launched a free career guide highlighting the top ten career opportunities for people seeking to change their working lives in 2010. Based on research into current and projected business, social and economic trends, related labour supply and demand facts, the guide sees catering as a growth area and lists being a chef in its ‘top ten’ jobs that people are increasingly likely to consider.

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Wheat prices and demand fluctuate Wheat production has been on the rise in areas such as Canada and the Black Sea leading to some price declines. The French analyst, Strategie Grains, has raised its estimate of the 2010 EU wheat crop to 133.7 million tonnes to reflect an upward revision in the planted area in Romania and Germany, but this figure could yet vary by around 10 million tonnes either way. Pakistan is predicting that its wheat crop might be as low as 19 to 20 million tonnes in 2010, whereas Egypt reports greater wheat home consumption due to population growth.

Health & Wellbeing Focus Group Brakes recently hosted and chaired a Health & Wellbeing Focus Group with some major players in foodservice to encourage positive change in the industry towards improving healthier menu options. The forum was held to alert key customers to the fact that growing pressure from the government and Food Standards Agency (FSA) to improve the nation’s diet by reducing the amount of saturated fat and salt consumed, is starting to focus on foodservice.

Funding for energy savers CO2Sense Yorkshire is offering funding to SME’s in Yorkshire and Humber who want to cut their greenhouse gas emissions by reducing waste, saving water or saving energy. The food and drink sector is one of CO2Sense Yorkshire’s priorities and food waste producers, collectors and processors can bid for funds to deliver waste reduction initiatives, recycling services, or re-use projects. They can also bid for funds to achieve energy and water savings (www.CO2Sense.org.uk).

La Dolce Vita at the Business Design Centre La Dolce Vita - the annual lifestyle event celebrating the very best of the Italian way of life, not least its food - will return to London for its sixth year and be held at the Business Design Centre in Islington (11-14 March 2010).

Highlights of the show will include an Italian garden, Build your Italy (a giant interactive map), a route of boutique wines, a gallery of winning entries to a brand new photographic competition, as well as masterclasses by celebrity chefs and tastings and demonstrations by some of Italy’s top artisan food and wine producers.

Building on last year’s success when the show saw 18,000 attendees, La Dolce Vita 2010 at its brand new venue in Islington will be bigger and better than ever before, say the organisers, making it a must-see show for anyone passionate about discovering the new Italy (www.ladolcevitaevent.co.uk).

Beacon Foods invests £300,000 in new machinery Investment of more than £300,000 in new machinery has been made by teh ingredients specialist Beacon Foods to improve efficiency and expand its range of products, say the company (www.beaconfoods.co.uk).

Beacon has purchased two 750litre steam generated cooking vessels together with two vertical gas boilers to quadruple capacity and extend its range of products, having previously relied on a 400-litre brat pan to produce its extensive portfolio of recipes including blanched and steam vegetables, chutneys, compotes, sauces. The extra capacity offered by the new machinery now opens up the soups and gravies market to the company, say the firm.

"The new cooking vessels are much more labour efficient than the brat pan, because they are computer controlled and have built in homogenizers and agitators,” said Jas Singh, Beacon Foods' senior production manager. "They also give us the capacity to cook greater volumes and extend our product range.”

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Hotelympia 2010 A new look Hotelympia (28 February to 4 March 2010, ExCel, London, www.hotelympia.com) will open its doors to an anticipated audience of over 40,000. Boasting an impressive exhibitor list of 600 plus, and covering all areas of hospitality from Food & Drink (accounting for more than 50% of exhibitors), Catering Equipment, Tabletop, Décor & Design, Bathroom & Hotel Spa, Premises & Facilities, Technology (by way of Hostec-Europe), for the first time ever it will also feature a dedicated Sustainability section.

Revitalised The revitalised show promises to be innovative, inspirational, packed full of hospitality knowhow and bursting with fresh new ideas to reach out to a hospitality audience of tomorrow, say the event’s organisers, Fresh RM. The introduction of the Innovation Awards will provide a high profile platform for new product launches and will recognise industry innovation, giving exhibitors the chance of unrivalled exposure throughout the show. Another addition sees Hotelympia recruit an Inspiration Team - a panel of high profile opinion leaders who will judge the Innovation Awards, provide on-line advice, and make guest appearances at the event. This will run alongside established

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favourites such as Salon Culinaire and La Parade des Chefs.

“Exhibiting is a big commitment in these challenging times and we had this in mind when we set about reinventing the event,” says Toby Wand, group exhibition director at Fresh RM. “We have designed some added value features such as the Innovation Awards for exhibitors, which will enable them to make the most of the Hotelympia opportunity and quantify return on investment. The 2010 exhibition promises to be our most innovative event ever with operators keen to explore new ways to build their businesses, sharpen their competitive edge and embrace innovation!”

“Hotelympia is still the best shop window for our members to

display their products, or for any supplier to the hospitality and foodservice industry for that matter,” says Malcolm Harling, CESA chairman. “The changes lined up for 2010 are particularly impressive and look set to give Hotelympia a new momentum, ensuring it strikes a chord with the all-important younger generation of professionals in the industry - the decision makers of tomorrow.”

Sustainability is now a key element of business efficiency for most operators. As such it’s high on the ‘must do’ list for the hospitality industry and will have an important part to play. The hospitality sector is well placed to not only become more efficient, but

also to use sustainability as an increasingly important selling point to customers.

Hotelympia will aim to demystify this complex

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Fast food equipment/pizza equipment companies at Hotelympia Name Amana Aonach Solutions Barth GmgH – Thermo Future Box Brema Ice Makers S.p.A. Cater-Bake UK Ltd Chef Set Housewares Plc Enodis UK Foodservice Equip Line Ltd GW London Iglu Cold Systems Jestic Foodservice Equipment Labelling & Packaging Systems Ltd Mastro GmbH Mileta Signs Pizza Equipment Ltd ServEquip Ltd Shelfspan Limited T&S Brass and Bronze Works, Inc. The Clay Oven Co The Contact Grill Company UK Equipment Direct Valentine Equipment Ltd subject and present a showcase of solutions; new exhibitors, seminars, workshops and study tours to reinforce the impact and benefit of a sound sustainability policy. Hotelympia itself will be run to the new BS8901 sustainable event management standard with Salon Culinaire and La Parade des Chefs also featuring sustainability competition criteria for the first time.

www.papa.org.uk

Stand number N2666 N1554 N1869 N2320 N1620 N1454 N2340 and S2553 N1856 N1440 N2336 N1736 N1460 N1556 N1519 N1609 N2319 N1900 N1733 N1410 N1560 N1820 N1819

New launches On stands N2340/S2553 Manitowoc Foodservice (www.manitowocfsuk.co.uk) will launch the latest brand to fall under its umbrella. The Electro Calorique regeneration trolleys are ideal for a variety of cost sector led, bulk distribution establishments but most specifically hospitals and larger care homes. Ideal for plated distribution, the 20 level trolleys

feature ‘Electro-contact’ technology that can regenerate food from +3ºC to +75ºC in less than 60 minutes, whilst maintaining the temperature throughout the distribution period.

MKN (stand N1840), an independent premium manufacturer and the German market leader in traditional professional cooking technology will showcase its range of innovative products including its HansDampf CompactPRO, SpaceCombi and CompactPRO models. MKN says that it has addressed the problem encountered by small operations who would really love to use a combi but just don’t have the space to accommodate one - its new HansDampf|CompactPRO SpaceCombi is just 55cm wide and can sit comfortably on top of a counter.

The warewasher manufacturer Meiko UK (stand N1940) will be fielding 19 products, including the brand new M-iQ flight dishwasher – the machine that is firmly on course to be the benchmark for energy-saving standards, claim the company..

Alongside the M-iQ will be the new, compact granular pot washing systems, the MG-6 and MG-8.

Primeware (stand No N2501) will be showing a selection of new highlights to its colourful ceramic and counter top product

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preview at affordable pricing. In addition, the ISA Metro will be making its UK debut - a range offering hot and cold display solutions and designed to combine with the Millennium range.

Food and ingredients

For the Catering Equipment Suppliers Association (stand N1660), raising standards and professionalism throughout the foodservice industry will be their focus. In 2009 the Association launched CFSP, a new specialist qualification designed to give foodservice managers a better understanding of their industry.

Meanwhile CESA's work with Oxford Brookes University continues apace. Building on the success of their joint Save It! campaign, designed to reduce energy consumption, they have launched a pilot series of open-source hospitality training courses at www.open-course.org.uk. range. The latest servery innovations include the induction friendly Carvery Tray, an ideal way to present roast meats and the UK’s first ceramic Gastronorm induction dishes. Also on display will be the new range of ceramic Grundy Dishes - ultra light tough dishes a fifth lighter than the standard range.

Premium cutlery company Oneida (stand S1810) will launch a new cutlery range called Viners Professional, and comprising five stylish cutlery lines - Passion, Dedication, Perfection, Obsession and Devotion. Manufactured in 18/0 stainless steel to the highest standards, the Viners Professional range offers the long-lasting durability required for professional use and Oneida will also be offering savings on selected lines of high quality cutlery throughout the event. A special show promotion will see a 15% cash back offer on a variety of existing ranges, whilst a free prize draw will see one lucky winner walking away with £300 of Oneida cutlery, along with a £200 Wedgwood voucher.

Refrigerated display specialists ISA (UK) (stand N1955) will be giving a number of ranges a first showing in the UK. Concentrating on affordable,

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stand-alone packages giving great value for money, ISA will offer bakeries, patisseries, ice cream parlours, café/bars, convenience stores and forecourts a number of display solutions, and will be showing the ISA Millennium Ice Cream and Pastry cabinets which are proving popular in both the UK and Europe. This range offers complementary designs for the display of both ice cream and pastry, representing high quality

The ISA Metro will be making its UK debut at Hotelympia.

Forno d’Asolo S.p.A (stand S2512) - a frozen food company specialised in the production of a wide range of stuffed croissanteria in to leave and ready to cook formats, as well as snacks, traditional pizzas, appetizers, bakery to desserts and pre-sliced cakes – will be in attendance.

Grain D’Or Gel (stand S2129), founded by a baker in 1988, say that they were among the first French companies to produce frozen raw bread and the frozen raw pizza dough with the same quality as fresh dough, and will also be present.

SPL (UK) Ltd (stand S2549) will showcase the full range of Peppadew products from the original sweet heat of Peppadew Piquanté Peppers through to the more subtle tangy Sweet and Sour Goldew Peppers, and not forgetting the fiery Hot alternative, all of which are now available in convenient catering packs, say the company (www.peppadew.com).

AAK Foodservice (stand S2456) will show its versatile breadth of range on its stand and in demonstrations at Cost Sector Live, including Prep high

performance long life oils, Prep Premium infused and speciality oils (including Basil, Chilli, Garlic and Lemon), Lion condiments, dressings and sauces and Whirl, an alternative to butter in foodservice.

Italian company Surgital S.p.A (stand S2319) will showcase fresh frozen pasta and sauces for the quality foodservice market, as well as individual portion meals for the fast food market.

During Hotelympia, Abo Italia Consorzio per L’Export (stand S2056) will be presenting some typical Apulian cheeses and other Italian specialities.

CEIPiemonte (stand S1156) reports that it will be at the exhibition and say that they are the first Italian agency dedicated to internationalisation. During Hotelympia they will be introducing their newest project Piemonte InContract - a threeyear project with the main purpose of developing business with a selection of top class companies in the contract market (www.piemonteincontract.com).

Eco-friendly packaging Ecoco, the brand new eco collection available from Planglow (stand S2510), will be on show at the exhibition.

Planglow (www.planglow.com) specialise in the design and print of branded labels, food safety labels and biodegradable packaging for the catering industry. Supported by marketleading, label-printing software, Planglow offer an extensive label range and complementary products including bags, menus, cups and wedges. With an experienced creative design team Planglow can provide a wide variety of stocked products as well as custom designed branding solutions. For more information visit www.planglow.com Their latest range combines the popular rustic kraft material with eco-friendly branding. As the packaging suggests, all of the materials used come from paper mills that manage sustainable and renewable plantations, using no old growth forests, and the window is also derived from renewable plants, rather than oil based plastic.

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preview Hotelympia will also be the exclusive showcase for Fracino (stand S2226), the UK’s only manufacturer of cappuccino and espresso machines, who plan to launch the latest cutting-edge addition to its portfolio of awardwinning machines. With full specifications expected this month, the Birmingham-based manufacturer is remaining tight lipped on the final details concerning their latest project.

Fracino’s Adrian Maxwell will be using Hotelympia to reveal the company’s latest project.

Coffee solutions Crem International UK Ltd (stand S2440) will be showing their broad range of machines from Instant, Freshbrew, Espresso and Bean to Cup. Under the brand Coffee Queen, they have brought together all their machines for freshly brewed and instant coffee, water and juice. The Expobar brand offers top quality espresso machines. Jura and Machiavalley will complete the line up with full automatic bean to cup machines, together with Tea2Fly and Coffee2Fly lid concepts.

OPENING TIMES Sunday, 28 February: 11am-6pm Monday, 1 March: 9:30am-5.30pm Tuesday, 2 March: 9:30am-5.30pm Wednesday, 3 March: 9:30am-5.30pm Thursday, 4 March: 9:30am-4.30pm For further information, and to register for your free

Hotelympia ticket and save the £30 entry fee, go to www.hotelympia.com, or follow the build up on Twitter (www.twitter.com/hotelympia2010).

Register for the Hotelympia 10K! The Hotelympia 10K run will take place on Sunday, 28 February 28 at ExCel, Docklands to raise much-needed funds for the hospitality charity, Springboard.

The 2010 race is set to be a spectacular event with registrations already ahead of 2008. The race has support from sponsors Bunzl, Heinz, CocaCola, Cadbury, Huhtamaki, HIT Training and Electrolux.

Chip timing will be in place for runners, enabling fast and accurate race timings. There will also be a warm up aerobics session at the start to get those muscles moving before the off. For runners staying locally to ExCel, and anyone

setting up for the Hotelympia Show on the Saturday, there is a Pasta Party at the Novotel Hotel at Excel on the Saturday evening, with all proceeds going to Springboard. More details on all of these are on the web site – where you can also register – www.Hotelympia10k.com. The race is open to anyone and organised under UK Athletic guidelines. The entry fee is £15 + VAT and all finishers will receive a medal and goodie bag.

The Craft Guild are again supporting by organising the Post Race Brunch and ExCeL are donating space and facilities. Hot chocolate, bacon rolls, delicious pasties and a host of other yummy items will be available at the Brunch Party.

The Pizza Oven People Nationwide distributors of pizza, bakery and catering equipment.

• • • • •

Pizza ovens zanolli conveyor ovens dough mixers pizza rollers Refrigerated prep tables • fridges & freezers • chargrills • food prep machines

UK agents for

Tel: 0151 548 5818 Fax: 0151 548 5835 E: info@cater-bake.co.uk W: www.cater-bake.co.uk

www.papa.org.uk

See us on stand N1620 at Hotel Olympia

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cheese

More flavours

more formats A wider variety of flavours and innovative formats of cheese are now available to the sector, enabling operators and ready meal manufacturers to be more creative than ever before and tap into the increasing trend for artisan style products, keep wastage to a minimum, as well as cater for the needs of health conscious consumers.

Important role “Cheese plays an integral role in many traditional Italian dishes, added to everything from pizza and risottos to sauces for pasta dishes, cheese is an important staple ingredient for chefs wanting to offer authentic Italian style food,” says Warren MacFarlane, marketing manager at European dairy company, Lactalis McLelland. “With UK consumers becoming more educated in the provenance of their favourite foods, especially cheese, and expectations for authenticity increasing, caterers are looking for premium regional products to add excitement whilst delivering peace of mind that they are using only the best products to create authentic flavours.

“At Lactalis, we take great pride in having a number of

products with protected designation of origin (PDO) status – a European Union Law that protects the names of regional foods. The law ensures that only products genuinely originating in that region are allowed in commerce as such, also protecting the name, quality and reputation of the products.”

Part of the Lactalis McLelland family, Galbani has become a well known brand of Italian cheese in Italy and the UK, and offers a wide range of soft, hard and blue cheeses, combining their decades of expertise and modern innovation to deliver versatile products of the finest quality. These days, for those looking to replicate authentic Italian recipes, using genuine Italian products is an absolute must.

Soft cheeses Mozzarella is probably the most well known of all Italian cheeses.

A soft cheese with a fresh, milky flavour, it can be made from either cow or buffalo milk.

Authentic Mozzarella di Bufala Campania is made in the Campania region of Italy and has had PDO status since 2008, protecting its Italian heritage. Traditionally served with ripe tomatoes and basil as a ‘caprese’ salad, fresh mozzarella Just some of the range of cheeses supplied by the ingredients company, Leathams.

has come to be used to top a variety of cooked Italian style dishes.

Galbani mozzarella, say Lactalis McLelland, is available in a variety of options, to suit a range of catering needs, whether for hot or cold service.

Formats include

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cheese the 125g ball, 125g ‘light’ ball, a creamy Mozzarella di Bufala, a 250g maxi and a 400g or 1kg vacuum packed block or lingot.

The ingredients supplier, Leathams, also offer an extensive selection of high quality soft cheese products in a range of formats and sizes to meet the requirements of many pizza and pasta manufacturers. In particular, the company is a well known supplier of IQF (individually quick frozen) mozzarella pearls in a range of sizes from 1g up to 20g, available in both buffalo and cow milk.

These frozen mozzarella pearls are the ultimate convenient and cost effective cheese for pizza and pasta manufacturers, say the company, as they provide all of the flavour and texture of classic mozzarella but remove any shelf life and supply chain issues, and also reduce wastage. The larger pearls are also very visually appealing when used as a pizza topping. When it comes to round mozzarella slices for pizza, Leathams can supply a mozzarella round slicing log which is available in 1kg and 3kg, as well as in an IQF sliced mozzarella disc format to help out with portion control. Other soft cheeses of interest to the sector from Leathams include its IQF buffalo ricotta cheese, a classic traditional ingredient that is ideal for filled pastas or to top pizzas with, suggest the company.

Galbani also offer ricotta and recommend that its soft and naturally light nature makes it suitable for adding a creamy texture to soups or pasta sauces, filling ravioli, cannelloni and lasagne (Galbani ricotta is available in 250g, 1.5kg and 5kg pack sizes). Galbani also have a mascarpone cheese which is made using a unique double production process giving it a sweeter, creamier flavour than others available on the market, claim the company. A traditional, Italian cream cheese, it can be added to both sweet and savoury recipes, or used as an accompaniment to desserts (it is available from Lactalis McLelland in packs of 250g, 500g, 2kg and 5kg, there is also a light version available in a 250g tub).

The creamy texture and tangy

www.papa.org.uk

flavour of goat’s cheese can also be suited to pizzas, and Leathams can provide IQF goat’s cheese discs in a wide range of formats for added convenience and flexibility. IQF goat’s cheese is available both ripened and unripened, in crumb and iced formats, and has been found to combine well with the company’s caramelised onion or SunBlush® tomatoes.

Blue cheeses Blue cheeses can be enjoyed in many ways, transforming the simplest of dishes into an Italian masterpiece. Dolcelatte®, for example, is a mild and creamy blue cheese for people who might have thought that they would never like blue cheese. It offers chefs a broad array of cooking applications, lending menus a distinct point of difference, as it can be used as a topping for burgers, pizzas, crumbled into a pasta or risotto dish, or stirred into a sauce for meat and poultry. Dolcelatte® is made exclusively by Galbani for the UK market as an accessible blue cheese for ‘first-timers’, and is also suitable for vegetarians, point out the company.

Galbani’s Gorgonzola is another deliciously different blue cheese, made exclusively in the Lombardy region of Italy with PDO protection, it is sure to make a big impact on customers palates. Galbani Gorgonzola Erborinato® is made from pasteurised cow's milk, reflected in its strong flavour – it is an ideal ingredient in salads and baked or grilled dishes. Galbani Gorgonzola Eccellenza® is a creamy yet piquant classic Italian Gorgonzola. Made from cow's milk it is fragrant and creamy, ideal as an ingredient in sauces, quiches and tarts, or as a premium topping for pizzas. Both varieties are available in 150g portions, 1.5kg foil wrapped and a 12 kg wheel.

Cheesy side or starter Keeping in touch with market trends and the needs of the caterer has resulted in the launch of cash and carry packs of their popular jacket potatoes and potato gratins, say Aviko, a European supplier of chilled and frozen chips and speciality potato products to the foodservice market in the UK. The latest individual, fully cooked, frozen potato gratins are available in 8 x 100g packs. The potato slices are steamed gently until just tender then combined with a creamy sauce and Emmental cheese to ensure that the potato retains all of its natural flavour and the gratins keep their shape, even after a holding time of one hour, say Aviko. This innovative product has been approved for endorsement by the Craft Guild of Chefs who felt that Aviko’s gratins would be ideal used as a side dish or a starter, and that they would be keen to use them in place of making them from scratch.

Creamy Gratins can be cooked in the oven (30 minutes) or in a combi-steamer (12 minutes) and have a frozen shelf life of up to 18 months (www.aviko.co.uk).

Hard cheeses Italy has a long history of hard cheeses, with several consortia dedicated to the protection of their provenance and quality.

Respecting these fine traditions, Lactalis McLelland can offer the finest PDO Italian hard cheese by the wheel or processed in

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Comment In the wake of the discovery that some mozzarella cheese sourced from the Campania region has been found to contain cow milk, when it has been claimed that it has been made solely from buffalo milk, buffalo mozzarella suppliers in the UK have taken steps to reassure their customers.

“As part of our due diligence towards maintaining the high quality of produce that we import and distribute to all our customers, Carnevale has received written confirmation from all its major buffalo mozzarella suppliers confirming that their products are only and exclusively manufactured with buffalo milk from the Campana D.O.P. region,” says Luigi Carnevale.

In a statement, Podere dei Leoni, suppliers of mozzarella cheese to Casa Julia added: “We would like to apologise for the bad image this incident has created for the buffalo mozzarella consortium in Campania.

Luckily, however, in Italy we have some institutions that work well in these instances and one of these is the Minister of Agriculture, Luca

approved sites in the region of origin. These cheeses are traditionally grated or shaved over hot pasta dishes, but are also widely used in cooking, cold salads or even served simply on a cheeseboard.

Galbani Parmigiano Reggiano is an unpasteurised cow's milk cheese, naturally matured and aged for a minimum of 16 months. It is pale golden in colour, slightly granular and flaky in texture.

Yielding a nutty, slightly salty flavour, it is superb eaten on its own cut into chunks or shaved over hot pasta.

Galbani Grana Padano has a sharper and saltier flavour than Parmigiano Reggiano. Its granular texture (hence the word grana) makes it excellent 20

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Zaia, who immediately took action in relation to the protection of buffalo mozzarella by appointing a committee and officially contacting the Consortium involved by letter. This preceded steps taken by the consortium of Mozzarella di Bufala Campana itself, which had identified the activities of some members of the consortium, and in light of their own findings, are also taking steps in this regard for the protection of the product.

“With regard to our company, we want to reassure our customers both in Italy and abroad that we are a craft company, a family business and that the aim of this company is solely and exclusively to produce buffalo mozzarella, and that our milk comes from farms located in the PDO area authorized by the consortium, and it is collected daily by us with our tanks. We must emphasise that within our company are present biologists who control the raw material (buffalo milk) and who certify the quality, and these controls also stretch to the protection of consumer health which is our primary objective.”

”

for both grating and cooking.

Both are available as a whole wheel, or in 200g vacuumpacked wedges, 1kg, 2kg and 4kg pieces as well as freshly pregrated and pre-shaved from Lactalis McLelland (www.lactalisoutofhome.com).

New formats

A recent addition to Leathams cheese line up has been its diced smoked Scamorza. This new product is produced in Sicily and melts just like mozzarella, say the company. It is currently being used by a leading retailer on one of their top-tier pizzas and is also proving to be an excellent ingredient to add extra flavour in carbonara sauces.

Another recent launch -

IQF goats cheese discs from Leathams.

diced blue cheese – has been found to work well in pasta sauces, and can also act as a classic ingredient for a quattro formaggio pizza, suggest Leathams. The free flow format of this product makes it very easy to use, and it can also add the unique flavour of blue cheese to a range of pizza and pasta recipes.

Free flow, easy to use cheese makes life easier for pizza and pasta producers, and providing high quality cheese in a range of sizes and formats allows end users to select the most appropriate options to save them time in the kitchen. Shelf life and wastage issues can be a significant problem for pizza and pasta producers using large quantities of cheese. To overcome this, Leathams supply a wide range of IQF products which allow manufacturers to more accurately match their cheese supply to their daily production requirements, thereby incurring minimal wastage.

Valerio’s Ltd, specialist manufacturers of Italian cheeses, as well as meat products, can also supply a wide variety of different formats of cheese, including pizza cheese (in block form, grated or diced), mozzarella balls, bocconcini and fiordilatte pearls that range from 2g upwards, as well as ricotta. All are made daily from fresh, British

farm assured milk and recent additions to their range include low fat and low salt varieties of these lines, report the company which has been manufacturing for nearly 50 years and currently produces its products in a modern, BRC (British Retail Consortium) Grade A accredited plant.

Reduced salt The Ireland based company, Dairygold Food Ingredients (www.dairygoldfoodingredients. co.uk) – one of the largest and most progressive supplier of cheese-based ingredients scooped the runner’s up place in the prestigious Dairy Innovations Food Ingredients Europe (FIE) awards last year for one of its newest products - zero salt soft cheese.

Dairygold’s Zero Salt Cheese was nominated against products from more than 400 exhibitors from across Europe, and was selected by a panel of experts from across the continent as representing one of the most innovative ingredients used by the food industry for 2009 (these awards recognise companies which have demonstrated their ability to drive innovation throughout the year).

“This award is a thrilling recognition of the hard work and dedication of our research and development teams, and we February 2010

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cheese Less fat

Cheese company’s niche The GRH Food Company Ltd (www.grhfood.co.uk) says that it is one of those businesses that has managed to find the right balance between being a small family run enterprise and having the ability to cater for the ever growing food and dairy market.

Founded in 1989 by Gareth Hockridge in the quiet little seaside village of Pwhelli, in North Wales, the company can boast over 75 years of experience in the food industry. Gareth Hockridge says that by surrounding himself with individuals who are passionate about the product, they can work well together as a team and create something to be proud of.

Andrew Hockridge, Gareth’s son, is the man controlling the ongoing expansion of the state of the art facilities. Recent upgrades at the processing plant have allowed the team the capability to create blends and the facility to experiment in new product development ensuring that they constantly have their fingers on the pulse. Also, by ensuring that the plant is both dynamic and efficient, the facility has recently had its BRC Grade A Accreditation renewed for another year.

Recognising a niche in the pizza and pasta market for high quality, consistently blended mozzarella and cheddar cheese, the GRH Food Company Ltd launched Gino’s Pizza Cheese early in 2009, with the product soon proving to be a big hit country wide. Available in sliced, diced or grated forms the cheese blends, chosen especially for their high quality flavours, are packaged in a variety of sizes and can be delivered countrywide are delighted to have received this accolade,” said innovation director, Aidan Fitzsimons. “Salt has traditionally had a key role to play in cheese manufacture, but this newly developed product tastes just as good as the original, higher salt, cheese. With health guidelines advising the reduction of salt in our diet, it is the perfect ingredient for all manner of food stuffs from sandwiches and ready meals to quiches and sauces, and represents Dairygold’s contribution to improving the nation’s health.”

The reaction of the European food industry to Dairygold’s new zero salt soft cheese has been extremely positive, with new contracts already in the pipeline, say the company.

“We have already developed a reduced fat low salt sandwich filling for one of our major UK retail clients,” says Aidan Fitzsimons. “It meets their targets for reducing salt and fat, while

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overnight, say GRH. “The mozzarellas and cheddars used to create the distinctive Gino’s blend have to pass through a very strict in house quality control system,” says Shaun Johnson, who spearheads the sales team, together with John Cullen. “With plenty of experience within the cheese industry we are both constantly nurturing our customers, listening to new ideas and helping to complete the package, thus ensuring that GRH Food Company Ltd’s family ethos is both friendly and professional.”

“The batches are individually selected based on their quality and consistency in order to ensure that they meet the stringent demands of the pizza industry, both in terms of flavour and aesthetics,” adds John Cullen. “Broadly speaking, this means that our customers can be assured of a high quality of flavour and texture time after time.”

As well as Gino’s Pizza Cheese, GRH report that they also have a variety of other products to complement their range. Launched at the same time as Gino’s, the Signature Cheese (Cheese to Please) range has proved equally as popular. High flavour mature and mild cheddars are chosen for their flavour and texture and are available in a variety of packages from sliced to diced, grated and blocked, offering the discerning chef a multitude of options.

delivering all the flavour they, and their customers, expect, at an improved margin for the supplier. It is due for launch in store at the start of 2010, and we are confident that additional contracts will be forthcoming as a result of this award. We are continually looking to improve existing ingredients as well as developing new ones, and with several exciting projects currently under way, we look forward to scooping the ultimate prize – first place – in next year’s awards.

“Reduced salt products are a real challenge for the cheese industry when salt itself plays such a vital role in the whole production process, from flavour and texture development to microbiological safety and moisture content. However, Dairygold’s experienced research and development team has worked tirelessly to create a range of new soft cheeses with a reduced salt content which, when used in isolation or

blended with grated cheddar, perform consistently in food solutions. And as consumers continue to seek reduced salt content in their food, the company will further extend its product range to meet demand.”

Milk Link Foodservice are launching Bladen Lighter, a new cheese containing 30% less fat than their standard cheddar, but still delivering all of the flavour, claim the company. The Bladen Lighter range is available in Mild and Mature 5kg blocks, 1kg Grated and Grated Mozzarella Mix. The Milk Link Foodservice division became fully operational in September 2009 with the aim of being the natural dairy choice for caterers everywhere.

Delivering added value to the foodservice marketplace, the division has been built on key principles of in-depth market research and customer support, new product development and investment in innovation.

“Historically, low-fat cheese has suffered a poor reputation.

We’ve harnessed our expertise to create a low-fat product that doesn’t compromise on taste, texture or cookability,” says Craig Dillon, Milk Link’s head of foodservice.

“Our development team and graders have worked closely with independent foodservice chefs across all channels to create a great tasting cheese that performs perfectly in the kitchen, whilst exceeding nutritional requirements. Not only have caterers been unable to tell the difference between our full fat and low fat cheddars in blind taste tests, Bladen Lighter has also been officially endorsed by the Craft Guild of Chefs, following a rigorous testing process.”

Jacket potatoes topped with Bladen Lighter, crispy pancetta and asparagus spears.

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NEW

New

the Gr8 Grated Cheese Range ...

Not just for pizza!

Gr8 for ready meals!

Gr8 for sandwiches!

Gr8 for baking!

Gr8 for sauces!

Gr8 for salads!

Gr8 for you!

The Gr8 grated cheese brand from The Cheese Warehouse is already widely known for its premium quality and consistency; now we are expanding the range to encompass a broad range of grated cheese for numerous applications.

To complement the existing Gr8 pizza cheese range, a quality selection of Cheese Warehouse cheese is now available ready-grated in the new Gr8 brand. So now the range includes cheddar and regional cheeses to suit all requirements and uses.

And with the new eye-catching Gr8 printed bags, the new range is bound to make a big impact!

To discuss your grated cheese requirements, call us today on 01948 666 060 www.thecheesewarehouse.co.uk

www.papa.org.uk

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cheese The Bladen Lighter products were tested by a panel of Craft Guild chefs working across the education, pub and fine dining channels. The product was trialled extensively for its versatility – tasted raw, as well as oven-cooked, grilled and quickbrowned in a number of dishes from classic cheese sauces through to soufflés and even a Welsh Rarebit.

“What’s fascinating is that none of the Craft Guild of Chefs who tested the product had used a reduced fat cheese before the trial – and all believed that it would be tasteless, rubbery and lack any depth of flavour,” Craig Dillon explains.

“Needless to say, we were delighted when the product was awarded a B grade! The product exceeded all their expectations,

with many of the trial chefs claiming it showed no noticeable differences from our standard mature cheddar.”

In particular, the product has clear benefits for school caterers where cheese is used as an ingredient in over 80% of primary school dishes. As the first major foodservice manufacturer to work directly with Fretwell Downing, Milk Link Foodservice report that they have ensured that Bladen Lighter products deliver within the Saffron Nutritional programme, and have also helped to create a series of inspiring recipes using the new lower fat cheese.

The nutritionally balanced recipes have also been assessed using the Saffron software programme with traffic lights

included on each recipe (these recipes are available online, along with the chance to claim one of 200 free samples of Bladen Lighter – caterers simply need to visit and register on: www.milklinkfoodservice.co.uk).

Award-winning Leerdammer® cheese combines the heritage of traditional Dutch cheesemaking with a modern take on sandwiches, wraps and filled speciality breads - sliced, diced, and grated, it can be used in salads, numerous recipes and as a pizza topping and is especially good for melting, retaining its

rich, creamy texture and sweet nutty taste. It is also available in low fat versions.

Leerdammer® itself can contains 20% less fat than cheddar and Leerdammer® Light contains 50% less, making it ideal for health conscious consumers, plus the richness of the flavour means that you can use less Leerdammer® or Leerdammer® Light than cheddar when creating recipes.

Mozzarella bar The first UK branch of Obika Mozzarella Bar - a restaurant with sites in two of Italy’s most fashionable cities, Milan and Rome - opened in Selfridges, Oxford Street at the end of 2005 and has since become very popular.

Managed by Stefano Potorti, Obika is located in the Women’s Superbrands department of the Oxford Street store, and offers a menu based on handmade buffalo mozzarella sourced from southern Italy, and which is in tune with today’s desire for light food and natural ingredients that have a traceable provenance.

Obika serves different presentations of this creamy white cheese (along with mortadella, prosciutto, salame and other authentic, artisanal Italian foods). Every Thursday from 6pm Obika offers traditional Italian aperitivo, featuring special Italian wines or cocktails served with small tastings of mozzarella and other Obika specialties, making it the ideal place to end the working day, start a night out, or simply stop off whilst shopping (the restaurant is

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At the Obika Mozzarella bar in London, a range of different types of mozzarellas can be sampled, aperitivo style.

also available for private events and parties).

The speciality mozzarellas feature Paestum (a delicate, creamy cheese), the stronger Piana del Volturno and a smoked mozzarella, as well as a burrata (a soft mozzarella pouch filled with cream).

They are finished by hand (mozzare means to lop off, a reference to making the individual ball of cheese).

The restaurant concept was created by Silvio Ursini, who had been observing diners in a sushi bar in Rome, and decided to come up with

prosciutto or Cinta Senese salami, could be comparable to the modern sushi bar experience.

Italian architects Labics, designers for Obika in Milan and Rome, created a stylish urban space within Selfridges, using glass, blond wood and steel, which can seat up to eighty people. The mozzarellas are displayed in a centre stage in clear glass tanks, lit so that the cheeses appear to glow while other tanks contain the full range of Italian specialities.

an Italian equivalent – somewhere serving fresh, quick, light and healthy, served in a setting with a similar aesthetic.

As a Neapolitan, he had been brought up in the region known for making true mozzarella, and decided that the cheese, served correctly with, say, just a wild boar

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www.papa.org.uk

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sauces

Artisan sauces .

It has been a testing past 12 months. The drop in consumers opting to eat out due to the recession and ongoing concerns over fat and salt content has impacted the international restaurant scene and the ready meal market as a whole, but The Little Sauce Company (LSCo) reports that it is starting to make a niche for itself in foodservice with its artisan style Italian sauces

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sauces Mediterranean a mainstay With its lighter Mediterranean influences and reliance on healthgiving ingredients such as olive oil, tomatoes and herbs, Italian food has arguably been largely unaffected by some of the gloomier trends. It has benefited from a raft of new product launches which has in turn seen an expansion in sales for many, not least from the fact that more consumers are now cooking for themselves at home.

Whether products are aimed at consumers or professional chefs, ease and speed of preparation and an authentic finished result have all proven to be the secret of success for Italian ready meals and stir-in sauces, which continue to outperform other cuisines in the ready meal sector.

A fresh face in the ready-tocook market is Marco Fontana Ros. He has already got 2010 off to a flying start by launching The Little Sauce Company and its range of fresh, authentic tomato-based and pesto sauces into the foodservice market. The move follows a successful 18 months building up listings within the independent retail sector across the UK and developing a strong consumer fan base in the process.

Having worked in the hospitality industry for more than 18 years, the enterprising Italian/South African chef started The Little Sauce Company, or The LSCo for short, in 2008. Working from his kitchens in London, Marco brings his passion for real Italian food to a range of versatile meal solution sauces of the highest quality that will, he feels, hold strong appeal for restaurants, cafés, sandwich shop operators and QSRs alike.

Improved offering “In my opinion, neither the ambient or chilled sauces that are currently on the market are up to scratch,” says Marco. “And it was this was the catalyst for setting up The LSCo. I wanted to make a range of pestos and tomato-based sauces that had genuine Italian heritage, outstanding flavour and were made in small batches to ensure the highest quality.

“We tested the market first by attending trade shows such as lunch!, the Restaurant Show and the Speciality & Fine Food Fair, and

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the feedback was fantastic. Both chefs and consumers seemed to enjoy and appreciate the freshness and balance of flavours in comparison to the ambient equivalents. The piquancy in a fresh Arrabbiata sauce, for example, is so far removed from the jarred varieties, it really catches people unawares, and that chilli kick can be quite addictive!”

The Little Sauce Company range is made entirely free of sugar, artificial colours, additives and preservatives and includes such traditional recipes as the aromatic Tomato & Basil, a rich and fullbodied Puttanesca, a spicy Roasted Pepper, Tomato & Chilli and a hot, earthy Arrabbiata. Entered into the 2009 Great Taste Awards for the first time, Marco was thrilled to receive a prestigious Gold award for the Tomato & Basil, his biggest seller to date.

Pestos Little Sauce pestos will no doubt come as a breath of fresh air to the marketplace and include the classic and extremely versatile basil pesto, the bedrock of any Italian kitchen.

This famous sauce is widely considered to be an invention of the Ligurians in the north-west coastal region of Italy, who ‘live in a land that is always green’.

“There is a saying that goes, ‘he who eats pesto never leaves Genoa’,” says Marco. “Our mission is to bring that little bit of Liguria straight into your kitchen. Made with freshly picked basil leaves, garlic, parmesan cheese, extra virgin olive oil, pine nuts, cashew nuts, salt and pepper, it is best enjoyed with al dente spaghetti or we recommend spreading it generously on bruschetta or adding it to a salad dressing for a real taste of summer.”

Other pesto varieties from The Little Sauce Company include the rich Sundried Tomato & Basil pesto with a warm hint of chilli, and a delicious peppery Rocket pesto, all of which make ideal partners for

meat, fish, pasta and vegetarian dishes, suggest the company.

Serving suggestions on the Little Sauce web site include a simple open sandwich of crayfish and rocket pesto and farfalle pasta with rocket pesto, cream and smoked salmon, garnished with a sprinkling of chives.

Seasonal specialities Complementing The LSCo core collection are Marco’s own speciality sauces. Whereas many are available all year round, some are only made as and when the ingredients come into season, but as locality and seasonality are still hot buzz words within the catering industry, chefs who consider this an important part of their menu will eagerly anticipate their arrival, rather than resent the wait, claim the company.

Fresh for spring/summer 2010 will be the rustic grilled aubergine pesto that has an attractive creamy appearance and is said to bring out the flavour of cured continental meats like chorizo and Parma ham, while the walnut pesto makes a good bedfellow for potato gnocchi or stirred into a risotto at the final stages.

For a touch of decadence the truffle-infused asparagus pesto makes a luxurious addition to springtime recipes, bringing a sense of excitement to poached or grilled fish, suggest LSCo. Only available from May to July, this and LSCo’s other seasonal sauces are supplied in both 1kg and 5kg tubs and keep for up to two weeks in the fridge (the products can also be frozen for up to one month).

A little goes a long way Marco Fontana Ros’s reckoning is that a little goes a long way and because the flavour profile of his fresh sauces is that much higher than ambient, you do not need to add as much to your cooking, making them more of a cost effective option in a professional kitchen environment.

The fact that this type of sauce can be utilised in a multitude of ways should also not be overlooked by budget conscious operators.

“Tomato-based sauces have much greater potential than simply being added to cooked pasta. They can be used as alternatives to standard tomato chutneys or salsas to serve with cheese-based dishes or as accompaniments to nachos or burgers,” Marco explains. “They also work well in one pot Mediterranean stews and add a rich robustness to meat and fish courses.

“Pestos can add panache to soups, salads and a range of hot and cold sandwiches as well as pasta and risottos. They also make a tasty crust on chicken or fish fillets before being cooked under the grill or in the oven.

“Even though the credit crunch has without a doubt impacted on our industry, customers do not want to sacrifice on food quality.

Eating out is still perceived as an occasional treat and as such they expect and deserve to get the best within their price bracket. Products like small batch produced fresh sauces do cost more than the ambient versions, because of the provenance of the ingredients and the overall upgrade in quality, but people are more inclined than ever to pay that little bit extra for a meal experience they will enjoy and remember.”

Expansion The end of the noughties was a busy time for Marco and 2010 shows no signs of letting up.

Expansion through major listings with contract caterers and delivered wholesalers is the long term plan while new product development is already underway.

“It’s all looking very positive right now,” smiles Marco. “We love what we do and the greatest reward is that our customers seem to love it too, so we’re looking ahead to a hectic few months.”

Perhaps they are carving a niche out for themselves in the Italian food marketplace, but if nothing else The Little Sauce Company is proving to be a little ray of sunshine during a long, cold British winter (for further information 0208 291 1929 or visit www.thelittlesaucecompany.co.uk).

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marketing

Marketing

moves Whether you are a big chain or a small independent, there are plenty of ways to raise the profile of your business, as we discover here. A year on since all the doom and gloom set in about the recession, we also catch up with industry consultant, Maurice Abboudi, and ask him if anything’s changed when it comes to the marketing challenge.

Marketing in a recession – redux Maurice Abboudi, industry consultant, Lanbury Associates (www.lanbury.com).

Just over one year ago I was brave enough to give some advice on marketing in a recession. The essence was to get back to basics, continue to market, discount cautiously, focus on family values and make sure you have the right attitude.

Nothing has changed. All of the above still applies. To survive, let alone thrive, we need to make the customer love what we do.

Look at Domino’s. Not the tastiest, cheapest or best value offer in the market but customers love what they do. The secret is not in the marketing they do – which is brilliant – but in the ability to execute on the promise.

Hot pizza delivered fast. They are able to deliver on the marketing promise. It’s all about execution.

A very senior person in the industry put it this way: “We were all doing brilliantly until mid 2008. Then two things happened; the recession hit and Domino’s Pizza grabbed what was left of the market.” Tongue in cheek, but there’s a ring of truth to it.

The past year has seen those operators who run a great 28

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operation succeed whilst those who have a weak operation have seen like for like sales decline – in some cases double digit declines.

To me, the two companies that stand out head and shoulders above everyone in the pizza industry right now are Domino’s and Gondola (owners or Pizza Express, ASK and Zizzi). Domino’s we know about.

Pizza Express has done an exceptional job in reinventing themselves. Aggressive marketing – they really went for the Buy One Get One Free last year – and great new products with Theo Randall and now Francesco Mazzei and the lighter Leggera Pizza. How inspired is it to sell a pizza with half of the dough cut out (half the cheese and toppings) at a premium price and call it a healthier option.

Genius! The restaurants are being refurbished. It has all come together really well. Zizzi is following suit. With fabulous new design, a focus on quality food, it’s now a competitor to Strada rather than a weak copy. ASK is still a work in progress, but don’t bet against a turnaround there either.

These two businesses have thrived. They both have gone back to basics. Good food, great service, refurbished clean stores

and brilliant marketing. They have invested in the midst of a horrific recession rather than hunker down and wait for it to pass hoping that they will have enough money to survive.

Maurice Abboudi founded Famous Moe's Pizza in 1992, developing it into a twelve unit operation and selling it in January 2002 to a major Burger King franchisee. He then joined Domino's Pizza in 2002 as head of business development with responsibility for an extensive store roll out, realising the 50 store target in 2003. In 2004 Maurice was approached by three of the UK’s leading food service companies and has acted as a consultant to some of the UK's best known brands providing advice on areas covering operations, property, franchising and marketing.

Calabrian chef, Francesco Mazzei (centre) has assisted PizzaExpress in creating popular new additions to its menu.

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marketing I will not talk about Jamie’s Italian – that is a once in a lifetime phenomenon. The volumes are staggering, their quality excellent and they do no marketing. What is the secret? Yes you guessed it – it’s about execution, about processes, about quality, about service and about value – same as all successful businesses.

Clearly, these are big companies and have resources and cash. Those who have heavy debt are in trouble. It does not really matter what you do if you are in heavy debt, you will suffer.

If it’s a question of survival what do you do? This is where you have to be clever and use your restaurants, stores and people as a community resource.

Have local clubs host their evenings at your place on a Monday night, offer a really special wine at a major discount on a Tuesday to encourage people to try something they would normally shy away from – by creative. This is classic ‘guerrilla marketing’. There are no magic bullets. It’s a slog. Gone are the days when you turned up and told customers they had a two hour seating and you need the table by 9pm

www.papa.org.uk

– although I tried to book a table for lunch for two at three restaurants in Soho, London on Thursday, 28 January and there were no tables available till 2.30 pm! Good on them.

Central London is a unique market. It’s outside central London where the real pain is being felt. There is some anecdotal evidence of business picking up, but there is a very tight squeeze out there. Average spend is down. The number of covers are down. The snow destroyed January except for the Hoovers at Domino’s that seem to have picked up everyone else’s business.

But it’s not all doom and gloom. People are still going out and eating out. It is much more selective – if you only go out once every two weeks instead of every week you want a great experience. Hence the good are busier, and the bad are weaker.

The saying now is that Flat is the new Up. If your sales are flat that’s like being up in the good old days.

So, in summary do the basics well, your food, service, value.

Look at your processes, your supply chain and concentrate your efforts on the things you do well – it’s all about execution.

Look smart, make your restaurant look smart. Continue to market – sensible discounting not margin destroying, suicidal discounts and be clever about it.

Be positive – that was my very first point last year, and it’s my last this year. We are where we are. If it is like this for a few years, we have to live with it. It has been the same since biblical times – seven fat years and seven lean years. Recessions come to an end. People will be back and we will hit the good times again. That could happen this year or next or in five years. When exactly? Well if I knew that…

Recession-beaters Papa Luigi is a small franchise of independent pizza shops that have traded successfully for 26 years and their claim to fame is that they were indeed the first pizza delivery shop in the UK, as well as the first company to combine quality pizzas with the Buy One Get One Free offer (some five years before any supermarket had even thought of using that offer, they claim).

“These are tough times for everyone even the big boys,” says Papa Luigi’s director, Stef Malajny.

“I noticed Dominos hyping up their business saying that the recession is giving them more trade as customers can’t afford to go out. In Peterborough where we are based, there are loads of pubs doing meals for as low as £4 and you can even get curry and a pint for a fiver in Wetherspoons, so that argument does not always wash with me, especially when our ex-crew work for them, and vice versa! We are all in the same boat.”

Stef Malajny recalls the last recession in 1989, which they combated with their Recession Buster which eventually became their “Buy one, get one free” offer.

As they were the only pizza chain doing this offer at the time, they were extremely busy as a direct result. Obviously now, a similar card is not as powerful as before, because many outlets are generally doing very similar offers

At Papa Luigi’s in Peterborough, Stef Malajny has successfully devised various promotions, including getting involved with the BBC’s Children in Need and creating a Pudsey Bear pizza.

and there are a lot more shops selling delivered foods of all kinds. So what can you do to boost trade? Stef Malajny has the following suggestions.

Menu design “We realised that we needed to invest in the best design we could have, so we contacted a top local designer who does work for Nike, and he transformed our menu to a ‘lifestyle’ feel with a less is more feel to it,” explains Stef Malajny. “He also designed our web site - www.papa-luigi.co.uk.

If you can’t afford a top designer then there are plenty of students out the there that can do a similar job and most printers have the necessary software to help out.”

Web site “You need a good web site and it needs to figure high in the search engines,” Stef Malajny advises.

“New customers who search ‘pizza and your town’ will be directed to you. Here you have two options – ‘pay per click’ at roughly 40p to get someone to click through. This doesn’t guarantee an order, but gives you a fighting chance if your web site is well designed. Alternatively get a super geek student and they will get you top of the national search engines!”

Promotions “This is an area that Papa Luigi’s have developed to a fine art,” says Stef Malajny. “We sell a fun product and we already advertise in the local papers and give them

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❤

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Domino’s Pizza sponsor ITV1’s latest dating show Towards the end of last year, Domino’s Pizza was announced as the broadcast sponsor for ITV1’s Take Me Out which is currently airing on our television screens.

Take Me Out is a new fast paced format presented by comedian Paddy McGuinness and produced by talkbackThames. The studio based show features 30 women from across the UK who are looking for the right guy who turns them on and will take them out! One single man walks into an arena of 30 single women, announces his name, age and where he is from. Each of the women have a light in front of them and if at any point they decide this guy is not for them, they switch him off.

The deal was negotiated by ITV commercial and Robin Auld at Domino’s and the sponsorship idents will be created

by Big Communications.

“We are delighted to be sponsoring the first series of Take Me Out on ITV1,” says Domino’s sales and marketing director, Robin Auld. “Sponsorship has long been an important part of the Domino’s marketing strategy which already includes Britain’s Got Talent, and we are particularly pleased to be working with ITV again on this Saturday night, prime time show.”

“We are really pleased to be partnering again with Dominos on this brand new ITV1 entertainment show, we have high hopes for the show which will no doubt help reenforce Domino’s presence in their market place during a key part of the year,” added Yan Li, sponsorship manager at ITV Commercial.

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revenue, and this opens up the door for an article in the paper.

Some of my past exploits have been making a pizza that looked liked the Queen. We also had a Milton Keynes cow pizza, dedicated to the concrete cows and my Pudsey pizza was also a great hit. For our 25th anniversary we had a Capello lookalike meeting our team. We are now gearing up for the World Cup with a World Cup pizza, some special World Cup offers and I am reproducing World Cup Willie the famous mascot from 66 as a showpiece pizza.

“So think of a theme or story, say Valentine, heart shaped pizza, get youngsters in photos either kiddies or teenagers and just telephone the local paper or chase up the advertising rep and let them help, don’t forget a free pizza always helps.”

Pizza demos “These are great fun. The Papa Luigi team pop along to schools, scouts, brownies etc, and we like to aim at areas where the kids don’t get so many treats,” Stef Malajny explains. “We show the youngster how to make a pizza, getting kiddies out the audience to assist. We then have a box folding competition (which I always win) and the fastest kiddie gets prize.

“We also get the dough throwing practice going and then everyone makes their own pizza, its then onto the throwing competition and our World champ - Big Stu - who was crowned at the Pizzas and Pasta Show, and demonstrates and judges. It’s great fun, only takes an hour, and creates great links with the locals and quite often the press will come down, but you have to nudge them.”

Special offers “Papa Luigi offers are aimed at giving something for everyone, our most popular pizza is our most expensive but only 10% of customers may be able to afford that one so you

need to have something for the other end, say students,” suggests Stef Malajny.

“We do ‘two for a tenner’ - two lovely 12” pizzas with any two toppings. It’s popular and very reasonable. Also remember that takeaway is cheaper to provide than delivery, so you can throw in discounts there, and I am firm believer in giving a freebie away that we only pay cost price for, but that the customer perceives as a freebie worth the sale price, for example, fries, garlic bread.

Meal deals aimed at larger orders are always popular and cost effective; remember you pay the driver the same wages whether he delivers a £10 order or £30 order so you can throw in meal deal freebies to boost large orders.”

Texting and emailing “Both of these methods have relative successes but one is free and the other you have to pay for, so building up email lists has to be a great way of advertising, make sure you send out a quality eflyer, getting you printer to tweak your menu is a cheap way of achieving that,” says Stef Malajny.

“The above are just a few of the methods we use, giving us an average turnover of circa £10k per shop,” concludes Stef Malajny, “but don’t forget that you have to have a fantastic pizza and great service to build up your regular customer base. I guess one of the nicest compliments is that we still have our very first customer ordering his Papa Luigi Special 26 years later. Good luck to everyone, it’s not hard, it’s just a challenge!”

No fools!

Heavenly Pizzas report that they are no fools with their latest marketing tool. In the highly competitive pizza delivery market, it is getting harder for the

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marketing

TOP TIPS (www.idealmarketingcompany.com)

1

Plan ahead One of the secrets to great marketing is to plan ahead.

Don’t wait until the phones are quiet before doing something to promote your service. Plan ahead for the year and work out some key events around which you can build promotions and offers that will allow you to remind people about what you do - or introduce yourself for the first time

2

Have an offer of the month There is no need to re-invent the wheel, but do have regular offers, new types of pizza linked to events (such as the football World Cup) and other promotions as a way of keeping ahead of the competition. It also means that you are seen as innovative by your customers. New promotions catch customers’ imaginations and give them an excuse to get in touch – even if they don’t order that month’s special it has prompted action and reminded them to think about you.

3

Offer a premium free gift Everybody loves something for ‘nothing’- even if it’s a free can of a cold soft drink, people will remember you for your act of generosity. Vary the gift that you give and use it in part as a way of letting people know about the various items that you offer. It’s best to change them on a regular basis (perhaps weekly) then people will get a surprise when they receive their order and the item doesn’t become expected. If it’s in a delivery setting, always either ask the delivery driver to point out the free gift or put a label on it explaining that it’s a free gift to thank the customer for their order.

4

Customer loyalty scheme A simple customer loyalty scheme is a way of thanking repeat customers. It can be simple to set up and administer, and provides a great way of obtaining more information about your customers – such as their age range, sex and buying patterns. A simple plastic card with a priority phone number, a 5% discount or an e-mail of that month’s offer are enough to make it worth people time to join.

5

Good food photography Your food should look appetising and delicious. Chances are that you are not a professional photographer. Taking pictures of food is a very specialised area and when most people do it, the food looks terrible. So if you are going to use images of food in leaflets, or in any promotional capacity, either get the pictures taken by a professional or go to a stock photography website such as www.istock.com where you can choose from over 6,000 images of pizza for only a few pounds each.

6

Regular new leaflet drops There is no substitute for regular leaflet drops around your town or district, but a good way to make the leaflet work harder for you is to link it with an event – from The X Factor to Wimbledon – give your promotion a theme and perhaps a time sensitive offer to make people pick up the phone NOW rather than stick it in a drawer and forget about you without trying you first.

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independents to keep up with the large chain operators, but this independent chain based in the North East of Scotland has been holding its own for years against the big guys now, and feel that this has a lot to do with their innovative and quirky marketing ideas.

And there is no quirkier than the latest addition to their fleet of vehicles, an exact replica of Del Boys van from the hit TV programme Only Fools and Horses, complete with Heavenly logos.

“We have had great success recently with our amusing advertising trailers that we drive and leave around town at strategic locations, however we were having to stay one step ahead of the local council, who would threaten to remove them!” says managing director James Cummings. “So we came up with the idea of a vehicle that could be left anywhere, and there is no more iconic and recognisable vehicle than Del Boy’s van!”

This quirky vehicle turns heads wherever it goes, and has appeared on many Facebook pages, with people taking video clips of themselves standing next to it.

“We have even had it made into fridge magnets, whick kids just love,” says James Cummings.

“So for all independents out there who worry about competing with the mammoth marketing budgets of the big chains, just remember to think out of the box. Sometimes a cheap and simple idea can have a huge impact.”

Free marketing advice A fully funded, government supported training package is being launched for the hospitality industry and will be available to all organisations in the sector. The programme kicks off with a one day marketing seminar on Monday, 22 March 2010 at Hothorpe Hall in Leicestershire.

The hospitality focused seminar will be followed by 18 months of marketing ideas, customised support and online training material. The programme will be available to owners and senior managers of any hospitality based organisation, including hotels, restaurants and caterers. To qualify for 100% funding, applicants must employ between four and 250 staff and cannot have claimed previous funding through the Train to Gain scheme (the cost of the entire programme is valued at £3,500, but will cost nothing for those who qualify for funding).

“There is no doubt that elements of the hospitality sector have felt the effect of the slowdown more than many areas of the economy,” says the MD of the Marketing Mentor programme, Alastair Campbell.

“The Marketing Mentor programme will give hospitality companies hundreds of practical ideas and simple to maintain methods that enable growth and make the best of a difficult situation.”

The programme includes a one day seminar, 17 live telephone seminars, a series of reports on key marketing areas, a set of marketing CDs as well as 17 hours worth of personalised mentoring.

It runs over 18 months to ensure that companies are supported with their marketing activities.

“To date, 96% of companies who apply for the programme are accepted for full funding. We think that this focused seminar will deliver a great deal of useful material. However, to obtain the funding, the sooner you apply the more likely the funds will come through in time to take part,” adds Charlie Howarth, the programme’s co-ordinator.

Interested organisations should e-mail charlie@themarketingmentor.co.uk, call 01858 44 55 43 or visit www.themarketingmentor.co.uk to find out more.

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PIZZA CHEESE

SUBSCRIPTION ORDER FORM Name of applicant: ................................................................

Position: ..................................................................................

Business/Company Name: ....................................................

✁

................................................................................................ ................................................................................................

Address: .................................................................................. . ...............................................................................................

Gino’s Pizza Cheese is a blend of the finest Mozzarella and Cheddar cheese, carefully grated and blended together to form a fantastic flavour of cheese that would be proud to grace any Pizza or Pasta product.

Why not try sprinkling onto hot pasta or melting onto Ciabatta to get that superb cheesy taste!

Try it...you’ll love it!

....................................................Post Code:...........................

Tel No: ..................................................................................... ................................................................................................

Fax No: .................................................................................... email .......................................................................................

Please provide the following information: Type of business (please tick as appropriate) Pizza Restaurant Caterer Delivery/ Supplier Pasta Restaurant Manufacturer Italian Restaurant Retail Buyer Other (please state)

Pizza Take-away Agency/PR

Would you like to receive information on full membership of the Pizza, Pasta & Italian Food Association? YES/NO I enclose a cheque for £52 (£72 outside the UK). Cheques should be payable to PAPA and returned to: Pizza Pasta and Italian Food Association, Association House, 18c Moor Street, Chepstow NP16 5DB or contact Suskia Bollen on 01291 636338 or email on suskia@jandmgroup.co.uk Alternatively, if you wish to pay by credit card, please enter your details below.

Committed to customer service and superior quality...

01766 810 062 Email: sales@grhltd.co.uk or ssj@grhltd.co.uk

www.grhfood.co.uk

Card No: ____________________________________________ Valid From _______ /_______

Expiry date: ______ /_____

Last 3 digits of Security No. on Reverse ______________ Name on Card:______________________ Post Code_________ House No. _______________ (for security purposes only)

Subscribe on line at www.papa.org.uk www.papa.org.uk

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A clear route through HACCP Jonathan France (pictured) is principal environmental health officer at Exova Food & Consumer Products. Here, he gives an overview of how to design an effective HACCP for your own food business.

A good investment HACCP stands for Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Points and since 2006 all food businesses need to have it in place in order to track the different stages that food goes through from production, either in the factory or kitchen to the consumer’s table.

Since the introduction of HACCP, Scores on the Doors (www.scoresonthedoors.org.uk) a national public information service where consumers can find the official local authority hygiene ratings for food businesses - has also been launched and is adhered to by most local councils.

Food hygiene inspectors risk rate all food businesses and the better the business’s risk rate, the 34

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less frequently they are inspected.

Compliance with HACCP legislation is a key factor in the rating that the food business receives. As the ratings are now in the public domain, customers can make informed choices on the hygiene rating of the food business when deciding where to eat.

As a result, ensuring that you have a correct HACCP plan in place and that your business adheres to it is not only a legal requirement but also a selling point to customers.

HACCP can seem difficult at first, with many steps and decision trees to try and understand. However, it is important to recognise that although you need to fulfil your

legal obligations to put in place food safety procedures based on HACCP, you don’t need to over complicate things.

Where to begin?

First of all, decide upon who is going to be involved in developing the HACCP. It is very tempting for the manager or owner to take all of the responsibility, but restaurateurs should also involve at least one of their chefs, and preferably the head chef. This will give them ‘ownership’ of the system, and their food expertise will also be invaluable in making sure the system works effectively.

Training is important and it is worth investing in a day’s training in the principles of HACCP for all

team members. If this is too expensive for your business or it’s difficult to have all the team members away for a whole day, you can organise a basic HACCP briefing on the basics to take place at your premises.

Rome wasn’t built in a day, so do not attempt to undertake a HACCP plan for each dish on the menu. Instead, look at the menu and group foods together. For example, pizzas, pasta, fresh cooked to order and prepared and reheated to order could be one group. Choose the group you feel will be easiest to create a plan for, or start with the group you sell the most dishes of. Once you have completed the HACCP for one group do the same for the next.

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hygiene Step by step Once you have chosen your group - let’s take pizza, for example - the next thing is to split the process of making the dish into steps. For example, delivery of ingredients, storage, mixing the dough, assembling and cooking.

At each step you need to ask yourself “what could go wrong?”

In other words, does a hazard exist at this step? At the delivery step you may also need to think about issues such as whether the goods are at the right temperature (less than 8 ºC, and ideally less than 5 ºC), or is there cross contamination from raw meat and ready to eat foods?

For the things that could go wrong (hazards), you need to have measures in place to prevent them from happening (preventative measures). It may be that you can ensure that your suppliers deliver goods refrigerated. This means you must have temperature controlled storage at the correct temperature (refrigerator <8ºC freezer <-18ºC), raw meats are separated from cooked, food is cooked and / or reheated to 75ºC and hot food is cooled within 90 minutes. Food used for preparation and toppings such as those for pizza for example should be prepared in small amounts and kept under refrigerated conditions.

Identifying CCPs It is then important to assess each step to identify if the preventative measure is critical for food safety.

This is called a Critical Control Point (CCP). Many people struggle with what is, or is not, a CCP, and although there are diagrams available to help, these can confuse further. As a general rule consider: If this step goes wrong will it cause the customer an injury to their health? If so, can I do anything else in preparing this dish that would prevent it? If not, then that step in preparing the dish is a CCP. Anything that could go wrong in food safety terms needs to be prevented, but it is critical that CCPs are always under control.

Once you have established a CCP, you then need to set some safety limits. Each step is different, but the law establishes the following:

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1. Cold food must be stored at 8ºC or less (cold food can be above 8ºC for a maximum of 4 hours for sale, transfer or preparation).

2. Food should be cooked so it reaches 75ºC in the middle.

3. Reheated food should reach 75ºC (82 ºC in Scotland).

4. Hot food must be held above 63ºC. 5. Hot food can be less than 63ºC for up to two hours for transfer (for example, delivery) and sale.

6. Food should be cooled and placed in the refrigerator or freezer within two hours of cooking.

In order to ensure that CCPs are under control, they must be monitored. If the control is temperature based (eg whether food has reached the right temperature), then the use of an accurate temperature probe is required. I would recommend a probe that has an infra-red function in addition to a metal probe. This allows temperatures to be taken quickly in the refrigerator and into the middle of hot food.

Monitoring Monitoring needs to be frequent, to ensure that any potential problems are dealt with immediately. You do not want to find out that something is not right when it is too late and the customer is affected.

When cooking pizzas, for example, it would not be necessary to temperature check them if the meat topping is precooked and the top is bubbling.

However, it would be necessary to temperature probe a lasagne – although not every one - if cooking to set times and temperatures so as to verify that the oven or microwave is working correctly. Systems need to be set so that you can easily check that everything is working smoothly, even on the busiest of nights in the kitchen.

If you find that things are not as they should be, and that safety limits have been broken, then you need to have a ‘corrective action’ in place. It should be a pre-planned action to take if something goes wrong. A corrective

action should do at least two things - make the food safe (for example, cook it for longer) or stop it going to the customer.

Once you believe that you have the above all in place, you then need to ensure that your staff are fully trained on the procedures and why they have been implemented.

Cleaning One area that can be overlooked in a HACCP programme is cleaning. Good standards of hygiene and prevention of cross contamination from unclean surfaces is of the utmost importance.

Antibacterial sprays and clean cloths are a must. All too often dirty cloths and towels are used to clean surfaces. Throw dirty cloths away or place them in disinfectant. Cloths can even be put through the dishwasher.

Record and display By law, all of the steps outlined above must be recorded and displayed in the kitchen or food preparation area. The simplest way is on a chart identifying the step, hazards, preventative measures. If the step is a CCP, how will it be monitored and what is the corrective action required?

In addition to the above chart, you must have records for all of the preventative measures in place

such as cleaning schedules, temperature records and date checks.

To assist caterers in complying with HACCP requirements, the Food Standards Agency has developed Safer food, Better Business (SFBB) as an innovative and practical approach to food safety management. It has been developed to help small businesses put in place food safety management procedures and comply with food hygiene regulations. There are a number of SFBB packs available that are designed to meet the specific needs of different food businesses. There are packs for small catering businesses, small retail businesses, and restaurants and takeaways that serve different cuisines (for more information on HACCP consultancy, inspection and training telephone 0121 206 4100, or visit www.exova.com).

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Online opportunities Online opportunities abound for those in the pizza delivery sector wishing to cash in on the latest web-based technology. It can offer the chance to boost profits in these increasingly high-tech times, particularly when many consumers now expect an online ordering facility to be made available to them.

Embracing new technology It is the age old dilemma for any established and successful business with a strong emphasis on customer service how to embrace new ideas, implement new technology and grow without compromising the customer service at the root of their success.

This was the dilemma faced

by Tony Crolla of La Favorita on Leith Walk in Edinburgh. Tony Crolla’s experience in the business is second to none having run the family Vittoria’s restaurant for 17 of its 40 years and now his own La Favorita for the last five years. Tony Crolla will be well known to PAPA

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readers as winner of the Pizza Restaurant of the Year in 2007 and 2005 and also Pizza Designer of the Year in 2005 (the current holder of which is Domenico Crolla of Bella Napoli in Glasgow, Tony’s cousin – a healthy family rivalry!).

La Favorita is, according to Tony Crolla, aiming to be ‘the best pizzeria in Britain’. No expense has been spared in completely refitting the old premises of the Caprice which contained Edinburgh’s original wood-fired pizza oven. Two brand new wood-fired ovens were installed to ensure that customers enjoy the highest quality pizzas alongside gourmet pasta. It’s working. In 2009, La Favorita became the

first pizzeria in Scotland to gain an AA Rosette and, having offered a delivery service for only two years, also won the PAPA Independent Pizza Delivery Store of the Year Award in 2009.

From the moment that La Favorita began to offer a home delivery service, Tony Crolla decided that he wanted to be able to receive orders from the Internet.

“It makes complete sense, you advertise your web site to your customers and orders arrive without staff having to pick up the phone,” he says. “We already know how to make great pizzas and we have drivers waiting to deliver them.”

His concern was that any online

ordering service should complement an award winning business, and not reduce customer service levels. There was a lot at stake.

Unfortunately, the first attempt at implementing an online ordering service turned out to be a false start. The system chosen was not robust or reliable enough for the business, Tony Crolla recalls.

Orders would occasionally disappear or not be processed correctly, and some customers would understandably be very disappointed. Inevitably service was affected, staff became nervous of the technology and showed a lack of confidence in working with it.

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technology However, in June last year, Tony Crolla turned to Integer and installed their inTouch EPOS software along with their online ordering service. Integer have been providing EPOS systems for pizza and food delivery for 15 years and online ordering for 5 years.

“They created a web site for me. My customers find it easy to place orders on it. The orders arrive on the EPOS system – and no-one has picked up the phone. Just like I wanted,” says Tony Crolla. “Better still, orders are paid for by credit card and the money goes straight into the bank. I should have done it from day one, Integer has ticked every box.”

Tony Crolla’s manager, Alec Ballach, endorses this view.

“With Integer’s online ordering, our staff were very confident from day one. We know from experience how a bad system impacts on staff, making them nervous; but with a good system, staff are more relaxed, able to do their job better, able to process more orders – problems don’t happen and we aren’t fire-fighting. We aim to provide a premium service and we feel that this is a premium product.”

The experience at La Favorita also reflects the experiences of other operators elsewhere who have reported to Integer that customers who order online usually spend more – average online order values typically being 15% -17% higher than average telephone orders.

Customers who order online have more time to browse the whole menu and see offers and products that a busy server might not suggest – and lines are kept free for those ‘old fashioned’ customers who use the telephone. In fact, many customers now prefer to order online.

La Favorita’s online ordering service has attracted many new customers and Tony Crolla recognises a new type of customer among them – young professionals with lap-tops that are ‘always on’, customers who don’t particularly want, or need, to talk to someone, customers who don’t want the personal touch (something of a culture

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shock to a business that prides itself on customer service!).

Indeed, a recent survey from the US shows that the ability to order online is essential to young, time-strapped consumers; say Integer - 31% of 25-34 year olds and 24% of 1824 year olds against 19% overall.

Tony Crolla is now so encouraged by this sector that he is actively considering extending the delivery service to lunchtimes.

Alec Ballach is also able to quantify the increase in customers for the delivery service. Of the new customers added to the database each week, 30% have registered and ordered online, he says. He hasn’t seen any decrease in telephone orders. “Very few customers who order by telephone have migrated to

online ordering – customers are creatures of habit,” he says.

Looking back, both Tony Crolla and Alec Ballach see the adoption of the Integer online ordering service as having been easy, fitting into their routine and now being an integral part of the business. They describe the addition of an online ordering system as allowing the business to expand organically, gaining customers and increasing turnover. Another

delivery car has just been ordered and another order taker is needed. They feel that online ordering reflects well on the business and has also provided a boost to the restaurant.

Looking forward, Tony Crolla acknowledges the increasing importance of marketing. So far the online ordering service hasn’t really been advertised, he says, but it will be, the intention being to guide more customers to ordering online with all the advantages that it offers to the business – orders arriving without a telephone call and paid for by credit card. Tony Crolla already uses his web site to promote products and services and will soon be marketing by e-mail – whenever customers order online, their email addresses are added automatically to his customer database – since e-mail is the most cost effective and flexible form of marketing.

From the success experienced at La Favorita, it is evident that online ordering is here to stay and has become an accepted, expected method for a customer to place an order, a natural extension to any delivery business.

“There is nothing to fear in the technology,” says Integer’s Geoff Whittle. “A good EPOS system should be capable of directly receiving orders placed online by customers. For the operator, online ordering should be easy to adopt and work with.

All they should need to do is publicise their web site - after all, we now live in an age where people find it easier to remember web addresses than telephone numbers! online ordering can boost the bottom line of any forward thinking independent operator.

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technology

Shane Lake and Tony Charles

Hungry for success With over 1,650 restaurants on its books, 25 full time staff, and having recently won a coveted BT Essence of the Entrepreneur Award, hungryhouse.co.uk says that it is also aspiring to be the number one takeaway delivery web site in the UK. The company’s founders – Australians, Shane Lake and Tony Charles - pride themselves on making improvements to customer service for everyone who orders their takeaway online instead of over the ‘phone. And in doing so, they say that they can help restaurant owners to grow their delivery businesses. As such, they recently launched a new initiative to help those wishing to start their own business with minimal capital investment by offering assistance with setting up what they call a Pop Up Takeaway.

However, say the duo, it’s been a rollercoaster ride getting to this stage though, and it certainly hasn’t been plain sailing for Shane and Tony. Since

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the launch of their online concept, both Shane and Tony have married. Tony has relocated to the Czech Republic with his wife, Karolina, and Shane having even donned a chef’s outfit in order to flyer the streets of South London. Now fully established in the UK and with lots of enjoyable experiences behind them (and some not-so enjoyable, they add) the company is currently seeking further investment in order to fund international expansion.

It was way back in 1990 when Tony and Shane met at the University of Technology, Sydney while studying computing science. A few years later, they did what all young Australians do, and strapped on backpacks and headed for the UK. After getting the travelling bug out of their systems, they settled in London and enjoyed successful careers in IT, keeping in touch all the while and sporadically discussing the idea of starting a business together.

Because of their previous

computing experience and the huge scalability it offered, they knew that whatever business they decided upon had to be based online. Simultaneously growing tired of their jobs in 2005, they decided to take the plunge, quit their high-flying IT jobs, and begin working on a new venture together. Having investigated and disregarded a number of options, which included both a tennis court booking system, and a “posh car wash”, hungryhouse.co.uk was born and the hard work began.

After leaving their jobs, the first year of hungryhouse.co.uk was spent working in secret in Tony’s flat in West London. Even friends were made to sign nondisclosure agreements before they were told about the business! With so much to do, and no salaries coming in, that first year was tough for Shane and Tony. Cheap, bland lunches of ham sandwiches tended to form the only break in the day and there were very few visits to the pub. In fact, the high cost of living in London eventually drove Tony to his wife’s hometown, Prague, where he now runs the operations side of the business.

Despite that difficult first year, both have fond memories of the time and believe that the planning which took place in Tony’s living room during those 12 months have made the company the well oiled machine it is today. With Tony freely admitting to being a perfectionist and Shane always keen to get things moving as quickly as possible, those months often seemed like a tugof-war, but it was one which successfully dragged the company into existence.

Trading began in early 2006 with little capital and no staff.

Shane and Tony recall that they found themselves doing everything to keep the business afloat – visiting restaurants to convince them to have their menu listed, photocopying, and even phoning orders through to restaurants who had yet to get fax or email.

As with every new business, the first year of trading presented many challenges and some disappointments – not

least of which was a rejection from the BBC’s infamous business programme Dragon’s Den, because of the company having too few restaurants signed up to the site. However, the following year saw an increased numbers of takeaways and a small, but loyal customer base, so Shane and Tony applied once again. This time they made sure that nothing got in the way of them securing the £100,000 they needed to take the business to the next level. They spent a week memorising figures, and even attended a presentation training course polishing their pitch to perfection before meeting the show’s researchers. The result was a joint offer from James Caan and Duncan Bannatyne for the full amount of money they required – and needless to say, huge exposure for hungryhouse.co.uk.

After their appearance on the show however, it quickly became apparent that the deal as agreed in the Den wasn’t going to work for either party.

The agreement fell through at the end of 2007 (ironically around the same time Yahoo! named the company as one of their ‘finds of the year’), but by that point the show had caused such interest in the company, they were able to secure another investor almost immediately.

With this new investment received, Tony and Shane were able to hire a team of staff to help ensure the smooth day to day running of the business.

This then left them with more time to focus on moulding their now established business into what they claim has become the UK’s most trusted resource for the takeaway industry.

Already providing over 40,000 at-home orders every month to the takeaway delivery restaurants that they list, Shane and Tony report that they now wish to grow hungryhouse.co.uk to cover every household in the UK, as well as expand internationally – spreading their vision of “a world in which everyone can easily find and order exactly what they want to eat at any time

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technology Online management tool If you thought that web based technology is centred around consumers and your customers, then the Forum of Private Business (FPB) are keen to point out that SMEs (small to medium sized enterprises) can also utilise the latest free web based technology to assist in the analysis and production of their monthly management accounts Many recession-hit small businesses are actively managing their cash flow, yet struggling to access finance because they are not presenting their management accounts in the correct format to the finance and credit industry, claim the FPB. This news follows their latest research commissioned by CreditPal, the free accounts analysis system for SMEs. The survey found that 96% of the SME respondents have improved their cash position through better controls rather than looking for outside financing. Pursuing late payers

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(76%) heads the list, with placing tighter controls on ordering supplies (67%) next, followed by internal costcutting exercises (67%) and then deferring payments to HMRC under the Government’s ‘time to pay’ scheme (25%).

The strongest sign that the credit crisis is driving better internal financial management is that 68% of respondents said that they now produce management accounts – with 85% of these citing the reason for doing so as improving business management.

However, the cost of doing this is considerable – on average, over £500 each and every time (just 17% of respondents cited accessing credit as the motivating factor behind the production of management accounts).

Interestingly, almost a third (31%) identified credit checks as the most effective method of monitoring their supply chain, yet few are prepared to actually supply their own latest financial information to outside parties.

Today, just 13% are prepared to make available their latest management accounts and only 6% are willing to provide their own audited accounts, according to the research.

However, in an economic environment characterised by continuing credit restrictions, clear and thorough financial information is increasingly being demanded by the finance and credit industry when assessing lending risk.

Thus, a solution being provided via CreditPal’s free management accounts analysis and financial information supply service, which offers a free, speedy and in-depth analysis of an SME’s entire management accounts, has the potential to save an average UK business hundreds of pounds per year, believe the FPB. This online service, which sits on Amazon Cloud Computing and is certified to ISO27001 standards to provide the highest security standards, is approved by accountancy bodies the ICAEW and ACCA.

Surprisingly, only 8% of respondents said that they have actively taken steps to improve their credit rating, probably reflecting the situation that the historic filed annual accounts currently show a better financial position than current trading. This is expected to change dramatically over the next six to nine months as UK businesses file their 2008/9 accounts, as the then current trading is expected to show a better position. This will result in UK businesses requiring credit assessments to be based on their latest management accounts rather than the filed information.

“There is little doubt the UK has entered a new era of business finance,” said the FPB’s chief executive, Phil Orford.

“While it remains unsustainable for lenders’ decisions on credit worthiness to be made generically, using overcentralised risk aversion criteria, business owners should be proactive in controlling their

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technology own destinies by providing thorough financial projections utilising new systems that enable management to produce up-to-date accurate financial information.”

The FPB says that it is seeking greater collaboration between banks and businesses by calling for lending decisions to be based on realistic assessments of up-to-date risk of individual businesses. In turn, business owners must be prepared to help themselves by working more closely with lenders by providing latest detailed management accounts information.

"Free CreditPal was created to meet SMEs’ needs, as highlighted in this survey, for an easy to use, highly secure

online business reporting service that complements SMEs’ existing accounting systems,” says Chris Poll, CEO of CreditPal. “CreditPal enables even non-accountants to comprehensively review and efficiently prepare accurate monthly management accounts for internal purposes. Then, if required, the owner-managers can automatically produce standardised and validated summaries for submission to suppliers of credit and finance."

CreditPal works by extracting a copy of every entry in an SME’s accounts from its operating accounting package (e.g Sage 50 and 200, Quick Books, Access, MYOB, Mamut, Microsoft Accounting, Great Plains) and then encrypts the

data and uploads it to a highly secure web service. The data is then validated and quality assessed, before being automatically summarised into monthly profit and loss and balance sheets for the user to check and confirm. When the user is satisfied with the accuracy of their reports, summarised information can be submitted to Graydon or other suppliers of finance or credit to produce an up-to-date monthly credit assessment.

CreditPal is not only a tool that enables SMEs to produce their monthly management accounts easily and simply, saving their businesses significant costs and time, it is also designed to help managers and owners – even those

untrained in accounting – improve the financial management of their business, say the FPB. CreditPal solves many of the problems faced by finance and credit industry professionals by improving their assessment, pricing and monitoring of the risk of doing business. By delivering a new source of financial information, CreditPal enables banks, factors, invoice discounters, credit insurers, suppliers and customers to make better and more accurate decisions. It also provides a platform for better transactional risk assessment by enabling both supply chain managers and the business itself to operate on an individual risk basis (www.creditpal-online.com).

Domino’s online success As if proof were necessary that online ordering has become increasingly popular with pizza lovers across the UK, Domino’s reported in their quarter four trading update for the 13 week period to 27 December 2009 that during the week of 26 October 2009 they were able to celebrate 10 years of e-commerce with a record ecommerce week. Over a third of all orders for this week were taken online and e-commerce sales in the UK and Republic of Ireland increased by 39.9% (2008: 56.2%) for them for the period. For the year, e-commerce sales rose by 40.4% (2008: 73.7%) to £78.5m (2008: £55.9m) and now account for 27.8% of UK delivered sales (2008: 23.2%), say the chain.

In addition, they have also become actively involved in social networking and report that their UK and Ireland Facebook page has nearly 14,000 fans and is growing, not to mention the numerous individual Facebook pages which have been set up by Domino’s stores across the country.

Indeed, most recently Domino’s Pizza have unveiled a new Facebook campaign – produced by BLM Quantum – as part of their ongoing social media strategy. Called Superfans, this application is the latest addition to Domino’s Pizza Facebook profile page and rewards fans of hot and fresh pizza with a promotional code linked to an offer.

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The code can be redeemed when the Domino’s Fan-o-Meter hits a set number of fans.

BLM Quantum has also devised a competition to find Domino’s Superfan King and Superfan Queen.

The winners will be determined by existing fans who recruit the most number of new fans to the Facebook page, with the winning King and Queen receiving Domino’s prizes. The Superfans campaign builds on Domino’s already comprehensive existing social media presence and sets out to reward loyal fans in addition to reaching out to new audiences. The fan page will also feature the latest Domino’s news, offers, events and details of how to order online, say the company.

“Facebook is central to our social media strategy and this application will enable us to leverage the importance of brand advocates in growing our customer base.

Superfans is about giving something back to our customers,” says Robin Auld, sales and marketing director of Domino’s Pizza.

“Domino’s has long been a pioneer of digital marketing in its sector,” adds Dan Clays, managing director of BLM Quantum. “Superfans is yet another example of social media best practice – using Facebook as a platform to both attract new customers and reward loyal customers in the same campaign.”

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technology Millions of people are now walking around with Wi-Fi equipped mobile ‘phones and laptops. We can now work anywhere, keep in touch with friends, write blogs, emails and tweet, but what are the benefits to outlets, and what do operators need to think about if they are considering turning their premises into a hotspot? Simon Morley of PolkaSpots explains.

Don’t miss out

Make yourself comfortable

The benefits of installing a Wi-Fi Hotspot in your business are many. A Wi-Fi Hotspot is guaranteed to attract both the casual passer-by (as long as you advertise the fact that you have Wi-Fi), the business person looking for meeting space, and your regulars. Install a Wi-Fi Hotspot and attract all types of different customers: it’s that simple.

However, there are downsides, and if you’re thinking of doing this in the near future, then my advice would be to make sure that you do it properly, and do it sooner than you intended because you could well be losing out on business. Why, you may ask. Well, on average 15 people a day should use the service – enough time for something to eat and a chat – and if these customers spend on average £3.50, that’s an additional £52.50 per day, or over £1,200 per month!

There’s a lot to think about before you decide to install your first Wi-Fi Hotspot, but the good news is that there are dozens of ways you can make sure your WiFi Hotspot is a success.

Before you get started, there’s no point in installing a Hotspot if you don’t have any good seating. One of the perks of my job is that I get to know all the best Hotspots! I have two favourite places that I use weekly because they have power to charge my laptop, comfortable seats and good coffee. And, of course, they also have fast, free Wi-Fi!

www.papa.org.uk

DIY or go commercial?

The next problem is always whether you do it yourself, or use a commercial supplier of Wi-Fi Hotspots. Don’t be fooled into believing that all the Wi-Fi Hotspot companies will do a good job for you. Most of them are using the same kit you can buy off the shelf yourself, and some might also tie you into lengthy contracts that could turn out to be unnecessary, so just ask before you commit.

Another issue to consider is often the business size and quality of customer support. Will a company with 30,000 customers or more be able to spare the time to help you when your customer can’t get online at lunchtime? You need to make

sure that you actually get the service you’re forking out for.

Nothing is free, so watch out for the ones giving it all away. You might be offered a free Hotspot box, but again, what service can you expect if you haven’t paid for it? Free services also tend to be subsidised by advertising on the login screens. Watch out: this screen could be advertising your business instead.

It’s not all bad and there are plenty of Wi-Fi Hotspot companies out there who can provide you with a high quality service that’s secure, reliable and fully supported, providing a service that you can rely on to attract customers and generate you business. What’s more, if they’re using a decent system, they’ll be able to control the connection and prevent abuse.

If you decide to do it yourself, then make sure you know what you’re doing, or get someone that does, to sort it out. There are even some solutions out there that allow you to generate Internet Voucher Codes and create login screens. Whether it’s worth investing the time learning and managing this is up to you.

If you’re doing it yourself, you

can do it very cheaply now – just don’t make the common mistake of giving your own network key out. You don’t want your own data compromised. What’s more, if you put a password on the network, make sure it’s WPA2 encrypted – you can break into a WEP network in less than 10 minutes; a WPA(1) network is more complex, but still possible.

Don’t stick the password on the wall, and please change it everyday!

Every day, I can report that businesses switch to PolkaSpots after months of problems with their own setup or, more seriously, their network had been broken into, or a customer had downloaded illegal software or movies.

We recently signed up a pub chain after they tried to do it themselves. After only a few months giving out their network password, their ISP had fined them on numerous occasions for over-usage, but the most serious issue was dozens of people hanging around all day. They now offer their customers a one hour Internet Voucher when they buy something, solving all the problems completely.

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technology Broadband options Keeping your customers happy

Most people still assume that you have to have BT broadband if you have a BT telephone line. You don’t. If you’re going to be providing a public Wireless Hotspot, don’t just get the cheapest deal on the market. You will need a business service with unlimited data allowance otherwise you might be fined for over use. Call around a few business broadband suppliers or find a Wireless Hotpot Company that provides a bundled service.

Free Wi-Fi Free Wi-Fi is definitely where we’re heading, but its sudden explosion has caused some problems.

A regular café, for example, with around 15 people a day using Wi-Fi, can usually get away with an unrestricted free Wi-Fi that’s regulated by means of Internet Vouchers. The problem comes with busier places. A businessgrade broadband line might only support 15 simultaneous users - in busy locations, we’ve seen 30 or more people trying to use the WiFi Service (unsuccessfully). Whilst we carefully regulate each user’s connection speed, this amount of users causes the connection to stop working completely, and people start complaining. The only way to address this is to install more broadband lines and more equipment – adding expense and complexity.

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A truck stop we operate in Dover had a bizarre problem recently with their Wi-Fi service causing a minor pile up. Their Hotspot had been installed in the truck stop itself, but the signal reached a couple of parking spaces. This caused a massive increase in demand for these spaces and the truckers were all fighting to get there first!

Network abuse You need to be sure your Wi-Fi Hotspot isn’t being used and abused by all your neighbours. If you’re choosing a Wi-Fi Hotspot

company, choose one that restricts access to your customers only.

You could be sharing your network and not even know. The UK’s largest Wi-Fi provider recently rolled out 500,000 Wi-Fi Hotspots across the UK. They’ve achieved this by ‘upgrading’ their existing broadband customers’ modems so they broadcast a public network. If you happen to use their service, you’re probably already sharing your home or office broadband, unawares. You can turn this off, just look through your router’s settings.

Sometimes things go wrong, that’s just the nature of technology. On a daily basis, the biggest issues our customers have are broadband faults – usually quick to fix, they can drag on for a while, and are sometimes hard to diagnose. We always recommend that large and busy locations install a second broadband line for backup purposes – if their business relies on it, it’s not just an added expense.

The biggest problem we suffer from on a support perspective is the end-user and their equipment.

We’re always around to help them with their problems by ‘phone, however sometimes the problems are impossible to sort out. For this reason, we always recommend that a laptop or mobile phone with a Wi-Fi card is kept on site, just to prove the connection’s working. In our case, we provide a next day (same day in London) replacement service should our customers get stuck. Typically our equipment may not be installed in an ideal location - next to a sink, for instance, and accidents happen.

EU Regulations There are certain laws you have to adhere to if you’re offering public Internet access at your business.

As a Wireless ISP, we have to adhere to them, but so do you if you’ve gone down the do it yourself route.

The problem is that even the EU is struggling to define what we have to do in order to comply with their regulations. We are obliged to retain records for 12 months on all communications that have happened on our network. This means emails sent, web sites visited, IP addresses and more. The problem is, we’re not allowed to keep this data, as it violates the data protection/retention acts. We are only allowed to do this upon government intervention. In fact, PolkaSpots was one of the first to implement this technology in the UK and is still one of the few that can actually do this today.

Get your Wi-Fi right and you can’t fail to attract customers, and hopefully this article has helped you to identify what you need to know.

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Eurostar Commodities ltd are importers and distributors who have been supplying the finest commodities and ingredients to the most demanding customers across the UK and Ireland since 1994.

With an unrivalled commitment to quality and a passion for customer service, our wide range of products are supplied to various sectors of the market, including food manufacturing, wholesale, foodservice, and retail. Eurostar currently supply the UK and Europe with the finest Semolina, Specialist Italian Flours, Long Grain Rice, and new nonalcoholic digestive - Security Feel Better. Eurostar are the sole UK agents for Molino Alimonti SPA Italy's largest and most prestigious flour millers.

Head Office 8 West Lodge Crescent Huddersfield HD2 2EH

www.papa.org.uk

Tel: +44 (0) 1422 377 140 Fax: +44 (0) 1422 372 858 E-Mail : sales@eurostarfoods.co.uk www.eurostarfoods.co.uk

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open day

celebration A Campania

Casa Julia Ltd marked the opening of its new showroom recently with a showcase of a variety of ingredients and foodstuffs all sourced from Naples and the Campania region of Italy, providing, as Pizza Pasta & Italian Food magazine found out, a good opportunity for pizza chefs and restaurateurs to get some hands-on experience, and learn more about the heritage and associated culinary traditions.

Pizza making demonstrations

Gluten-free addition

The prime focus of the new showroom is to offer an area where pizzaioli and chefs can come along and learn how to make authentic, Neapolitan pizza in a ‘live’ kitchen environment, and avail themselves of help from the experts, such as representatives of Caputo flour and their visiting Italian pizza chef, whose job it is to share his pizza knowledge. In this way, UK-based pizza chefs can work on their pizza-making skills and also ask questions of their Italian colleagues, but without having to make the trip to Naples.

Three to four days courses will be on offer, enabling restaurants to send in their chefs, as well as helping to up the standards of pizzas being made here in the process – an important consideration now that any restaurant or pizza outlet in the UK (and EU) claiming to make authentic Neapolitan pizza must now adhere to the latest legislation (Commission Regulation (EU) No 97/2010 for Pizza Napoletana (TSG)).

Due to local regulations, the oven in use at Casa Julia’s showroom (specially imported from Forni Cirigliano, www.ciriglianoforni.it in Salerno) is a gas fired one, but equivalent to a wood fired oven in both looks and results as it can maintain the necessary high temperature required to cook pizzas evenly, as well as quickly.

As well as demonstrating the qualities of their current well known flours, Caputo also revealed more about one of their latest additions – a gluten-free flour. This flour, the company admit, took some time to develop in order to get it right, and also requires gentle handling in order to ensure that it performs as required. Indeed, the company’s professional pizza demonstrator (Antonino Esposito) advised that a separate kitchen, or kitchen area, be maintained for gluten-free food and pizzas, and he also pointed out that this flour is different to work with.

More skill is required of a pizza chef when handling dough made from gluten-free flour as the absence of gluten affects the structure of the dough. This means that a pizza chef has to be gentle when handling the dough, particularly when transferring it to the oven, with one, single sliding movement being advisable as opposed to three or four in order to stop it from losing shape.

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Italian essentials Showing their range of fresh mozzarella cheeses, as well as provola, ricotta and scamorza, and from the Campania region, Podere dei Leoni (www.poderedeileoni.con), were also in attendance. The company was founded in 1998 and prides itself on using traditional

production techniques in order to make D.O.P status cheeses, having therefore satisfied various stringent levels and certification requirements in terms of hygiene standards, environmental management and product integrity.

Greci, a favourite foodservice supplier of Italian restaurants in Italy with some 22,000 clients served directly and a network of 200 sales representatives and in existence since 1923, showcased some of their popular ingredients, including tomatoes and artichokes, all sourced from Italy, they were keen to point out, as opposed to elsewhere.

This company are involved in customised solutions and private label work, including Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference. They also make passata di pomodoro al basilica, used by PizzaExpress on their pizzas. 25% of Greci’s production goes for export, and they pride themselves on a commitment to quality, as well as a strong ethos of working closely with their customers and briefing their sales and marketing channels well.

The vegetables they use are harvested during their peak ripening period in order to get the best organoleptic qualities, and they require quality certifications for their raw materials. When making their asparagus pastes and purees, for example, they only use the tops

and bases to increase the concentration and give a good colour. Pastes are traditionally used on pizzas in Italy, but as yet, not as much in the UK, and can February 2010

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open day

renders them safe for three years.

An epoxy phenolic coating on the tin prevents the actual foodstuff coming into contact with the tin itself, and even if dented, is still fine, as it is of a flexible nature.

Other ingredients on offer from Greci include some thirty types of mushrooms (wild, as well as cultivated) and egg plant, as well as a special recipe sauce made from virgin olive oil, basil, salt, but that is not cooked, thus keeping it light and offering multiple uses.

To help out with menu development, the company have five chefs who can assist with new menu ideas and carry out product demonstrations by providing coaching on how best to use the products. When used properly, they point out, wastage is kept to a minimum and instead of costing more, costs can actually be kept down as ingredients are being used far more effectively.

Espresso tradition

also be used on focaccia bread too. However, for those willing to be creative with such ingredients, there are plenty of opportunities to make Italian dishes more

www.papa.org.uk

authentic, suggested the company who do not use any preservatives or additives. Their tomatoes are simply sterilised or pasteurised, nothing else, which

With Naples being widely regarded as the espresso capital of the world, it was no surprise to see that part of Casa Julia’s new showroom takes the form of an espresso bar and is dedicated to the serving of coffee.

Representatives of Italy’s second largest brand of coffee and third largest roaster – Caffè Kimbo – were present serving up espressos and various speciality coffees, as well as outlining their ambition to develop a greater appreciation and awareness of the Neapolitan tradition of the espresso in the UK. “Coffee is everywhere in the UK now,” commented Angus McKenzie, managing director of Metropolitan Coffee who represent Caffè Kimbo in the UK. “The quality is increasing slowly, and our aim – by supplying the necessary top quality product, tools and assistance – is to deliver a proper Neapolitan espresso experience here.”

Identifying three different quality ‘levels’ of coffee types (speciality coffees priced at £14£24 per kg, fine commercial coffees priced at £9-£12 per kg and basic commercial coffee priced at £5-£8 per kg), Angus McKenzie said that Caffè Kimbo fell into the fine commercial category, therefore rivalling brands such as Segafredo, Café Direct and Matthew Algie. He also pointed out to operators that 2010 is set to be a big year for coffee in the UK, with the hosting of the World Barista Championships at this year’s Caffè Culture exhibition in June. Thus, there are likely to be new opportunities and trends for operators to tap in to.

Caffè Kimbo itself runs monthly training academies during which budding barists can enhance their skills, and as the company sources and supplies its coffee with different consumers in mind, they say that they can help baristas cope all range of needs and expectations when it comes to coffee (they offer 100% Arabic coffee, for example). They have even recently launched a coffee tin, akin to Illy’s famous design that can often be seen alongside espresso machines.

Alert, delight, excite are the key watchwords, feels Angus McKenzie, when it comes to getting your customers interested in coffee, and Caffè Kimbo back their offering with a full range of extras such as glasses and cups, as well as recipe ideas and suggestions on how to utilise coffee in desserts.

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a pizza my world

A Pizza My World celebration, and we will be fully booked on what might otherwise be a quiet, mid-week evening.

Gastronomica! imports artisan cheese and cured meats from Italy. The products are sold in two café/delicatessen outlets in Pimlico and Wapping, as well as at London’s Borough Market, and distributed wholesale to trade customers in London and the UK. The cafés offer a simple menu which encourages their customers to sample different products with a glass or two of good Italian wine in a relaxed atmosphere.

Alistair Cameron joined Gastronomica! in 2009 and is their retail manager, looking after the two busy retail outlets, and supporting the managers to develop retail sales and the wine selection. The company was originally founded in 2000

by Marco Vineis, who is now based mainly in Luxembourg.

He and Alistair met ten years ago at Borough Market.

pm

4.00 4.00pm I take delivery of two new season olive oils from Le Marche. They are imported by Dermott Sales, who has a business dealing in property there (Living in Le Marche). These oils are produced by his neighbours, who make too much for their own use, but not enough to be viable commercially. As with our wine selection, it enables us to offer olive oils reflecting the diversity of styles from the different regions of Italy. pm

6.00 6.00pm Alongside my work at Gastronomica!, I am the secretary of Slow Food London, and this evening I’m off to a monthly committee meeting in Covent Garden. On the agenda are new initiatives to support organisations with similar values, and to attract new members to Slow Food.

00am

9.

9.00am We are planning a promotion of cheeses, wine and honey from Piemonte, and a group of our producers will be coming to London to support it. Cheese from Piemonte will feature on the menu at several clients of Gastronomica’s wholesale business - Locanda Locatelli, Cecconi’s, Alloro, Latium, Refettorio at the Crown Plaza Hotel, and il Quadrato at the Four Seasons, Canary Wharf. Giorgio Locatelli is a good friend of Marco, and he has agreed to do a demonstration in the café for journalists and food writers. This week, he will be coming to see the space, agree the menu, and discuss how to set up our kitchen for his team, so I spend some time this morning briefing the team here and discussing arrangements. .00am 11 11.00am Later in the morning I attend a wine tasting in Piccadilly, organised by one of our UK suppliers. Gastronomica! ships wine direct from Italy, including Prosecco from Veneto and a seclection of wines from 46

pizzapasta AND ITALIAN FOOD

Piemonte. We aim to have a selection which represents all the Italian regions, so today is an opportunity for me to shop around for new wines that will complement our existing range.

I’m excited to find a beautiful Vermentino from Colli dei Luni in Liguria, the first I have seen imported into the UK.

2.00pm

1.00pm I’m fortunate that Pimlico is conveniently accessible from central London, so a pleasant walk across St James’s Park allows me to get there in time to meet a new client. Over lunch, we discuss a dinner for her wine club, matching our wines with a tasting menu.

00pm

3.

3.00pm I’m able to confirm a booking with another customer to reserve Gastronomica! for a private fortieth birthday party, and discuss the arrangements. We plan to lay on a buffet for an informal February 2010

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new products Crem International UK at Hotelympia Crem International UK Ltd will be exhibiting at the forthcoming Hotelympia exhibition in London (28 February to 4 March 2010), showing their broadest range of machines from Instant, Freshbrew and Espresso to Bean to Cup. Under the brand Coffee Queen, they say that they have brought together all their machines for freshly brewed and instant coffee, water and juice. The Expobar brand offers top quality espresso machines. Jura and Machiavelley will complete the line up with the best ‘bean to cup’ fully automatic machines, say the company, plus their new Tea2Fly and Coffe2Fly ‘lid’ concepts will also be on show, meaning there should be something for everyone!

Visitors will also be able to meet Crem’s very own Barista, Youri Vlas (who will be making specialist coffees on the latest Diamant espresso machine), and check out their latest new Freshbrew machines, including the launch of the stunning CQube. There will also be a chance for visitors to enter a FREE PRIZE DRAW to win a Diamant 2 Group machine. You will find Crem on Stand S2440, South Hall (call 01282 869641, or visit www.creminternational.com).

Unparalleled success for Pantheon Pantheon’s top selling products in 2009 were planetary mixers, slicers and vegetable preparation machines – reflective, perhaps, of more caterers bringing their preparation work in-house now rather than relying on expensive, bought in goods, suggest the company.

“We don’t compromise on quality, yet keep our prices way under comparable equipment. We regard spare parts as an essential service to customers so sell them at close to cost price, making them far cheaper than our competitors, and we understand that fast delivery is vital for many customers so we keep a vast stock to make sure everything is available at all times,” says CEO, Nick Pendlebury.

Thus, despite 2009 being a year of economic gloom for many companies, Pantheon Catering Equipment reported a staggering quadrupling of turnover during that time and expects at least to double this during 2010. Pantheon’s warehousing facility was also increased by some 6,000 square feet during 2009 to accommodate an extra £600,000 worth of equipment and parts (call 0800 046 1570, or visit www.pantheonce.co.uk).

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index registered suppliers Cater-Bake UK South Boundary Road, Knowsley Industrial Park, Merseyside, Liverpool, L33 7RR Contact: Peter Hutchings Tel: 0151 548 5818 / Fax: 0151 548 5835 www.cater-bake.co.uk sales@cater-bake.co.uk The following businesses are members of The Pizza Pasta & Italian Food Association (PAPA) and subject to its rules and guidelines. While the Association cannot guarantee the products and services supplied by those listed, it does believe that those listed are reputable and is confident in recommending them.

The Pizza Pasta & Italian Food Association, Association House, 18c Moor Street, Chepstow NP16 5DB Telephone: 01291 636338 or email suskia@jandmgroup.co.uk

C K Food (Processing) Limited 70 Northumberland Avenue Hull, Yorkshire, HU2 0JB Contact: Omar Bhamji Tel: 01482 589961 / Fax: 01482 222776 obhamji@ckfoods.karro.co.uk

REGISTERED SUPPLIERS

Cooktek c/o MCS Technical Products Ltd MCS Technical Products Building 2, Westmead Industrial Estate, Westmead Drive Swindon, Wiltshire SN5 7YT Contact: Steve Snow Tel: 01793 538308 / Fax: 01793 522324 sales@mcstechproducts.co.uk www.mcstechproducts.co.uk

Allied Mills Ltd. Sunblest Flour Mill, Port of Tilbury, Tilbury, Essex RM18 7JR Contact: Chris Brown Tel: 01375 363100 / Fax: 01375 363199 chris.brown@allied-mills.co.uk www.allied-mills-semolina.co.uk Bakkavor Pizza Forward Drive, Christchurch Avenue, Harrow, Middlesex, HA3 8NT Contact: Soum Ghosal Tel: 0208 4242666 / Fax: 0208 4200606 soum.ghosal@bakkavor.co.uk www.bakkavor.co.uk

Continental Quattro Stagioni 8 - 33 Royal Elizabeth Yard, Kirkliston, West Lothian EH29 9EN Contact: Mr Paolo Veneroni Tel: 0131 3191919 Fax: 0131 3315566 p.veneroni@continental-wine.co.uk www.continental-food.co.uk

Dairygold Food

Beacon Foods Limited Brecon Enterprise Park, Brecon, Powys LD3 8BT Contact: Jeanette Sleeman Tel: 01874 622577 / Fax: 01874 622123 sales@beaconfoods.co.uk Benier UK 56 Alston Drive, Bradwell, Abbey, Milton Keynes MK13 9HB Contact: David Marsh Tel: 01908 312333 / Fax: 01908 311481 www.benier.co.uk sales@benier.co.uk

DeCecco UK Ltd 1 Kimbell Mews, Humfrey Lane Boughton, Northampton, NN2 8XB Contact: Stephen Barlow Tel: 01604 820022 / Fax: 01604 820033 sales@dececco.org.uk www.dececco.com

Casa Julia PLC 11 Springwood Drive, Braintree, Essex CM7 2YN Contact: Vincenzo Santomauro Tel: 01376 320269 / Fax: 01376 349436 info@casajulia.co.uk

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Eurilait Ltd Leighton Lane Industrial Estate, Leighton Lane, Evercreech BA4 6LQ Contact: Paul Bates Tel: 01749 838100 / Fax: 01749 831247 paulbates@eurilait co.uk www.eurilait.co.uk Eurostar Commodities Ltd 8 West Lodge Cresent, Ainley Top, Huddersfield HD2 2EH Contact: Jason Bull Tel: 01422 377140 / Fax: 01422 372858 jason@eurostarfoods.co.uk Glanbia Cheese Ltd Brunel Court, Rudheath Way, Northwich, Cheshire CW9 7LP Contact: Alan K Rogers Tel: 01606 810900 / Fax: 01606 48680 arogers@glanbiacheese.co.uk GRH Food Company Ltd Cromlech Fields, Y Ffor Pwllheli Gwynedd LL53 6UW Contact: Mr Shaun Johnson Tel: 01766 810062 / Fax: 01766 819001 ssj@grhltd.co.uk sales@grhltd.co.uk

INGREDIENTS

Dairygold Food Ingredients UK Lancaster Fields, Crewe Gate Farm Industrial Estate, Crewe, CW1 6FU Contact: Ms Svitlana Binns Tel: 0870 766 9563 Fax: 01270 530 726 sales@dairygoldingredients.co.uk

C.Carnevale Ltd Carnevale House, Blundell St, London N7 9BN Contact: Mr C Carnevale Tel: 0207 607 8777 / Fax: 0207 607 8774

Equipline Ltd Ashley House, Ashley Road, Uxbridge Middlesex UB8 2GA Contact: Dena Elderfield Tel: 01895 272 236 / Fax: 01895 256 360 dena@equipline.co.uk www.equipline.com

Donatantonio Ltd. Lupa House, York Way, Borehamwood, Herts WD6 1PX Contact: Simon Bell Tel: 0208 2362222 / Fax: 0208 2362288 www.donatantonio.com sbell@donatantonio.com

Hugall Services Limited Unit 16 Bessemer Park 250 Milkwood Road, Herne Hill, London, SE24 0HG Contact: Mr Robin Usher Tel: 0207 738 6104 / Fax: 0207 738 3994 robin@hugallservices.co.uk Integer Computers 167 Heywood Road, Prestwich, Manchester, M25 1LB Contact: Geoff Whittle Tel: 0161 7987307 / Fax: 0161 7733151 geoff@integeruk.com www.integeruk.com Jestic Unit 5 Kingstanding Business Park Kingstanding way, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN2 3UP Contact: Tim White Tel: 01892 502 410 / Fax 01892 618 826 Email: info@jestic.net www.jestic.co.uk Kingdom Cheese Co. Glenfield Industrial Estate, Cowdenbeath, Fife KY4 9HT Contact: Phil Morgan Tel: 01383 610114 / Fax: 01383 610526 phil@kingdomcheese.com www.kingdomcheese.com

Kiren Foods Unit 3 Small Bridge Industrial Park Riverside Drive, Rochdale Lancashire OL16 2SH Contact: Mr Nazir Mackmood Tel:01706 526732 / Fax: 01706 869749 nazir@kirenfoods.com La Pizza Company Ltd Units 25-26, Holmbush Industrial Estate, Holmbush Way, Midhurst, West Sussex GU29 9HX Contact: Chris Dickinson Tel: 01730 811490 / Fax: 01730 811491 chris.dickinson@lapizzacompany.com Contact: Richard Jansen Richard.jansen@lapizzacompany.com www.lapizzacompany.com Leathams PLC 227-255, Ilderton Road, London, SE15 1NF Contact: Mr James Faulkner Tel 0207 6354026 / Fax 0207 6354017 ingredients.sales@leathams.co.uk www.leathams.com Martin Mathew & Co 140 High Street, Cheshunt Herts EN8 0AW Contact: Mr M.J. Donnelly Tel: 01992 641641 / Fax: 01992 641333 matthewdonnelly@martinmathew.co.uk www.martinmathew.co.uk Minster Fine Foods Limited Park View Housem, 16 South Street Bourne, Lincolnshire PE10 9LT Contact: Ellyot Doyle Tel: 01778 394333 / Fax: 01778 394111 ellyot@minsterfinefoods.co.uk www.minsterfinefoods.co.uk Montana Bakery Limited Blackthorne Road, Poyle Industrial Estate, Colnbrook, Berkshire SL3 0AP Contact: Mr Paul Cook Tel: 01753 760 800 / Fax: 01753 760 801 paul@montana.bakeries.co.uk Northern Foods plc 2180 Century Way Thorpe Park, Leeds LS15 8ZB Contact: Debbie Waterfield Tel: 0115 986 8204 Paramount 3 Newtech Square, First Avenue, Deeside Industrial Park, Deeside, Flintshire CH5 2NT Contact: Phil Goodall Tel: 01244 838000 / Fax: 01244 838100 phil.goodall@paramountfoods.co.uk www.paramountfoods.co.uk Pasta King (UK) Ltd Plantation House, Milber Trading Estate, Newton Abbot, Devon TQ12 4SG Contact: Sue Davenport Tel: 0800 458 7898 / Fax: 01626 334481 www.pastaking.co.uk sales@pastaking.co.uk

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index registered suppliers

Pasta Reale Ltd Pasta Reale House, Fleming Way, Crawley, West Sussex RH10 9JW Contact: Chris Redman Tel: 01293 649700 / Fax: 01293 649741 pasta@pastareale.com www.pastareale.com Pizza Plus Foodservice Elliott Street, Preston PR1 7XN Tel: 01772 897 696 / Fax: 01772 252 808 Contact: Chris Smith chris@pizzaplusfs.co.uk Contact: Chris Smith cathy@pizzaplusfs.co.uk Salvo CFS 465 Caledonian Road, London N7 9BA Contact: Mr S Cumbo Tel: 0207 6073025 / Fax: 0207 6075928 sales@salvocfs.co.uk Saputo Cheese (UK) Ltd The Cremery, Aberarad Newcastle Emlyn, Carnarthenshire, SA38 9QD Tel: 01239 710424 / Fax: 01239 710175 www.saputo.com ServEquip Ltd 214 Purley Way, Croydon, Surrey CR0 4XG Contact: Diane Bowker Tel: 0208 6868855 / Fax: 0208 6817509 info@servequip.co.uk www.servequip.co.uk Stateside Foods Ltd 31 – 34 Great Bank Road, Wingate Industrial Park, Westhoughton Bolton BL5 3XU Contact: Ian Kent Tel: 01942 841200 / Fax: 01942 841201 sales@stateside-foods.co.uk www.stateside-foods.co.uk The Fresh Pasta Company Compass House, Merthyr Tydfil Industrial Park, Merthyr Tydfil Contact: Sole Nasi Tel: 0845 603 7746 pasta@thefreshpastacompany.com www.thefreshpastacompany.com

The Pizza Pasta & Italian Food Association is the

www.papa.org.uk

Firezza Limited 12 All Saints Road, London W11 1HH Contact: Edin Basic Tel:0207 2210020 Fax: 0207 2438178 Tulip Ltd Seton House, Warwick Technology Park, Gallows Hill, Warwick CV34 6DS Contact: Winifred Woodhead Tel: 01926 475680 / Fax: 01926 475688 contact@tulipltd.co.uk www.tulipltd.co.uk Whitco Catering & Bakery Equipment Limited Cottingham Way, Thrapston Northamptonshire, Kettering NN14 3EP Contact: Sophie Whitaker Tel: 01832 737210 / Fax: 01832 734433 sales@whitcoltd.com

Whitworth Bros Limited Victoria Mills, Wellingborough Northants NN8 2DT Contact: Alan Ribakovs Tel: 01933 441000 Fax: 01933 222523 enquiries@whitworthbros.ltd.uk RETAILERS Aldi Stores Ltd Holly Lane, Atherstone Warwickshire CV9 2SQ Contact: John Richardson Tel: 01827 710 865 / Fax: 01827 710 899 bd1@aldi.co.uk Bella Pizza & Pasta Restaurant Ltd 125 Sandgate Road, Folkstone Kent CT20 2BW Tel: 01303 210225 / Fax: 01303 210225 Contact: Mr Ferdinando Labrusciano Bottelino’s Rockwood House, Frenchay Road, Downend, Bristol BS16 2RA Tel: 0117 958 5214 / Fax: 0117 958 3150 Contact : Mike Botta mike@il-bottelino.demon.co.uk Domino’s Pizza Group Limited Domino’s House, Lasborough Road Kingston, Milton Keynes MK10 0AB Tel: 07764 313783 Contact: Andrew Emmerson andrew.emmerson@dominos.co.uk www.dominos.co.uk

Mahmoods Imperial House, Springmill Street Bradford, West Yorkshire BD5 7HF Contact: Tariq Mahmood Tel: 0845 4667289 tariq@mahmoods.biz Papa John’s (GB) Limited The Forum, Hanworth Lane, Chertsey, Surrey KT16 9JX Contact: Ian Saunders Tel: 01932 568000 / Fax: 01932 570628 karen_churchill@papajohns.co.uk www.papajohns.co.uk Perfect Pizza Gailey Park, Gravelly Way Standeford, Staffordshire WV10 7BW Contact: Paul McGee Tel: 01902 797100 / Fax: 01902 797 111 paulmcgee@perfectpizza.co.uk www.perfectpizza.co.uk Pizza Hut UK One Imperial Place Elstree Way, Borhamwood Herts WD6 1JN Contact: Mr Hugh Wood 0208 732 9000 Hugh.wood@pizzahut.co.uk Pizza Pan 3 Andover Road Winchester, SO23 7BS Contact: Toqeer Kataria Tel: 01962 865 765 toqeerkataria@hotmail.com Pizza Pioneer 3 Market Street, Bury, Lancashire BL9 0BW Contact: Ezzett Alkaptan Tel: 0161 763 1813 ealkaptan@hotmail.com www.pizzapioneer.com Pizza Uno 51 St Lukes Ter, Sunderland Tyne & Wear, SR4 6NF Contact: Mr Hussein Tel: 0797 1885563 / Fax:0191 565 3459 mohsenuno@hotmail.com Village Pizza Limited PO Box 2941 Caterham, CR3 6UH Contact: Katy Habiban Tel: 01883 337633

RETAIL RESTAURANTS TAKEAWAY DELIVERY OUTLETS Amigo’s Pizza West Midlands - Tel: 07950793999 Bens N.Ireland - Tel: 028 2564 3399 Chico’s Pizza Ltd Barnsley - Tel: 01926 731919 Bella Napoli Tel: 0141632 4222 Bistro Bianconi Ireland - Tel: 9531 4060400 Clark’s Bakery Dundee - Tel: 01382 641048 Di Maggio’s Restaurant Group Glasgow - Tel: 0141 221 6100 Giacopazzi’s Scotland - 018907 50317 Italian Pizza Experts Middlesex - Tel: 01932 222909 Kiren Foods Lancashire - Tel: 01706 526732 La Favorita Tel: 0131 5542430 Mr Mark Niven Southampton - Tel: 07974 708299 Papa Pizza Aberdeen - Tel: 01224 211700 Perfect Pizza Wolverhampton - Tel: 01902 797100 Pizza Margarita Lancaster - Tel: 01524 68820 Pizza Pantry Cornwall - Tel: 01872 279725 Pizza on Broadway Surbiton - Tel: 0208 3399933 Pizza Xpress Hampton Hargate - Tel: 01733 893344 Sayers The Bakery Limited Bolton - Tel: 01204 555155 Solomon Grundy N.Ireland - Tel: 028 256 59602 The Pizza Shop Glasgow - Tel: 07915 655198 Village Pizza Surbiton - Tel: 020 8399 2293 London - Tel: 020 7708 2255 Twickenham - Tel: 020 8892 0400 Morden - Tel: 020 8640 2200 Eastcote - Tel: 020 8426 2026 Winstons Pizza Co Lancashire - Tel: 01695 627692

trade body representing the UK pizza, pasta and Italian Food Association.

The Association is given direction by a Management Committee comprising:

Russell Allen Basilico*

Phil Welberry Perfect Pizza

Mark Edmonds Whitworth Bros Ltd

Maurice Abboudi Consultant/Domino’s*

Ian Kent Stateside Foods*

Alan Rogers Glanbia Cheese*

Jason Smith Tulip Foodservice*

Phil Goodhall Paramount Foods

Ian Saunders Papa John’s*

Alan Ribakovs Whitworth Bros Ltd

(* Primary members of the committee – others generally attend as substitutes when primary members are unable to attend meetings)

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index of products ANCHOVIES Donatantonio Ltd Martin Mathew & Co

COMPUTER SOFTWARE Integer Computers

BACON (PRE-COOKED) Leathams PLC Tulip Food Service Ltd

CONCENTRATES Allied Mills C K Food (Processing) Ltd DELIVERY BAGS/POUCHES Cooktec Whitco Catering & Bakery Equipment Ltd

BEERS C Carnevale Casa Julia PLC BEVERAGES C Carnevale BEVERAGE SYSTEMS C Carnevale Whitco Catering & Bakery Equipment Ltd CAPERS Donatantonio Ltd Martin Mathew & Co CASH REGISTERS Whitco Catering & Bakery Equipment Ltd CHARGRILLED VEGETABLES Beacon Foods Limited Eurilait Ltd Leathams PLC CHEESE C Carnevale C K Food (Processing) Ltd Dairygold Ingredients UK Eurilait Ltd Glanbia Cheese Ltd GRH Food Company Ltd Kingdom Cheese Co Paramount Stateside Foods Ltd

DESSERTS Beacon Foods Limited DISH/GLASS WASHERS Whitco Catering & Bakery Equipment Ltd DISPLAY EQUIPMENT Equipline Ltd Whitco Catering & Bakery Equipment Ltd DOUGHBALLS La Pizza Company Ltd Pizza Plus Foodservice Stateside Foods Ltd DOUGH MIXERS Cater-Bake UK Jestic Whitco Catering & Bakery Equipment Ltd DOUGH PREP EQUIPMENT Cater-Bake UK C Carnevale Jestic Paramount Whitco Catering & Bakery Equipment Ltd DOUGH ROLLERS Cater-Bake UK

CHEESE (ITALIAN) Leathams PLC CHEESE (MOZZARELLA) C Carnevale Glanbia Cheese Ltd Kingdom Cheese Co CHEESE (PARMESAN) Eurilait Ltd Leathams PLC COFFEE C Carnevale COFFEE EQUIPMENT Whitco Catering & Bakery Equipment Ltd

DRINK SUPPLIERS - SOFT C Carnevale EQUIPMENT SERVICING Equipline Ltd Hugall Services Ltd Whitco Catering & Bakery Equipment Ltd FLOUR Allied Mills C Carnevale DeCecco UK Ltd Whitworth Bros Limited

COMPUTERS Integer Computers

FLOUR (PIZZA) Allied Mills; Casa Julia PLC Salvo CFS Whitworth Bros Limited

COMPUTER DELIVERY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS Integer Computers

FOOD SUPPLIER Stateside Foods Ltd Tulip Food Service Ltd

50

pizzapasta AND ITALIAN FOOD

FRUIT (CANNED) C Carnevale Martin Mathew & Co

OLIVES Donatantonio Ltd Leathams PLC Martin Mathew & Co

GARLIC BREAD La Pizza Company Ltd Stateside Foods Ltd

PARMESAN Donatantonio Ltd

GARLIC PUREE Beacon foods Limited

PASTA COOKERS Whitco Catering & Bakery Equipment Ltd

GARLIC SPREAD/MIXES Beacon foods Limited Stateside Foods Ltd HAM Stateside Foods Ltd Tulip Food Service Ltd HAM (PARMA) Leathams PLC HERBS & SPICES Beacon Foods Limited C Carnevale HOLDING OVENS Benier UK Equipline Ltd Whitco Catering & Bakery Equipment Ltd HOT BOXES Whitco Catering & Bakery Equipment Ltd ICINGS Allied Mills IMPROVERS Allied Mills

PASTA C Carnevale DeCecco UK Ltd Donatantonio Ltd Martin Mathew & Co Salvo CFS The Fresh Pasta Company PASTA (FRESH) Pasta Reale The Fresh Pasta Company PASTA PRODUCTS (PREPARED) C Carnevale The Fresh Pasta Company Tulip Food Service Ltd PASTA SAUCES DeCecco UK Ltd Pasta King (UK) Ltd Pasta Reale The Fresh Pasta Company PEPPERONI Tulip Food Service Ltd

ITALIAN BEERS C Carnevale Salvo CFS

PESTO Donatantonio Ltd Leathams PLC Martin Mathew & Co

MAYONNAISE/DRESSING Leathams PLC

PICKLES/CHUTNEYS Beacon Foods Ltd

MEAT C K Food (Processing) Ltd Tulip Food Service Ltd MEATS (ITALIAN) Leathams Plc MIXES C Carnevale Whitco Catering & Bakery Equipment Ltd OILS C Carnevale OLIVE OIL DeCecco UK Ltd Donatantonio Ltd Leathams PLC Martin Mathew & Co

PINEAPPLE Beacon foods Limited Martin Mathew & Co PIZZA (PREPARED-CHILLED) Bakkavor Pizza Northern Foods plc Paramount PIZZA (PREPARED FROZEN) Northern Foods plc Stateside Foods Ltd Paramount Pasta Reale Ltd Pizza Plus Foodservice PIZZA ACCESSORIES La Pizza Company Ltd Paramount Pizza Plus Foodservice

PIZZA CRUSTS/BASES La Pizza Company Ltd Paramount Pizza Plus Foodservice Stateside Foods Ltd PIZZA DISPLAY RACKS Paramount PIZZA FORMERS Cooktec Whitco Catering & Bakery Equipment Ltd PIZZA MAKING SYSTEMS Benier UK Cater-Bake UK Jestic Paramount Servequip Whitco Catering & Bakery Equipment Ltd PIZZA OVENS Equipline Ltd Hugall Services Jestic Pizza Plus Whitco Catering & Bakery Equipment Ltd PIZZA POUCHES Cooktec Jestic Whitco Catering & Bakery Equipment Ltd PIZZA SAUCES Beacon Foods Limited C Carnevale Donatantonio Ltd Martin Mathew & Co Paramount Pizza Plus Foodservice Stateside Foods Ltd PIZZA TOPPINGS (FISH) C Carnevale; Martin Mathew & Co Paramount PIZZA TOPPINGS (MEAT) C Carnevale Martin Mathew & Co Paramount Pizza Plus Foodservice Stateside Foods Ltd Tulip Food Service Ltd PIZZA TOPPINGS (VEG) C Carnevale Paramount PREMIXES (BREAD) Allied Mills PREMIXES (CAKES) Allied Mills

PREPARATION COUNTERS Whitco Catering & Bakery Equipment Ltd PROVERS / RETARDERS Whitco Catering & Bakery Equipment Ltd READY MEALS Tulip Food Service Ltd REFRIGERATION EQUIPMENT Equipline Ltd Whitco Catering & Bakery Equipment Ltd ROASTED VEGETABLES Beacon Foods Limited SALAD COUNTERS Whitco Catering & Bakery Equipment Ltd SALAMIS Leathams PLC Tulip Food Service Ltd SAUSAGES (ITALIAN) Tulip Food Service Ltd SERVERY EQUIPMENT Pasta King (UK) Ltd Whitco Catering & Bakery Equipment Ltd SUNBLUSH®. TOMATOES Leathams PLC SUNDRIED TOMATOES Beacon Foods Limited Donatantonio Ltd Leathams PLC Martin Mathew & Co SWEETCORN Beacon Foods Limited Martin Mathew & Co TOMATOES (CANNED) Casa Julia PLC DeCecco UK Ltd Martin Mathew & Co TUNA Leathams PLC Martin Mathew & Co WEIGHING EQUIPMENT Whitco Catering & Bakery Equipment Ltd WILD MUSHROOMS Beacon Foods Limited WHOLESALERS Continental Quattro Stagioni Ltd Leathams PLC

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