free
ISSUE
2017
WINTER 17
#2
EDITOR: Chris Busher NEWS EDITOR: Alice Jarret-Kerr, Bob Curbishley LAYOUT DESIGNER: Jose Laborda
THE BELAZU INGREDIENT CO. HERALD
@BELAZU_CO @BELAZU_CO
It’s beginning to look a lot like CHRISTMAS
BELAZU.COM 020 8838 1912 MARKETING@BELAZU.COM
POWERED BY
HOTTEST NEW RELEASES
Congratulations to our team for being awarded an AA+ grade from BRC Global Standards, putting us in the top 3.9% globally (as per BRC directory). We received 5 minor non-conformances at an unannounced audit, an outstanding achievement that shows commitment and constant attention to detail. BRC Global Standards is a leading brand and consumer protection organisation, used by over 26,000 certificated suppliers over 130 countries, with certification issued through a global network of accredited certification bodies. BRC Global Standards’ guarantee the standardisation of quality, safety and operational criteria and ensure that manufacturers fulfil their legal obligations and provide protection for the end consumer. BRC Global Standards are now often a fundamental requirement of leading retailers, manufacturers and food service organisations.
NEW SHARING NUT BAGS
PURPLE BASIL PESTO
EDITOR’S NOTE See you all again in 3 months with more news!
HELLO! HOLA / CIAO / CZESC SZIA / DOBRY DZIE HALLO / OLA / NAMASTE
2017 got off to a challenging start with the change in the value of sterling and our need to get price increases across the line. The 2nd half of 2017 has been a more even mix of challenges and opportunities and thankfully the efforts that have been made by one and all mean that we are in good shape for a strong finish to 2017. 2018 looks as though it will deliver a different set of external challenges; the cost of our ingredients is going to grow due to poor harvests driven by reduced rainfall across the
Mediterranean basin and there are concerns that consumer spending will decline putting added pressure on our customers. Thankfully we are a business and team that is well healed in the art of turning challenges into opportunities and adapting to the needs and conditions of the market, so here’s to celebrating a good 2017 and grabbing 2018 by the balls!
Peter Oden
COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR
S T EN
EV
Over the last few months the team has been on tour with Belazu, battling against the elements, travelling hundreds of miles, sleeping in tepees and, most of all, doing a sterling job of sharing our ingredients with the public. We’ve pushed the boundaries and have collaborated with some of the UK’s most talked about restaurants, chefs and influencers including Bristol’s two Michelinstarred chef Peter Sanchez-Iglesias, Flavour Bastard in Soho and Masterchef finalists Three Girls Cook. Highlights from the summer events included chef demos from Mark Hix, Stoke Park’s Chris Wheeler, Elystan Street’s Toby Burrowes, Blanchette’s Tam Storrar and Marianne Lumb from Marianne. BBC Good Food Show was quite literally a Feast of great
food at Hampton Court Palace over August Bank Holiday and, we sold more than 50 hampers at the first Waitrose Food Festival at Leckford Estate. Abergavenny Food Festival was a triumph too with not one, but two stands, one of which transformed in to a pop-up dinner. This is where we coined the phrase the ‘Belazu Experience’ as diners enjoyed an evening in the company of leading chefs, being waited on by Belazu employees, eating fantastic food and surrounded by a theatrical Welsh storm that started as the guests sat down and finished just before they left. Thame Food Festival was just as successful but a little less dramatic and finally Taste of London Festive Edition has got everyone into the spirit of Christmas.
WHAT’S ON
TREND?
Most popular item on belazu.com
BARLEY COUSCOUS
Ingredient Is King UPCOMING
EVENTS
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T N E RTM
A P E D NEWS
CUSTOMER SERVICES Amantha Liburd married Paul Brown in August and finally made an honest man of him. It is reported that the groom was late as usual, delivered completely the wrong speech and dropped the ring. Amantha has adjusted his KPI’s accordingly having now lost most of his bonus. Sarah Kapungwa also got married on 12th November so, many congratulations to Sarah and her new husband as well as Amantha and Paul. Amantha Liburd
CUSTOMER SERVICES MANAGER
TECHNICAL
SALES
“BRC AA+ Challenge accepted!”
“Working closely with Nando’s”
We are absolutely thrilled to have been awarded a BRC AA+ grade in October. This means we have passed The British Retail Consortium’s rigorous audit. The accreditation is only awarded to companies who can adhere to the regulations which include an unannounced visit. As per BRC’s directory, we are now in the top 3.9% of companies globally. This means that the technical team are constantly maintaining the highest possible standards so a huge congratulations and a big thank you to you all for your commitment and hard work. The award was just in time for Ainhoa’s 40th birthday – a superb (if not a little stressful) present! Looks like everyone thoroughly enjoyed the celebrations.
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Ainhoa Astobieta
TECHINCAL DIRECTOR
During the last three months, we’ve been working closely with Nando’s to launch a new product range of Peri-Peri Tomatoes. Due to the unprecedented demand we’re hoping to develop an innovative range of corn-based products that will feature in their spring menu. Watch this space…
Charlie Hodges
SALES DIRECTOR
STAFF DISCOUNT
10%OFF DISTRIBUTOR PRICE MARKETING “Getting Belazu into the public eye” We’ve had a busy few months planning, developing and implementing new ways to get Belazu into the public eye. Most notably we’ve been encouraging customers to buy our awardwinning Christmas Hampers, shouting about 2017’s Verdemanda oil and our new nut range. We’ve also organised events and charity days including the Bake Off, the annual Walk, Run, Cycle and most recently, our Christmas party!
Chris Busher
MARKETING MANAGER
PEMBURY KITCHEN “Big farewell to Josh Angus”
We said a big farewell to Josh Angus who left us at the end of October to head up Ollie Dabbous’ new restaurant which may/or may not be called Hyde… we’ll just have to go and investigate. Henry Russell, former head chef at Moro, has joined us as our new resident innovation chef. He’s been welcomed with open arms and has already been thrown into the deep end at Taste Festive.
5
was
£52 with Staff Discount
£37
for collection at FWD
TRANSPORT
We’d like to welcome our four new drivers Michael Miller, Kwadjo Achaempong, Eamon Mcquaid and Lenny Morgan to the team which means we now have a second cover driver and warehouse person. The fleet size has now grown to the giddy heights of twelve sprinter vans, one 7.5 tonne lorry and George’s favourite, the articulated lorry. Apart from shunting stock between warehouses the “Artic” will soon start a defined route taking over third party deliveries and thus adding to our cost savings.
Paul Brown
TRANSPORT MANAGER
PURCHASING “Buyers to earn their crust” It’s that time of year again when many of the raw materials we buy are harvested and processed. We’re working hard talking to growers and processors to understand how the harvests are progressing and what impacts there are, or could be on the prices we pay for next year. It is never boring with droughts and unseasonably high temperatures in Spain resulting in olive oil production forecasts being revised downwards by 15%. So, with virtually no carryover and another poor harvest prices are expected to remain high! In Italy, dry and hot conditions have decimated the grape harvest (25% - 35% less than last year) which will not only affect our balsamic vinegar but, will have an impact on the price of Prosecco! Hail storms in the days leading up to the harvesting of Nocellara olives in Sicily have resulted in almost 40% of the crop being bruised and damaged. A lack of rain and hot temperatures in Northern 6
FINANCE/HR
We are now entering our third year as a London Living Wage employer. It was announced on the 6th November 2017 that the new London Living Wage has risen to £10.20 an hour, this is a 3.7% increase from £9.75. The Living Wage, which we adhere to, is an hourly rate set independently and updated annually, calculated according to the basic cost of living using the ‘Minimum Income Standard’ for the UK.
“the right thing to do” but also have evidence in bucket-loads that it fosters the culture of a strong and committed team to care about every aspect of their roles, the quality of our products and the service we provide”
Cheryl Watson
FINANCE CONTROLLER
Our Co-founder and MD, Adam Wells, says: “We’re proud of our ability as a London-based manufacturer to support all our employees with a decent salary. We wholeheartedly believe that it’s
Greece have led to a poorer Chalkidiki harvest than was originally forecasted with fewer larger calibres available. A similar story in Morocco where a lack of rain and higher than normal temperatures has resulted in a difficult green olive harvest for larger sizes – luckily we buy smaller sizes so less of an impact. All eyes are towards the skies hoping for some rain before the start of the black olive harvest. More positive news (so far) on Kalamata which looks like the harvest will be much better than last year although still plenty of time for mother nature to scupper this! Our crack team of buyers will be negotiating hard with our suppliers to mitigate and off-set as much as they can of any cost inflation. Fig Leaf Oil The “two Nicks” were fortunate enough to see the first crushing of this year’s Fig Leaf Oil during a recent visit to Euroaliment.
“Period of changes”
It’s been a period of change for the supply chain team. Genesis was appointed purchasing coordinator for bought-in products and packaging which was a well-deserved progression in her career at Belazu. We welcomed Mariusz to the team as assistant demand planner to work with Pawel on in-house planning and, in addition, Carlos as supply chain assistant responsible for all our inbound flows, supplier invoicing and management of our rejected stocks.
Nick Henderson
PURCHASING DIRECTOR
TRUFFLE & PECORINO LUXURY NUT MIX
£22.46
50% OFF
Visit
belazu.com/recipes for an amazing variety of ideas to try at home
F F A T S NEWS
NEW
STARTERS 24/07/2017
INGRID
MEYER
TECHNICAL
24/07/2017
RORY
DYSON
SALES
24/07/2017
GILBERT
EYENGA
PRODUCTION
07/08/2017
MARK
BUTLER
TRANSPORT
14/08/2017
CHARLIE
BULL
PRODUCTION
15/08/2017
MARIA
ROSY RODRIGUES
QA
22/08/2017
ALICE
JARRETT - KERR
MARKETING
04/09/2017
GERGO
NYUL
HYGIENE
11/09/2017
MARIUSZ
KLEMENKO
PURCHASING
25/09/2017
CARLOS
MAYOR
PURCHASING
25/09/2017
RANJINI
VARATHARAJAN
FINANCE
27/09/2017
DAVID
JAMES
IT
09/10/2017
MICHEAL
MILLER
TRANSPORT
16/10/2017
RHEA
BAYLISS
SALES
16/10/2017
MATTEO
DI GUSTO
WAREHOUSE
16/10/2017
FLORIN
STOICA
WAREHOUSE
30/10/2017
HENRY
RUSSELL
INNOVATION
01/11/2017
ANITA
SANDHU
HR
13/11/2017
LENNY MORGAN
TOWNSEND
TRANSPORT
13/11/2017
NICOLAU MIRANDA
BISSESSAR
PRODUCTION
SPECIAL
BABIES
NOVEMBER - AMY LIPSCOMBE
Congratulations to Amy and Darren who “produced” a cute baby daughter named Lily. Amy completed this project before her deadline, in perfect condition and at a rate of one baby per shift. Good work Amy! A big welcome to Lily!
SPECIAL
BIRTH DAYS
Life is short... and birthdays are even shorter. Blow out your candles and eat as much birthday cake as you want!
30 CHRIS BUSHER
40 AINHOA ASTOBIETA
GOLDEN
OLIVE
WEDDINGS SARAH KAPUNGWA & CHRIS BOLWELL AMANTHA LIBURD & PAUL BROWN
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Jessica Beaumont INNOVATION NOVEMBER 2017 WINNER Nominated by their managers, the senior management team cast the deciding vote for who wins the award that quarter. The reward is a small trophy and £100 in vouchers.
HENRY
RUSSELL Henry Russell, found his appetite for cooking at the young age of 10 when he took part in his first Saturday morning food course. As he was growing up, Henry used to spend hours in the kitchen with his Mum learning about the traditional art of home cooking and, he was particularly fond of her Christmas pudding recipe that dates back to the late 1800s. Without any formal chef training, and a degree in History of Art, Henry moved to Australia to work under the watchful eye of Simon Bestley. Henry used his inquisitive nature to his advantage and left the job two years later as a Junior Sous Chef. Back in the UK, Henry worked at Claude Bosi’s Michelin-starred restaurant, Hibiscus before he realised that he wanted a little
It’s officially the festive season and naturally our thoughts turn to gifting. This year Belazu employees have the opportunity to order our Christmas Hamper from just £37.
The wicker hamper contains 11 products with a total of 17 Great Taste stars between them and, we’ve also created a complementary recipe booklet to help you get creative in the kitchen.
“The art of cooking”
more freedom to explore his own approach and ways of creating great dishes. In 2013, Henry began working with Sam and Samantha Clark, at Moro, cooking with North African and Spanish flavours and ingredients. The kitchen’s fun vibe and slightly chaotic nature had Henry hooked and, after a year he began working as the head chef at the sister restaurant, Morito. Sam and Samantha’s understated approach gave Henry the freedom to experiment with big and bold flavours while cooking food that people really want to eat. Moro has been one of Belazu’s customers for around 15 years and we’re delighted to welcome Henry as part of The Pembury Kitchen’s innovation team.
If you plan to collect your hamper from Fairway Drive, it’s only £37 if you order from your staff account and, for UK delivery just enter the voucher BICSTAFFHAMP online for £42. The consumer price for the hamper is £52 and so we ask that codes are used by employees only.
P W E N
We’re going NUTS! Having sold a selection of nuts to highend restaurants for more than five years, we brought the nut production in-house and launched an innovative range of mixes in 2016. After a 47% increase in sales and following the success we’ve now extended the range. The range was developed by our resident innovation chefs and the recipes include a spicy Shatta Nut mix with
smoked paprika and cayenne pepper; the authentic Pistou recipe with basil and garlic and; an Orange Spiced Nut Mix which has a warmth from the Ras el Hanout and is complemented by the Sevilian orange zest and cranberries. The Socca Nut Mix is a crunchy blend of nuts and Cuzco corn coated in chickpea flour and the traditional Club Nut mix is a classic option, simply seasoned with salt.
N PA EW CK S
S T C U ROD
BELAZU SHARING NUT BAGS
We launched three of our nut ranges in to smaller, consumer-friendly sized bags at the festive edition of Taste of London. Ranging from 140g-170g the Rose Harissa, Truffle and Pecorino and Socca nut mixes will now be available throughout 2018 at our consumer shows.
SHATTA SPICED NUT MIX SOCCA NUT MIX
SPICED ORANGE NUT MIX
CLUB NUT MIX
PISTOU NUT MIX 10
Y T I R A H
C
THANK YOU! TO EVERYONE WHO CAME AND HELPED US ON THE TOW PATH CHALLENGE.
There have been several happenings in aid of the Belazu Foundation during the last few months. From the annual trip to Morocco where the team spent a day in Tidli getting to know the locals and understanding more about how the foundation supports the village to the Tow Path Challenge and, not least, our work with the Make Lunch charity. On the 21st October, 40 walkers, runners and cyclists completed either a 5km, 10km or 50km distance from West to East London. Thanks to everyone who
sponsored the event, we have now raised an impressive ÂŁ6,799.19 This summer the Belazu Foundation also supported Make Lunch. This is a charity which provides hot meals in school holidays for children who are reliant on free school lunches during term time. Not only did the foundation donate money to the charity, which contributed to the cost of food, we volunteered a significant number of hours in manpower to the operation by sending our staff to a kitchen in Barnet.
We Sponsor Schools in Morocco
SCHOOL
FOOD
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1. GHOST’S COMMENT 4. GOALS 8. GOLF HAZARD 12. PRONE 13. FRENCH CHEESE 14. CAVITY 15. MADE A LAP 16. WOOD-SMOOTHING ITEM 18. SKIING HILL 20. VERIFY 21. WYOMING’S NEIGHBOUR 24. RUBBER BAND 26. FROG’S SKIN 30. TWISTED 31. PEA HOLDER 33. UPON 34. SUPERVISOR 35. HIDEAWAY 37. 14-LINE POEMS 39. GET LOST! (2 WDS.) 43. ROYAL RULE 46. CEASE-FIRE 49. FOURTH LETTER 50. FIBBED 51. SIGNIFICANT TIMES 52. NAVAL RANK (ABBR.) 53. REFUSE 54. COUNTRY SINGER ____MCENTIRE 55. FRENCH PREPOSITION
Visit
belazu.com/recipes
for an amazing variety of ideas to try at home
1. EDIBLE FISH 2. OCTOBER BIRTHSTONE 3. FOOTSTOOLS 4. NOT PRESENT 5. RETIREE’S ACCT. 6. HR. PART 7. FAMILY CAR 8. NOT THIS 9. HEAVY CORD 10. PUB ORDERS 11. SASSY 17. SCHOOL ORG. 19. MAILS 22. SUMMIT 23. SQUIRREL’S TREAT 24. DECLINE 25. AUTHOR _______ TOLSTOY 26. PASTRY 27. BIASED (HYPH.) 28. _____ STANDSTILL ( 2 WDS.) 29. SMALL SPOT 32. COZY ROOM 36. MOTHER ______ (MISSIONARY) 37. FAMILY MEM. 38. AQUATIC ANIMAL 39. LACKING HAIR 40. FAMOUS CANAL. 41. SO BE IT! 42. NOT MESSY 44. ACTIR ____ JACKMAN 45. FAMOUS LOCH 47. GREAT ANGER 48. METERED VEHICLE