FFD April 2016 by Guild of Fine Food

www.gff.co.uk |

April 2016 · Vol 17 Issue 3

@guildofﬁnefood

SCOTT GOSS 51 The bearded wonder from The Twenty Six in Kent makes his Chef’s Selection

TRICIA BEY 16 How Barwheys Dairy offers an alternative to ‘more austere’ Somerset cheddar

GORDON LEATHERDALE 39 The ex-soldier who built and sold Wild Trail has natural foods in his sights

PREVIEW Europe’s biggest organic and health food show 43 PLUS: Gluten-free & health foods 35

CUTTING IT FINE Expert tips on opening a clothbound cheddar from top cheesemonger Hero Hirsh

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opinion IF ONLY I COULD WITHDRAW MY CUSTOM from the British Government in the way I have withdrawn my custom from Tesco over recent years – aside from buying petrol there, since there aren’t any independent forecourts left to support any more – I would surely do so. While Tesco won’t give, in one of my late father’s favourite phrases, “two tuppeny t*sses” for the mere hundreds of quid I now decline to spend with them each year, I at least feel I have made some dent, however, tiny, in their turnover. Sadly the same cannot cannot be said of the Government of Messrs Cameron and Osborne (if they can still be spoken of together by the time this reaches you – I am writing a day before Osborne’s Budget climb-down speech in the Commons). Each year I pay the Government that I didn’t vote for quite a lot of tax, for which I fail to be rewarded in any visible way. For example, the Government (Why a capital ‘G’? Perhaps this is one blow I can strike...) the government is steadily giving less and less taxpayers’ money to East Devon County Council, the result of which is that I have just had a 2016 Council Tax demand that is inflated considerably further than my salary has been inflated this year. For this, I expect to receive more of nothing except potholes, which are already a hazard to life on our little country lanes. One thing I confidently expect to get, in return for my generous contribution to their coffers, is a letter from the Revenue, probably in late summer, telling me that I have underpaid tax by about £600, which I can either have added to my tax code or pay in one simple lump sum. I have never known how this happens to a humble salaryman, but it seems to occur at least once a year, and I’m now so ground down by it that I don’t even bother to pursue it. Perhaps I should just sign a direct debit form letting the Revenue take whatever it wants, whenever it wants, and do likewise with East Devon District Council who, in effect, now have to take whatever tax the government (lower-case ‘g’ – ha!) wants to pretend it’s not taking. Confused? You can’t be any more confused than I. Anyway, what I meant to write about was Business Rates, and how, frankly, surprised I was that the government (‘g’!) has actually heard the pain of smaller firms for once and not just kept but extended the existing rate relief scheme for smaller businesses. As you’ll read on p13, the combination of the National Living Wage and compulsory pensions is already causing some retailers to hold back on replacing staff and work even longer hours themselves. The disappearance of small business rate relief could only have exacerbated this. Small mercies and all that.

For this year’s Council Tax I expect to receive more of nothing except potholes, already a hazard to life on our lanes

MICK WHITWORTH, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

editors’ choice MICHAEL LANE, DEPUTY EDITOR

Van Strien butter cheese palmiers p39 Healthier Foods Ltd

There is a lot of strange or joyless NPD in the name of “health” but these biscuits demonstrate a more preferable approach. Instead of digging out some unpronounceable antioxidant or boring a hole into an alpine tree, Gordon Leatherdale has decided to tap into the growing trend for clean eating with the ﬁrst products to be imported by his new Healthier Foods venture. Customers avoiding processed foods will like the van Strien range because it’s made entirely with natural ingredients and, most crucially, butter from grass-fed cows. Not only does this tie in with the resurgence of proper fats but it also makes for top-notch taste and texture. Of all the excellent biscuit samples we received, the palmiers were demolished the quickest. They go from crisp to crumbly in the mouth before melting away and all the while there is a pronounced savoury cheese ﬂavour from real PDO Gouda. The smart Continental boxes and the reasonable RRPs under £3 are an added bonus. Vol.17 Issue 3 | April 2016

finefoodnews Shop owners shaken by Facebook attack EDITORIAL editorial@gff.co.uk

Editor & editorial director: Mick Whitworth Deputy editor: Michael Lane Reporter: Arabella Mileham Art director: Mark Windsor Editorial production: Richard Charnley Contributors: Anne Bruce, Clare Hargreaves, Patrick McGuigan, Lynda Searby ADVERTISING advertise@gff.co.uk Sales director: Sally Coley Sales executives: Becky Stacey, Ruth Debnam Published by the Guild of Fine Food Ltd Printed by: Blackmore, Dorset Fine Food Digest is published 11 times a year and is available on subscription for £45pa inclusive of post and packing.

© The Guild of Fine Food Ltd 2016. Reproduction of whole or part of this magazine without the publisher’s prior permission is prohibited. The opinions expressed in articles and advertisements are not necessarily those of the editor or publisher.

GENERAL ENQUIRIES Tel: 01747 825200 Fax: 01747 824065 info@gff.co.uk www.gff.co.uk Guild of Fine Food, Guild House, 23b Kingsmead Business Park, Shaftesbury Road, Gillingham, Dorset SP8 5FB United Kingdom

Managing director: John Farrand Marketing director: Tortie Farrand Operations manager: Karen Price Operations assistant: Claire Powell Events manager: Christabel Cairns Marketing manager: Kate Baumber Training co-ordinator: Jilly Sitch Financial controller: Stephen Guppy Accounts manager: Denise Ballance Accounts assistant: Julie Coates Chairman: Bob Farrand Director: Linda Farrand

April 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 3

BY ARABELLA MILEHAM

Farm shops need to be savvy and quick to crisis-manage social media campaigns that attract unwanted attention, a social media specialist has warned. Laurra Davis of Brilliant Social Media said there was only a small chance of internet trolls attacking retailers’ Twitter or Facebook feeds with abusive comments, but incidents could quick snowball out of control. Her comments came after a Devon farm shop attracted a vitriolic response on Facebook for its Name A Calf competition, in which it offered a cut of beef as a prize. More than a hundred comments were posted on Lifton Farm Shop’s Facebook wall from hardcore vegans denouncing the farm shop and its customers as “murderers”. Owner Laura Mounce said she was shocked by the speed and severity of the comments, which

LIfton Farm Shop and its customers were attacked on Facebook by hard-core vegans

were directed at both the business and the winner of the competition, and frustrated that neither the police nor Facebook could help. Davis warned the that the greatest risk came from internet trolls leaving negative reviews which would outlast the incident, but she added that measures could be taken to prevent this. Blocking anyone posting negative comments as soon

as possible and notifying Facebook were the best options to prevent unfair reviews being posted, she said, as these were harder to rectify retrospectively. “Anyone is free to comment on Facebook, but if people leave bad reviews, they can be against Facebook’s terms and conditions, so can be removed,” she told FFD. “But you cannot pick and choose and you risk all the positive reviews being

deleted too, which can be damaging in the longer term.” Although Lifton posted an apology, Mounce said it was important to keep educating consumers on where food comes from. “At the end of the day, farm shops are the real deal – our animals live outside in the field, we farm them and then they come back to be sold in the shop straight away,” she said. Andy Jeffrey at Farrington Farm Shop and Café in Somerset called the Lifton incident “worrying”, adding that it was almost impossible to come up with crisis-management policies to deal with online harassment, given their unpredictability. Simone Clarkin of Newcastle fine food deli Mmmm agreed. “As long as we’re doing all we can to operate with integrity for the best interest of our customers, we have the tools to counter negative issues.”

Food halls expert to run Time Out Markets

Hollow Trees crowned champion farm shop

BY ARABELLA MILEHAM

BY MICHAEL LANE

Time Out has appointed a former MD of Daylesford and director of Harrods and Selfridges food halls to head its planned London and New York markets. Didier Souillat has been appointed CEO to expand the publishing company’s Time Out Market concept, set up after its Portuguese arm took charge of the famous Mercado da Ribeira food market in Lisbon. Souillat is expected to build a team over the next few months to push the international expansion. Joining Time Out from hospitality group Hakkasan, he was also MD of Daylesford Organic for three years, spent four years at Selfridges operations and

Suffolk’s Hollow Trees Farm Shop has been named Champion of the Year at the 2016 FARMA farm retail awards. The retailer, based on a mixed farm at Semer near Ipswich, also topped the Large Farm Shop category. Set up in 1986 as a farm-gate stall selling eggs and potatoes, it now offers its own pork, beef and lamb as part of a full-service shop that includes hampers, gift cards and a “VIP loyalty scheme”. It was crowned champion at the end of FARMA’s annual conference in Chester, where Hanley Farm Shop in Gloucestershire picked up the award for Small Farm

The Time Out-run Mercado da Ribeira in Lisbon combines high-end food retail stalls and eateries

business director, and three years as director of Harrods food halls. The London market, expected to include food and drink stalls in addition to hosting art and cultural events, is due to open in 2017. It will be followed by a market in New York, with Sydney, Miami, Berlin, Dubai and Shanghai among its other targets.

Shop of the Year. Whitehouse Farm, a P-Y-O and shop near Norwich, was Newcomer of the Year and Newlyns Farm Shop in Hampshire was top farm butcher. Other winners included Farndon Fields Farm Shop in Leicestershire (Restaurant/ Café). www.hollowtrees.co.uk

Hollow Trees’ Sally Bendall collects the FARMA award from Nigel Bogle of sponsor Lakeland Computers

finefoodnews “What they're saying about...” The budget “The increase in the business rates threshold is very welcome and will assist many independent shops and producers, particularly as the Living Wage increases will increase costs dramatically.” Gavin Hamilton, Lord Hamilton of Dalzell, Apley Farm Shop “If the Welsh Government implemented the same small business rate relief scheme as England, we could expand and support more artisan producers – the existing scheme means it’s not viable.” Ivan Wilson, Fire & Ice, Narberth “This is probably as good a budget as we could have hoped for in the current economic climate.” Jameel Lalani, founder, Lalani & Co “The sugar tax on soft drinks is poorly thought through, and there is little if any evidence that it will achieve any material change in childhood obesity.” Paul Bendit, director, Folkington’s Juices “The effects of a sugar tax will be very small [for us] but it will help all consumers, as the industry will have to lean heavily away from sweetened sugary drinks.” Gabriel David, founder & chairman, Luscombe Drinks “Many of our suppliers may struggle [with the sugar tax] as they won’t want to pass on all the cost to retailers. If the Guild of Fine Food campaigns on behalf of members to have a tax exemption for SMEs, you will have my support.” Paul Hargreaves, chief executive, Cotswold Fayre

Better Food grows amid optimism f0r organics BY ARABELLA MILEHAM

Organic food retailer Better Food has launched a fundraising drive to open a third site, as the Soil Association sees the independent sector spearheading growth in organic food. The Bristol-based retailer is looking to raise £350,000 to open the site in the City’s Whapping Wharf redevelopment through green bank Triodos. Phil Haughton of The Better Food Co said it had seen a shift in consumer appetite towards shopping sustainably, and reported particularly strong sales in bread, health & beauty product, fresh vegetable and chilled meats, and chocolate. “Consumers recognise the value of healthy, organic food and are happy to buy items they feel are great quality, especially if this is coupled to strengthening local food systems,” he said. “By shopping at independent stores and making more informed choices about purchases, customers can make their voice heard about the products they want to see more of.”

Independents like Better Food are outperforming supermarkets in sales of organics

Haughton said the company has seen growth of 16%, with turnover in the year to March 31 2016 projected to hit £4.1 million, and set to nearly double by 2021 to £8.1 million. The Soil Association’s latest Market Report found sales of organic goods in the independent sector rose 7.5% in 2015 to £308m, compared to a 3.2% increase in the supermarkets over the same period. Joff Goodman of The Grocery Shop in Hackney agreed demand for organic

produce had been steadily high for the last two years, but noted that the organic industry was changing. Fewer new products were appearing, he said, and growth was coming from existing brands modernising and updating to gain more customers and shelf appeal. “Brands that have been around a long time are rebranding, and we’re seeing products move faster as a result,” he told FFD. “But there aren’t too many producers pushing through [to create new products]

Small shops group hails vote to keep Sunday Trading restrictions BY MICHAEL LANE

Parliament’s decision to reject proposed changes to Sunday trading laws will come as a relief to local shop owners across the country, according to one retail trade body. James Lowman, chief executive of small shops group ACS, whose members include the Guild of Fine Food, said small shops would have “lost out” to superstores and out-of-town retail parks, if MPs had voted to allow local councils the power to remove Sunday trading hours.

In a vote on the Enterprise Bill held on March 9, the proposals were rejected by 317 votes

James Lowman of ACS: ‘Flaws in Government’s plans have been exposed’

to 286 as MPs supported the campaign to retain the existing laws that limit the number of hours shops can open on Sundays. “The flaws in the Government’s plans have been exposed, and MPs from across the House have voted to retain our popular existing Sunday trading regulations,” said Lowman. The ACS is part of campaign group Keep Sunday Special, which also includes the Church of England, the Federation of Wholesale Distributors and the Rural Shops Alliance.

– that peaked a few years ago.” However Goodman noted greater interest from consumers in its organic and biodynamic wine range rather than for its food offering. “There is more growth in that area, which is where we are concentrating. We’ve seen a 5% year-onyear growth on food, which we expected to be bigger after our recent refit – but the wines have gone up fourfold.” www.betterfood.co.uk www.soilassociation.org

Rutter leaves Neal’s Yard to go truffle hunting TruffleHunter has hired James Rutter (pictured) as head of sales & marketing as it looks to increase its presence in retail and foodservice. Previously export sales manager at Neal’s Yard Dairy, he will work with Trufflehunter’s UK distributors as well as seeking new export markets. Trufflehunter sources truffles from Italy’s Sibillini mountains and sells trufflebased products as well as the fresh raw ingredient. www.trufflehunter.co.uk Vol.17 Issue 3 | April 2016

finefoodnews

New Rhug team taps loyalty data

Pictured outside Rhug farm shop are (l-r) retail manager Graham Webster, communications manager Awel Morris, estate owner Lord Newborough and MD Craig Stubbs BY ARABELLA MILEHAM

Rhug Estate Farm Shop in Denbighshire is to deliver a more tailored offer to shoppers after seeing the acceleration of its loyalty scheme. MD Craig Stubbs said the new strategy came off the back of analysis of its loyalty customers that had pinpointed areas for growth. Stubbs, formerly commercial manager at the 12,500 acre estate owned by Lord Newborough, became MD in January in a restructure after retail chief

Jon Edwards left to run Ludlow Food Centre. Rhug’s loyalty scheme was started in 2012 to coincide with the opening of the revamped farm shop, but had grown in the last 12 months. While he admitted launching the scheme initially was a leap of faith, as it was hard to forecast the return on investment, it had proved “invaluable”. “It allows us to be in contact with the customer and we can tailor offers to them, as we know how they shop,” he said.

The shop has stepped up its focus on gifts and items that complement the food offer, such as wine decanters, cheese sets, local crafts and kitchenware, which Stubbs said broadened the customer experience and made a greater impact in store. “In the past we haven’t concentrated on it, but decided it needed more thought and work,” he said. “People are not just buying food.” Another focus for the next 18 months is to increase the number of evening events and tie this to rewards for loyalty scheme members. For example, Rhug plans to launch a series of tasting dinners to mark the start of new menus each quarter, and invite top-spending loyalty customers. Rhug has strengthened its operations team since November with the addition of Graham Webster from Waterstones as retail manager and Awel Morris in the new role of communications manager www.rhug.co.uk

Holt’s Bakers & Larners names Cude’s successor

Four salad dressings flavoured with popular garden herbs are the first products from Worcestershire-based start-up A Little Bit Food Co. Launching at the Farm Shop & Deli Show in Birmingham this month, and labelled A Little Bit On Top, the line-up comprises red onion & parsley, balsamic & thyme, raspberry & mint and lemon & tarragon.

North Norfolk department store Bakers & Larners has appointed Richard Lodge as food hall manager following the departure of long-time food boss Anthony Cude in December. Lodge joins the Holt store after a career in hospitality, working in the food and drink departments of 4- and 5-star hotels and a Michelin starred restaurant. His new role will cover all aspects of the East Anglian store’s food and drink operations

www.alittlebit.co.uk

www.bakersandlarners.co.uk

It’s a little bit... herbidacious

April 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 3

“If I’d known then what I know now” CLAIRE BURNET CHOCOCO, SWANAGE AND WINCHESTER WE OPENED OUR SECOND SHOP in late 2013, on Winchester high street. Just as in our original shop in Swanage, Dorset, people can buy fresh chocolates and handmade chocolate gifts and bars, or enjoy a hot chocolate, coffee or tea with a handmade cake. We’ve stuck to the same philosophy of working with origin chocolate and local, seasonal ingredients – we’ve just applied it to Hampshire. The similarities between what sells in the two stores have been surprising, so we’ve not had to go back to the drawing board. The only difference we’ve discovered is that Winchester folk are keener on marzipan! Although the concept is the same, our experience of opening in Winchester has been completely different. In 2002 when we launched the business in Swanage, it was just Andy and I with a toddler in tow. Now we have a team of 30. We certainly didn’t rush into opening a second outlet. We make most of what

Setting up a team What’sApp group has helped with communication across the business we sell, so we we couldn’t grow our retail presence until we had the production and storage capacity. We used to make chocolates in a kitchen opposite our Swanage shop, but we outgrew this and moved into a unit in nearby Wareham in 2010. This gave us the capacity we needed to think about a second shop. Given the economic climate, the bank wasn’t interested in loaning us money, but we secured private investment from local angels. Swanage is a rather quirky space as it has evolved over time to include a chocolate café. In Winchester we needed a more conventional retail unit in which we could create a shop area out front and seating at the back. We found affordable premises at the bottom of the high street and designed the layout ourselves to reflect the holistic nature of our business. We wanted a clear, continuous flow, with the fresh chocolates being the first thing customers see. We opened in December 2013 but the planning started months before. We had to review our processes and ordering systems, put in an EPOS system, and gradually increase batch sizes, as it takes time to build up stock. Recruiting a team was nerve-wracking but we were lucky to find a manager who knew us, as she visits Swanage for holidays, and recruited two assistant managers. All three came to Swanage before launch for training and to meet the rest of the team. It helped that we also have a detailed training manual. It was very time-intensive and I had to spend a lot of time in Winchester supporting staff. Two years on, the new store is doing well. There are ongoing challenges, such as making sure products are in the right place at the right time, that the EPOS system is up to date, that staff are briefed on new products, and so on. We have found that setting up a team What’sApp group has helped with communication across the business. We’re starting to think about a third outlet, but nothing is finalised, so watch this space! INTERVIEW BY LYNDA SEARBY

Facelift for our iconic range Our iconic fruit wines have been given a much-needed brand refresh. We worked with artist Dina Campbell to create beautiful labels that give them striking presence on any shelf.

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Vol.17 Issue 3 | April 2016

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

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Patriotic to the sauce!

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

April 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 3

A range of over 100 preserves free from gluten, nuts, GM & suitable for vegetarians.

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finefoodnews

Waitrose in talks with new Cornish food hall partner BY ARABELLA MILEHAM

Waitrose has confirmed it has dropped the Taste of Cornwall (ToC) consortium of local farmers and food producers as its partner for the controversial Truro Food Hall and is in “advanced talks” with a third party. A spokesman told FFD that after “careful consideration” it had decided a business plan submitted by another party offered the food hall the best long-term prospects. “We are saddened we have not been able to deliver our original aspirations with ToC,” he said. “However, we are confident the new food hall will offer considerable benefits to Cornish food producers.”. Waitrose is expected to reveal the name of its new partner “imminently”. The plan to develop a local food showcase in Truro alongside a new 15,000 sq ft Waitrose in

In brief Lady Waterford Preserves and Artisan Kitchen have shared the top accolade at The World's Original Marmalade Festival, which took place on March 19-20. The producers won double gold awards for their Any Citrus Seville orange & beetroot marmalade and Marmalade Seville orange Aperol marmalade respectively.

Exports of British branded food and drinks rose 0.9% to £4.6bn during 2015, according to stats from Food and Drink Federation – led by chocolate, salmon and cheese. Growth was driven by non-EU markets, which account for 30.8% of exports.

The food hall deal may have fallen through when the supermarket said it wanted its own café on the same site

the Truro Eastern District Centre Development was originally devised as a partnership between the retailer, Cornwall Council, land-owner the Duchy of Cornwall and ToC – a group of farmers, growers and food producers. Despite delays and controversy over the plans, the project hit a roadblock in September when Waitrose cast doubt on ToC’s ability to deliver the project, claiming “key milestones” had been

missed. It said ToC had been unable to provide a business plan that could establish the long-term management and commercial strategy of the unit or justify the funding required from Waitrose. FFD understands Waitrose had introduced a second café into the plans for the site, which would have breached an earlier understanding with ToC. Waitrose conﬁrmed it was still deﬁning the “hospitality offer” and this would form part of the conversation with the new partner. Local businessman and ToC spokesman Philip Warren said he was glad that a Cornish Food Hall was to go ahead, despite the disappointment that ToC was not involved. “From a Cornish point of view, I’m glad to see the Food Hall and I’m 100% behind it, so long as it is run by a Cornish company,” he added.

Foraged botanicals give gin a taste of the coast Micro-distillery Edinburgh Gin, owned of the Spencerﬁeld Spirit Co, has expanded its core range with a new gin using botanicals foraged along the Scottish coastline. Seaside Gin (RRP £35), which appeared as a limited edition last summer, was born out of a collaboration with Heriot-Watt University’s brewing and distilling MSc programme. The native botanicals foraged from Dunbar include seaweed, scurvy grass and ground ivy in addition to regular gin botanicals, cardamom and coriander. “There is demand for a gin that pioneers the use of unusual native botanicals such as this,” Spencerﬁeld founder Alex Nicol said. The newcomer, which joins Edinburgh Gin’s core range of Original and Navy-strength Cannonball, is targeted at independent farms shops, delis and independents as well as restaurants.

Comment SIAN HOLT, FUDGE KITCHEN MD RETAILERS ALL WANT ‘ARTISAN’ PROVENANCE these days. The trouble is, they’re not always prepared to pay for it. So how can specialist producers respond without dumbing down their products? Fudge Kitchen is both a retailer and producer, known for the ‘handmade’ quality of its products. Turnover in our manufacturing business is heading towards £1m and it employs 25 people – on a par with many upand-coming speciality brands. As we have grown, our answer to the quality-versus-price conundrum has been to maintain ‘small producer’ principles but think like a big manufacturer in three areas: production systems, ingredients buying and marketing. Artisan is not an excuse. You don’t have to be inefﬁcient to maintain product integrity and you don’t have to be a big producer to cut waste from your production procedures. We have sharpened our operations by using, on our own scale, Japanese-style lean manufacturing principles widely seen in mainstream factories. For example, by analysing the processes used

Artisan is not an excuse. You don’t have to be inefficient to maintain product integrity in every recipe – from hand-rolling to hand-decorating – we’ve reduced the number of ‘touch times’ when a product is handled and found the best line layout for each product. Simply turning our work tables through 90° cut movement around the production area significantly. This kind of analysis has translated into a 20% increase in overall capacity and enabled us to set firm benchmarks and targets to work to. Our production team is highly protective of product quality, but it’s a constant challenge to maintain speed and quality during periods of high demand. We continually question how to improve efficiency while retaining that crucial ‘handmade’ format. Astute purchasing of ingredients is another important area for a small firm that cannot command large-volume purchasing clout. We spend time with suppliers to understand the forces influencing raw ingredient costs, and discuss emerging food trends and the need to look at new ingredients. Our aim is to buy the best at the best price and establish long-lasting supplier relationships. Perhaps the biggest issue for small producers, however, is wastage through poor stock control. In answer, we have spent two years developing a bespoke web-based production program, allowing us to individually code over 300 ingredients and more than 1,000 packaging components, tracking them from purchase order through to despatch. We can now efficiently monitor for re-order levels, reducing waste and costs while also improving that critical artisan traceability. The bottom line, however, is validation through communication: reminding our buyers why a Ferrari can’t be the same price as a Mini, what makes us special and what defines the terms ‘artisan’ and ‘speciality’ these days. We shout about our brand, and despatch our promotional ‘fudge ambassadors’ to support customers through on-site training, demos and tastings. ‘Artisan’ is not about a marketer-manufactured heritage or a design suggesting a fictitious provenance. Its about what is inside. It is about uniqueness and superlative quality, which the consumer recognises. And that comes with a price tag. www.fudgekitchen.co.uk

Vol.17 Issue 3 | April 2016

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finefoodnews

Slow Food joins Stichelton ﬁght BY MICHAEL LANE

Campaign group Slow Food is backing cheese-maker Joe Schneider’s bid to have his raw milk Stichelton accepted by the EU as a ‘Stilton’ and has launched a petition against the current ruling. Stilton production is governed by a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) rule that states the famous blue can only be made in a certain area of the UK, with pasteurised milk. A long-time advocate of raw milk, Slow Food will now join Schneider in lobbying the Government and the Stilton Cheesemakers Association (SCA), which represents the six licensed producers and created the original PDO, to propose an amendment to include Stichelton. The organisation is already gathering signatures on a petition to present to Defra and the SCA and it has also created one of its Presidia – a group that will promote Schneider’s raw milk recipe. “There’s nobody left

In brief The ﬁrm behind plans to convert Perth’s Edwardian City Hall into a food market has slammed Perth Council after the scheme collapsed. It said the council’s demands to meet pre-conditions of the lease within four months had put investor’s faith under “severe strain”. The listed building has been vacant for over 10 years.

Amazon is to enter the fresh food market after signing a surprise deal with Morrisons supermarkets. The move will allow Amazon Prime and Amazon Pantry customers to purchase fresh and frozen products from Amazon’s website.

Slow Food wants an amendment to PDO rules to let Stichelton be described as Stilton

producing raw milk Stilton,” said Schneider, who has been making his blue cheese on the Wellbeck Estate in Nottinghamshire, within the geographical area stipulated by the Stilton PDO, for more than a decade. “I’m fully aware that it’s the large-scale producers who prop up the national economy, but I ﬁnd it alarming that politicians are only concerned about protecting the interests of big business without a thought for small-scale producers. “The PDO belongs to the people of Britain and

of Europe, not to the big corporations.” Slow Food has been ﬁghting for a number of years in defence of raw milk and has launched more than 80 Presidia to promote traditional raw milk cheeses, many of which are also protected by PDO status. “On the one hand, there are people who argue that the industrial process guarantees hygiene, low prices, wide product availability and consistent ﬂavour,” said Piero Sardo, president of the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity. “On the other, there are those who claim this system has caused a demeaning homogenization of taste, a loss of animal biodiversity and a dramatic disappearance of traditional skills. “Over the last few years, in a few countries, a widespread awareness has formed among consumers of the social and cultural value of raw milk cheese.” www.fondazioneslowfood.com/ en

Goupie ﬁnds new angle on choc boxes Indulgent hand-made chocolate brand Goupie has rebranded with a new sophisticated trapezoid box that echoes the shapes of the distinctive chocolatecovered triangular confectionery. The chewy chocolate biscuit and crisped rice bites come in a range of ﬂavours, including lavender & dark chocolate, date & walnut, orange and chilli and contain essential oils, dried and candied fruits and fresh nuts. The Kent-based business, which sells direct

to farm shops, delis and independent food shops across the South East, said the new upmarket packaging communicated Goupie’s brand values and would appeal to food halls. “We’re proud of producing hand-made confectionery with proven provenance, and now we have packaging that really does Goupie justice,” said founder Janet Simpson.

Comment CHARLIE TURNBULL, TURNBULL’S, SHAFTESBURY WHEN WE FIRST OPENED A DECADE AGO, our intention was to be a cheese shop. Then, since we felt Shaftesbury was a big enough town – and ours a big enough shop – to support a café too, we rolled out a foodservice offer and called ourselves a café-deli. But that was then. Today there is less trade knocking around, and although we all need to earn more from the people who walk through the door, customers’ habits change glacially slowly. Recently, we haven’t been getting enough spend on alcohol either, and we realised we were trapped by the ‘café’ deﬁnition. That’s why, in January this year, we upgraded to a French-inspired British bistro – a daytime restaurant in the French-style, serving a short menu of fresh, reasonably priced dishes. It means we can make better use of some of our wonderful deli ingredients and also offer something more premium and substantial, like a rump steak & peppercorn sauce or smoked trout with seasonal

We realised we were trapped by the ‘café’ definition. That’s why, in January this year, we upgraded to a bistro. greens. And although French in style, this does not extend to the menu and ingredients themselves, which are British sourced and inspired. Moving to a bistro-style menu means we can benefit from better alcohol sales, offering decent wine by the glass or bottle. It can be a great revenue earner, although the wine you sell has to be good quality – and there’s the problem of wastage. Recently I was impressed with the wine-on-tap system at London’s Sourced Market, which allows them to serve carafes and glasses without so much wastage. It is much more practical, as the kegs last six months, and you can get better quality wine for the price. There is far less snobbery about on-tap wine these days – and it also looks pretty cool too. Another thing I’d really recommend is finding a local, very good chef who’s happy to do one day a month as a consultant. Simon Trespass from gastropub The King John Inn in Tollard Royal, eight miles from Shaftesbury, was instrumental in improving our kitchen, and it’s a very practical way of importing skills and a level of expertise you don’t necessarily need all the time, without the overheads burden. For example, one good piece of advice from Simon was to change menus mid-week, not straight after the weekend. If you change menus on a Monday, you run the risk of running out of ingredients just as your busiest days arrive. Change on Wednesday and it gives the kitchen a day to perfect the dishes ahead of a strong weekend, and you can be more flexible on Monday and Tuesday, which are naturally quieter. In place of the café menu we had before, we now offer three starters, three main dishes, two puddings and a cheese board, supported by a complementary ‘bar’ menu with snacks, light lunches and cheese-based options such as Welsh rarebit. After all, we do the best cheese for miles! People have said they really like the new bistro – and I have to admit, I’m as proud of the shop as I’ve ever been. INTERVIEW BY ARABELLA MILEHAM

www.goupie.co.uk Vol.17 Issue 3 | April 2016

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April 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 3

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finefoodnews

Shops rethink staffing as wage costs rise News analysis BY PATRICK MCGUIGAN

Lower-paid staff may be relieved at the National Living Wage, but there are signs it may already be hitting employment in independent stores

Wavebreakmedia Ltd/dreamstime.com

double whammy of rising wage and pensions costs is forcing fine food retailers to cut back on investment, with some warning businesses could close altogether as the burden increases. The National Living Wage of £7.20 per hour for over-25s was introduced at the start of April, replacing the £6.70 rate. This will increase to £9 an hour by 2020. At the same time, retailers are implementing the Government’s auto-enrolment pensions scheme with employers due to contribute at least 1% of an employee’s earnings. This will rise to 3% in 2019 and applies to all workers aged over 22 earning more than £10,000 a year. With shoppers unwilling to accept big prices rises, retailers contacted by FFD said they were already cutting back on staff numbers and hours to offset the increased costs. At Aldbourne Stores in Wiltshire, co-owner Sue Rendell said that concerns about the impact of the Living Wage had compelled her not to fully replace three members of staff who had left. “We’ve gone from nine staff to six, but going

He’s smiling now... but some shop owners are already avoiding paying overtime or taking on staff at all by working longer hours themselves

forward I will utilise the ones left more efficiently,” she said. We can’t put up prices by much because we have a Co-op in the village and have to remain competitive. As the Living Wage increases further we may have to cut back further and cover holidays ourselves. Not that I’m complaining. No one said that owing your own business would be a breeze and I love what I do.” Rendell’s approach was common among retailers in rural communities, said Ken Parsons, chief executive of the Rural Shops Alliance. “Once they start thinking about the £9 rate, it hits home. And the first reaction is ‘I will just have to do more hours myself’. “We’re trying to discourage that, because most of our shop owners are already SIMONE CLARKIN, working far too MMM... DELI, NEWCASTLE

The Government has to be careful. There is only so much money one shop can make and so only so much it can afford to pay.

many hours already, and paying themselves less than the minimum wage. “Some people are also looking more carefully at their opening hours – for example, saying they will have to close at 6pm rather

than 8pm – which is a slippery slope, because it goes against all the trends towards convenience.” At Newcastle deli Mmm..., which already pays above the Living Wage, owner Simone Clarkin said she would have to look at staffing levels as the rate increases. “Employees’ skills, expertise and experience will also become more important. It’s not just about direct wages costs either. Our suppliers will have to put up their prices because they will be paying their staff more. “The Government has to be careful. There is only so much money one shop can make and only so much it can afford to pay. It risks the whole retail landscape. What happens when small shop owners get fed up with working 90 hour weeks? I can see people deciding to close instead.” She added that the Living Wage and auto-enrolment pensions were implemented with retail chains in mind, while the impact on SMEs was not properly considered. “It’s fine if you have a big HR department, but it’s completely different for a small business with three of four employees.” The view was echoed by Fred Duncannon, co-owner of Stansted Park Farm Shop. “Auto-enrolment is a headache for us,” he said. “It means time and money spent making sure we do it right. It’s not like we have an HR department we can hand this over too. When new legislation is introduced it means one of the owners has to sort it out.”

BRC warns of swathe of closures by 2025 A report from the British Retail Consortium has warned that rising costs caused partly by the National Living Wage could lead to up to 900,000 job losses and the closure of thousands of shops in the next decade. The report said that of the 270,000 shops in the UK, up to 74,000 could shut by 2025 due to cost pressures with nearly 30% of these in Wales and the north of England. “Smaller businesses are likely to be disproportionately affected by the ongoing evolution of the industry, as they generally have fewer ways in which to respond to rising costs,” said the report. Research from the Federation of Small Businesses, published at the end of last year, found that small firms expected to cut hours, and increase prices in response to National Living Wage. Over a third (38%) of small employers expected the new £7.20 rate to negatively impact their business with that figure rising to 54% for the £9 rate. The FSB estimated that for a small retailer with six full-time staff aged 25 or over and earning the current adult minimum wage, the National Living Wage will cost an extra £5,900 a year from April 2016.

Vol.17 Issue 3 | April 2016

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news & views from the cheese counter

New Scottish group to promote beyond border BY PATRICK McGUIGAN Scotland’s artisan cheesemakers have joined forces to launch a new organisation that will help market their products south of the border and improve training. The Fine Cheese Makers of Scotland was officially launched on March 24 with assistance from the Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society (SAOS) – a government-supported organisation specialising in co-operative and collaborative strategies. Around 15 artisan producers have signed up to be part of the scheme, including Isle of Mull Cheese, Errington’s, St Andrews Farmhouse Cheese, Connage Highland Dairy, Cambus O’May, Highland Fine Cheeses, Dunlop Dairy and Barwheys (see interview p14). The group will showcase cheeses from Scotland at trade shows under the Fine Cheese Makers banner and plans to set up an internship

Jane Stewart of St Andrews Farmhouse will chair the Fine Cheese Makers of Scotland group

programme for prospective cheese-makers to spend time at different dairies. “There has been a resurgence in artisan cheese-making in Scotland, but south of the border there is an obvious lack of Scottish cheese,” said Jane Stewart, chair of the new group and owner of St Andrews Farmhouse. “If you go to a store in London as an individual company it can be difficult, but if we can offer a selection of Scottish cheeses from different producers it will increase our chances.” The group also plans to work with the Scottish Dairy Growth Board – an organisation set up by the Scottish government to boost international exports – and environmental health officers. The Prince’s Countryside Fund has been approached to fund the internship scheme, while “learning journeys” where cheese-makers visit each other’s dairies on day trips, are also planned.

All change at Cheese Society in Lincoln The Cheese Society in Lincoln plans to consolidate its business this month to meet growing retail and online sales. The company will close its small shop on the Strait

Kate O'Meara is ‘going back to her retail roots‘

when the lease ends in April and convert its much larger cheese café in nearby St Martins Lane into a new shop with room for its mail order business plus a scaled back café sitting 14. Director Kate O’Meara said up to £50,000 was being invested in the refurbishment, which will see the shop stock around 80 cheeses (up from 60), plus more matching beers, ciders and wines. It will also provide space for packing online orders. “We’re going to back to our retail roots, partly because online orders are growing so rapidly,” said O’Meara, whose daughter Lucie Knock will join the business. www.thecheesesociety.co.uk

Unsung

heroes HIDDEN GEMS FROM BRITISH PRODUCERS

HONEY & CLOVER CORNISH GOUDA In a nutshell: Giel Spierings at the Cornish Gouda Co makes an unusual version of its Gouda. The pasteurised cows’ milk creation is speckled with pieces of clover and dried honey from the Netherlands and aged in 12kg wheels for eight months. Flavour and texture: Hard but pliable with crunchy protein crystals. It has a creamy, caramel flavour with grassy notes and a subtle honey aroma. History: The Spierings moved from the Netherlands to their farm in Lanreath in 1998. They milk around 100 pedigree Holstein-Friesians. Giel started making cheese in 2012 at the age of 19. Cheese care: The waxed cheese has a two-month shelf life. Wrap any cut faces tightly in cling film. Why stock it? Honey & clover goudas are rare in the Netherlands and there are no others in the UK. Its speckled interior stands out on a cheeseboard, but it also melts well.

Melton gearing up for the fair This year’s Artisan Cheese Fair in Melton Mowbray is expected to see a big jump in visitor numbers as it launches its inaugural awards for small-scale producers. The three-day festival (April 30 – May 1) is expected to attract more than 10,000 members of the public, up from 8,500 last year. There will also be 100 exhibitors in attendance, 60 of whom will be artisan cheese-makers. The first Artisan Cheese Awards recognise British producers making less than 250 tonnes a year. The Supreme Champion will win a cheque for £1,000 and a further £500 prize will be awarded to the best cheesemaker producing less than 50 tonnes a year. www.artisancheesefair.co.uk

Perfect partners: Spierings recommends a robust red wine or even port. Where to buy: Hawkridge, Longman’s and Black’s Cheese in Manchester. www.cornishgouda.co.uk FFD features a different ‘unsung hero’ from Specialist Cheesemakers’ Association members each month. To get involved, contact: patrick.mcguigan@gff.co.uk

Vol.17 Issue 3 | April 2016

cheesewire

news & views from the cheese counter

Cheese executive She may be a former corporate high flyer yet Tricia Bey says cheese-making is anything but a hobby. Barwheys’ founder talks to PATRICK McGUIGAN about her plans for growth, competing with English cheddars and getting hands-on in the dairy.

ricia Bey swapped high heels for hair nets eight years ago when she gave up a corporate career to become a dairy farmer and cheese-maker on the west coast of Scotland. “I was a partner at Deloitte and ran the Dutch practice out of Amsterdam,” she tells FFD. “Now it’s all cow muck on your wellies and being up to your arms in curd.” Part of the reason for the dramatic career change was partly down to circumstance. Her TV executive husband was offered a job in his native Scotland where the couple already owned the farm for weekend getaways. But Bey had also long held a desire to do something more hands-on for a living. “When you work in management consulting it’s quite an ephemeral world,” she says. “You work very hard and then a year later everyone has forgotten about it. I wanted to create a business that makes something tangible. Something you can have in your hands, show people and say we made this.” The tangible “something” that Bey created was Barwheys – a traditional cloth-bound cheddarstyle cheese named after the remote Ayrshire farm where it is produced. Made with raw milk from a herd of 35 Ayrshire cows, which Bey has built up from scratch, the cheese is aged for 14-16 months and has a creamy texture and long nutty flavour. The business also makes a smoked cheese and a super mature version called Beastie, aged for 2-3 years. Cynics might think Barwheys is just a sideline for Bey – partners at Deloitte are usually not short of a bob or two – but the 58-year-old who hails from Surrey has actually invested everything into making it a success. “All of my life savings have gone into it, so it’s not a hobby,” she says. “My future is dependent on the business, so it has to work.” Barwheys Dairy makes around 10 tonnes of cheese a year and is due to break even in 2016, but to become truly sustainable needs to double production to 20 tonnes. “At that point I can start paying myself and take on more people,” she says. The foundations of the business are indie retailers and restaurants in Scotland with customers including George Mewes, IJ Mellis

April 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 3

Barwheys produces 10 tonnes of clothbound cheese every year but Tricia Bey wants to double its output

and wholesalers Clarks and The Cress Co. There have also been breakthroughs south of the border with the The Courtyard Dairy, Paxton & Whitfield and Harvey & Brockless all taking the cheese, while Rowcliffe will list it from April. But Bey says the English market has been a difficult nut to crack because of the number of

crumblier and not quite as creamy,” she says. Exports are also a target market with the new Cheesemakers of Scotland group and governmentorganised Scottish Dairy Growth Board (see p 15) helping to promote Scottish cheeses to international buyers. A deal in the US is in the pipeline and there is also interest

There are times I hanker for the glamorous life with the stiletto heels and the cocktail bars but I’m not tempted to go back farmhouse cheddars already being made there. “There is more competition,” she says. “Shoppers ask for Montgomery’s cheddar by name and don’t think about trying something else. In England, people take our cheese as part of a Scottish selection rather than on its own merits.” That’s a shame because Barwheys is actually quite different to West Country cheddars. Ayrshire milk is high in protein and butterfat, which gives the cheese a creamy mouthfeel and sweet caramel flavour. “Somerset cheddars are more austere – slightly drier and

from the Middle East, Canada and the Continent. In the long term, Bey estimates exports will account for around 40% of sales by the time Barwheys reaches the all important 20 tonne mark. “You’ve only got to get a contract with, say, Murray’s in the US, which has hundreds of shops, and that quickly adds up to a lot of cheese,” she says. Bey’s management consultancy background puts her in a good position to negotiate these kinds of international deals. It was also invaluable in planning the business and securing a grant to set up

the dairy. But nothing ever quite prepares you for the day-to-day realities of farming and cheese making. “It’s all very well putting together business plans, but what happens in practice is very different. The cows get sick or don’t produce enough milk or one of your team goes on maternity leave. When you’re in bigger businesses you’ve got teams of people in finance, HR, IT, compliance, procurement. When you’re on your own you have to do everything. I work with 16 different agencies, whether it’s cattle passports, veterinary stuff, TB testing, VAT, microbiological testing or waste water treatment. All these things take a huge amount of time and you still haven’t made or sold a piece of cheese.” Dealing with waste water treatment is enough to test anyone’s commitment to cheese, so does Bey ever miss the corporate glitz? “There are times I do rather hanker for the glamorous life with the stiletto heels and the cocktail bars,” she admits. “I’m not tempted to go back, but I’ll feel more comfortable when the business is actually making money and is sustainable.” www.barwheysdairy.co.uk

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April 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 3

Available in: 85g Retail packs 250g Catering packs Distributors: Harvey & Brockless, Cannon & Cannon, Blakemores, Wellocks, Turners Fine Foods, Birtwistles and Clarks Speciality Foods www.oxsprings.com T. 07972 497 685

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cheesewire

news & views from the cheese counter Retail Advice FROM HERO HIRSH AWARD-WINNING CHEESEMONGER AND MANAGER OF PAXTON & WHITFIELDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S LONDON STORES

Buying and displaying clothbound farmhouse cheeses is a great way to add theatre to the deli counter, so opening and cutting a whole cheddar is a skill worth acquiring. Images by ISABELLE PLASSCHAERT.

How to unwrap and cut a clothbound cheddar

1 Score through the cheesecloth to make a line which runs round the centre of the cheese. Start on one of the flat sides, then score down the curved sides.

2 Turn the cheese over and continue to score through the cloth on the bottom.

4 Check your wire to ensure there are no kinks in it.

5 Run the wire beneath the cheese, lining it up with the scored line.

7 Wrap up half of the cheese to cover the cut surface but leave some of the rind exposed so the cheese can breathe.

8 Cut the other half into quarters, then one quarter into eighths, to give you working pieces for the counter.

3 Remove the cloth from the top and circumference of the cheese then the bottom edge.

6 Draw the wire through the cheese toward yourself.

Vol.17 Issue 3 | April 2016

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Redesign for Suffolk Salami as sales grow BY MICK WHITWORTH Lane Farm Country Foods is introducing new pack designs across its full range of Suffolk Salami-branded charcuterie and Lane Farm bacon, ham and sausages. Rebecca Whitehead of Lane Farm told FFD the new Suffolk Salami design – to be unveiled at this month’s Farm Shop & Deli show in Birmingham – retained the “minimal” feel of the previous packaging, but with a bolder font to push the product names and ﬂavours to the fore. Both the Lane Farm and Suffolk Salami brands now use linerless labels, which have less environmental impact, and have been revised to take account of forthcoming labelling regulations. Whitehead, who runs the business with parents Ian and Sue, said that while the traditional ham and bacon market was relatively

Product names and varieties have been given more prominence on the new-look labels

static, salami sales were growing since the ﬁrm tied up with distributor Harvey & Brockless. “Sales to farm shops and delis are just going from strength to strength for us, especially in charcuterie,” she told FFD. “We’re picking up more farm shops each week through H&B. We work well together.”

She continued: “Fifteen years ago people wouldn’t believe that we could make salami in this country. Now they’ve heard it talked about and are far more willing to try it. “We’ve even had Italians saying they like it because, on the whole, British charcuterie is made with better raw material. A

lot of Italian salami is made on an industrial scale.” Rearing its own pigs on the farm at Brundish in east Suffolk also helps the ﬁrm keep prices competitive, Whitehead told FFD. “We’re very lucky. Because we have a whole-pig operation we can spread our costs throughout the business, and produce high end products that any consumer can afford, not just a particular clientele.” Next on the Suffolk Salami product list will be a lomo-style air-dried smoked loin, also launching at Farm Shop & Deli if stocks are ready. “We’ve done all the testing and it’s ready to launch, but it takes around two months to produce,” Whitehead said. Also on the way is a new pack format for the existing salamis: premium cardboard tubes for the gifting and mail order markets.

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last year and expanding its SALSA accredited-butchery and drying facilities

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Three Little Pigs: expanding beyond its northern heartland

•

company. “But the range is already stocked in some key London stores, including Selfridges, Whole Foods Market and Partridges as well as increasing number of farm shops and delis in the South and South East, and we're looking now to build on that.” Blakemore will be stocking the producer’s core range, all made with rarebreed pork: spicy chorizo, mild chorizo, Yorkshire salami and hot fennel salami. Three Little Pigs also sells through West Yorkshire cheesemonger and wholesaler Cryer & Stott

Gourmet Goat partners with Blackhand Food for retail launch A London streetfood ﬁrm specialising in goats’ meat dishes is looking for retail stockists for two new airdried charcuterie lines after launching through Selfridges. Gourmet Goat, run by partners Nadia and Nick Stokes, has already built a following at markets and festivals with Eastern Mediterranean-inspired dishes such as slow-roasted goats’ shoulder & leg in wine & herbs, and kid meat kofta. Now it is offering a kid goat jerky and kid goat salami, made on its behalf by east London artisan charcutier Blackhand Food, run by ex-chef Hugo Jeffreys. “We supplied the meat and the ideas, and Hugo supplied his charcuterie skills,” said Nick Stokes, who started Gourmet Goat with his Cyprus-born wife partly to create an outlet for British billy goat meat. A byproduct of milk and cheese production here, kid meat is a staple of Cypriot cooking. Gourmet Goat is offering whole kid goat salamis at £55/kg, and jerky at £70/kg. Made with neck ﬁllet, the jerky comes either in whole pieces or in bite-size chunks, vac-packed to any weight. “We’re working on a classicstyle jerky snack pack for easier retail and longer shelf life,” Nick Stokes told FFD. He sees potential for kid meat charcuterie among delis seeking a point of difference. But he added: “The price will limit the quantities we sell. UK dairy billy goat meat is very expensive.”.

Blakemore to take Three Little Pigs further south BY MICK WHITWORTH East Yorkshire salami and chorizo maker Three Little Pigs is aiming to grow its clientele in the south of England after signing up with West Midlands-based distributor Blakemore Fine Foods. Co-owner Charlotte Clarkson told FFD: “While we’ve had national distribution for some time through Hider and The Cress Co, they are both northern based. “Hider are almost on our doorstep, and it’s entirely logical we should have concentrated our efforts in the North, with us being a Yorkshire-based

Gourmet Goat founders Nadia and Nick Stokes

Vol.17 Issue 3 | April 2016

Sunday 19 June 11am-4pm Monday 20 June 9.30am-4pm Halls 1 & 2, Yorkshire Event Centre HG2 8QZ

All good things come in small packages

All buyers & chefs welcome: Butchers, Farm Shops, Food Halls, Delis, Village Shops, Garden Centres, Bakers, Cheesemongers, Fishmongers, Greengrocers, Cafés, Restaurants, Pubs

Experience the very best of fine food and drink at Harrogate Fine Food Show. Packed full of new ideas, the show combines first-time as well as long-standing fine food & drink exhibitors. You will meet new producers and taste products that will have never been seen before at a trade show. Come and discover food and drink that will make your shop, restaurant, café or pub a place your customers will want to return to again and again. Learn from the experts – maximise

FineFoodLive! Theatre – take part

proﬁts and discover key industry trends Helpful resources – talk to the Guild of Fine Food and pick up useful publications and tips New product innovations – touch and taste the latest new products on the market Try before you buy – speak to producers, learn more about the foods you stock Educate – ﬁnd out more about deli training courses for you and your staff

in tastings, workshops and meet face to face with key industry ﬁgures Stay connected – learn how to use social media to grow your business Award-winners uncovered – discover Great Taste and Editor’s Choice Feed the Dragon – present your products & services directly to key industry buyers Christmas is coming – learn how to maximise sales at the Cracking Christmas workshop

www.gff.co.uk |

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There is so much innovation in food and drink right now across the UK, so the Harrogate Fine Food Show plays an important role in getting new products in front of buyers.

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ice cream

product focus

Satisfy your churning desires LYNDA SEARBY gets the scoop on the latest in ice cream and sorbets

products in brief Suffolk cream ice producer Alder Tree is making its damson and pear & vanilla ﬂavours available in new smaller 125ml tubs this year. RRP £1.99.

www.alder-tree.co.uk

Simply Ice Cream has partnered with Fudge Kitchen to create a peanut brittle ice cream. Launching this month, the new ﬂavour is available in 125ml and 500ml tubs as well as 2l and 4.75l scooping tubs. O

www.simplyicecream.co.uk

O New

Forest Ice Cream has teamed up with Lotus Bakeries to produce a “wonderfully rich, smooth” Lotus Caramelised Biscoff ice cream, available in 4l and 4.75l napoli tubs.

www.newforesticecream.com

If you visit Milton Keynes mall The Centre:mk, you can’t fail to notice Giovanni’s Gelato’s bubblegum pink gelato truck. Now, the family business is launching a wholesale service, supplying artisan gelato, sorbetto and frozen yoghurt in ﬂamboyantly decorated napoli containers. Prices start at £5 a litre. www.giovannisgelato.co.uk

urbeck Ice Cream says it has captured beetroot’s earthy charm in a new vitamin and antioxidant-packed sorbet it describes as “smooth on the tongue, with a delicious, distinctive flavour”. The Dorset producer has also teamed up with fellow local food hero Ajar Of to create a new Dorset marmalade ice cream. The tangy double cream ice cream joins two other new scooping flavours – double mango ripple and Cracking Choc – on Purbeck’s menu for 2016. O Following on from the success of its aromatherapy chocolate range, Justbe Botanicals has linked up with Arran Dairies to develop a botanically rippled ice cream. JustBe Loved is a double cream ice cream with a floral, fruity ripple of hibiscus, rose and jasmine. The ice cream launched at

Wendy’s Ice Creams in Stockbridge, Edinburgh in time for Valentine’s Day, and is available to the trade via Braehsead Foods priced at £17.48

for 4.5l. Retail tubs to follow. O Following the success of its original Champagne popsicle, premium ice pop brand POPS has launched a Bellini version, with each popsicle containing half a glass of ᇄ

Yorkshire iced dessert producer Yorvale has rolled out new branding across its bestselling vanilla pod, strawberry, double chocolate chip, caramel honeycomb, mint choc chip and raspberry cheesecake ﬂavours.

www.yorvale.co.uk

Business snowballs at London gelato house

A new range of vegan gelato and 120ml retail tubs are the ﬁrst two developments to come out of Snowﬂake’s new state-of-the-art production lab in Iver. The new facility has given

the 2014 Great Taste Supreme Champion the capacity to produce close to 5,000 litres of gelato a day, enabling it to grow the wholesale side of its business. The vegan range takes in 12

different flavours, each based on either almond, coconut, soya or rice milk. Flavours include almond, banoffee, chocolate caramel & peanuts, vanilla and coffee, sold in wholesale tubs at a trade price of £35 for 4l. Snowflake’s new 120ml retail tubs launch this month in five flavours: sea salted caramel, hazelnut, vanilla, raspberry and dark chocolate. RRP £2.20-2.50. 500ml tubs to follow later this year. www.snowflakegelato.co.uk

Vol.17 Issue 3 | April 2016

ice cream

product focus

products in brief O Suncream

Dairies has extended its Gelato Gold range of Italianstyle scooping ice cream to include three new ﬂavours: lemon curd meringue, bubblegum & marshmallow and clotted cream.

No-nasties lollies

www.suncreamdairies.com

Northern Bloc has added a ginger caramel ﬂavour to its line-up and treated its 120ml and 500ml retail pots to a new look. The ice cream label has also picked up several listings, including Fenwicks in Newcastle and Keelham Farm Shops. RRP £4.75 for 500ml; £2.75 for 120ml. www.northern-bloc.com

O Lime

cheesecake, Amarena cherry and rhubarb & coconut are among the new ice cream ﬂavours on the summer menu at Caroline’s Dairy in Sidlesham. They are available from April to September in 500ml pots.

www.carolinesdairy.co.uk O Jude’s

new brown butter pecan blends caramel ice cream with Belgian brown butter (beurre noisette) and Hampshire milk from the cows next door with toasted pecan nuts candied in demerara sugar. RRP £4.69 for a 500ml tub.

www.judes.co.uk O Glastry

Farm Ice Cream’s eighth ﬂavour, Irish whiskey, joins the line-up as the Northern Ireland on-farm producer rolls out new look 500ml tubs. RRP £4.50. www. glastryfarm.com

O Yee Kwan Ice Cream has launched two new Pan-Asian inspired ﬂavours for 2016. The chocolate miso and yuzu ice creams both have an RRP of £5.50 per 500ml tub and are available via Stratford Fine Foods.

www.yeekwan.com

April 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 3

Prosecco, along with peach schnapps, blood orange juice and hibiscus flowers (RRP £4). Also new to the line-up are two alcoholfree popsicles: strawberry & mint and apples & elderflower. O Ice cream confectioner Oliphant & Pomeroy has made its foray into sorbets, with a dark chocolate ice that features the Brazilian ‘super berry’ açaí, alongside cacao and banana. The on-trend berry is said to impart a complementary purple berry flavour to the dark chocolate as well as adding Omegas 6 & 9, antioxidants, fibre, vitamin E, calcium, potassium and phosphorous to the nutrient profile of this gluten- and dairy-free sorbet. RRP £5.99 for a 500ml pot. O Vallum Farm in Newcastle has launched a Greek-style yoghurt ice cream, using milk from its Brown Swiss dairy cows. Developed to go with the plum & granola crumble served in Vallum Restaurant, the ice cream is also available locally to the trade, priced at £22 per 5l napoli

pan. Delivery is free for orders of over £100 within a 10 mile radius. O Bee Me has branched out beyond its core frozen yoghurt range with the launch of two gelato ﬂavours: Italian pistachio and Oreo. Like the company’s froyos, the gelatos operate on the ‘Nespresso principle’. They are supplied in individual pods and dispensed on demand into pots by a ‘one-shot’ system available from Bee me. O Passion fruit & mango, blood orange & basil, and, most recently, lemongrass & ginger, are the three latest additions to Fire & Ice’s sorbet range. The Pembrokeshire producer has secured a wholesaler listing with Pembroke Sea to distribute its products across south and west Wales and is on the lookout for distribution into Bristol. Its sorbets are available in 2l catering and 2.25l napoli pans and will shortly be launching in retail tubs. www.purbeckicecream.co.uk www.justbebotanicals.co.uk www.wearepops.com www.oliphantandpomeroy.co.uk www.vallumfarm.co.uk www.beeme.co.uk www.ﬁreandicewales.co.uk

There’s been a shift towards more natural ice lollies as consumers shun reﬁned sugar and additives. Two companies at the forefront of this trend are London-based ‘healthy’ ice lolly company Lickalix and natural lolly company Claudi and Fin – the brainchild of mumpreneurs Lucy Woodhouse and Meriel Kehoe. Last month saw Lickalix launch a new multipack range featuring strawberry & banana smoothie, Simply Chocolate and Caribbean Twist ﬂavours. Each pack contains 3 x 75g organic, lactose-, gluten- and dairy-free lollies made with real whole fruit. RRP £3.99-4.99. Claudi and Fin, meanwhile, has brought out a mini version of its natural ‘froyo’

lollies, which are made from real fruit, whole milk and Greek style yoghurt. The lollies have an RRP of £2.99 for an eight-pack and are stocked by Tesco. www.claudiandﬁn.co.uk www.lickalix.com

Chuckleberry ice cream is no joke Granny Gothard’s latest ﬂavour might sound like a made up name, but in fact, it is a new berry that has been grown in the UK since 2012 by breeder Chas Welch. A hybrid of redcurrant, blackcurrant,

gooseberry and jostleberry, the chuckleberry is shaped like a blackcurrant and has the sharpness of gooseberry. The Taunton producer has worked with the new berry to create an intense, deep pink ice cream that MD Amanda Stansﬁeld

says “has a real kick and tingles in the mouth but is tempered by the creaminess that comes from using over 40% double cream”. The intrepid ice cream producer is also working on a harissa ice cream. Granny Gothards’ ice creams are available in 100ml and 500ml pots. www.grannygothards.co.uk

Mario Dallavalle is a third generation ice cream maker who has combined his Italian heritage with the finest ingredients to produce luxuriously indulgent ice cream. With over 20 years experience in traditional ice cream making techniques, Mario ensures that all milk is sourced from the lushest Welsh pastures. One of the secrets behind his multi-award winning luxury ice cream is the best milk and cream from local family farms… not to mention a little Italian passion thrown in for good measure ICE CREAM ALLIANCE AWARDS: Best dairy ice cream in the UK 2015 Best flavour in the open competition in the UK 2016 Prosecco & Chambourd Sorbet Bombe

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www.timsdairy.co.uk @timsdairy Vol.17 Issue 3 | April 2016

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April 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 3

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dairy

product focus

The milky way LYNDA SEARBY checks out the latest launches in yoghurts, milk and butter According to Tim’s Dairy, consumer demand for larger pots of yoghurt for family sharing is on the up. This has prompted the Buckinghamshire producer to launch its Greek style yoghurt with raspberry in a new 450g pot (RRP £1.95). l It’s a trend that has also been picked up by Llaeth y Llan, whose vanilla yoghurt now comes in a 450g sharing pot (RRP £1.50) as well as the original 125g individual pot size. The North Wales producer has been making yoghurt on the family farm since the 1980s, and this month starts production in a new, larger dairy, still located on the farm. The company says the new dairy will allow it to double capacity to over 100 tonnes of yoghurt per week.

l The

Collective has launched a new range of ‘gourmet’ layered yoghurts in Russian fudge, choccy orange and coffee varieties (RRP £2 for a 450g tub). This follows the introduction at the end of last year of Duples – a dual-tub format that pairs yogurt and fruit compotes with crunchy toppings. The Collective has listings with all the major multiples. l Yokel, the Aylesbury Vale producer of grapesweetened highfruit yoghurts, has launched two new flavours: raspberry and black cherry. RRP £0.90 for 125g. l Bio-tiful Dairy is broadening the appeal of its kefir range beyond hardcore natural health fanatics with the launch of ‘super smoothies’. The smoothies, which are available in honey & mint and Morello cherry varieties, blend the tangy-tasting, probiotic-packed cultured milk with fruit and herbs to produce a “light and flavoursome milk drink”. RRP £1.99 for 250ml. Bio-tiful’s range is made with live cultures and organic cow’s milk from Riverford Organic Dairy in Devon. www.timsdairy.co.uk www.villagedairy.co.uk www.thecollectivedairy.com www.yokelyogurt.co.uk www.biotifuldairy.com

Back to butter Butter is back in fashion and two producers capitalising on its renaissance are Katy Rodger’s Artisan Dairy and Donny Brewer Butter. Katy Rodger’s has started making a new Scottish cultured and lightly salted butter using milk from Knockraich Farm’s herd of 60 Friesian cattle. The product is completely natural and the culture enhances the naturally creamy flavour, says the Stirlingshire producer. Meanwhile, in Northern Ireland, husband and wife team Richard and Alison Leighton have been making a success of traditionally churned, sea salted butter since the start of 2015. They have recently switched the

packaging of their hexagonal shaped Donny Brewer butter bar from greaseproof parchment to foil to extend the shelf life.

Great aunt’s yoghurt put up for sale 20-year-old entrepreneur Amos Smith, aka Mossy, is taking his Great Auntie Jo’s bio yogurt recipe commercial. “In the eight years I have been blending the special secret recipe at home for family and friends, I have never been able to find anything like it anywhere else,” he says. The yogurt only contains two ingredients besides the bio cultures – milk and sugar – but according to Mossy, it is the production process that gives it its signature flavour and texture. Available through Anthony Rowcliffe from this month, Mossy’s yoghurt comes in twin packs of 2 x 120g pots. www.mossysyogurt.com

A2 milk: a cash cow? A2 milk is massive in Australia, China and the US, and now this trend looks like it’s catching on over here too. Unlike regular milk, which contains A1 protein, A2 milk is drawn from cows that only produce A2 protein. According to the a2 Milk Company, this A2 protein is gentler on the gut and easier to digest than A1 protein, which can cause digestive issues. The company is pitching its new long life a2 milk at the one in five people who experience bloating, stomach pains and digestive discomfort after drinking regular cow’s milk. Rather than giving up dairy altogether, the idea is that they switch to this “more drinkable” milk. Available as skimmed or semi-skimmed, a2 milk has an RRP of £1.39 for 1l. www.a2milk.co.uk

www.knockraich.com donnybrewerbutter@hotmail.com

Vol.17 Issue 3 | April 2016

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April 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 3

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Coconut Ice Cream

Cinnamon Ice Cream

focus on

BBQs & outdoor dining

How to raise the steaks

Retail owners share their experiences LYNDA SEARBY and offer advice to make those summertime sales sizzle

products in brief

O Last

month saw the launch of Roccbox, the world’s first portable and lightweight stone bake oven. The invention of Dorset entrepreneur Tom Gozney, Roccbox is pitched as bringing wood fired cooking to the masses with its ‘affordable’ price point of £399. It can be used for cooking pizza, roasted veg, joints of meat and fish outdoors.

www.roccbox.com O With

its pastel shades and ﬂoral prints, Rice DK’s collection of melamine tableware promises to add some style to alfresco dining. The Danishdesigned range is available via Sisters Guild with RRPs starting from £4.50 for a plate up to £315 for the retro rose gold cocktail trolley. www.sistersguild.co.uk

Meat in demand: the well-stocked butchery counter at The Hungry Guest in West Sussex

ritain’s changeable weather makes it difﬁcult to plan for the BBQ season, but the sunnier side of this unpredictablity is that it gives responsive independents an opportunity to shine. “As an independent butcher, one of the weapons in my armoury is the ability to react quickly,” says Robert Jones, director of West Midlands butcher Walter Smith, which has 17 shops and counters across the region. “Waitrose would need a week’s lead time to place an order, whereas if I knew tomorrow was going to be 27°C we’d be busy making kebabs and sausages.” Gonalston Farm Shop’s co-owner Georgie Mason makes a similar point, saying that if the forecast is ﬁne, she will increase quantities of bread rolls, move BBQ meat to a more obvious location and change signage on products. Freak heatwaves excepting, Gonalston uses Easter weekend to kick-off the BBQ season. “Whatever the weather, people are in a good frame of mind,” says Mason. “If the weather is good, that’s a bonus. If it’s bad, we still get

something cooking on the barbecue at the shop and show how alfresco dining can be done 11 months of the year.” At Welbeck Farm Shop in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, the BBQ season gets underway a little later. General manager Oliver Stubbins says they begin to plan in April, knowing the May Bank Holiday weekend is the start of the season for many people. “We order in all of our BBQ packaging and equipment in April,” he tells FFD. “That includes skewers, marinades and additional packaging. We also increase stocks of beef, to ensure these are hung to perfection ready for when demand starts to increase.” With steak the most in demand,

The Hungry Guest in Petworth, West Sussex, says that in the run-up to the BBQ season it gets joints in so they are well-aged for customers. “We can then get these to maximum ﬂavour and tenderness by the time they are ready for the coals,” says Matt Smith, butcher at the shop. “A rump can be cooked as a massive piece and then cut up and served. Our customers also love a six-week old ribeye as the marbling really crisps up on the grill.” Other than steak, Smith reports that piri piri chicken and smoked meats are growing in popularity. “This year we have invested in a smoker which we use for our own home-cured bacon. Watch this space for some other smoked meats come BBQ season,” he says.

You have to work with rubs to make them happen or they just gather dust GEORGIE MASON, GONALSTON FARM SHOP

O Napoleon

Grills’ PRO500 is a new hi-tech gas barbecue that takes 30 minutes to assemble and features internal shelving, interior lights and night light controls. RRP £2,199.99.

www.napoleongrills.co.uk

O Alfresco Concepts has launched a new portable Big Green Egg called the MiniMax. 13” in diameter, the MiniMax offers the same size cooking surface as the small Egg, but with less bulk and with convenient carry handles.

www. biggreenegg. co.uk Vol.17 Issue 3 | April 2016

BBQs & outdoor dining

focus on

As an independent butcher, one of the weapons in my armoury is the ability to react quickly

ROBERT JONES, WALTER SMITH

“We also expect to see more pork shoulders and beef briskets sell this year as people take recipe inspiration from the States.” One retailer that has embraced the US BBQ approach is Garsons. Between April and September, its Titchfield and Esher farm shops make space for an all-American line-up of imported sauces and BBQ accompaniments to cross-sell and promote with steaks, chicken and short ribs available from the shops’ butchery concessions, run by Owton’s and Bevan’s respectively. “Adopting an American BBQ theme creates visual impact and means we are sourcing BBQ products that don’t crop up everywhere,” says Raf Gandhi, farm shop supervisor and grocery buyer. Garson’s line-up includes an impressive roster of chilli sauces, alongside condiments such as Frank’s RedHot range and Stubb’s marinades and rubs. The entrance of ‘old fashioned’ cuts onto the BBQ scene has been building as a trend in the last few years, assisted by the ever-popular Big Green Egg. Gonalston’s Georgie Mason is a champion of the Egg, and during BBQ season she will often have a Jacob’s ladder or brisket of beef slow-cooking outside, although she says her favourite – and low cost – option for feeding lots of people is hand of pork. “You can feed up to 35 people for teens of pounds,” she says, describing it as “the ultimate pulled pork”. The Egg also offers opportunities for cross-selling, particularly with rubs and seasonings, which, in Mason’s experience, don’t sell themselves. “You have to work with rubs to make them happen or they just gather dust,” she adds. She is particularly effusive about Richard Mabb’s Saison rubs and Bim’s Kitchen’s baobab and African lemony piri piri marinades. And at Gonalston, cross-selling doesn’t end with rubs. With the help of the humble sticker, Georgie believes almost anything – from tortilla chips to relishes – can be merchandised in the BBQ section. Having the flexibility to ramp up or tone down BBQ messaging is crucial given the uncertainty of the British weather. For this reason,

April 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 3

Robert Jones says Walter Smith shops avoid direct assocations with ‘BBQ’, and instead, promotes a ‘summer eating’ range. “All our POS is about people relaxing and eating on a sunny day rather than BBQing, as we want to demonstrate that our products are equally good cooked under the grill,” says Jones. We’ve developed a range that is flexible whether the sun shines or not.” This approach extends right through to the choice of packaging. For example, Walter Smith’s spatchcock chicken is presented in a foil tray that can be used to cook it in the oven or on the BBQ. The company is also big on flavours. The top performer in its summer eating range last year was a Moroccan-spiced glutenfree sausage and Jones notes that gourmet burgers and sausages with “young flavour profiles” are on the up. “People associate summer eating with food that packs more flavour, whether piri piri chicken sausages, caramelised onion sausages or pork, Stilton & rosemary burgers,” he says. In contrast to some grocery establishments, where marinaded kebabs serve as a cover-up for poor quality meat, another of Walter Smith’s mantras is that “meat put on a stick must be of the highest quality”, for example, neck fillet in the case of a lamb kebab. These are sold at prices that are comparable to supermarket pricing – £2.99 per pack or four for £10. Not all retailers advocate a prepacked offering, however. Welbeck Farm Shop sells all of its butchery products loose over the counter, which it says allows its staff to engage with customers and inform them of any new, seasonal or rare breed products on the counter that day. Oliver Stubbins believes this approach gives it another point of different versus the multiples. “Having no pre-pack offer means that selling on the butchery can be labour intensive,” he says. “However, grab-and-go BBQ ranges are readily available in the supermarkets,” he says. “Our customers have chosen to visit us to ensure quality and service, and to get exactly what they want – not a pre-pack tray of marinated steaks when only one or two of the family like a certain flavour.”

Hot tips for BBQ hot spots GERRY MOSS, retail development manager at merchandising specialist WBC, shares his top tips for boosting sales during BBQ season Designate a hot-spot within your store and use evocative props to create retail theatre. Ensure the hot-spot is in full view on the shop floor and all your BBQ related paraphernalia is included within the display for cross-pollination potential. l BBQs go hand in hand with beer and wine. Have a seasonal selection within your display, along with accessories such as coolers, outdoor ice buckets and bottle openers, for generating additional profit margin. l Site summer-focused non-food products, including colourful paper plates, napkins and straws, l

alongside meat, cheeses and condiments, to encourage impulse purchase. l Fire up a real BBQ to create a sensory experience that will engage customers. l Run a simple social media campaign ahead of and during the BBQ season. Use this to share, promote and remind customers of what you’re up to. l Sunday June 12 is The Big Lunch where people all across the UK have BBQs and picnics in the street with their neighbours, and June 11-19 is National Picnic Week – use these diary dates to generate awareness of your al fresco offering. l Click and collect provides another viable shopping option for many customers in a hurry, so make sure your virtual space – as well as your actual space – looks great.

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health foods

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Something for everyone

ANNE BRUCE checks out the latest developments in the ever-growing market for free-from and other health-focused foods

umsh Snacks has launched Ten Acre branded Lucia Popperley’s Cappuccino Popcorn: a glutenfree, premium ‘handpopped’ popcorn with a cappuccino ﬂavour and a hint of sweetness. Like all Ten Acre snacks, the popcorn is gluten-, dairy- and MSG-free, vegan, halal and kosher. It is available in 28g bags (RRP from 69p). O A Super Berry mix is being launched by Munchy Seeds at the end of April in 25g snack packs (RRP 75p), 125g nibbling tubs (RRP £2.65), 200g sharing tubs (RRP £3.99) and large 475g family tubs (RRP £8.50). Super Berry is a mix of lightly toasted seeds with added blueberries, cranberries, goji berries and mango. It is gluten-, wheat- and dairy-free, and suitable for vegans. O Conscious Chocolate has launched 15g mini raw chocolate bars with an RRP of 98p. These come in ﬁve

flavours, sold in singlevariety or mixed boxes of 15 x 15g. The new bitesized raw chocolate bars are free from refined sugars. O Gluten-free cookie brand Gingerella’s was launched in February. Its cookies come in eight flavours, from triple chocolate chip to pecan & pumpkin seed. Packs of eight 45g cookies will sell at £4.20 or mini 12g cookies in packs of 12 at £1.80. For the café sector Gingerella’s has developed a frozen cookie dough log of 18 cookies which bake in 12 minutes. Products are currently sold around Manchester but will soon be available nationwide. O Suffolk-based Lane Farm is launching a new gluten-free Italian pork sausage with garlic & black pepper. The sausages (420g packs, RRP £3.20) have a 97% meat content and are madeᇄ

products in brief Rude Health has launched Dairy-Free Ultimate Almond Drink, an unsweetened, organic dairy-free product. It is made with roasted organic Italian almonds and spring water. RRP £3.45 for 1 litre.

www.rudehealth.com

East Sussex-based A Taste of Dreams recently launched its Spring Collection of cocktailinspired cakes to sell in cafés. The Cocktail Collection, which includes variants such as pina colada, is gluten- and dairy-free and available from April to June.

www.atasteofdreams.co.uk

JimJams milk chocolate and hazelnut chocolate spreads are a range of reduced sugar and gluten-free jams and spreads. They contain 83% less sugar than other leading brands. RRP is £2.79 per 350g jar

www.jimjams-spreads.co.uk

Launched by Lodge Farm Kitchen in Herefordshire, the Osius Bone Broth range was developed in conjunction with a nutritional therapist, who has used similar collagen-rich broths to treat chronic gut conditions. The Soil Association-accredited products come in two varieties: organic beef bone broth with seaweed and organic chicken bone broth with herbs. The broth is glutenand lactose-free and comes in two pot sizes – 210ml (RRP £4.95) and 520ml (£9.95) – either frozen or chilled. The frozen product is stocked by Stratford Fine Food. www.osiusbonebroth.co.uk

Gluten-free specialist Provena has added two new gluten free instant oatmeal cereals – one featuring apricots and one featuring raspberries –to its range. Boxes contain ﬁve singleserve 40g sachets (RRP £3.49). Also debuting on the breakfast ﬁxture is oat muesli (RRP £6.49, 600g box).

www.provena-gluten-free.co.uk

Free-from ice cream is kosher Whether it’s kosher requirements, a vegan diet or an allergy, several ice cream producers have got all the bases covered with their latest NPD. The new Sweet Rebellion range from Taywell Ice Creams is a trio of free-from frozen desserts that are also vegan and kosher. The three ﬂavours are coco vanilla, chocolate and peanut butter. All have less than 9g/100g of sugar (all unreﬁned). Case size is 6 x 500ml tubs (RRP is £4.50 per tub) and distributors include Eden Farm,

Suma, Goodness, CLF and Hunts. Great Taste award-winning dairyfree and gluten-free iced-desserts brand Antonio Russo recently launched Fragolato (strawberry) and Apricotto (apricot) flavours, and refined its Vanillato (vanilla) and Chocolato (chocolate) flavours. The brand was launched in 2012, after a Hasidic Orthodox Jewish father and son decided that they were unhappy with kosher ice cream alternatives. The kosher desserts are made

using a soy base mix with premium ingredients such as Madagascan vanilla beans. In Jewish law it is forbidden to eat dairy products after a meat meal for at least three hours, but this dairy-free option is allowed. The all-vegetarian range, distributed by Osem UK, is also lactose-, GM- and glutenfree. Trade price is £3.33 and RRP is £5.99 per 500ml pot. www.taywell.co.uk www.antoniorusso.co.uk Vol.17 Issue 3 | April 2016

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health foods

product update from Lane Farm’s own Freedom Food approved pigs, which are outdoorbred and finished in open straw barns. The company has SALSA accreditation and is working towards BRC standards. O Olive oil products specialist Olive Branch has launched Biskotakia, Greek sweet biscuits baked with olive oil from Crete, where biscuits are traditionally made using this dairy-free method. Olive Branch has taken the recipe one step further by baking them with gluten-free flours. The biscuits are also egg-free and preservative-free products. They are available in cinnamon, almond & clove and orange flavours and sold in a resealable pouch. Trade price is £2.09 per pack (130g), case quantity 8 units per case, available through Hider, Marigold and The Health Store. O A business which claims to be the only gluten-free organic bakery in the UK, Artisan Bread Organic, has launched a sourdough loaf. The Whitstable-based company says the new sliced bread looks and tastes like conventional sourdough but is glutenfree and organic. It comes in cases of 12 x 400g loaves for a trade price of £37. Artisan Bread Organic mills its own flour for the bread and says it is the only bakery making organic gluten-free bread and cakes without

xanthan gum or methyl cellulose (bleached wood pulp) which is common in supermarket gluten-free lines. O Naturelly Jelly Juice launched three new flavours last Autumn: apple & blackcurrant, tropical and summer fruits. The 100g jellies are gluten-free, gelatin-free and contain no added sugar, sweeteners or artificial flavourings. With an RRP of £1.25, the range is available through Cotswold Fayre. O New from cheesemonger Paxton & Whitfield come two styles of gluten- and wheat-free cheese biscuits – Cracker Bakes and Cheese Squares – which have been developed following demand from customers. The 100g Cracker Bakes (trade £29.16 per pack of 12; RRP £3.75) are made by a family-run bakery in Ireland. They come in multiseed & cracked black pepper and apricot, date & sunflower seed flavours. Paxton’s 85g Cheese Squares (trade £23.28 per case of 12; RRP £2.99) come in two flavours: West Country Farmhouse Cheddar & Mustard, made with 21.5% cheese, and Shropshire Blue & Sweet Onion, with 24% cheese. O Launched last September, Choc

Honeybuns has just launched its Fruity Nut Bar, packed with nuts, seeds and fruit and sweetened with fruit. Dairy- and gluten-free, it comes in individually wrapped 75g bars and in 950g traybakes. www.honeybuns.co.uk

Shot’s orange spice and coconut shots tick all the major free-from boxes. They are gluten-, dairy- and GMO- free, contain no reﬁned sugar and are also free from all 14 major food allergens. The products are made in the UK and sweetened only with fruit syrup, made from apples, grapes and carob.

They come in 320g bottles (RRP £3.50) and are stocked by Tree of Life, SUMA and Cotswold Fayre. Choc Shot can be used for making hot chocolate, blending into milkshakes or drizzled direct over porridge. www.yumshsnacks.com www.munchyseeds.co.uk www.gingerellasglutenfree. co.uk www.lanefarm.co.uk www.myolivebranch.co.uk www.artisanbread-abo.com www.naturelly.co.uk www.paxtonandwhitﬁeld.co.uk www.chocshot.co.uk

Time to get baking East Anglian bean and pulse specialist Hodmedod’s, which takes its name from the Norfolk word for a hedgehog, recently launched yellow pea, green pea, fava bean and quinoa glutenfree ﬂours. They are available through wholesaler Suma and via Hodmedod’s website. The ﬂours can be used for sweet and

savoury gluten-free baking and cooking, or as thickeners. All in 500g packs, the pea and bean ﬂours have an RRP of £2.49, while the white quinoa ﬂour is £4.99. They are all milled in Essex from British-grown produce. Creative Nature is

launching two organic gluten-free home baking mixes: Chai Cocao brownie and Chia mulberry mufﬁn. Both are also free of dairy, wheat, soya, nut and reﬁned sugar. The mixes will initially be listed with the major health food wholesalers with

an RRP of £4.99. Meanwhile, Olives Et Al has developed three gluten-free pastry mixes – sweet pastry, shortcrust pastry and crumble topping – under its NoDo brand. Each 245g dry mix pouch (RRP £3.69) allows users to quickly create gluten-free dishes. It is supplied in cases of 6 pouches for £14.22. www.hodmedods.co.uk www.creativenaturesuperfoods.co.uk www.olivesetal.co.uk

Vol.17 Issue 3 | April 2016

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April 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 3

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health foods

Global gatherer He’s sold his Wild Trail cereal bar brand but Gordon Leatherdale remains very much on the hunt for healthy snacks. He tells MICHAEL LANE about his new venture, the dangers of sugar and why butter is actually good for you.

erusing a table strewn with all-butter biscuits may sound like an odd way to start an interview with a new health food supplier but the person presenting them to FFD has an explanation. Gordon Leatherdale is, after all, the man behind the only cereal bar in the UK that could legally use the word ‘healthy’ on its wrapper. Having successfully launched and grown sales of his Wild Trail range – both in the UK and abroad – he has sold the brand and started out on a new venture, Healthier Foods Ltd. Leatherdale and his business partners, one of whom is a former snack company chief exec, are seeking out products across the globe that can tap into the growing consumer desire for healthy snacking options. The variety of sweet and savoury biscuits in front of us are from a Dutch bakery called van Strien and this selection is the first range Healthier Foods is importing into the UK. There are 16 lines in the initial offering, with more to follow soon. Four of them are organic and already listed by ethical wholesaler Infinity Foods. But Leatherdale is keen to stress that the full range fits the health brief. “The idea of Healthier Foods was healthier in two respects,” he tells FFD. “Firstly the health of the overall supply chain, so that’s to say ingredients.” He cites the Belgian UTZ-certified chocolate in the cookies, Fairtrade nuts deployed across the range and the PDO North Holland Gouda used in van Strien’s handmade cheese palmiers (“There isn’t another handmade cheese palmier on the market in the UK”). In addition, to the provenance of the biscuits, they’re also made with “proper ingredients”, such as grass-fed butter rather than the hydrogenated fats that have become prevalent in mass market biscuits. The use of butter chimes well with the growing consumer preference for “healthy fats”. Leatherdale says it has the added bonus of filling you up quicker, so you don’t need to eat as many biscuits or cookies to feel satisfied. The lower sugar levels – and it is real sugar rather than the ubiquitous shelf life enhancing glucose syrup – in these biscuits should also add to

Gordon Leatherdale’s Healthier Foods is importing all-natural cookies and biscuits from Dutch bakery van Strien, soon to be joined by low sugar Banana Joe’s crisps from Thailand

products. Raisins can contain as much as 83% sugar. “‘No added sugar’ versus ‘no sugar’. Two very very different marketing messages,” he adds. While health food shops are an obvious target for his wares, Leatherdale says they will sit very well in delis and farm shops. Recent listings for the biscuits with both Holleys Fine Foods and The Cress Co back this up. With consumers becoming more conscious about “clean eating” – that is avoiding processed foods and ingredients – Leatherdale thinks it is time for independents to get in on the act. Farm shops are “perfectly poised” to tap into this, he says, because they have the shelf space to offer a full healthy basket to customers, with both fresh produce and ambient lines. “Perhaps better food is becoming more important than just local,” he adds. “Local doesn’t The van Strien range features sweet mean that it’s and savoury varieties, including cheese better for you.” palmiers, shortbread and sesame straws their ability to ﬁll you up. “Less sugar means less need,” he says. “Sugar is like a drug so you don’t need to cram your face full of them.” He concludes: “As part of a balanced diet, bearing in mind they’re all-natural, they’re not a bad product at all.” While there are several more van Strien items to come, the next products Healthier Foods will be bringing over in summer are banana crisps from Thailand. With just 2.5% sugar, Banana Joe’s was a “no brainer” for Leatherdale, given the amount of tooth-bothering sugar, albeit natural, in most fruit

Where Healthier Foods will go next to source products remains quite open. Although there is a great deal of innovation in Asia, Leatherdale is very enthusiastic about Northern Europe and the untapped potential of oats – low calorie, high in protein and fibre, and, again, you don’t need much to fill you up. “There are some fantastic health food products out there now that I think there weren’t 10 years ago – tasty delicious products that aren’t just bird seed.” Wherever he finds his next product, being able to communicate with his suppliers is crucial. Healthier Foods has already had to abandon one coconut-based prototype from Malaysia because the supplier neglected to mention they had to be packed at a certain temperature or they would go soft. This incident, not to mention a number of bad experiences with contract manufacturers going bust when he ran Wild Trail, have made Leatherdale cautious about going into production again but he doesn’t rule out developing another brand. For now, though, he’s got a table full of Dutch biscuits to sell. gordon.leatherdale@healthierfoodslimited. co.uk Vol.17 Issue 3 | April 2016

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SUCCESSFUL RETAIL IS ALL IN THE DETAIL

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Made to measure training courses from the Guild of Fine Food Training is vital to retail success and our carefully tailored Guild of Fine Food courses are designed to help increase sales and give you and your staff the tools to improve your knowledge and understanding of the products you sell. Give your customers a better shopping experience and a reason to return again and again. See our list of practical and enabling training days for anyone selling ﬁne food.

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A wealth of health Europe’s biggest health food and organic showcase returns to ExCeL to celebrate its 20th year

ack again at London’s ExCeL, Natural & Organic Products Europe is set to host more than 600 exhibitors from 50 different countries across the four individual trade shows it houses. Running from April 17 to 18, Europe’s largest showcase of natural, organic, Fairtrade, free-from and eco-friendly products will feature three non-food shows – Natural Health, Natural Living, Natural Beauty & Spa – but The Natural Food Show takes the lion’s share of floor space. A host of countries will have a presence across the show and every corner is covered, from Bolivia and Belgium through to Palestine and Vietnam. Turkey, Poland and Armenia & Moldova all have pavilions while Thailand has added a new stand for this year and Italy has increased its representation with two new pavilions at The Natural Food Show – for biodynamic association Demeter Italy and another focusing on the country’s southern regions, including Campania, Calabria and Puglia. The UK’s organic community will also be out in force with a pavilion jointly run by the Soil Association and Organic Trade Board. It will feature a number of well-known suppliers, such as Nairn’s, Mr. Organic, Alara and Infinity Foods plus debut appearances from YoGhee Butter, Greens Organic, Ibiza Superfoods and Organic Delight.

A host of countries will have a presence across the show and every corner is covered, from Bolivia and Belgium through to Palestine and Vietnam Visitors on the hunt for freefrom foods will find a variety of alternatives to meat, poultry and fish and allergen-free products on show. The World of Vegan pavilion is also back for 2016 with 25% more space to accommodate even more producers.

This year’s line-up includes Bravura Foods, The Raw Chocolate Company, Superfoodies and Follow Your Heart UK, which produces a vegan egg substitute. The Tofurky Company, Raw Gorilla, Conscious Chocolate and Bute Island Food will also be showcasing their wares in this pavilion. There will be a number of producers who are new to the show. including vegan/vegetarian meat alternative supplier Upton’s Naturals, Italian olive oil brand Belucci Premium, Bio Spirits organic gin, juice specialist Chunho Foods and Mrs O's Fuss Free baking mixes, which are egg-, dairy- and nut-free and organic. Meanwhile, lots of producers will be looking for a repeat performance from last year’s show with the likes of Oryx Dessert Salt, seaweed soup producer Atlantic Kitchen, organic quinoa specialist Andean Valley and drinks producer Fentimans all returning in 2016. Throughout the show, the several on-site theatres will host a range of presentations and demos

but the Buyers’ Pitch session on Monday 18 promises to be a highlight. Selected exhibitors will be invited to present their products to the senior buying team from Holland & Barrett in front of the audience and potentially secure a listing with the

high street retailer. Other buyers already confirmed to be attending include those from Infinity Foods Wholesale, Waitrose, Aldi, Fenwick, Hilton, Victoria Health and Whole Foods Market UK, with some 10,000 visitors expected. www.naturalproducts.co.uk

need to know When? April 19-20 Venue ExCeL London, 1 Western Gateway, Royal Victoria Dock, London Docklands, E16 1XL How do I get there? l Situated in Docklands, ExCel London is accessible by public transport via London Underground and the Docklands Light Railway. Take the Jubilee line to Canning Town and change to the Becktonbound DLR, alighting at Custom House, the main station serving Excel.

You can also get there using the Thames Clipper river boat service to the O2 from all major piers (London Bridge, Greenwich, Canary Wharf, Embankment and Waterloo), crossing the river on The Emirates Air Line cable car. l If travelling by car, follow signs for Royal Docks, City Airport and ExCel, or put E16 1DR into the sat nav. There is onsite pay and display parking for 3,700 cars. The closest airport is London City airport, a 5 minute drive away. l

How do I register? Register for this trade-only event at www.naturalproducts.co.uk

Vol.17 Issue 3 | April 2016

Dairy Free, Vegan and 60% Less Sugar Allergen free ice cream A dairy free ice cream that tastes just like the real thing but is suitable for vegans and is kosher too. Made with a coconut base but without eggs, soy, gluten, casein, lactose and white sugar. Three ďŹ&#x201A;avours and an RRP of ÂŁ4.50. Call 01892 835555 or email sales@taywell.co.uk www.sweetrebellion.co.uk

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April 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 3

shelf talk

packs, promotions, people

Cottage Delight adds own butter to fudge mix By MICHAEL LANE

Famed for its constant NPD, Cottage Delight has returned to where it all began and revamped its fudge range using butter made by a sister business just a stone’s throw from its Staffordshire headquarters. The closely-guarded fudge recipe, developed by founder and chairman Nigel Cope more than 40 years ago, will now be followed using sea salted butter made by the Staffordshire Cheese Company, which is also owned by Cope. Produced with double cream from a local farm, the butter has an 89% fat content – 9% higher than standard butter – making it ideal for fudge-making. It is already being used throughout the fudge range, which features seven varieties including Original Recipe fudge, sea salted caramel, chocolate and pecan nut & maple. Cottage Delight is also selling catering packs of individual pieces of Original Recipe fudge for hotels,

Mediterranean specialist Belazu has appointed a chef-inresidence from the London restaurant scene to develop new products for retail and foodservice. Ross Gibbons – formerly head chef of modern European restaurant Dabbous and previously a commis chef at Raymond

(l-r) Ross Gibbons with George Bennell

Hampstead Tea has expanded its range of wellbeing teas with the launch of three organic spiced chais. Energy Chai (black tea), Karma Chai (caffeine-free) and Life Chai (green tea) all come in boxes of 20 sachets (RRP £2.39). www.hampsteadtea.com

Cottage Delight’s fudge is now made with butter from The Staffordshire Cheese Company

coffee shops and restaurants to serve alongside hot drinks. Cases of 7 x 1kg packs cost £47.86. The producer said that some customers had already seen an upswing in sales of retail packs (RRP £2.30) as a result of the new format enticing consumers. Cottage Delight product manager Sarah Williams said the company’s switch to the

local butter had improved the taste of the fudge but the location of the farm producing the cream also appealed. “This ethos goes hand in hand with the needs of our customers who increasingly demand authentic products with proven provenance.” While Cottage Delight is using as much butter as the Staffordshire Cheese Company can turn out,

the dairy is planning to up production to sell at local farmers’ markets and independents, including its parent company’s own outlet The Cottage Kitchen. There are currently no plans to sell the butter beyond the local area but the fudge and all of Cottage Delight’s lines are available to independent retailers nationwide. www.cottagedelight.co.uk

Belazu hires London chef for permanent NPD role By ARABELLA MILEHAM

What’s new...

Blanc’s Le Manoir aux Quat’Saison – will focus on developing new pastes, antipasti and snacks. Belazu’s founder George Bennell said insights from the foodservice industry had played an important role in shaping the business and Gibbons’ experience would take the company’s product development to a new and exciting level. Gibbons said he is not a fan of trying to follow trends, preferring to concentrate on sourcing the ﬁnest produce at the height of their season. “Treating [them] with the utmost respect will always be in fashion and is the core to all great cuisines of the world,” he said. www.belazu.com

The latest hedgerow fruit to get the treatment from North Yorkshire liqueur-maker Sloemotion is the damson. Available in 35cl and 70cl bottles, damson vodka can be served as a digestif or a nightcap but its producer has also created the Damson 90 cocktail – damson vodka, elderﬂower cordial and Champagne – in honour of the Queen’s 90th birthday. www.sloemotion.com

The Really Healthy Pasta range of legume pastas has launched in 250g boxes (RRP £2.99). Black bean, red lentil, mung bean, buckwheat and chickpea come in penne

and fusilli shapes. All of them are hypoallergenic, free from grains, low GI, certiﬁed organic, vegan, kosher and non-GMO www.reallyhealthypasta.com

Calvors gets crafty will new labels Suffolk-based Calvors Brewery has rebranded its bottled beers to boost shelf presence and appeal to a wider audience by conveying its craft beer credentials. The more contemporary imagery on the six-strong range, which includes both lagers and ales, also has better descriptions of the style and ﬂavour of each beer.

Suffolk juice maker Maynard House Orchards has re-branded simply as Maynard House. Its 10 varieties – including vine tomato, orange & clementine and its best-selling Cox & Bramley apple juice – come in 750ml, 240ml and 200ml bottles. www.maynardhouse.co.uk

www.calvorsbrewery.com

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

Vol.17 Issue 3 | April 2016

10 – 1pm, Monday 20 June, Hall 2, Yorkshire Event Centre The workshop costs £60 (+VAT) and will end promptly at 1pm to allow time to visit the show

CRACKING CHRISTMAS What will you learn

Back for a ﬁfth year, this popular workshop takes place again at the Harrogate Fine Food Show in June. Getting your sales right in December can save your year. Come and learn how you can crack Christmas trading from two retailers who have over 26 successful festive seasons between them. Then spend January on the beach.

What a 2% increase in margin can do to your profitability How to extend your Christmas sales into November O How you can play the cash flow game to your advantage O How to create a business plan specifically for this time of year O How to make sure your food shop is top of your customers Christmas list O How to manage wastage and stock season-specific products O O

To book your place call Jilly Sitch on 01747 825200 or email jilly.sitch@gff.co.uk Due to limited space, places for this workshop are confirmed on a first come first served basis only

www.gff.co.uk |

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

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

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

The course is designed to equip managers of prospective, new or developing delis and farm shops with the business essentials of ﬁne food and drink retailing. The next course takes place on October 10-11 2016. Contact jilly.sitch@gff.co.uk for more details and an application form. Call us to ﬁnd out more on 01747 825200 www.gff.co.uk/training

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April 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 3

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NPD has always been at the heart of the company and never ones to rest on their laurels, Nimâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s are about to launch the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ďŹ rst ever range of Air Dried Vegetable Crisps. Using as much locally sourced produce as possible, the new range includes peppers, courgettes, beetroot, parsnip, tomato, cucumber with new lines planned to be added over the coming months. Nimâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s are offering a 15% discount on the list price and free delivery on all orders placed by the end of May 2016 Call 01795 424238 or Email sales@nimsfruitcrisps.com

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shelf talk

packs, promotions, people

Major re-launch for field fare Specialist frozen food supplier field fare has refreshed its brand logo, its packaging of pre-packed ranges and introduced new “impactful” livery for its in-store freezers. The “modern and vibrant” new look, which will be rolled out and installed at retailers in the coming months, has been designed to draw the attention of browsing consumers. There will be a range of freezer branding available to help retailers merchandise field fare products, such as separate point-of-sale header boards for fruits, veg, savouries, ready-meals and patisserie. “We wanted to give field fare a more contemporary look and feel whilst keeping our roots and brand identity”, said MD Karen Deans. “We pride ourselves on the quality of our products and we believe the refreshed brand image reflects our premium position and gives us a

What’s new... Raisthorpe Manor has created a gooseberry gin liqueur (23.5% ABV), which can be drunk neat or served over ice with tonic. It comes in three bottle sizes: 5cl (RRP £3.50), 35cl (£16.95) and 70cl (£24.95) www.raisthorpemanor.com

Raw food pioneer Saf Life has launched a new snack range in graband-go tubes and bags. The line-up includes kale crisps, activated crackers, coconut chips, activated nuts, fruity coconut pastilles, cereal bites and nutty nori. www.saf-life.com

MD Karen Deans with a newly designed ﬁeld fare freezer

greater presence in store.” Udder Farm Shop in Dorset is one of the first retailers in line for a re-fit. “We are really looking forward to being one of the first to get the newly designed field fare freezers in store,” said owners Brian and Jane Down. “Their clear colour differentiation for different product types, key brand messages and

fabulous food photography will make the shopping experience much easier for consumers and will undoubtedly attract more shoppers and increase sales.” The current field fare range spans loose fruit and veg mixes, bakery items, fish, ready meals and a recently launched roster of pies. www.field-fare.com

Marketeers make ﬁrst product foray with Canadian blueberries

TrueStart – billed as the world’s only 100% natural caffeine-controlled coffee – has switched from jars to pouches (RRP £6.99). The recently launched product is made from Colombian Arabica beans and guarantees 95mg of caffeine per 2g serving, said to ensure optimum performance for athletes that drink it 30 minutes before exercise. www.truestartcoffee.com

Dairy-free specialist Booja-Booja has launched a range of its chilled chocolate truffles in a new Two Truffle format to capitalise on the growth in on-the-go snacking. The twin packs come in three flavours – Fine de Champagne, hazelnut crunch and almond salted caramel – and have an RRP of £1.19. www.boojabooja.com

A food marketing and design consultancy has launched its ﬁrst retail line following a successful consumer trial last year. Bart ‘n’ Lainy’s has been developed by Nicholas & Knight to bring Wild

Canadian Blueberries to the UK ﬁne food market. The small berries are currently used as an ingredient in the UK, but cofounder Mike Nicholas said it had become a “personal mission” to launch them as a retail product and use their experience and expertise to market their own brand. The fruit is packed in syrup in 540g jars, which are available direct or from distributors Hider and Vic’s Good Food. “We chose Canadian Wild Blueberries because they have a fantastic reputation, we know the growers well and it is an exciting challenge to bring something entirely new to the UK,” added Nicholas.

Holy Lama’s Spice Drops range of concentrated herb or spice drops has a new look. The colourful new designs reﬂect the products’ Indian heritage while the packs also feature clear usage instructions and a recipe suggestion. Each 5ml bottle (RRP £3.50) contains around 150 drops.

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Northern Irish butcher Corries has developed a seasoning product for home cooks under a new brand, The Himalayan Salt Company. The product, which is a development from its recent investment in a salt-ageing chamber for its beef, comes in 350g tubs (RRP £2.75). www.corriesonthefarm.co.uk

American snack and confectionery supplier Innovative Bites is bringing a limited edition Ghostbusters-themed version of the iconic Twinkie to the UK. The Key Lime Slime Twinkie features a bright green cream ﬁlling and will be available from June. Packs of 10 have an RRP of £5.50. info@innovativebites.com

Vol.17 Issue 3 | April 2016

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shelf talk

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Chef’s selection

what’s new... RH Amar’s specialist ingredients brand Cooks&Co has added two Peruvian varieties to its line-up of jarred peppers. Sweety Pepp Cherry Peppers (290g, RRP £2.49) are available in jars of red or red & yellow mixed while Sweety Drop Red Peppers (235g, RRP £2.49) feature smaller Inca Red Drop peppers.

FOOD WRITER CLARE HARGREAVES INTERVIEWS TOP BRITISH CHEFS ABOUT THEIR FAVOURITE STORECUPBOARD PRODUCTS

Scott Goss

Head chef, The Twenty Six, Tunbridge Wells www.thetwenty-six.co.uk

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After working with Gary Rhodes, Anton Adleman and Robert Spencer, Scott returned to his native Kent. Here he met his friend and mentor Pete Cornwell, who owns the I'll Be Mother group of restaurants. Scott is executive chef across the group and head chef of The Twenty Six.

Co Limerick’s Pandora Bell’s latest confectionery creation is a summery pink lemonade ﬂavoured lollipop. Pink Lemonade Cloud (RRP €2.50) is currently available direct from the producer but a number of its other lines are available in the UK from Diverse Fine Foods. www.pandorabell.com.

Diversifying from its usual cakes and patisserie, bakery specialist Debaere has been developing a range of Italian-inspired breads. Using a classic ‘biga’ pre-ferment, the line-up includes Pugliese, Pagnotta and Ciabatta breads as well as loaves ﬂavoured with walnut & raisin and rosemary.

Taywell cherry ice cream This ice cream goes wonderfully with our Black Forest gateau, putting a nice twist on the classic dessert. We don’t have room in our kitchen for an ice-cream maker so I had to look for a fantastic ice cream – and found it at Taywell, a company originally set up by Kentish farmer Alastair Jessel to use up his surplus fruit. It’s made to the same standards as I’d use, so guests assume it’s made in-house. It’s not a super-smooth ice cream, but has bits in it which give it loads of ﬂavour. Taywell’s blackberry sorbet is equally fantastic.

www.debaere.co.uk

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Moons Green pork beer sticks These long, thin beer sticks are made by the guys at Moons Green from the trims of free-range pork that they use in their other charcuterie – and they make the best ever bar snacks. Moons Green’s air-dried pork collar, cured with red wine and fresh herbs, is also fantastic; we put it through the meat slicer and mix it through salads along with black olives and artichoke hearts. I also use collar in my Duck Bourgignon with duck hearts and kidneys.

Nim’s makes UK’s ﬁrst air-dried veg crisps after relocating production Following its move to bring production of its air-dried fruit crisps to the UK, Nim’s has begun manufacturing what it says is the country’s ﬁrst air-dried vegetable crisp. The initial range (RRP £1.15 per bag) consists of tomato & cucumber, pepper & courgette and beetroot & parsnip varieties, which are all made in its Kent air-drying factory – the only production line of its kind in the UK. The range is being pitched at health-conscious consumers, particularly those that are looking for

healthy lunchbox and afterschool snack ideas. All three 100% vegetable varieties are suitable for gluten-free diets, coeliacs and vegans. Founder Nimisha Raja said the recently opened facility had allowed the company to develop new products more quickly. “When I launched the brand in 2011, my main objective was to combat unhealthy snacking patterns in adults and children and it’s exciting to now offer a savoury alternative to our fruit crisps,” she added. www.nimsfruitcrisps.com

www.moonsgreen.co.uk

Potter’s Herbals malt extract This malt extract, which Potter’s have been making since 1908, is something my storecupboard is never without. It’s thick and syrupy, like a sweet marmite. It’s great spread on toast, drizzled on cereals, or to accompany cheese – I infuse it with trufﬂe and put it on our cheeseboard. I also make celeriac “bark” by brushing thinly sliced celeriac with the malt extract, dehydrating the slices, then deep frying them until they look like bits of bark. The extract is also a natural sweetener so I often use it in puddings, as I would use honey. www.pottersherbals.co.uk

Golden Cross goats’ cheese This log-shaped mould-ripened cheese is made near here by Kevin and Alison Blunt, using raw milk from their herd of 220 goats. It has a firm but soft, silky texture. It isn’t crumbly and it isn’t in-your-face goaty in flavour, which is nice. As it matures the cheese develops more complex flavours. It’s a permanent fixture on our cheeseboard, and we use it in the goats’ cheese parfait we make to accompany our beetroot terrine. I buy the cheese through Penshurst Fine Foods. www.goldencrosscheese.co.uk

Nelstrop flour The Nelstrop family have been milling flour in Cheshire for six generations. I use their plain white and their self-raising white, both from English wheat. The flour is finely milled and the end results are consistently perfect every time. I use the plain flour to make the roux for our famous smoked haddock rarebit and I also use it for pastry cases, as it’s nice and strong in gluten. The selfraising flour, on the other hand, is perfect for dumplings. www.nelstrop.co.uk Looking for suppliers accredited by the Guild of Fine Food? Follow the logo

Vol.17 Issue 3 | April 2016

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shelf talk Partners Allison Martin and Andy Parritt opened Purely Cornish in 2003

Presents with provenance Deli of the Month INTERVIEW BY MICK WHITWORTH

easide gift shops don’t have a great rep for quality or provenance. I should know because I ran one for three years. Mine was a Londis c-store on a holiday camp at California on the east Norfolk coast. Despite my inflated food prices, the best margins were made on assorted “swag” – tacky ornaments and

April 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 3

souvenirs, beach toys and tea towels – which occupied a third of the floorspace. The only gifts with local provenance were sticks of seaside rock with the words ‘A present from California’ running through their core – ordered each season from Docwras rock factory in Great Yarmouth. This month’s Deli of the Month – Purely Cornish, located on the main tourist drag through picturesque Looe in south Cornwall – is also a seaside gift shop of sorts, but definitely not as I once knew them. Described by owners Allison Martin and Andy Parritt as a “farm shop and delicatessen” Purely

With a ready market among gift-hungry tourists and a growing local trade, Looe’s Purely Cornish delivers exactly what it’s name suggests

Cornwall is stocked 90% with products from the county, and with barely anything from further afield than Devon or Somerset. Yes, it’s a gift shop – novelty chocolates, jam and honey, hampers, even tea towels, and lots of colourful pick-up items in the £2.50 to £5 price range – but it’s also a local food destination, with eggs, bread, cheese, fresh meat, pies, beers and cider. There’s even ‘Grandad’s Veg’, eggs and garden plants produced by Allison’s dad Derek on the family smallholding. It’s a very particular offer that is proving as popular with locals as with the tourists who, in peak season, make the pavement outside

on Fore Street virtually impassable. Purely Cornish opened its doors in 2003, in smaller premises just up the road. Allison had worked in shops before, first for an agricultural merchant and then for Cornish gift wholesaler Puckator. Her partner Andy, an ex Army captain who later worked in technical sales, was looking for something to do after a job in London came to an end. He fancied running a delicatessen; Allison, the local girl, wanted to add a Cornish twist. “Our first shop was tiny,” she says. “You had to duck to get through the door. And it was just a deli stocked with Cornish produce.” Needing more space, the couple

deli of the month contemplated opening a farm shop on the family smallholding, but it was too far from civilisation to make a viable base. Instead they found a site at nearby St Martins and made it their second shop. “Someone had been running it as a farm shop already, and we just took it over,” Allison says. “It all seemed a marvellous idea, and we had a coffee shop there too. But the access was poor – people found it hard to get in and out – and the buildings were not our own, so maintenance was difficult.” Andy adds: “Local food does sell, but it has to be easy for people

‘hamper A, B or C’. The second thing is, you can’t just stick stuff in a box. Making it look nice and able to survive the courier is a real artform.” Allison agrees. “If you’re going to send out £100-worth of hamper, it’s got to be prepared beautifully but also packed really well so you don’t get breakages – especially if there are bottles of wine or beer in there. The three girls who make up our hampers are really talented people who can make them look gorgeous – and survive the post.” Distribution is mostly entrusted to APC Overnight, which Andy says provides a better service than the “shockingly bad” Post Office and Parcelforce. “With Parcelforce, no-one takes ownership or cares that they might be handling someone’s 90th birthday present. “And you can’t even insure it, so if there’s a loss it’s on our books. Even then, we sometimes feel obliged to send out a replacement. “APC is big, and handles the overnight distribution nationwide, but it then has a network of little people at each end, who are a bit more responsible and get to know you. If something goes wrong, I phone our local guy and he sorts it. It’s not a call centre.” While hamper trade is heavily swayed towards Christmas, they are now averaging 10 a week yearround, as locals see Purely Cornish

The only way to get the variety is to go through the pain of having lots of suppliers too, and we were missing all that walk-in trade we had in Looe.” The second-shop experience seems to have stung in other ways too. With Purely Cornish’s strictlylocal offer now having proved itself, the couple have considered taking on a second site again – and dismissed it. “When we had two premises it wasn’t twice the work, it was an order of magnitude more work,” says Andy. “And here, it’s all about the location. Anyone who comes to south Cornwall for a holiday will eventually come to Looe for the day. It’s in the psyche. It’s a destination.” The problems with the St Martins shop were resolved when they learned that Thresher was vacating its off-licence at 18 Fore Street in Looe, which is now Purely Cornish’s fixed abode. Andy and Allison not only acquired 530 sq ft of ground-floor retail space but a similar area upstairs. In the summer, this is rammed with stock for the shop; in winter, it becomes a packing area for hampers – a key area of the business. “We’ve been trading online since we started,” says Allison, “and now do a lot of hampers – about 400 last Christmas.” In December the staff more than doubles from its core of three full-timers (Allison, plus shop manager Beverely Henwood and assistant manager Katy Trinder) with four working upstairs purely on hamper production. It’s a relatively high-margin business, with the standard 50% mark-up on food in the deli applied to the packaging too. But the couple stress that doing hampers well is not as easy as people think. “Lots of people think they can set up a little hamper business online,” says Andy, “but here are two big, big problems. One is that, unless you already have a shop, you have to hold loads of stock [to offer a good choice]. That’s why so many of them just end up offering

as a go-to shop for gifts for friends and family. There is, after all, no need to just buy the standard package of one of the national online brands: they can choose whatever’s in the shop. And whereas gift-led food outlets can often look very samey, that’s not true here – there are numerous small names that few outside the South-West might know – Chocolarder chocolate, Boddington’s Berries jams, Bay Tree candies – and impressive ranges of Cornish beers and spirits. “We try to keep things fresh and find two or three new suppliers every year,” says Allison, although her partner points out this brings its challenges. “You do end up with umpteen suppliers, and that’s hard work, with

so many invoices and deliveries,” he says. “It’s easier for people who get everything from one or two Cotswold Fayres or Plough To Plates. But the only way to get the variety is to go through pain of having lots of suppliers.” What’s more, there’s no sign of the stand private-label preserves or confectionery that are staples of too many tourist-led outlets. “People know we don’t produce jam,” says Allison, “and we really want to support local suppliers.” In return, they always ask new producers to provide their backstory, ideally supported by pointof-sale material, as this is one store where ‘grab and go’ doesn’t apply. “Our customers have got time to read labels,” says Andy. Purely Cornish shoppers are not just “buying jam in a supermarket”, he adds. “They’re buying provenance.” www.purelycornish.co.uk ➔

vital statistics Location: 18 Fore Street Looe, Cornwall Floor space: 530 sq ft Staffing: 3 full-time, rising to 8 at Christmas Turnover: £300,000 Average gross margins: 50% on food; 66% on non-food gifts

must-stocks l Trewithen

Dairy clotted cream l Cornish Blue cheese l Cornish Yarg l Camel Valley Vineyard bacchus dry l Camel Valley Vineyard Cornwall Brut l Tarquin’s gin l Ninemaidens mead l Ninemaidens honey l Bay Tree candies l Boddington’s Berries strawberry jam l St Austell Brewery Tribute ale l St Austell Brewery Korev lager l Padstow Brewing Co IPA l Vicky’s bread l Cornish Orchards 1l farmhouse cider l Cornish Chilli Co red chilli jam l Paws for Cake dog treats

The couple aim to stock beer from every Cornish brewery. With the craft beer explosion, Andy Paritt says, it’s getting harder to achieve that. Vol.17 Issue 3 | April 2016

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shelf talk

deli of the month

While heavily weighted towards Christmas, hamper sales are growing year-round

Despite a huge range of local bottled ales, it’s the nationally known Tribute that sells best

Ninemaidens, near Redruth, supplies both honey and traditionally brewed mead

Allison and Andy have chosen Trewithen clotted cream, partly because rival Rodda’s is so widely sold in supermarkets nationwide

Seasonal veg and plants grown by Allison’s dad Derek on the family smallholding have a strong local following. He also supplies the shop’s eggs.

Delicious snacks – for dogs. Paws for Cake dog treats are a must-stock

Chocolarder bean-to-bar chocolate is one of the few products bought through a distributor, in this case Plough to Plate

Cornwall hasn’t escaped the craft gin boom, and Tarquin’s is one of several local premium brands boosting turnover at Purely Cornish

These Dunoon mugs are made in Staffordshire – with Cornish china clay!

This mirror, made by Cornish handmade glass artist Jo Downs, is priced at £495, and is not just for window dressing. ‘We do sell them,’ says Andy.

Local bakery Vicky’s has been supplying Plough to Plate from day one Vol.17 Issue 3 | April 2016

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• labelling

4 8 4 0 5 0

Don’t leave advertisers in the dark – tell them you saw them in Fine Food Digest • bottles & jars

classified

Visit www.innavisions.com or call for a brochure TEL: 01886 832283

• insurance services

• ingredients

EMAIL: nick.wild@innavisions.com

• refrigeration

• Digital short run labels • Inkjet printing • Hot foiling and domed labels • bar coding, variable data and consecutive numbering • Reeled/laminated/sheeted • High volume plain labels (We have turret winding capacity) • High volume printed labels upto 8 colours In addition with in-house design and service and response to meet your needs

Unit 4G, The Leathermarket, Weston Street, London SE1 3ER Tel: 020 7407 3200 Fax: 020 7237 9093 www.FrenchFlint.com

Unit C McKenzie Industrial Park Birdhall Lane, Stockport SK3 0SB TEL : +44 (0)161 428 1617 FAX : +44 (0)161 428 1603 www.windmilltapes.co.uk

Vol.17 Issue 3 | April 2016

MAKE YOUR SUMMER SALES SENSATIONAL

Winner of 48 Great Taste Awards 01364 64 30 36

April 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 3