Fine Food Digest December by Guild of Fine Food

December 2010· Vol 11 Issue 10

digest

at the heart of speciality food and drink

Swish fish Classy seafood ideas for every deli union market

The posh shop that wants to be a supermarket

THE ARTISAN BUYERS’ GUIDE

Three approaches to fine food factory fit-outs

INSIDE: NEGRONI OLIVE OIL JODY SCHECKTER BIBIJIS FROMAGE TO AGE CORBRIDGE LARDER

IN THIS ISSUE TRUE TASTE every winner of the 2010-11 Welsh food awards in this great FREE magazine BRITISH & CONTINENTAL CHARCUTERIE choosing and displaying the best hams, salamis and more A S U P P L E M E Nt t o

at the heart of speciality food and drink

digest

Guide to British & CONtiNeNtAL ChArCuterie

Create a winning selection in your speciality food store CooKED HAM • Air-dried hAMs • SALAMI • sMOKed POuLtrY & GAMe • BUYERS’ CHECKLIStS • disPLAY & stOrAGe

Published in association with The Charcuterie Guild and its trade sponsors

New Year, New Ideas Scotland’s Speciality Food Show 2011 SECC Glasgow January 23-25 2011

Give your food & drink offer a fresh taste for 2011 with a visit to Scotland’s Speciality Food Show. Whether you’re looking for Scottish farmhouse specialities, Continental classics or the best contemporary deli cuisine, it’s the perfect place to find inspiration for the coming year. You’ll find over 100 stands brimming with local, regional, national and international specialities, including scores of 2010 Great Taste Awards winners. What’s more, the show takes place alongside Scotland’s Trade Fair, where you can source eye-catching, high margin gift products too.

❝

I visited last year and came away Don’t miss: with great new contacts and new GrEat taStE LivE! ideas to take our business forward. – the Guild of Fine Food’s I enjoyed the intimacy of the show live interactive theatre. – producers had time to talk about FEEd thE draGon their products and I had time to – watch speciality food sample them without being hurried. producers pitch their I’d urge all retailers to put this date in products to a panel their diaries. of buyers.

❞

Peter Brown Co-founder, Berits & Brown Enterprises Ltd

Scotland’s Speciality Food Show is organised by the Guild of Fine Food e: tortie.farrand@finefoodworld.co.uk t: 01963 824464 w: www.specialityfoodshow.co.uk

December 2010 · Vol.11 Issue 10

opinion

in this issue

I must be getting old. During the World Cheese Awards at BBC Good Food in Birmingham, I almost warmed to supermarkets. Never mind they’ve screwed British farming, trashed the countryside with hideous buildings and knocked holes in the sky by flying mange tout half-way around the world – at least they deliver a good deal for their customers. The food may be mutton dressed as ‘finest’ lamb but it keeps most people happy. Hotel chains should take a leaf from the same book. The Hilton Metropole at the National Exhibition Centre did very nicely from the BBC show. Countless exhibitors enjoyed their £27.00 carvery. ‘Enjoyed’ is a loose description for an experience that was pricey, even supposing they’d served topnotch 28-day dry-aged English beef. But it wasn’t top notch and was virtually inedible. Some guests chose two starters rather than face the main course. After repeated requests, my bill arrived attached to a grovelling waiter who mumbled something about being “rather busy”. Not too busy to whack on 10% for service and still leave a column open for me to add “the tip”. Didn’t I just serve myself? Isn’t that what happens in a carvery? So what’s with the service charge and tip? All he did was unscrew an over-priced bottle of wine and eventually deliver my bill. The following evening, guests screamed at staff because they couldn’t book tables in either of the hotel’s restaurants. We ate in our room but at £24 for a main course, £3.60 for a bottle of water, £4.00 ‘tray’ charge and the opportunity to add another ‘tip’, it wasn’t a cheap night in. Hilton must be creaming it, or maybe the NEC takes a cut, or both. After that, we dined at The Forest hotel in Dorridge, and enjoyed ourselves immensely, although it cost a fortune in taxis. If you need to stay close to the NEC, as we did, you’ve a limited choice in hotels. You’re a captive audience and the attitude is, “Sod you because no matter how much we fleece you, you’ll come back next year”. If hotels rip off overseas visitors to the 2012 Olympics in similar fashion, they’ll never return. They’ll merely speak of a race that cares not for food but for flat screen TVs and designer clothes. Where people pay for service but serve themselves. A land of little choice – save for supermarkets, which are as plentiful as locusts in a plague. To paraphrase celebrity chef James Martin, “Thank god for supermarkets, they keep the rabble out of delis and farm shops”. Now that we Brits boast a World Champion cheese, my tip this Christmas is to enjoy a gorgeous wedge of Cornish Blue – although you’ll need to serve it yourself. Have a great one and fingers crossed for a profitable 2011.

Bob Farrand

❝What’s with the service charge? All he did was unscrew an over-priced bottle of wine and deliver my bill❞

fine food news

Suppliers are struggling to push through price rises p4

interview: jody scheckter

The Laverstoke Park boss tells us it’s time for his biodynamic farm to pay its way p13

negroni

Inside the Italian charcuterie giant’s Parma operation p27

artisan buyers’ guide

From make-do-and-mend to shiny new-build, producers tell us their factory fit-out stories p31

focus on: olive oil

Retailers tell us their best-sellers in all price bands p41

product update: seafood

p49

focus on: cakes and bread regulars:

news deli of the month deli chef cheesewire shelf talk

p51

4 14 19 21 54

EDITORIAL Editor: Mick Whitworth News editor: Patrick McGuigan Art director: Mark Windsor Editorial production: Richard Charnley Contributors: Gail Hunt, Lynda Searby

Bob Farrand is publisher of Fine Food Digest and national director of the Guild of Fine Food

What they’re saying ❝I think the big stores may be worried they’re offering too much choice. We don’t see the need to offer 30 different balsamics. We have three, because we’ve chosen the ones we like.❞ Tony Bromovsky, Union Market – p14

ADVERTISING Sales manager: Sally Coley Advertisement sales: Becky Stacey Circulation manager: Tortie Farrand Publisher & managing director: Bob Farrand Associate publisher & director: John Farrand THE GUILD OF FINE FOOD Membership secretary & director: Linda Farrand Administrators: Charlie Westcar, Julie Coates Accounts: Stephen Guppy, Denise Ballance

t: 01963 824464 Fax: 01963 824651 e: firstname.lastname@finefoodworld.co.uk w: www.finefoodworld.co.uk Published by: Great Taste Publications Ltd and The Guild of Fine Food Ltd. Fine Food Digest is published 10 times a year and is available on subscription for £40pa inclusive of post and packing. Printed by: Advent Colour, Hants © Great Taste Publications Ltd and The Guild of Fine Food Ltd 2010. Reproduction of whole or part of this magazine without the publisher’s prior permission is prohibited. The opinions expressed in articles and advertisements are not necessarily those of the editor or publisher. The publisher cannot accept responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts, recipes, photographs or illustrations. Vol.11 Issue 1 · January-February 2010

fine food news Suppliers feel squeeze as stores resist price rises Retailers are playing suppliers off against each other to keep a lid on prices amid rising raw material costs

By PATRICK McGUIGAN

Specialist suppliers say they are being strangled by rising ingredients costs as delis and farm shops dig their heels in over price increases. Key ingredients including flour, meat, butter and sugar, have all risen sharply in price over the past year, but fine food producers have struggled to pass these on to retailers, who are wary of raising their

Wheat leads wider surge in costs Wholesale ingredients prices in the UK were 9.8% higher in October compared to a year ago, the biggest annual increase in two years, according to the Office for National Statistics. Wheat prices have risen by around 70% in the past year caused by an export ban in Russia and poor harvests in Germany and the Ukraine. There is no sign that prices will fall in the medium term, with planting problems for next year’s harvest in several countries. As FFD went to press, the bread wheat price stood at £196 per tonne (delivered to the North West) up from £118 in Nov 2009. The feed wheat price stood at £171, up from £98 last year. The increase in feed wheat, combined with demand from emerging countries, has led to a hike in meat prices with global prices hitting a 20-year high in September. Sugar futures surged to a 30-year peak last month and were predicted to rise further due to concerns about supply problems in producer countries such as India and Brazil. The world price of sugar is up by 9% year on year.

own prices with consumer confidence still fragile. At mustards and preserves company Shaken Oak in Oxfordshire, owner Bruce Young told FFD that he had seen ingredients costs rise by over 5%. “Due to stiff competition in the preserves market we have not been able to increase prices this year and have told customers we hope to hold prices during 2011. Retailers seem loath to accept any price rises and will look to other competitor suppliers even if you have an established relationship,” he said. The MD of another small food company told FFD: “We have been delisted by four retailers now for raising our prices and others are threatening [to follow suit], so we have now withdrawn the price rise.” While most suppliers have so far absorbed increased input costs, next year is likely to bring a round of price hikes across a wide variety of products as producers have no option but to pass on rises. “Most raw materials are rising by

between 5-10% and we are being heavily squeezed,” said Pev Manners, MD of Belvoir Cordials. “A typical example is sugar which is at a 30-year high, up about 19% on last year. Organic sugar has gone up enormously in the last year as well – almost 15%. We are tabling some small price increases for 2011, between 2-4% generally, with some products over 4%. The reaction will be found later as our wholesalers pass on these price increases to fine food retailers.” Several other producers contacted by FFD said they were planning to increase prices in 2011 by between 5-10%. Jane Phillips, owner of Clam Cakes, said her ingredients costs had risen 12% in the past year, with butter doubling in price. “Rising costs have been very difficult for us, as we know the independents are having difficult trading times so we have not increased our prices this year. We have tried to buy our ingredients better by buying in bulk, but this obviously affects cash-flow.” She added that she would probably be forced to increase prices next April.

‘We’ve had to take the hit’

How producers are handling the rise in input costs “There has been a general increase in ingredients from 3 to 5% but the shock wave has been on butter. Prices have doubled within the year. It is a constant battle. We have held our retail prices for two years and will increase them by 3% in January.” Romain Gaubicher, Maison Des Sorbets Foods “Ingredients costs have increased by 20% and we have not been able to increase our prices. Fruit and vegetable prices keep going up. Some retailers find the prices high and we have to take the

hit and sell direct to consumers at shows and markets.” Anila Vaghela, Anila’s Sauces “We have seen our ingredients costs rise by 5-10% this year, particularly on salmon, trout and beef. We have managed to offset some of the costs by increasing prices on our mail order business and raising prices on a few lines here and there throughout the year. We will have to do so again in January or February.” Christopher Millns, Weald Smokery

Whole Foods to open in Glasgow next year Whole Foods Market has revealed plans to open two new stores in the UK over the next three years, including a 22,000 sq ft site in Glasgow, and has hinted at further openings across the UK. The company will open a 22,000 sq ft shop at a former Safeway in Giffnock, Glasgow, at the end of 2011 and a 20,000 sq ft store in Richmond, South West London early in 2013. It currently has five stores in the Greater London area, including its 80,000 sq ft store in Kensington. 4

December 2010 · Vol.11 Issue 10

The announcement signals the first expansion of Whole Foods Market’s UK business since it opened its Kensington store in 2007 and comes after posting an 11.8% fall in sales in the UK in the year to September 27, 2009. Jeff Turnas, Whole Foods Market UK regional president, said: “We are delighted to underscore our commitment to the UK and make this further investment in our business here. It’s always been our ambition to open stores the length and breadth of the UK.”

Whole Foods: ‘Commitment to the UK’

inbrief shopfitting Y Bwtri: best deli in Wales

● The Soil Association has appointed Helen Browning as its director. She takes over from Patrick Holden who stood down in September this year following 15 years in the role. Browning runs a tenanted 1,350 acre organic livestock and arable farm in Wiltshire, which supplies organic meat to multiple retailers.

Y Bwtri joins top winners in Welsh food and drink awards Pwllheli deli Y Bwtri has won the Deli & Speciality Store category at the 2010-11Wales the True Taste Awards, staged last month at the Withybush Showground in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire. The shop has been run by Geraint Hughes and his two brothers Dafydd and Eilir since 2007, and the partners added a second site in Porthmadog in 2008. Home & Colonial Fine Foods of Porthcawl picked up a silver award in this category, with Just So Scrumptious in Llandovery taking bronze. Retailer of the Year was Cwmcerrig Farm Shop and Grill in Gorslas, Llanelli. Among the top-placed food producers this year was Teifi Farmhouse Cheese, which took the Product of the

Year title with its Caws Teifi Cheese. In the Speciality Foods category, sponsored by Fine Food Digest, gold awards went to Gower Cottage Brownies (gluten-free brownies), Sarah Cooks Your Homemade Preserves and Pickles (green chilli and tomato salsa), Cegin Suzanne (strawberry & Champagne preserve) and Maesyffin Mushrooms (organic shiitake mushrooms). Restaurateur Simon Wright, who runs Y Polyn restaurant and presents cookery TV shows, was named Wales the True Taste Champion. Full details of this year’s winners are in the True Taste magazine enclosed with this issue of FFD. www.truetaste.tv

Work begins on £6.4 million food showcase for Wales Construction has started on a £6.4million centre of excellence in North Wales to promote the best of Welsh food and drink. The project at Furnace Farm on the Bodnant Estate in the Conwy Valley will involve the renovation of 18th century farm buildings next to the Bodnant Garden tourist attraction, to showcase local produce from across Wales.

Harrods has expanded its wine and spirits department. The new 7,000 sq ft space will offer more than 3,000 wines, spirits and beers, offering tasting events and masterclasses. It also houses the Aroma Zone, an interactive area using aroma technology to explain wine’s flavours.

Funding for the initiative includes a £2.7m grant from the Welsh Assembly Government through the European Regional Development Fund, the Targeted Match Fund as well as a Processing and Marketing Grant under the Rural Development Plan. The eco-friendly buildings will house a farm shop, a tea room, restaurant and a cookery school. There will also be a dairy production unit and a bakery.

The Balloon Tree Farm Shop and Cafe near York was named Best Retailer of Regional Products 2010-2011 in the Deliciouslyorkshire Awards. The award was sponsored by Fine Food Digest. ● Dorset chocolatier Chococo has opened a new chocolate factory in Wareham. Its town centre shop and café in Swanage are continuing to operate, and Chococo is refitting its former chocolate kitchen as a ‘workshop and events space’.

Washingpool Farm Shop near Bridport was named South West local retail outlet of the year in the 2010 Taste of the West awards. The champion product trophy went to Witheridge Farm Shop in Devon for its homecured cooked ox tongue, while Patrick McCaig of Otter Brewery secured the Carol Trewin South West Producer of the Year Award. Bramley & Gage took two awards for its Six O’Clock gin and tonic.

Edinburgh deli creates branded range with House of Fraser Iconic Edinburgh deli Valvona & Crolla has extended its relationship with House of Fraser by creating a range of branded lines for the store chain. The Italian deli has put together a number of exclusive dinnerware and food products that are now on sale in 10 department stores around the country and on the House of Fraser website. Valvona took over the running of the Jenners food hall in Edinburgh, owned by House Of Fraser, in 2008 and the department store chain acquired a stake in Valvona over a year ago for £300,000.

“We secured House of Fraser as a brand partner in return for 50% ‘B’ shares to facilitate growth within HoF whilst retaining our existing independent family business operation,” said Valvona MD Philip Contini. “Should we decide to change the company's direction in the future there is an agreed mechanism for us to buy back the HoF shareholding at any time.” The new range of Valvona-branded products includes napkins, glassware and crockery, as well as wine, olive oil, olives and pasta. Vol.11 Issue 10 · December 2010

If I’d known news then what I know now…

buying online

Dave Robinson, The Corbridge Larder, Northumberland We live in Hertfordshire, but in 2007 ended up buying a deli 256 miles away. I was born in Corbridge and my family are still in the North East. It’s where my heart is, although I still live in Hertfordshire. There are challenges to this, of course. The deli is run day-today by two supervisors and one for the coffee shop. In the first year I was there on a weekly basis. Now it’s about 20 times a year, but during December I’ll be in Corbridge for the whole month. Sometimes we get the communication wrong, but all in all it seems to work. I do the admin and ambient orders remotely, while fresh orders are done in the deli. After taking over the shop we had one of the wettest summers ever followed by the recession, so trading has been a challenge. I was vice president for an American telecommunications company, so I knew how to run businesses but not in the food sector. I have a love of coffee and fine food, and naively thought we were buying a life-style business. It became obvious very quickly that the business model needed to change and four months after we

“I learned very quickly not to worry about the competition and to focus on what we do” took over we opened a coffee shop. It’s only 20 seats but it enables us to showcase our products. Everything we have on our menu, down to the salt and pepper, can be bought in the shop. There’s a supermarket three doors away, five other coffee shops and numerous farm shops in the area. I learned very quickly not to worry about the competition and to focus on what we do. Customers do not do their weekly shop with us, so we have to draw them. I’ve changed around 30% of the products, bringing in artisan bread, a larger cheese range and more local lines. A lot of time is spent sourcing products and developing ideas to create a shopping experience. We get lots of praise for the way the shop looks, but it’s not an accident. At first I worried about introducing big company processes and disrupting the business, but with all the legislation you have to comply with I quickly changed my mind. We now have systems that cover everything, which we have turned into a staff training book. It’s formal but things get done correctly. Waste initially was running at 3%, but we are now down to less than 1% as a percentage of cost. The coffee shop has helped and I am more ruthless at discontinuing. We all make buying mistakes. You have to learn to say no to the reps and sometimes even customers. Interview by PATRICK McGUIGAN

March 2010 · Vol.11 Issue 2

Online match-making service ‘will shake up supply base’ MyFoodTrader.com combines elements of eBay and a dating agency By MICK WHITWORTH

Food consultant and ex farm shop owner Rob Ward says his new online match-making service for food buyers and sellers, due to go live in January, will help retailers sharpen their buying and force suppliers to raise their game. Ward describes MyFoodTrader. com as “a cross between eBay and a dating site like e-Harmony”. Buyers who register with the service will provide details of products or services they are looking for, the top prices they will pay, the volumes they need and so on. These will then be matched anonymously against sellers who have registered with the service. There will be no charge for registration but once a suitable match has been found the two parties will only be put in touch if they sign up for the MyFoodTrader. com service. This will cost around £30 per month, although Ward plans to offer early-bird discounts to get the scheme off the ground. Other paid-for services will bolted on later. Like eBay, MyFoodTrader.com will also rate sellers on how well they deliver on their promises, using feedback from buyers. “It’s a completely new way for food businesses to be matched, based on their reputation as well as on their products,” Ward said, “and I think you’ll find that the cream will rise to the top, because those suppliers who are most proud of their reputation will be the ones

who embrace the system.” Ward said most existing product search sites were based on Yellow Pages, which can give hundreds of unfiltered results, whereas MyFoodTrader.com could create “a much more intelligent match”. “The better the information you put in, the better the quality of the match. “If I’m a farm shop looking for organic carrots, I might want them to come from within 50 miles or only want to buy Cornish. I might only need 200kg a week and only take deliveries on Tuesdays and Thursdays. That’s a complex set of enquiries for a database to handle so we’ve worked with a US system that’s the most advanced of its kind, and adapted it to our needs.” Ward, a former farm shop operator and a soft fruit supplier to major multiples, began promoting the service in November through e-mail shots and networking sites like Linked In and says he received just under 500 responses in the first week, 72% of them from the UK.

Viewpoint Mark Brown, Arcadia Deli, Belfast “MyFoodTradersounds like a great idea but key to its success will be getting buy-in from both suppliers and retailers to create a critical mass. “I think the site would need to prove itself very quickly. Sitting down on a computer to search for products rather than just picking up the phone is actually more time consuming for us. “As a fairly small independent, the order quantities might not be sufficient for us to get direct supply. But if it proved itself early on, of course it would be worth it.”

www.myfoodtrader.com

‘A market environment keeps suppliers sharp’ MyFoodTrader.com is not looking to replace distributors, Rob Ward told FFD, but will help retailers ensure they are getting the best deals instead of putting all their trust in wholesaler suppliers. “People often make compromises to cope with their workload, and they are buying more through distributors to consolidate their ordering. “I’m not having a pop at distributors – there’s no reason why they couldn’t use MyFoodTrader.com too – but we need to be

constantly challenging our supply chain.” A former commercial fruit grower, Ward founded and ran Green Fields Farm Shop & Garden Centre in Shropshire before selling the business last year. “I would get up at 3am to go to Birmingham wholesale market, because if I wanted to get the best quality I had to shop around. You need the pressure of the ‘market’ environment to keep suppliers sharp. Once you have a level of dependency [on one distributor] they can manipulate the market. So we have to shake that up.”

All sales enquiries to OXFORD BLUE CHEESE COMPANY LTD 01844 338055 Vol.11 Issue 10 路 December 2010 www.oxfordfinefood.com

Letter from Ludlow

news No ‘comfy salary packages’ for new Cornish food group

Every fine food store should aim to be a destination for tourists, says Ludlow Food Centre’s SANDY BOYD We won the Taste of the Heart category at the recent Heart of England Excellence in Tourism Awards and are now through to compete in the National Tourism Awards next year. It’s the second time we’ve won the award and shows that we must be doing something right when it comes to attracting visitors from outside the region. The tourist trade is something all fine food retailers should be thinking about. You might think that you’re not in a tourist area, but until you’ve done the research how can you be sure? At peak times we ask customers at the till to write down the first part of their postcode. Some are a bit wary that we’re going to send them junk mail, but

“We work with a holiday cottage agency providing guests with a ‘welcome to Shropshire’ hamper’’ because it’s only the first half of the postcode most are happy to do it. It costs nothing and you can see at a glance the breakdown of your customers. The majority of ours come from within a half hour’s drive. Around 80% come from within an hour’s drive and 20% are coming from further afield because they are on holiday or passing through. During half term, for example, we saw sales go up by 30% compared to a ‘normal’ week and a lot of that can be attributed to holidaymakers in the area. It’s important to think about this part of the customer base and make yourself a destination for tourists. We work with a local holiday cottage agency, which has about a dozen cottages, providing their guests with a ‘welcome to Shropshire’ hamper with local eggs, freshly ground coffee and fresh bread. It’s a taster of what we do in the shop and this will hopefully tempt them to visit the store during their stay. We don’t make great margins on the hampers, but if you get a new customer, it’s worth doing it. We also write to coach companies offering to put on tasting events and tours. If we can get a coach-load of 50 people to visit by giving a talk about jam, then usually they’ll spend at least £10 each in the shop. An extra £500 for a half hour talk on a quiet day is not to be sniffed at. It’s something lots of farm shop operators could do. If you have space to park a coach, it can really lift the figures in the quieter months. Interview by PATRICK McGUIGAN

March 2010 · Vol.11 Issue 2

As Regional Food Groups (RFGs) across England see government funding disappear, a new venture in Cornwall claims to offer a more sustainable business model using private funding to support local food. Founded by Ruth Huxley and Alex Harris, Cornwall Food and Drink is a membership organisation which aims to promote the sector through marketing initiatives and events. It will also offer a range of professional services. The partners, who run the Cornwall Food and Drink Festival, said they decided to set up the organisation after support for the county’s food sector was hit by the ending of Objective One funding. “We’re directly accountable to the businesses we serve,” said Harris, “so it’s essential we provide value-for-money services that businesses really want. It’s a new business model, taking this type of work beyond dependence on public funding but, in doing so, making it much more vibrant. This is a million miles away from the type of organisation that achieves ‘outputs’ by ticking boxes while sitting on comfy salary packages.” Cornwall Food and Drink has been launched with a start-up grant via the Rural Development

Programme for England. Up to a maximum of £400,000 is available over three years. Match funding will be provided through membership and other income. Any shortfall will be met by the directors. Huxley said the organisation would not compete directly with existing food group Taste of the West (TotW). “There are some specific differences. TotW is a regional organisation with a regional focus. We have a purely county focus. We’ve been very careful not to duplicate things that are already out there. We’ve looked at what TotW provides and are filling in the gaps at a much more local level.”

Ruth Huckley and Alex Harris: A new business model now that public funding is winding down

guild news

Grana Padano offers free in-store promo kits

bunting, shelf wobblers and postcards explaining how the awards are judged, giving retailers everything they need to run a successful instore promotion.

After positive feedback from sampling at the World Cheese Awards section of last month’s BBC Good Food Show in Birmingham, the producer consortium for Grana Padano has high hopes for a four-month UK retail promotion for the Italian hard cheese. Fine food retailers can apply now to receive a free point-of-sale kit including recipes booklets and a starter pack of cheese. The promotion is being supported by distributor Cheese Cellar, which can supply the 20-month Grana Padano Riserva in 2.2kg packs and 15-month cheese in 1.1kg and 2.2kg packs. See page 26 for more details or email Charlie Westcar at the Guild of Fine Food.

charlie.westcar@finefoodworld.co.uk

Let your shoppers Taste Gold this winter Retailers can capitalise on publicity surrounding this year’s Great Taste Awards by getting hold of the 201011 promotional pack, which includes free copies of the consumer magazine Taste Gold. The pack also contains Great Taste Awards

charlie.westcar@finefoodworld.co.uk

Feed The Dragon is a first for Scotland Feed The Dragon, a favourite feature of the annual Harrogate Speciality Food Show in June, will make its first appearance north of the border at Scotland’s Speciality Food Show next month. The Dragon’s Den-style event, in which fine food & drink suppliers pitch their wares to a panel of top buyers, will take place on Monday January 24, the middle day of the trade-only show at Glasgow’s SECC. Among the ‘dragons’ lined up to take part are Peter Brown of Scotland-based deli franchise operator Berits & Brown, Claire Mossford of Harvey Nichols in London and Francesca Contini of Valvona and Crolla, which has its own outlets in Edinburgh as well as running several food halls for House of Fraser. This year’s Scottish show will also feature a series of workshops and teach-ins, including a panel-based discussion on promotion through social networking sites, led by Dom Lane, director of creativity at agency Bray Leino. w

www.specialityfoodshow.co.uk

food awards

Pics: Jason Ingram/William Shaw

Top tenants rewarded

Winners include free range hens’ eggs from Ochr Cefn Isa in North Wales, beers from the Old Forge Brewery in Coleshill, F Conisbee & Sons’ steak and ale pie and Brockhampton Estate jam.

Oxfordshire’s Old Forge Brewery and Nottinghamshire chilli sauce maker Gringley Gringo are among 22 producers recognised in this year’s National Trust Fine Farm Produce Awards, launched in 2005 to benefit the Trust’s tenant farmers and producers. This year, for the first time, the Trust named an overall winner: a rhubarb jam made on Herefordshire’s Brockhampton Estate by Tanwood Products, run by Les and Janet Rogers. The couple make the product with fruit from the organic gardens at nearby Hanbury Hall. Other winners included Devon’s Killerton Estate, which collected awards for its cider, honey and charcoal, as well as for an apple chutney made in its own kitchen. Products are judged on provenance, environmental and welfare standards as well as taste. Livestock and dairy products must be certified organic or RSPCA Freedom Food assured. Arable and field crops are expected to be organic or hold the Leaf Marque or Conservation Grade.

ON TOP OF THE WORLD: Cornish Blue producer Philip Stansfield (second from right) accepts the World Cheese Awards world champion trophy from organiser Bob Farrand at the BBC Good Food Show in Birmingham, where the awards were staged last month. They are joined by celebrity cheese-maker Alex James of Blur (left) and BBC Radio 2’s Nigel Barden. The award created a wave of publicity for Stansfield as this was the first British cheese to take the top trophy for a decade. The reserve champion was also British: Swaledale Blue from Yorkshire. New Specialist Cheesemakers Association chairman Jamie Montgomery took the best mature traditional cheddar prize. Von Muhlenen’s Gruyère Premier Cru was best Continental cheese. Best Welsh cheese was Gorwydd Caerphilly. Full details next month. w www.finefoodworld.co.uk/wca

food halls

House-building to finance Kent farm shop A farm shop development in Kent has received planning permission, with work now underway to build a 1,000 sq ft shop showcasing local foods. Gary Mercer and Sarah Clout, who previously worked in IT, plan to convert several derelict buildings on a 1.2 acre site at Holwood Farm in Downe into a shop and three houses. Profits from the housing development will help finance Holwood Farm Shop, which is due to open in Christmas 2011 and will combine the best of a farmers’ market with a high street delicatessen. The couple plan to stock produce from local farms along with award-winning speciality food from Britain and abroad. “We’re looking to offer the best value for money with prices that are often cheaper than supermarket equivalents,” said Mercer. The site was a working dairy farm until 2006.

Organic still sells, says Better Food Co

delicatessens

Makeover is a gift for Berwick shop A change in shopping habits has prompted a North Berwick fish and produce shop to reposition itself as an upmarket delicatessen and giftware outlet. The Fisherman’s Kitchen traded for 11 years in the Scottish town, selling fresh fish, fruit and vegetables, but owners Rod and Lorna Bunney decided to refurbish and rebrand the business earlier this year. The decision came after Tesco opened nearby and the number of specialist food shops on the high street dwindled. The shop reopened at the end of October as Bunney’s, selling a range of exclusive food and gifts, such as Cath Kidston giftware, olive and rapeseed oils, Japanese sushi wraps, fine wines and vintage American tableware.

Sales of organic food and drink have taken a battering in recent years, but Bristol-based The Better Food Company believes its new 2,500 sq ft organic food hall and farm shop will prove organic can work. The company, which has a 24-acre farm near the city and a shop and café in St Werburgh’s, has opened the new outlet in Clifton despite organic food and drink sales plummeting nearly 13% last year. “Sales in our St Weburgh’s store held up well during the recession,” said managing director Phil Haughton (above). “That’s because we moved quickly to make prices more affordable, lowering margins and reviewing our buying strategy. “We also made sure customer service was absolutely immaculate and really pushed the fact that our food and drink is produced sustainably and is supplied by local producers. “People came to the store because we were selling really good local food, not just because we were organic.” The same tactics are being applied to the new store, said Haughton. “Developing and maintaining connections to local growers and suppliers will be one of the shop's highest priorities.” Vol.11 Issue 10 · December 2010

fine food news better retailing GORDON LEATHERDALE It’s important to analyse your performance this year, to be honest with yourself and work out where and how you can improve. Ask yourself what you would have done differently. What did you miss out on this year? What worked? What didn’t? Where did you waste money? Did you make any money? Are you giving your customers everything they want? At the very least aim to repeat this year’s sales while being optimistic that demand will continue to increase. I believe it will – but be cautious. If you base your planning on the last 12 months you have the opportunity to iron out mistakes and reinforce the successful elements of your trading. Performance Plan to examine your financial performance this year. January and February could be miserable so look carefully at your P&L accounts to find improvements. Staff wages and wastage are two obvious areas of cost. Can you shave off a few staff hours here and there, perhaps at the beginning and end of the day? And to boost your profile and create a buzz, think about taking part in promotions like Olives et Al’s Purple Love Week and the autumn Taste Gold promotion for 2011’s Great Taste Awards winners.

“Don’t reinforce failure – look to maximise sales of your most popular lines’’’ Don’t reinforce failure – look to maximise sales of your most popular food & drink lines and consider what you do with the worst 5%. Could the latter, for instance, be replaced with newspapers? Professional fees Can you strip out some of your professional fees? VAT and Companies House returns are straightforward to handle yourself. Why not do it? Advertising Did your local advertising work? Was it measurable? If you can’t see a correlation between marketing and sales, consider cheaper forms of direct marketing. For instance, at the start of the asparagus season, can you have a member of staff outside the store, dishing out small samples (funded completely, or in part, by the supplier, perhaps) to draw customers in? Market Intelligence Speak to your wholesale account managers to establish where they think you can make improvements. With their knowledge of the market, and stores across the country, they can provide precious intelligence as to what is and isn’t selling and how other stores are succeeding. It pays to constantly and ruthlessly review your business. 2011 will, I am sure, bring many challenges, so careful consideration of the above may be a useful start to the New Year. gordon@stcatherinesltd.co.uk

June 2010 · Vol.11 Issue 5

delicatessens

people

County champion Newly opened retailer The Yorkshire Pantry has taken local sourcing to a new level after making a commitment to source all its products from the county. Ex-lawyer Giles Bennett, who owns the 350 sq ft shop in York, said that while other delis and food shops in the city had made a partial commitment to local sourcing, his was the only outlet stocking products exclusively from Yorkshire. “Yorkshire has so many amazing producers that it’s not been as difficult as you might think,” he said. “It has the advantage of being the largest county and having a varied landscape so there’s a lot of scope when it comes to choosing products. The only area I seem to be struggling in is soft drinks. We have apple juice and water, but I’m still looking for others.” Products include Botham’s of Whitby cakes, Bracken Hill preserves and Holmfirth Tea.

SUMMIT SPECIAL: Nottinghamshire retailer Georgie Mason has raised around £8,000 for two charities after climbing the 5,896m peak of Mount Kilimanjaro. She is pictured at the peak with Michael Kamili, her Swahili guide. Husband Ross had to abandon his climb after slipping a disc a few weeks earlier. Mason, who runs Gonalston Farm Shop, covered a distance of 120km over seven days to complete the climb. The cash raised will benefit the Woodborough branch of Cancer Research and the Lincolnshire & Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance. www.lccs.co.uk/kibo.aspx

farm shops

Balloon trips give a lift to Battlefield A Shrewsbury farm shop has seen a lift in customer numbers after becoming a take-off point for Virgin hot air balloon rides. Battlefield 1403 Farm Shop, located on the site where the Battle of Shrewsbury was fought between King Henry IV and the Percy family, was approached by Virgin earlier this year to act as a take-off site

– a collaboration that has helped boost business at the shop.“The balloons hold a maximum of 18 people and before they take off people like to browse the shop or have breakfast in the café,” said Battlefield owner Jeremy Jagger. The shop charges Virgin £30 per take-off and also provides parking and toilet facilities. “It’s important for farm shops to build up as many attractions as they can, so they become destinations,” Jagger added.

community stores

Exeter’s community unites to bring Real Food to city The local community in Exeter has raised over £135,000 to open a local food store, bakery and café in the city centre. Nearly 300 people are now members of the Real Food Store, which is due to open in March next year, making it one of the largest community schemes of its kind in the UK. Most of the cash will be put towards refitting two adjacent shop units in the city centre, with a lease due to be signed shortly. The store has been financed by community shares, an innovative model of social enterprise in which companies, while operating commercially, make social or ethical values their guiding principals. A minimum investment of £100 and a maximum of £20,000 was required to buy a

share, which effectively gave ‘ownership’ to the local community, enabling them to elect directors and have a say in how the business operates.

Fundraising events yielded nearly 300 investors

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December 2010 路 Vol.11 Issue 10

interview

jody scheckter

Payback time for Laverstoke In a frank interview, Laverstoke Park’s multi-millionaire owner tells FFD why it’s time for his fantasy farm and its 2,000 buffalo to pay their way nicely” out of the sale of the US-based high-tech weapons training business he He wasn’t known for his caution behind set up after quitting motorsport. He soon the wheel of a Ferrari and he hasn’t been added to Laverstoke’s 550 acres by taking noted for his financial restraint since over a neighbouring farm, and now owns setting up his 2,500 acre biodynamic farm 2,500 acres as well as renting 1,100 acres enterprise at Wiltshire’s Laverstoke Park. more. But after sinking more cash than most Obsessed with organic farming, he set of us will see in a lifetime into what to out to produce safer food for his family, many looks like a rich man’s plaything, adding extravagant extras to what he once Jody Scheckter today sounds more called “the biggest smallholding in the circumspect. world” like a world-class soil analysis lab “To start with, I just wanted to produce and its own high-welfare abattoir. the best-tasting, healthiest food,” he tells As the buffalo milk poured in, Scheckter FFD. “Now I realise you actually have to set up his mozzarella operation, then sell it.” launched ice cream (which he thinks could We’re speaking on the phone shortly outstrip cheese in sales), charcuterie, beer after I’d visited Laverstoke for what has (brewed by Hepworth & Co in Horsham become one of those legendary food using Laverstoke hops and barley) and trade experiences: a personal tour of the pies, patés and terrines. estate, with Scheckter at the wheel of a Laverstoke shared the Best English spotless new Mercedes 4x4, followed by Speciality title at this year’s Great Taste lunch in the “farmhouse” – an expensively Awards with its buffalo fillet. So is the restored and extended Georgian pile with business at least shifting most of its buffalo Downton Abbey-style views across the meat? “Not really,” admits Scheckter. “A estate. buffalo doesn’t have as many good cuts as Over a lunch of buffalo mozzarella, a cow, and if it’s over 30 months the fillet buffalo fillet steak, buffalo burgers, buffalo is really the only part that gives you good sausages and buffalo ice cream, Scheckter steaks. But burgers and sausages are really told me: “I’m aiming for three things: good for that. We’ve started to develop the best-tasting food, the healthiest food Jody Scheckter: To be sustainable, Laverstoke has to be profitable ‘or pies too, and we have a new product – and to make a profit. I don’t care where at least not losing money’ development (NPD) kitchen now looking it’s sold – delis or supermarkets – as to balance the carcase.” pure Hereford beef, is growing fast – perhaps too long as people buy it and enjoy it.” Then he added: Acknowledging Hinton’s point about the rate of fast. “The biggest problem is keeping Jody under “That’s not what you want to hear, is it?” NPD, he says: “We’re still getting new products control,” says head of sales Mark Hinton. “If you Not really. It would be great to think that, having out, but the emphasis now is on getting volume ordered everything from our Christmas catalogue invested millions in this model farm, abattoir and from what we’re already doing – not thinking of you could lock yourself indoors for a fortnight.” processing operation without the constraints of the next adventure before the last one is working.” The business has made some headway selling conventional farming, Scheckter wouldn’t sell out to Mozzarella, ice cream and beer are seen as the its mozzarella to independents through specialist the multiples. best volume prospects, and possibly burgers and distributors, but can’t get enough product into this Hence my phone call. Does he really want that sausages. fragmented trade quickly enough. “We probably did “I don’t care…” line to be quoted? He decides to So plans to build a winery are on hold – although things backwards,” Scheckter says. “Most people rephrase it. “I always vowed I would never go into the first Laverstoke sparkling wine will be produced by start in the independents, then see if they can get supermarkets. But we can’t do what we do without a third-party maker this year – as is a new farm shop. into supermarkets. We went into the bigger stores the volumes to make it work. I want to make this Scheckter is not exactly cash-strapped. This first [he has been in Waitrose for a while now] and sustainable, which means it has to be profitable, or year’s Sunday Times Rich List estimates his wealth at it has been quite difficult for us to reach speciality at least not losing money, and if that means selling to around £60m But there’s more than a hint that, as stores.” supermarkets, so be it.” an aggressive competitor, he is uncomfortable with Laverstock is, however, on shelf in Harrods, Its price levels will ensure Laverstoke is never a the “rich man’s plaything” label and wants Laverstoke Harvey Nichols, Selfridges, and Oxford Street’s John mass-market brand but after eight years of fantasy to be seen to succeed. “It’s not so much the joy of Lewis Food Hall, proving the brand’s credibility in the farming it seems Scheckter is getting a bit more winning as the fear of failure that has driven me all speciality market. “Those are the ones I wanted to real. Output of meat, cheese, milk, ice cream and my life,” he tells me. “You can see how much I’ve get in”, he says, although Fortnums still eludes him. charcuterie products from Laverstoke, which hosts put into this. I’ve got to make it pay.” The 1979 F1 World Drivers Champion bought 80% of the UK’s milking buffalo (around 2,000 Laverstoke Park 13 years ago after doing “very beasts) plus pigs, wild boar, chickens, turkeys and www.laverstokepark.co.uk By MICK WHITWORTH

“I just wanted to produce the best-tasting, healthiest food. Now I realise you actually have to sell it.” Vol.11 Issue 10 · December 2010

deli of the month

State of the Union Five months after opening site number one in an architectural gem in Fulham, Union Market is talking ‘supermarket’ to get shoppers filling trolleys, not baskets

December 2010 · Vol.11 Issue 10

f, as Union Market’s PR tells us, its founder Tony Bromovsky wants to find “architecturally striking” buildings for his planned chain of upmarket but everyday food stores, he couldn’t have made a better start. Shop number one opened in July in the former Fulham Broadway tube station – or in its ticket office, to be precise, built in 1905 – and is genuinely unique in look and feel. So much so, you wonder how he’s going to replicate it. Bromovsky, who has financial backing from Odey Asset Management, says he would like to open another half dozen Union Markets in London alone, and when FFD first reported on the chain last year there was talk of more than 100 potential locations UK-wide. But finding multiple sites that can match this Edwardian gem for architectural interest will be a big ask. A 6,000 sq ft retail space under a high and handsome glass atrium, the Grade II listed building has been beautifully buffed up and refitted with help from design agency Cada at a reported cost of £1m, rescuing it from a six-year living death as a TGI Friday’s restaurant. Where the American burger chain had boarded over the best of the building’s features – and hidden the glass roof that now lends it a Victorian indoor market air – Cada capitalised on the quirks of the space to create something really special. There are nearly a dozen departments: bakery, grocery, coffee shop, butchery, wine, walk-in cheese room, deli, traiteur counter, fresh produce, ambient grocery and 40-cover eatery. With the exception of

the mini-supermarket-style ambient grocery area they are styled as individual shops, to the extent that some shoppers were apparently confused at first, thinking each was a separate concession. It’s one of the best attempts yet at blending a market feel with a conventional food store, helped enormously by that towering glass ceiling. “I think the look of the place works,” says Bromovsky, but he adds: “It’s really hard to find a fabulous site – despite the recession, they’re quite rare.” Yet this was not Union Market’s first choice of premises. “We had a site in Portabello but we got gazumped by a fashion retailer. They’ll always be able to pay more than a food business.” That was in mid 2009, and Bromovsky and his team then opted to “sit it out” for a few months while the recession raged. But the basic Union Market blueprint was already in place well before they collected the keys to Fulham Broadway in April. The idea was to “bring back the excitement of shopping” with a seven-days-a-week store and eatery that majored on UK produce (it’s currently 80% British, from Brogdale heritage apples to Trealy Farm charcuterie) and offered the buzz of a farmers’ market – but at supermarket prices. The concept was developed with help from former Selfridges food executive Stephen Wright of Global Food Consulting. Another ex Selfridges man, Martyn Barrett, originally joined Bromovsky as retail director, although he left around the time of the opening. When FFD first visited in mid-October, the

Interview by MICK WHITWORTH core management team included Bromovsky as commercial director and Zoe McBride as retail manager. McBride was previously assistant store manager of Daylesford Organic’s store on Pimlico Road, and has also worked Bluebird on Kings Road and for Harrods. Bromovsky has also recruited Malachy Guinness, a young member of the brewing dynasty, as his “right-hand man”. The other key team member was Aylie Cooke, the ex Whole Foods Market senior buyer who had been part of the Union Market team since the outset. In November, however, Cooke left the business, to be replaced by a former supermarket buyer and retail consultant Matthew House. Cooke has maintained a diplomatic silence about her departure but Bromovsky says she left the business “in very good standing”. “Aylie had been with us for two-and-a-half years, since we started, and was enormously helpful, so she is owed a debt. I think she loved setting up the business, but for a buyer, in some ways, once you’ve set up it’s not quite so exciting. “But Matthew has enormous relevant retail experience – 15 years with Sainsbury as a buyer, but also Europa and Justin de Blanc. He has launched proper English rural businesses such as Long Crichel Bakery in Dorset, and also helped set up farm shops. So he will more than fill Aylie’s shoes.” Bromovsky himself is an organic farmer, which he says “has given me the supply chain knowledge” but he has also run commodity trading operations in the City, chaired a north American property company and worked with J Rothschild on various corporate finance deals in food and retail, giving him a handy link to the Rothschild-owned wine estates. Currently, all his energies are going into the Fulham store, which in October underwent its first reshaping in the light of four months’ trading experience. “It’s a viable model, but like all models we are fine-tuning it,” he says. One obvious change was a re-siting of the tills which, oddly, had been located in a separate space (presumably one of the old station shops) to the side of the main entrance. The Grade II listing means Union Market just can’t do away with some of these awkward structural elements – and on the plus side means it has retained appealing features like the original ticket counters – but why did they not put the tills is a more visible space near the main exit? “It was just a fundamental mistake,” admits Malachy Guinness. “On paper it looked fine – we thought it would be much nicer to have the fruit & vegetable display at the main entrance – but operationally it didn’t work. At one point we were going to have more tills around the shop, but there was a bit of confusion so now we’re going back to a single pay-point.” In mid-October the tills were moved out to the main entrance while the vacated space has been converted to a café, which suits it much better. At the same time, the original Microsoft RMS EPoS

system has been replaced by Eureka from LCCS. The prominent, central bakery section that greeted shoppers as they walked in has been shrunk back a bit, and more space is now being given to ambient grocery – really a stripped-down high-class supermarket. Lines here include some familiar household names, both food and household goods, with supermarket-style block merchandising of better brands. When FFD visited in October, Zoe McBride pointed out these blocked brands would broadly be classed ‘speciality’ – Stokes ketchup, for example, rather than Heinz, and pasta from Seggiano, La Tierre e li Cielo and Organico. But that may alter. Asked whether Matthew House’s arrival would signal a change of direction, Tony Borowsky says there may be a move to more “affordable” brands – for example, a mainstream pasta alongside the classier organic options. The number one priority, it seems, is to get more customers using Union Market for their weekly shop. Bromovsky has stressed Union Market is not meant to be a luxury deli, and apparently he has been persuaded to start using the word “supermarket” to get that message across. From the outset, prices have been pitched largely at a Waitrose/M&S level, but average baskets are hovering stubbornly around the £30 mark – perhaps because Union Market looks more expensive than it is. While it does stock a few serious deli specialities, it actually offers good value, especially in its eat-in section where customers can lunch on 21-day 8oz ribeye straight from the butchery section for around £11. There is no shortage of footfall in Fulham Broadway, but Bromovsky has to persuade more passers-by to step through the doors and spend more when they get inside. “In this part of London people do tend to shop only one or two days ahead,” he says. “But we want people to treat us a full-shop, fill-up-your-trolley place.” An initial range count of around 3,000 SKUs is likely to approach 3,500 as Union Market adds more everyday lines, including household goods, to encourage those bigger trolley shops. That’s still only a tenth of a typical supermarket range, but Bromovsky sees this as virtue. “Most people don’t put more than 20 lines in their trolleys anyway, and I think the big stores may even be worried they are offering too much choice. We don’t see the need to offer 30 different balsamics. We have three, because we’ve chosen the ones we like.” So while Union Market may add more big-name brands, Bromovsky insists it won’t lose its key points of difference from the multiples. “We’re specialists, far better quality, far more British, far more green and far more knowledgeable.” He expects the store to finish its first year with turnover in “multiples of millions” but if the brand is to grow beyond Fulham Broadway, it’s clear Union Market needs those everyday shoppers to start grabbing a trolley, not a basket.

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“It’s really hard to find a fabulous site – despite the recession, they’re quite rare” Tony Bromovsky Vol.11 Issue 10 · December 2010

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December 2010 · Vol.11 Issue 10

A promotional feature for Mogador Argan Oil

Moroccan Gold I

t was during the judging of the 2005 Great Taste Awards that Argan Oil first impressed the judges. It was awarded Gold. Since then, this one time obscure oil has risen to the dizzy heights of two star gold in 2009 and 3-stars in 2010. Some achievement considering only 101 entries out of 6027 were consider superb enough to be awarded 3-stars. Yet we know relatively little about the Argan tree, its fruit and oil, apart from rumours that its rich flavours also deliver intriguing health benefits. Its growing success, however, suggests we should find out more. The Argan tree only grows in southwest Morocco and is an ancient species well suited to hardy conditions. The area bordered by the High Atlas and Higher-Atlas Mountains and open to the Atlantic in the west is a protected reserve of 2.5 million hectares known as the Argan forest or grove. Here the trees give their fruit which, when fully ripened, are picked and dried in the sun before the fleshy part is discarded. Each nut is cracked open by hand using round stones and up to three kernels, which resemble sliced almonds are removed for cold pressing using a mechanical press. Argan oil production is vital to this part of Morocco, helping to sustain a local population of 2 million people. The work is carried out by the women from the surrounding villages and 36 to 40kg of fruit yields 2.5kg of seeds, which produces just one litre of oil.

Roasted or un-roasted argan seeds can be used but it is the roasted seeds that produce the characteristic nutty flavoured oil that impressed the judges in the GTA’s. It is good for cooking, seasoning and flavouring and is often taken with honey as a dietary supplement. Oil from unroasted seeds is used in the same way but also as an ingredient in cosmetic products for skin and face-care and massage oils. For centuries, it has been the perceived health benefits of argan oil as much as its rich flavour that attracted it to such a wide audience. Richer in phenols and tocopherols than olive oil, it is loaded with essential fatty acids, oleic and lineoic acids (47%) as well as in Vitamin E about (60-/100g). It also contains no cholesterol. All in all it has a lot going for it. German based producer, Mogador Moroccan specialises in producing the organic argan oil that was awarded 3-star Gold in the 2010 GTA’s which followed multiple gold medals in the international DLG quality competition for organic products, a Superior Taste Award from the International Taste and Quality Institute in Brussels, the Medal of Excellence from Agence de Valorisation des Produits Agricoles in Paris and gold medals from Monde Selection in Venice.

Mogador works in harmony with the Berber population in Morocco, to preserve the Argan forest on which their livelihood depends. The trees are needed to fuel heating and cooking, timber for carpentry, fodder for livestock as well as the oil for culinary, cosmetic and medicinal purposes. Following the growth in demand, the locals, along with Mogadoer, have adopted the role of guardians and protectors of the Argan trees, so much so, the forest region is now a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Mogador pays the Berbers in advance for the argan seeds which helps villages fund internal development and the company is a member of the Moroccan platform for Fair Trade and active member of the Mohammed VI Foundation for the Research and Preservation of the argan tree. The judges at the Great Taste Awards knew none of this, of course, they merely blind tasted an oil which 25 of them unanimously agreed delivered the ‘wow’ factor. Rich, well balanced and full of flavour and along the way, doing us some good too.

www.mogador-argan.com An importer of Mogador Arganoilo in The UK Market: Harleys Foods Ltd Blindcrake Hall Cockermouth Cumbria CA13 0QP t: 01900 823037 www.harleyfoods.co.uk sales@harleyfoods.co.uk Vol.11 Issue 10 · December 2010

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December 2010 路 Vol.11 Issue 10

delichef

putting deli ingredients to work

interview By PATRICK McGUIGAN

Fabio Arcari Valentina, Putney

ou’d have to be a panini short of a picnic not to twig Valentina Fine Foods’ Italian origins. The two Fiat 500s parked next to a row of olive trees and rosemary bushes outside the shop in Putney are a bit of a giveaway. Then there’s the full-sized Vespa suspended from the ceiling inside, not to mention shelves lined with pasta, prosciutto and, at this time of year, panettone. Set up in 2009 by food industry veteran Bruno Zoccola and his nephew Fabio Arcari, the shop joined the family’s long-standing deli in nearby East Sheen and was soon followed by a third branch in Kent. The Putney outlet is the glamorous flagship, taking up two floors and 4,000 sq ft of a modern, glassfronted building. The deli stocks literally thousands of lines from small producers in Italy, while the 150-cover café and restaurant flies the flag for gutsy Neapolitan cooking. “We use products from the deli to show people what they can do with them at home,” explains Fabio Arcari, who worked as a chef under Gary Rhodes and Gordon Ramsay in a previous life. “Parmesan is not just for grating. We serve it in chunks with honey and walnuts, which cut through the saltiness of the cheese. We also go with the seasons. In October, when we started getting white truffles from Alba, we served vitello all’uccelletto – veal in a mushroom sauce drizzled with homemade truffle oil.” The ground floor café serves up a ‘spuntino’ menu of small tapas-sized plates, while the main first floor

Capella Romana (Roman Helmet) Serves 6 Ingredients: 5 eggs 100ml water 350g flour 50g semolina flour Half an onion, peeled and chopped Half head of celery, chopped 50g Parmesan cheese, grated 1 clove garlic 1 carrot, peeled and chopped Half pint milk 200ml red wine 200g thinly sliced speck ham 1lt tomato passata 350g pork mince 20g butter, diced Method: In a deep pan, sweat the onion, carrot, celery and garlic. Seal two thirds of the mince, drain and add to the onion mix. Add the red wine and reduce by a third. Add the passata and cook for 3-4 hours. For the pasta, mix four of the eggs and flour together, add some water

and flour until a firm consistency is reached. Leave to rest in the fridge for 15mins then roll into long thin sheets and cut sheets into tagliatelle ribbons. Cook in boiling salted water for three minutes and drain. Roll the remaining mince mixed with one egg into small balls and fry separately. For the bechamel sauce heat some butter in a pan, slowly add 50g of the flour and whisk until flour has cooked out. Continue whisking while pouring in the milk until the sauce has thickened. Line a small, deep bowl with the speck ham, then a layer of the pasta, another layer of Bolognese mixed with the béchamel, a few meatballs and a sprinkling of Parmesan. Repeat until the bowl is full (about four layers) and seal with more speck. Turn it out onto a baking tray and bake at 180°C for 20 minutes. • Recipe by executive chef Massimo Grippa

Fabio Arcari is pleased that Valentina’s deli sales still outstrip those of the café and restaurant

restaurant covers traditional primi piatti of pasta and risotto and meat and fish ‘secondi’. Both menus include a ‘dal banco alla tavolo’ (from counter to table) option taking in platters of cheese and charcuterie supplied by importers such as Alivini, Villanova and L’Aquila. Provolone and mortadella served with toasted bread catch the eye, as does the 24-month aged San Daniele with pane casau (a Sardinian flat bread) and homemade pickled vegetables. “We serve the platters on olivewood boards, which are placed on two tins of Nudo olive oil to make sharing easier,” says Arcari. “You can buy the olive oil, the board, the charcuterie and the cheese in the deli. We even sell the Valentina-branded apron and tie that the staff wear.” This two-way relationship between deli and restaurant extends to the main courses where speck from the counter is wrapped around homemade tagliatelle and meatballs in a dish called capella Romana, while buffalo mozzarella is sliced over pasta alla Napoletana. Many of these dishes are also available to takeaway as gourmet ready-meals with one of the three chefs that staff the kitchen dedicated to producing food to be sold through the deli at all three Valentina shops, as well as for catering events. “The deli is the backbone of the business and the food we prepare ourselves is a big part of that,” says Arcari. “The shop does as much as the café and the restaurant put together, which I’m really pleased about. I never wanted to be one of those delis that is actually a café Wine is also a strong cross-over product with over 200 Italian wines for sale, all of which can be drunk in the restaurant with a corkage fee of £6.45. “Our wines retail from £6 to £250,” says Arcari. “It’s amazing that you can take a £180 bottle of Sassicaia and drink it here for £186.45. In most restaurants it would be £300. People are starting to realise that and come solely because of the wine.” At the other end of the spectrum, Valentina has also managed to poach customers from the Somerfield convenience store next door, which has just been converted into a Co-op. “It closed for a few weeks when it was being refurbished and our business went crazy. Hopefully we’ll hold on to those customers,” he says.

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cheese wire ‘Be canny, and keep your counter full’ Cheese shops will have to buy cleverly to keep up appearances if sales slow down next year, warns distributor Simeon Hudson-Evans

Simeon Hudson-Evans says artisan cheese-makers ‘mustn’t lose sight of what makes them special’

By MICK WHITWORTH

Delis will need to keep their cheese counters full and project “an air of confidence” to keep tills ringing in the New Year if Government austerity measures cause a post-Christmas sales dip, says Simeon Hudson-Evans of Fromage to Age. The Gloucestershire-based specialist distributor told FFD: “If independents take fright and start battening down the hatches they’re not going to sell anything. They’ve got to exude an air of confidence and be canny in what they sell. “If there’s a downturn in February and March, they should maybe pare back their softer short-life cheeses and go for more varieties with longevity, like the Comtés, Lancashires and Cheddars, so at least they maintain a good display. There’s nothing worse than a sparse counter.” He suggests, for example, that buyers could drop their usual 3kg Brie de Meaux and substitute a smaller cheese, like the 1kg Sharpham Brie from Devon. “Then when things pick up again, they can sell both. It’s a matter of being canny. “If you go into any good butcher’s they will always have a full cabinet. Whether they fill it with large quantities of mince or a large platter of parsley, you’ll never see the stainless steel base.” Hudson-Evans started Fromage to Age in Chipping Campden in 2003 after being made redundant by H&B Foods. Describing himself as “an out-and-out cheese snob” (“We don’t do cheese with bits of apricot in, we don’t do waxed cheeses and we don’t strangle cheeses in clingfilm…”) he has focused almost exclusively on artisan varieties, delivering by van within 40-50 miles and by courier nationwide. Regular clients now include Daylesford Organic, Quayles of Tetbury, The Peach Pub Company and Broadway Deli. They are drawn by specialities including a “brilliant, mind-blowingly good” Gorgonzola from Mario Costa in Novara, north-west Italy, the Spanish ewes’ milk Zamorano from Vincente Pastor (imported by Brindisa), which Fromage to Age sells as a substitute for Manchego, and the “stunning” Gruyère and Tilsiter-style cheeses being imported by Rachael Sills at KäseSwiss. “She has done for Swiss cheeses what Randolph [Hodgson of Neal’s Yard] has done for British cheeses – she has amazing taste. If you compare her Gruyère with some of the better-known ‘cave-aged’ Gruyères you’d be stunned by the quality. It’s not cheap, but the good things in life never are, so just buy a smaller amount and relish it.” The balance of British to Continental cheeses in Hudson-Evans’ chill store has moved from 60:40 to more like 70:30, driven partly by the plunge in the pound-euro rate two years ago. “Retailers are at the sharp end,” he says, “but if it was me, I’d feel a bit uncomfortable standing behind the counter, telling people they’ve got to pay £22 per kg for Brie de Meaux.” Top Brits in his cheese store include Cropwell Bishop, Quenby and Colston Bassett Stiltons – the last of these

“Our customer base is independent retailers, gastropubs, hotels and caterers, and it stays quite level because as one hits a trough the others peak” Vol.11 Issue 10 · December 2010

cheesewire Mountain raclette from KäseSwiss: the importer has done for Swiss artisan cheese what Neal’s Yard has done for the Brits, says Hudson-Evans

outstripping sales of the other two “by a country mile” – and Joe Schneider’s Stichelton. Other notables include two washed-rind cheeses from Peter Humphries’ White Lake Cheeses near Glastonbury – Rachel (goats’ milk) and Morn Dew (cow’s milk) – and Hafod organic cheddar from Sam and Rachel Holden, based on the Welsh organic farm run by Sam’s father, ex Soil Association chief Patrick Holden. While cheese is its core area, Fromage to Age also sells some ambient deli and catering lines and a small range of charcuterie. It is a regional distributor for Olives Et Al and has just been named exclusive UK agent for Teyssier saucissons secs, patés and hams from France. Hudson-Evens says his business has been largely cushioned from the downturn so far because of its affluent Cotswolds location. “I don’t really think the financial situation has hit home here. We’re in a phenomenally wealthy area, so we are very fortunate. Our customer base is independent retailers and lots of gastropubs, hotels and caterers, and it stays quite level because as one hits a trough the others peak.” Developing non-cheese sales has helped keep the business moving forward, enabling it to take on a full-time driver this month to join office manager Chris Hunter, another ex H&B man, and French salesman Jean-Marc Delys. “The whole idea, when you are delivering to anyone, is to maximise the value of the invoice,” says Hudson-Evans. One concern lately has been an increase in the number of bad debts. “For the first five years we only had one, but we’ve had a series in the last two years. So I now keep a tighter rein. In Britain it’s not considered good form to talk about money. But we are not a bank, and if [retailers] are underfunded they should not be there.” The speciality cheese world is a small one, he says, and most of the main distributors are on friendly terms with their rivals. “We get on well with people like Rowcliffe and H&B. We’ll even buy from H&B when we’re in the mire – like last week when sales of Vacherin went through the roof and we needed to fill the gap.” He only has bad words for one competitor, which he says is cutting prices aggressively on niche, artisan cheeses that deserve to be sold at a premium, not a discount. He also has one bit of advice for up and coming producers, which is not to lose sight of their core product. Most of the big names – Montgomery’s cheddar, Kirkham’s Lancashire, Lynher’s Yarg, are best known for one exceptional cheese. “But new cheese-makers get distracted. They say, ‘Let’s try it with parsley, let’s try it with garlic’. They mustn’t lose sight of what made them special.” www.fromagetoage.co.uk

December 2010 · Vol.11 Issue 109

Cryer & Stott to franchise its three cheese shops By PATRICK McGUIGAN

Yorkshire-based Cryer & Stott plans to franchise its three cheese shops so it can concentrate on its wholesale business and its new Samuel Valentine food hall brand. MD Richard Holmes is searching for suitable franchisees to own and manage the shops in Wakefield, Pontefract and Castleford. Buyers will pay a weekly licensing fee and will be contracted to buy stock from Cryer & Stott. “We decided to use this model as we have expanded so much as a business,” said Jemma Hammond, business development executive. “Putting an owner/manager into the shops will enable Cryer & Stott to grow further as a brand and allow the wholesale business to progress, giving us more time to focus on our customers.” Franchisees would benefit from a wellestablished business with a strong customer base and Yorkshire presence, she said, as well as ongoing support from Cryer & Stott. The move will also enable the company to focus on its 6,000 sq ft Samuel Valentine food hall, which opened in Allerton Bywater in July. More are expected to open in the next 18 months. The company’s wholesale trade has grown 14% over the last two years and is on target this year to see a 21% rise. Customers

include hotels, restaurants, sports stadiums, manufacturers, caterers and independent retailers. “Our database includes Manchester City Football Club and race meetings including St Ledger and Ebor at York and Doncaster Racecourses,” said Hammond.

Cryer & Stott hopes to create more Samuel Valentine food halls

Garstang Blue goes green A Lancashire cheesemaker has dramatically cut its carbon footprint and energy bills with the installation of one of Britain's largest wind turbines. The 126m turbine at Dewlay Cheese, best known for its Garstang Blue, will generate enough power for the company’s entire 18Dewlay directors Nick and Richard Kenyon

acre site and reduce annual carbon emissions by almost 3,000 tonnes, according to operations director Nick Kenyon “When the turbine is fully operational it will meet all of our energy needs for the dairy. It will not only be cleaner and greener but will also allow us to stabilise energy supply, which is vital in protecting our business for the future,” he said. Although plans for the turbine were originally rejected, Dewlay and Wind Direct, its partner in the project, successfully appealed to local authorities in 2009 and construction went ahead. Wind Direct built, installed and financed the scheme with funding from venture capital group HgCapital, while electricity supplied from the turbine generators is typically 20-30% cheaper than conventional. The turbine is one of several green projects launched by Dewlay’s, which manufactures around 1,500 tonnes of cheese a year using a mix of traditional and automated processes. Hundreds of trees have been planted around the site and green areas maintained to protect the natural flora and fauna. It has also introduced a water efficiency programme, recycling of plastic and cardboard, and thinner, recyclable film for sliced packs of cheese.

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cheese wire Croatian newcomer outperforms Manchego A Croatian ewe’s milk cheese, just launched in the UK, is outselling Manchego at one of its first stockists. The Cheese Hamlet in Manchester has seen sales of the creamy, hard Paški Sir or Isle of Pag cheese immediately outstrip the popular variety from La Mancha, while the Cheese Society in Lincoln has

also found Paški Sir proving popular. Most recently, the cheese was awarded two Supergolds at the 2010 World Cheese Awards. The pasteurised cheese is made by Sirana Gligora using milk from the Pag breed of sheep, which produces milk with high fat (9%) and protein (6.5%) levels. It is sourced from over 200 shepherds on the islands. The sheep forage among the rocky pastures on the island, eating wild herbs such as Dalmatian sage. Gligora marketing manager Simon Kerr, who moved to Pag with his Croatian wife last year, told FFD that the company was in discussions with several British distributors and wanted to expand sales among independent delis and cheese shops. Gligora Dairy employs 26 people and produces over 50 tonnes of Paški Sir a year, as well as over 150 tonnes of other cheese products.

le grand fromage BOB FARRAND At the 2010 World Cheese Awards (WCAs) last month, it gave me enormous pleasure to present the award for Exceptional Contribution to Cheese to Wensleydale Creameries managing director David Hartley. Choosing this year’s recipient was an easy task and one that took into consideration David’s singular achievement in preserving one of this country’s oldest traditional regional cheese varieties. We Brits have been careless with our cheese heritage. Take Cheshire alone. In 1939, at the outbreak of World War II, we had almost 500 farmhouse makers. Today we have just three. France has 51 PDO cheeses, with 18 more awaiting approval, Italy has 42 and Spain 25. We have just 12, three of which are not currently in production. These statistics paint a gloomy picture but the reality is much brighter. Since the formation of the Specialist Cheesemakers Association in 1989, artisan production in the UK has blossomed beyond all expectations. British regional cheeses have enjoyed a fresh lease of life, with some rich variations on old themes. One or two have been questionable, but most have contributed to an explosion in our business that we’ve all revelled in. Sixty-five members of the SCA entered the WCAs this year, competing alongside the largest number of international entries ever assembled in any cheese competition.

“David Hartley deserved to be acknowledged for his outstanding work towards the survival of real Wensleydale”

The hard cheese is made by Sirana Gligora using milk from Pag sheep

Cambus O’May eyes London market Aberdeenshire cheesemaker Cambus O’May has launched two new cheeses and is looking to grow sales in London ahead of a move to new premises. The company, set up in 2009 by Alex Reid, launched a smoked cheese called Auld Reekie, smoked by the Deeside Smokehouse, and a 612 month aged cheddar-style cheese called Auld Lochnagar at the BBC Good Food Show last month. Both are hard cheeses made with unpasteurised cows’ milk and join the company’s three other products: Lochnagar, Lairig Ghru and the original Cambus O’May. Currently located at the former home of the Craigmyle Cheese Company in Torphins, Cambus

O’May was due to move to a new 400 sq m facility on the Dinnet and Kinord Estate in the Cairngorms National Park in September, but this has been delayed until the spring of next year. It currently produces around 300kg of cheese a week and sells through wholesalers including IJ Mellis, Clarks and GR Fine Foods. Retail clients include Peckham's and Paxton & Whitfield in London. “We’re currently talking to Paxton about taking more of our cheese and perhaps wholesaling for us in London,” said general manager Scott Sutherland-Thomson. “We plan to target London next year when we have more capacity and can build up enough volume to make distribution worthwhile.”

The work of the SCA, its stewards at the PTF and people like Randolph Hodgson, Tim Rowcliffe the late James Aldridge is to congratulated. David Hartley is another from that group and deserved to be acknowledged for his outstanding work towards the survival and protection of real Wensleydale cheese. In May 1992, we almost lost it. Dairy Crest closed Hawes Creamery, the last remaining producer of Wensleydale in the region using milk from cattle grazing Wensleydale grass. Fifty-nine people lost their jobs and many dairy farmers faced unsure futures. Four exmanagers formed a consortium with a local businessman, re-employed 11 members of the workforce and cheese-making recommenced at Hawes. Its success story has become the stuff of legend: production up to 3,300 tonnes a year, £2m worth of exports, a visitor centre attracting 200,000-plus a year, employment of over 220 local people, and sourcing milk from over 50 family farms in the region. Wensleydale was even named Wallace & Gromit’s favourite cheese. A great British regional food has been saved from extinction. Those involved with the story tell of it being a team effort, but it is David Hartley who has remained the constant guiding factor and the driving force that ticked every box on all of our cheese wish lists. • FFD publisher Bob Farrand is chairman of the UK Cheese Guild Vol.7 Issue 1 · January 2006

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After processing, hams can spend up to 20 months in the drying room

As Italian charcuterie brand Negroni ties up a new UK distribution deal with Rowcliffe, MICK WHITWORTH gets a glimpse inside its key Parma ham operation

journey by car through the hills of northern Italy is always going to set the pulse racing – especially a high-speed journey with Joe Zottola at the wheel. The UK agent for charcuterie producer Negroni, best known for its iconic Stella brand of meats and salamis, Zottola has a truly Italian approach to driving, happily dealing with emails on his Blackberry while hammering along the Autostrade at 140km/hour. When you’re the link man between major clients in Italy and the UK – where Zottola has just secured a distribution deal in the independent sector with Anthony Rowcliffe & Son – time is money. Time is of the essence for Negroni too. But when it comes to producing Parma ham, which it does by the hundreds of tonnes each year, that means slowing things down, not speeding them up. If the Danish, and indeed the British pigmeat industries are largely about getting from piglet to bacon in the shortest time, it’s a different matter for PDO Prosciutto de Parma. A key part of the story every good deli knows about this Protected Designation of Origin ham is

that it’s air-dried for a minimum of 12 months and sometimes up to two years. It’s also made with meat from nine-month old pigs, reared in specific parts of central and northern Italy, that average 160kg at slaughter – nearly twice the weight of most British pigs. “Italian products are a bit different to other European charcuterie,” says Marcello Veronesi, a director and area export manager of Negroni’s parent company, Gruppo Veronesi, an integrated farming and processing giant. “We raise bigger pigs, and that means we have bigger legs for our Parma and San Daniele hams.” In a two-day whistlestop tour, Zottola takes me from Gruppo Veronesi’s pig breeding operations to some of Negroni’s key production sites, including its prosciutto operation in the village of Capoponte. Five hundred metres above sea level in the Apennines, and on the banks of the river Parma, it’s just a few miles from Langhirano, the heartland of Parma production. The message he wants to get across to UK buyers is that Gruppo Veronesi’s integrated approach gives more control over the quality and consistency of its ham and the rest of the Negroni range than any other Italian producer. Eighty percent of Italian farming takes place in the fertile Po Valley, which is where Gruppo Veronese not only rears its pigs but grows the crops to feed them. It also buys its whey here – a by-product of the Italian cheese industry –which is crucial in getting pigs to their finished weight and adds characteristic flavour and colour. Zottola says this integrated approach is a key point of difference for Negroni. “If you are a feed manufacturer your goal is to sell at the highest price. For us, it’s about nutritional values. If you’ve got good feed, you want to see the benefit of that in the animal, and you’ve got great animals, you will see that in your end product.” Gruppo Veronesi use Landrace/Large White cross pigs enhanced through its own breeding programme, and according to Marcello Veronesi it doesn’t “push the growth” too quickly. “We want to produce an animal with good fat but not too much, so we only feed twice a day, and we’re adding about 700g to the pig each day compared with perhaps 800-900g in the UK.” The company slaughters about 13,000 pigs a week, selling a proportion to its Italian competitors but keeping the best for its own use. The Capoponte plant, one of the leading Parma factories, will get through around 5,000 fresh sows’ legs a week (it doesn’t use boar meat) most of them ranging in weight from 10-15kg. Occasionally, says Joe

Vol.11 Issue 10 · December 2010

focus on Zottola, they’ll use bigger legs for the longer, 16-24month “special matured” or “special long dried” hams, which command a premium of 15-25%. But, surprisingly, he says the flavour profile of these more mature products is not hugely different to standard legs. Parma production is “all about getting the salt:weight:time ratio right” and their eventual salt content will be much the same. In line with the rules of the Consorzio del Prosciutto de Parma, which polices the PDO, Negroni doesn’t take short-cuts in the curing process – although it can be done. “You can increase the speed of curing by raising the temperature or quicken the drying by upping the salt content,” says Zottola. “But on products that have been speeded you’ll notice more colour variation through the ham.” At Capoponte, fresh legs are inspected on arrival and, once classified by weight, are each given a metal tag that stays with them all the way to the point of slicing. Legs are tempered in a chiller for two nights, then salted with sea salt and put through a machine massager, which presses the legs between two belts to remove as much blood and moisture as possible. After another week in the chiller the salt is removed and renewed, the leg is machine-massaged again and the ham is loosened from the bone slightly with a sharp knife to help it breath. Then it’s back in the chiller for a further 15 days. “Water is where any food safety problems come from,” says Zottola, “so the salting and massaging are all about getting the water down to safe levels. Production of Parma ham has two phases of salting, and massaging in between, which means the salt is not saturated with water and blood.” Now, 26 days after butchering, the legs are strung mechanically and then hoisted onto the tall racks where they will spend the rest of their time in the plant. “From this point on,” says Zottola, “the factory is replicating the seasons of the year that Parma would have gone through in the years before refrigeration. In the old days, each family had one pig, and the idea was to make it last as long as possible after killing. We’re doing this all year round, but we’re still mimicking the temperature and humidity of the seasons.” The Consorzio first came together in the 1960s when the industry was still quite traditional. Production began to be automated in the ’70s and ’80s, and while the ham is still air-dried, this no longer means simply throwing open the shutters to admit the dry breezes crossing the Apennines. Temperature and humidity are controlled from start to finish and the quality of Parma ham is certified by an independent institution, the IPQ, which verifies the finished product. The legs have already lost 3% of their weight in early preparation. They are now ‘pre-rested’ for 15 days under forced-air circulation, losing a further 7% of weight, then spend 90 days in a resting chiller. Each chiller at Capoponte can hold 13,000 legs and there are half a million legs maturing here at any one time. ‘That’s around £50m worth of ham at Harrods retail prices,” says Zottola, “and there is 46% weight loss from the start of the process to the deboned ham at the end, so in a sense you’re losing money all the time.” At 90 days, the hams are taken out, cleaned with water jets, and then enter the drying stage, at temperatures that replicate warmer spring weather, Management of temperature and humidity is governed partly by computer and partly by the 28

December 2010 · Vol.11 Issue 10

parma ham “prosciutto master”, who will judge by sight, touch and smell whether to override what the computers are saying. Zottola continues: “In terms of ‘processing’, the critical stages are the salting and cleaning round the bone early on, because those will affect the rest of the ham’s life. After that, it’s down to the experience of the production managers, using their senses in combination with what the graphs are telling them.” Hams spend up to 20 months in the drying rooms where they still undergo one marvellously old-school rite: ‘sniff-testing’ by the prosciutto master with the aid of a pointed implement traditionally made from horse leg bone. He pierces the ham at five points, tapping into the main veins, and by sniffing the bone implement can judge the state of the cure. Not surprisingly, supermarkets have tried to put a stop to this but the method survives because it works. When they are fully mature, the hams are prepared for sale either on the bone or deboned in various formats – skin-on and loosely strapped, or perhaps defatted, deskinned, pressed and vac-packed for ease of slicing. “Most delis will take it deboned, but not defatted or de-skinned,” says Zottola. “The number who take Prosciutto de Parma on the bone doesn’t even register as a sales percentage in the UK.” The PDO rules have ensured all Parma ham – recognisable by the ‘ducal crown’ branded onto the legs – shares most of the same characteristics. But Zottola says there is still room for variation. “People say ‘Parma is Parma’ and at it’s most basic that’s true. But it’s all about the little tweaks. If you start with the wrong legs you have no chance, so you need attention to detail from the farm onwards.” Again, Marcello Veronesi says this is the benefit of his family business’s integrated approach. “When production is fragmented, each producer is thinking about his own, individual interests. But we’ve got our end product in mind at every stage.” www.negroni.com www.rowcliffe.co.uk

Temperature and humidity are governed partly by computer and partly by the ‘prosciutto master’, judging by sight, touch and smell

Harp_&_Lyre_Final_Advt_Design.pdf

11/2/10

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Vol.11 Issue 10 · December 2010

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December 2010 · Vol.11 Issue 10

www.okemoor.co.uk

at the heart of speciality food and drink

The artisan buyers’ guide

digest

SPECIAL REPORT

DECEMBER 2010

David Cook of Ginger’s Kitchen: In the short-term, he says, product development will be partly driven by equipment capacity

Smaller producers often face a potentially expensive leap from kitchen-scale operations to serious manufacturing. We look at three different approaches to factory set-up and round up some of the latest artisan equipment and services.

An eye for a bargain growing on a budget

D The team behind Ginger’s Kitchen know how to spot a good deal, starting with their premises...

avid Cook admits he was “extraordinarily lucky” to find the right premises and the right partners to get his Ginger’s Kitchen brand up and running in its own pukka food unit. Cook originally created the range two years ago in the kitchens of London deli Elizabeth King, where, in lieu of rent, he produced distinctive meals, soups, stews and salads for the deli while also developing his own wholesale business. His customer base now includes Mortimer & Bennett, Sourced Market at St Pancras Station and Tom’s Deli in Westbourne Grove. A former development chef with ready meals manufacturer Katsouris, Cook felt he had spotted a gap for quality prepared foods with a strong identity. His arrangement with Elizabeth King was a relatively low-cost way of testing out that theory. Then he met Tim Breden, a former director of West Sussex-based Kate’s Cakes, and his wife Hayley, a senior manager in the same business, and found they had a common dislike of big corporate life and

a shared interest in developing premium foods. One of Tim Breden’s last jobs at Kate’s Cakes had been to fit out a small industrial unit in Partridge Green, near the main factory complex, to make a new range of desserts for one of the multiples. Kate’s had spent around £140,000 fitting the unit out for high-care production, but when the desserts business came to nothing it was faced with a £70,000 bill for returning the unit to its original state. As a result, it was offering a £25,000 sweetener to anyone who would take over the lease. The Bredens knew this was a great chance to do their own thing but didn’t have a clear idea of what they might produce. David Cook already had an established range, good packaging and regular customers but didn’t have the capital to fit out his own premises. “For Tim and Hayley to start from scratch would have been difficult,” he says. “So I sold part of my business to them, and that enabled me to invest in Ginger’s Kitchen without having to go the bank and taken on a loan at 15% interest.” Although they didn’t inherit much equipment from Kate’s Cakes, what the newly formed partnership did get was a 2,800 sq ft shell in pristine condition and divided into a number of usefully sized rooms. Vol.11 Issue 10 · December 2010

Riggs Autopack Ltd manufacture semi-automatic depositors and filling machines for artisan food producers. Designed for a single operator and simple to use, they provide highly accurate, damage free depositing of hot or cold products and can easily fill most types and size of container. Improve your production rates and profitability by purchasing a Riggs Autopack filling machine. Short or long term hire also available. Contact us for details or to arrange a no-obligation machine trial. Products manufactured using our equipment include: • Jam, Honey and Preserves • Chutney • Mustard • Pickles

December 2010 · Vol.11 Issue 10

• Relish • Mayonnaise • Sauces • Dips • Dressings

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artisan buyers’ guide Ginger’s Kitchen is using only about half this space, but much of the spare capacity is providing storage for equipment, bought at bargain prices, which can be brought into use as the business expands. Cook’s first priority had been to buy enough kit to continue serving his original London clients. He lost around half of his core Elizabeth King business after moving to Sussex and it was not practical to delivery ultra-fresh products like quiches into the Capital every day. However, he needed to continue producing his fresh pot meals and particularly the ready-meals in wooden Panibois trays that are his trademark product. “It boiled down to those two main lines, so we needed a cooker to heat pans, an oven, and a chiller to get everything down to safe temperatures quickly. We bought all of that kit, plus some tables and a bit of shelving, secondhand from a company in Wrexham. Tim went and looked at it, paid the money and they delivered it a week later. Then, as we moving out of London, we thought: ‘We need a freezer too!’ So we bought a second-hand, doubledoor Foster freezer for about £800. That would have been £3,000 new, so that was excellent.” The only new purchases at this stage, apart from pots and pans from the Nisbets catering catalogue, were some electric hobs to use for frying and boiling. “In my previous life I’ve always used gas, but there was none in the unit, so we had to buy induction hobs. We bought them new for £250 each – and they are the only things that have gone wrong. Also, you can’t use a standard frying pan on them, as I only found out on day one, when we had to send Hayley off to the shops to buy new pans!” Cook admits that, money permitting, he would have put in more kit sooner. But he and the Bredens have not been slow to grab a bargain when they could. The closure of nearby manufacturer Castle Kitchens provided a particularly good haul – and taught Cook one big lesson. “I remember going round this 30,000 sq ft factory in the dark, with a torch, and one of the things I noticed was that everything was uniform in terms of working with gastronorm trays. That was one of my biggest learnings.” Standardising around one tray size vastly reduces the amount of product handling you have to do, he says. If a standard tray can be used in a standard rack, and rolled into a standard oven or chiller, life becomes so much easier. “We picked up gastronorm trolleys from Castle Kitchen that would have been £450 new, and we got them for £90-£100 including the trays. The trays alone would have been £20 each from Nisbets.” There have been some errors. Early on, in a panic about lack of baking capacity, Cook and Tim Breden rushed to buy a huge 20-tray bakers’ oven from Brook Catering in Somerset, each thinking the other knew what he was doing. “But our main problem was that we couldn’t get it into the production area. The wall was too low. We had it stood there for three months, then I phoned Brook and said, ‘It’s not really working for us…’. To be fair, they were brilliant and did a straight swop for a 20-grid roll-in blast chiller. But we were lucky to have bought from a company that was willing to help out.” Lack of oven capacity, meanwhile, was solved by the purchase of a 20-rack roll-in gastronorm oven from the Castle Kitchen sell-off, which has proved a godsend, ending the bottleneck to get products into the original small, six-rack combi oven.

Standardising around gastronorm trays has cut out unnecessary product handling

Other Castle Kitchen bargains, including brat pans and steam-jacketed cooking kettle, are awaiting the installation of more 3-phase power supplies, which could cost several £000s. Meanwhile, Cook says the products Ginger’s Kitchen develops will partly be dictated by capacity on specific hardware. Until the brat pans can be powered up, for example, hob space for frying and boiling will be at a premium. “We can’t put in too many products that needs to go on top of the stove – tagines, sauces, or soups and stews that will be on there for 1.5 hours. So we’ll be looking at what we can do with the oven, which is redundant for some of the time.” In a catering kitchen, says Cook, you generally learn to “make do”, but as you become a small factory it’s all about efficiencies. “I don’t think we gave enough thought before we came here to how you work in a kitchen. If I did it again, I’d spend more time looking at the process. But then you find you’re under the cosh and you just have to produce.” www.gingerskitchen.co.uk

“I don’t think we gave enough thought before we came here to how you work in a kitchen”

Most of the equipment and basics like tables and shelving have been bought secondhand Vol.11 Issue 10 · December 2010

artisan buyers’ guide

A life of luxury the purpose-built dreamhome

Small producers in Shropshire are benefiting from fivestar accommodation at a new £7m food centre

magine a situation,” says the brochure, “where you can walk in to purpose-built premises that meet the very latest legal requirements for food and drink production.” It’s a situation some tenants at the new Shropshire Food Enterprise Centre couldn’t have imagined a year ago Ivan Watkiss of new start-up Cooper’s Gourmet Sausage Rolls is among them. “If you closed your eyes and thought of everything you could wish for, this is what it would look like,” he says. Built on the outskirts of Shrewsbury by Shropshire County Council and regional development agency Advantage West Midland at a cost of around £7m – a sum you can’t imagine being signed off today – the Centre comprises a dozen purpose-built food processing units in a building that also houses conference facilities, meeting spaces, a restaurant and product development kitchen. It’s also now the home of regional food group Heart of England Fine Foods, which moved here early in 2010 after winning the contract to manage the centre. There are two sizes of food unit –1,500 sq ft and 3,000 sq ft – each kitted out to provide the basic needs of any new food business but to a specification most could only dream of. As well as white-cladded production rooms, there are toilets, changing facilities, wash sinks, office areas, and a walk-in cold room as standard. Every unit has individual temperature controls and a positive area pressure system to prevent ‘dirty’ air from outside coming in, plus separate goods-in and goods-out doors to help tenants create sensible product flows. “They’ve all been built to BRC/Efsis standard,” says HEFF’s Stacey Bebb, who manages the units, “so anyone looking for accreditation won’t have any problems with the fabric.” As Bebb says, the units are “all very generic – they’re here to appeal to as many different types of producer as possible”. But there’s scope to adapt the internal layouts, add in extra refrigeration and, importantly, have the ambient air temperature modified to suit particular needs. For Martin Moyden of Mr Moyden’s Handmade Cheese, which moved into one of the larger units last month, the key is maintaining a constant temperature. Melanie

Left to right: Emma Cardwell of the Flavoured Butter Co; Bonbonniere’s 8kg KeyChoc machine in action; Ivan Watkiss of new start-up Cooper’s Gourmet Sausage Rolls

December 2010 · Vol.11 Issue 10

HEFF’s Stacey Bebb: ‘The cost to get a normal commercial unit to this standard would be astronomical’

Fallon of artisan chocolatier Bonbonniere needs her main production room to be slightly warmer; a meat producer will want things cooler. “We can adjust that unit by unit,” says Bebb. With each unit having its own utility meters, producers can also shop around to get the best deals on power, but they all benefit from the Enterprise Centre’s high environmental spec, which includes solar panels and a rainwater collection system. Tenants are being charged a commercial rent but there are options for start-up businesses to stage the payments over three years while they build their cash flow, starting at £6 per sq ft in year one and rising to £10 in year three. “But basically there’s a standard rate of about £31,500 over three years for the smaller units and twice that for the larger ones,” says Bebb. She continues: “The cost to get a normal commercial unit to this standard would be fairly astronomical, and here you’ve got front-of-house support and regular maintenance as part of the package. You’ve got to pay your business rates on top of that, and your utility bills, but with our high environmental spec those should be relatively low.” Tenants were still moving in when FFD visited the Centre in early November and some units remained to be let. Ivan Watkiss, whose premium sausage roll business is a diversification of his established Gillhams deli/café operation, was waiting to move in, and was in the process of finding additions to the bake-off ovens he uses in his three shops to cook his sausage rolls from frozen. “We intend to supply both frozen-raw and cooked-chilled,” he explains. “We’ll manufacturer, and then either send them out rawfrozen or cook them from stock to order. “At the moment we’ve the normal Blue Seal E32 ovens that we use in all our shops, and they’re very good. Last week a second-hand catering place offered me an E32 for nothing because they were going to scrap it. It’ll need a new fan belt and new seals, so it’ll cost a couple of hundred quid to put right, but as a back-up it will be a bargain.” ● ● ➔

Fine Food 1_2 page vertical:Layout 1

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Vol.11 Issue 10 路 December 2010

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December 2010 · Vol.11 Issue 10

artisan buyers’ guide Businesses already up and running here include Emma Cardwell’s Flavoured Butter Co, whose products are in “Gucci farm shops like Ludlow Food Centre and Howarden Estate” but who is also supplying 13 Mid Counties Co-op stores. Cardwell is a former restaurateur who moved into food processing when her North Wales restaurant was flooded in 2007. “The kitchen hadn’t been damaged, so I started looking for ways to use it,” she says. “I remembered making flavoured butter 25 years ago, so I thought I’d try making it for retail.” Her products are just pure butter plus herbs or other natural food flavours, so her processes are very simple. “My only machinery is a Hobart planetary mixer and a fairly domestic food processor. With the amount I’m producing at the moment it works fine.” Cardwell says Hobarts are expensive but rugged. “There’s nothing that can go wrong with them. They’re not fancy machines – they’re just on, off and three gears – so I’m hoping this one will last me.” Hers was a second-hand purchase from eBay. “It was £375, which is a bargain for a Hobart.” Cardwell buys butter in 25kg blocks from Shropshire Dairy and blends it in the Hobart with ingredients such as herbs, garlic, olives and Parmesan that have been prepped as necessary in the food processor. She puts the soft, flavoured butter on parchment, presses it into terrines to shape it , and then chills it. “So the built-in chiller here was a big draw for me.” She prints her own outer packaging sheets and wraps these by hand around the parchment-wrapped butter. “I’d love to buy a forming machine to shape the butter, but it’s a question of whether I buy a machine or take on an employee. I’m probably at the stage where a person would be more beneficial, because I need to be getting out and seeing customers.” At Bonbonniere Fine Chocolates, Melanie Fallon has got her plans for automation all mapped out, as befits someone with a strong management background – she was an NHS divisional manager before launching her artisan fresh chocolate business. “I number-crunch all the time,” says Fallon, who strongly believes that machinery should be paid for only when you can see the profits it will generate. After starting as a kitchen-table producer she moved first into a converted outbuilding at home and now to a 1,500 sq ft unit, where her capacity rose from 2,000 to 8,000 chocolates a week within the first month. “It’s about having more space, more storage and being able to have more staff working here at any one time,” says Fallon. Buying first from Vantage House and now Keylink, she’s been steadily increasing the size of tempering machinery to match the growth of the business. When FFD visited, her original 1.5lb capacity Chocovision Revolation 2 tabletop machine was still in use, but had been overtaken by an 8kg KeyChoc MMO8 moulding machine. “And now we’ve got capacity I’m going to get a 60kg machine,” Fallon says. “I’ve got a written plan for automated machinery, like vibratory tables, all costed through, because until I have the machinery I can’t move the business on.” Moving on means opening her own shop in Shrewsbury and perhaps approaching Waitrose too, which will be music to the ears of the Enterprise Centre’s backers, who want to see their £7m investment turned into new jobs for Shropshire. www.shropshirefoodcentre.co.uk www.heff.co.uk

the DIY project

The house that Edward built The Appleby family’s new smokehouse may look a Heath Robinson affair, but it works

“With a lot of extra headscratching and patience we have a construction that’s working”

hropshire farmhouse cheese-maker Appleby’s has been marketing a smoked version of its award-winning Cheshire for over 20 years, sending cheese off the family farm to be smoked. But after deciding it would be better to handle the whole process itself, the Appleby family opted to put their practical skills to the test and assemble their own smokehouse with a bit of help from a local builder. The result is masterpiece of DIY ingenuity – not pretty, but nonetheless effective. Taking advice from their existing smoker, they opted to build a double smokehouse with each chamber measuring 3ft x 3ft x 6ft high, but to begin with they have fully fitted out just one of the two chambers for smoking. Their builder put down a concrete pad and built the blockwork walls at an all-in cost of just under £500. But the rest of the fittings – shelving, drip trays, tin roof, etc – cost less than £150. These included a second-hand heavy wooden door, lined on the inside with steel, and a ‘chimney’ that was actually the connecting pipe for a toilet pan, sourced from a local plumber. At a fraction of the cost of even a refurbished stainless steel kiln (if you discount the ‘free’ family labour) you wouldn’t expect the new kiln to work with computer-controlled simplicity. “On our first attempts the fire kept going out,” says Edward Appleby, “so we took advice from our former smokehouse’s owner and he helped make a 9in by 9in metal tunnel to place on the floor where the fire is started. “This helped to circulate air to keep the fire alive, and we’ve now made two further tunnels to circulate the air in the trail of the fire.” But with those teething problems ironed out, the first of the two chambers is in operation, and the Applebys have the advantage of being able to monitor and manage a 16-18 hour smoking process that is now happening close to their farmhouse. "We weren’t sure if this was going to be costly and complicated when we started out,” says Edward Appleby. “The advice from our current smoker has been invaluable and with a lot of extra head-scratching and patience we have a construction that’s working. “Family and friends have enjoyed the first batch of Appleby’s Smoked and now we hope our customers will too. My next project is smokehouse chamber two, and then we’ll try smoking other things." www.applebyscheese.co.uk Vol.11 Issue 10 · December 2010

Suppliers of Glass and Plastic Containers & Closures Need Jars and Lids to bottle your Honey & Preserves ? We can supply everything you need. At Compak we carry a comprehensive range of packaging from mini jars for use on the breakfast table to standard screw neck 1lb honey jars used in exhibitions. We also stock a full range of sizes in the more decorative Hexagonal and Octagonal designs. All our jars and closures are of the highest quality and are British made. Manufacturers insist on using a percentage of re-cycled glass in their production to help the environment. Our prices are extremely competitive and we can deliver Nationwide from a one box order to a container load. For further details on our Honey Jars or any other products, please get in touch with our Sales Team, we’ll be pleased to hear from you. Compak (South) Ltd 3, Ashmead Road Keynsham Bristol BS31 1SX Tel : 01179 863 550 Fax : 01179 869 162 Email : sales@compaksouth.co.uk Website : www.compaksouth.com

S Orefrigerant R B A - F R Epads EZE Sorba-Freeze Ltd, Unit 5, Girdleness Trading Estate, Girdleness Road, Aberdeen AB1 8DG, Scotland Tel 01224 894417 Email info@sorbafreeze.com www.sorbafreeze.com

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December 2010 · Vol.11 Issue 10

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product focus

artisan buyers’ guide

what’s new products, equipment & services packaging • Viscose Closures, which specialises in sleeves and tamperevident closures for food and drink, has supplied the matt black shrink capsules for Blue, a new range of syrups, sauces, dressings and mixers from blueberry farmer Guy Springett. The 33m x 50mm shrink capsules with tear tabs are being applied over aluminium caps, also supplied by Viscose Closures, across the entire Blue range, which is all packaged in 250ml glass bottles. www.viscose.co.uk

equipment

www.precision-refrigeration.co.uk

• Rapeseed oil and dressings producer Stainswick Farm recently installed a complete bottling and filling system from Hertfordshirebased ACO Packaging. The installation includes a fourhead vacuum filling machine, single head ROPP capping machine, a self-adhesive square bottle labelling machine, 1 litre depositing machine and a shrink wrapper and tunnel. It can turn out finished bottles of oils and dressings at 600 units per hour. www.acosales.co.uk

• When the team behind the new Sponge cake brand – an offshoot of north Norfolk deli-café Byfords – went looking for a suitable packaging they decided the didn’t want “just another cake box”. Mark Joll and Iain Wilson worked with carton board packaging specialist Castle Colour Press and design agency Cyan Commerce to develop a bespoke pack format and unique branding that would complement their premium product (see bakery feature, p51). The basic concept was tweaked to significantly reduce the packaging cost, and empty spaces on the cartons were employed to carry extra promotional messages. Norwich-based Castle Colour offers a complete service that includes graphic design, material selection and supply of finished packaging. www.castlecolour.co.uk

working off standard 13amp power sockets.

• Oven supplier Rational says it has “taken the uncertainty out of pastry cooking” with its new catering-scale SelfCooking Center. Users can just punch in the correct settings on the control panel – the type of pastry to be cooked and the finish required – and the SelfCooking Center does the rest automatically. 0800 389 2944.

• British manufacturer Precision Refrigeration’s new compact blast chillers are said to offer low energy consumption but high performance and could prove useful for lowvolume, artisan food businesses. They offer soft chill, hard chill and blast-freeze modes, and can switch to standard chiller/freezer storage when required. There are three models – an under-counter, counter with integral worktop, and a conventional upright cabinet – all

• Sirman’s Vortex hand-held mixers are now available from Foodservice Equipment Marketing (FEM). They come in three different shaft lengths (30, 40 and 50cm) and with a choice of 430W, 550W and 750W motors that can drive the blades at up to 1,400 RPM. Vortex mixers have a lightweight, fibreglass ABS body and a robust, stainless steel shaft, bell and blades. www.fem.co.uk

• Riggs Autopack, the Lancashirebased supplier whose filling machines are widely used in the speciality food sector, has recently built a bespoke version of its standard Option 1 filler for Tiana Organics, a company that produces oils for both culinary and cosmetic use. Tiana has bought the machine to deposit warm coconut oils into two sizes of glass jars. The warm oil will be drawn into the filling machine from a heated container and then volumetrically filled into jars. Riggs’ Option 1 machine is a compact, mobile semi-auto filling machine designed for a single operator. It is operated using compressed air, which makes it ideal for use in food production areas.

• Food safety and nutrition specialist Verner Wheelock Associates has recently launched an online version of its popular Level 3 Food Safety for Supervisors course and is giving a 10% discount to those who enrol before the end of 2010 via its website, www.vwa.co.uk The course is ideal for those supervising food handlers in a variety of environments, from delicatessens, cafés or restaurants to small manufacturing teams or farm shops, and provides a broad knowledge of food safety and food hygiene. Delegates will learn how to identify food safety hazards, take appropriate action in the light of these hazards and contribute to improvements in food safety practices, Verner Wheelock says. They will also be in a position to take responsibility for food safety monitoring procedures and basic training of other staff. The online course means supervisors can study at their own pace at work or at home and revisit modules at any time. www.vwa.co.uk

brand design • When family-run cheese distributor Extons decided it was time to create its own consumer brand earlier this year it went to London consultancy Mayday for help. Mayday, which has produced designs for speciality brands like RDA juices and Hampstead Tea, came up with a new brand identity for Extons that it says “captured the classic, traditional dairy goodness with a bold, well-differentiated marque”. The design (below) features a circular mark defined by the letter ‘e’, with an illustration of a cow in a meadow with its cowbell hanging over the ‘o’ in Extons, while a distinctive pallete of colours differentiates between different products in the range. maydaylivingbrands.com

www.autopack.co.uk

food safety training Vol.11 Issue 10 · December 2010

HS HS French Flint Ltd FF

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December 2010 · Vol.11 Issue 10

focus on

olive oil

The price of oil The price spectrum for olive oils is extremely broad, spanning everything from everyday cooking oils at the bottom end to ‘couture’ oils like Manni and Lambda at the very top end. Lynda Searby asked six retailers what low, medium and high priced oils work for them.

Ben Cooper, manager, Mortimer & Bennett, Chiswick

Low: under £6 At this price point you’re not really talking about an extra virgin oil unless you go for one of the big brands which aren’t very nice oil. We don’t do any non extra virgin oils so we don’t have a low price bracket as such. Mid-range: £6-10 Our best value olive oil is our best selling one and that’s a Sicilian oil by Manfredi Barbera that retails at £8.95 for 750ml. We get through at least a case a week. High: over £12 Our best seller in this price band is Poggio Lamentano Tuscan extra virgin olive oil. It’s made by Michael Zym and it was Elizabeth David’s favourite oil. That retails at £19.95. We’ll take delivery of a vintage for a year and probably sell six cases in the year.

David Greenman and Debbie Atherton of Arch House Deli: ‘Unless packaging is amazing an oil won’t sell itself’

David Greenman, co-owner, Arch House Deli, Bristol Low: under £6 We sell oil in a drum so customers can refill bottles. That works out at £5.95 for half a litre. It’s a Greek organic extra virgin oil by Authentikon. Mid-range: £6-10 We don’t have a middle price band as such, so flavoured oils from La Chinata, which retail at £6 for a 250ml bottle, are the closest thing we have to a mid-range oil. They come in basil, lemon, garlic, chilli and mushroom flavours and people like them because they make great gifts and you can actually see the ingredients through the oil.

High: £10 or more Our main one within this price bracket is Oro del Desierto. It sells at about £10.95 for 250ml. I think this one shifts because we work closely with the producer and do tastings, plus it comes in an attractive bottle with a swing top. He says: People are more knowledgeable and more interested in knowing about olive oils, which helps sell more expensive oils. Our biggest seller is the Oro del Desierto because we’ve been doing tastings and that has helped build awareness of product. Unless the packaging is amazing, an oil won’t sell itself. We had an issue once with an oil at about £8-9 that sat there because the packaging wasn’t that great even though the oil itself was quite nice.

He says: We sell at least four times as much oil in the mid range than we do in the upper range, yet we’ve got more SKUs in the higher price bracket. Perhaps that’s because there’s more available, although we probably don’t stock as many highend varieties as we used to. It’s always trial and error with what to stock in each price band – all round the two I’ve mentioned are ones we have experimented with, some of which have sat on the shelf and not sold. At the moment there are a couple of French ones we’ve had in for a year and aren’t really moving. Price points don’t come into ranging decisions – if we find an oil we like and think it will sell, we’ll give it a go. In the past we’ve done Manni, which was £48 for a box set of 2 x 200ml bottles – kind of ridiculous, but it sold. We’re lucky in that people in our area are willing to spend a lot on good oils.” Vol.11 Issue 10 · December 2010

Olives Et Al

The Guidetti range of extra virgin olive oils is sourced from small but very reputable Italian producers, like this selection by LUIGI TEGA.

eat more and live very happily

We particularly recommend our extra virgin oils made from single variety Italian olives (called ‘monocultivar’). They all are highly individual in character, and although cost a little more, they offer a superior standard of quality and impressive flavours. For more information, prices and conditions of sale please call 0207 6359800 email info@guidetti.co.uk or visit our new website www.guidetti.co.uk

Our very own, use on everything, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, specifically blended for the British Market

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tel: 01258 474300

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La Collina from Umbria Monocultivar Moraiolo

Mancianti from Umbria Monocultivar Frantoio

Roi from Liguria Monocultivar Taggiasca

Great taste.

Turns out you can buy it. Barbera - a dense oil, golden yellow in colour with a light aroma and medium fruity taste with an almond finish. Oleum Viride deliciously fruity oil with delicate aromas of apple, fresh tomato and a hint of almonds.

The world’s finest olive oils and balsamic vinegars. Call us on 01460 242588 or email info@lefktro.co.uk 42

December 2010 · Vol.11 Issue 10

Quinta Vale de lobos oliVe oils Quinta Vale de Lobos is a historical, family-owned estate located 70 km North of Lisbon, in the Ribatejo region. The unique characteristics of the terroir and the extreme care with which the olive oils are extracted and bottled, explain the superior and consistent quality of the Quinta Vale de Lobos Extra Virgin Olive Oils. SINGLE VARIETY - 100% COBRANÇOSA Silver Medal at the 2010 Los Angeles International Olive Oil Competition PREMIUM BLEND - 50% COBRANÇOSA + 50% ARBEQUINA Great Taste Award GOLD. London 2010 Featured in Marco Oreggia’s Guide to the Best Olive Oils in the World Atlantico UK Ltd, Unit 10 Commerce Park, Commerce Way, Croydon CR0 4YL T 020 8649 7444 F 020 8649 8005 info@atlantico.co.uk www.atlantico.co.uk

focus on

olive oil Mid-range: around £7 Our best selling medium priced olive oil is Herencia Mediterrania at £6.75. High: around £10 The most expensive bottle we have is £9.99 for 500ml. That’s an Oro de Bailen.

Sue Berits, co-founder, Berits & Brown, Kippen Low: under £6.50 We sell a very light olive oil for cooking priced at £6.25 per litre. We have four vats from which we sell the oil ‘loose’ as well as in bottles and tins.

Stefano Cuomo, Macknade Fine Foods, Faversham Low: around £5-6 Our cheapest oil is a sansa oil from Clemente in Southern Italy. This retails at sub £5 for a litre. We also buy our cheapest extra virgin oil direct from the same producer. This retails at £5.50 per litre. Mid-range: £7-12 Greek producers tend to be able to supply high volumes of decent quality easy eating oil at a mid-range price and don’t have the Italian mentality that the British will pay a premium for their oil. We stock Iliada and it retails at £7.55 for a litre.

She says: Our deli is in a very small village in the countryside and does not enjoy the high footfall that a deli in the city does. As a result, our customers tend to be quite priceconscious. We stock the largest number of lines in the low and medium price brackets with medium priced oils selling the most. We find the flavoured oils tend to be the slowest to sell. We make our ranging decisions based on the flavour of our oils mainly, but would not be able to sell anything outrageously expensive. We like to have a cross section of Spanish, Greek and Italian oils and have recently added rapeseed oil to our ‘loose’ oils.

High: £15-20 At the top end our two best sellers are Italian PDO oils we buy directly from the producers. Tommaso Masciantonio produces a PDO oil called Trappeto di Capra Fico Do and a house oil which they don’t label as organic even though it is grown organically. The other is a Sicilian oil called Cherubino from Terraliva di Siracusa. He says: £7-8 is a nice price bracket for a bottle of olive oil. To some extent it doesn’t matter how much oil you’re getting for that price and some producers are quite clever with that, putting 500ml into a bottle that looks more like it holds 750ml. There’s a lot of romance with olive oil and it’s easy to get carried away trying to stock something from everywhere. For example, there are more and more midrange oils coming in from the Lebanon and Palestine. They are really interesting oils but there is a limit to how many you can have, and unless you can have tasters there all the time they will be difficult to sell, as people will rarely choose them over a Spanish or Italian oil at a similar price point. At the higher end it takes longer to convince people to buy – they’ll want to read about it or try it through a tasting. So it’s about making sure people understand what they are buying the oil for.

Claire Bruce-Clayton, co-owner, Lawson’s Delicatessen, Aldeburgh, Suffolk Low: £7-10 Our best seller in this bracket is one we sell from a big 20 litre drum for about £7 for 500ml. It’s an Italian blended extra virgin olive oil called Santagata. It’s a good, all-round, low-priced oil and customers like the process of serving themselves and putting it into a bottle that can be re-used. Sales volumes are very seasonal – we get through up to 60 litres a month in the summer and 20 litres in winter. Mid-range: £10-15 Seggiano is our top performing mid-range oil, probably because it’s a well known brand so it sells itself. It’s priced at about £11 for 500ml. High: £15 or more We’ve recently had a very positive experience with Naturvie from Spain. It’s available through Olives Et Al and is a complex oil with notes of tomato and freshly cut grass. We sell it at around £17 a bottle. She says: We’re in a part of East Anglia with a very strong foodie culture – people are interested in eating well and are well travelled, so they’ve had the opportunity to try different oils. They are cost-conscious, but they look for a good oil as they would a good wine. From our point of view this means there is no lower or upper limit on what priced oils we would stock – there’s room for all sorts on our shelves and the main reason for stocking a product is that it’s good at its price point. That said, we would only stock a few very expensive oils and we would choose very carefully when we might stock them – say at Christmas or during summer when we have our highest footfall. Vol.11 Issue 10 · December 2010

Exquisite Award Winning Arabian Specialities

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An upmarket range of olive oils and balsamic vinegars 4 Great Taste Gold 2010 winners Strong brand awareness from sales and sampling at circa 100 consumer shows per annum Now available to the trade Comprehensive in-store support

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or email delis@thegiftofoil.co.uk 44

December 2010 路 Vol.11 Issue 10

upmarketolive snacks oil

focus on product update: olive oil • Oils and balsamics importer Lefktro UK has added Oleum Viride to its range of extra virgin olive oils. It says this is an “exceptional quality” oil made with olives grown in an area which sees the highest rainfall in Spain. It’s a fruity oil with delicate aromas of apple, fresh tomato and a hint of almonds. “The oil is very fluid in the mouth and particularly sweet on the palate,” says Lefktro. Oleum Viride is available in 5 litre cans, 2 litre cans and 500ml bottles. www.lefktro.co.uk

• Tuscan single-estate extra virgin oil producer La Bandiera has mainly sold to restaurants and private buyers until this year, but says it now wants to achieve more distribution through the UK retail trade. RRPs for these premium bottled oils from one of Tuscany’s oldest coastal estates range from £12.50 for 250ml to £17.95 for 500ml and there are also 3 litre cans for chefs. www.labandiera.eu

• Olives Et Al has launched its own Spanish extra virgin olive oil, produced from the fruit of 200-year-old trees by artisan producer Fernando Sanchez Mohino y Arias at Naturvie in Extremadura. Described as a “great all-round oil for everyday use”, it’s available in 500ml bottles (RRP £7.50) and colourful 5 litre tins (RRP £40). www.olivesetal.com

• Taberneria has added Villa Manu’ extra virgin olive oil to a range of Italian food and drink sourced mostly from what it calls “boutique farms, each with a unique story to tell”. Launched earlier this year in 500ml bottles (RRP £9-plus), Villa Manu’ oil is a blend of Leccino, Carboncella and Frantoio olives, giving a well-balanced fruity aroma with hints of artichoke and fresh almond

and a bitter, spicy taste. Wholesale price is £37.50 per case of six (£6.25 per bottle). www.taberneria.co.uk

• Altis, the number one olive oil brand in Greece, is now available to specialist retailers in the UK exclusively through Premier World Brands. Altis oil has won numerous awards including a Great Taste Awards gold in 2009 and iTQi Superior Taste Awards in 2007, 2009 and 2010. Premier’s Savvas Papachristou says UK interest in Greek oils is growing, but there are few affordable varieties available that are not stocked by supermarkets. “We’re pitching Altis at the market segment more concerned with provenance and taste,” he says. RRPs range from £2.39 for 250ml to £6.99 for I litre. www.premierworldbrands.com

• Two new flavours – lime and chilli-garlic – have joined a range of naturally infused single estate extra virgin oils imported by The Gift of Oil from Sicily’s Disisa estate. The lime is said to compliment Thai and Mexican dishes or seafood and makes a zingy dressing when combined with good balsamic vinegar. The chilli-garlic has a double flavour kick as the heat of the chilli arrives a few seconds after the garlic. All these oils are made from hand-picked Cerasuola olives, which are then infused with estate-grown lemons, mandarins, basil, garlic, chilli-pepper or rosemary. www.thegiftofoil.co.uk

• Knossos extra virgin olive oil, imported from Crete by The Greek Delicatessen to met the needs of deli-restaurants and other caterers, is described as “a superior oil with a beautiful golden green colour, a light aroma and a mellow flavour”. Available in 5 litre tins, its international awards include a two-star gold in this Great Taste Awards and iTQi Superior Taste Awards in 2008 and 2010. www. thegreekdeli.com

Susan Dixon, general manager, Weeton's, Harrogate Low: £3-£5 Areolives extra virgin olive oil in a pouch is our best seller in the low price bracket. This is perceived to be good for the environment as it comes in a pouch. Medium: £6-£10 Nudo extra virgin olive oil comes in a funky tin so it’s good for presents as well as having a great taste. Mid-range: £10 or more Seggiano extra virgin olive oil is our top seller in the high price bracket – we have established this great tasting oil with customers over the last five years. She says: We stock most lines in the medium price bracket, simply because this is what sells the most. To avoid getting it wrong and having product that sticks we keep our stocks low so we can change as we see demand changing. We don't sell many of our highest priced oil, so I would not try anything more expensive. I would, however, stock an oil as cheaply as possible as long as the quality and taste was good. Stephen MacFarlane, provisions buyer, Peckham’s Low: under £6 Our best selling olive oils in the lower price band are the Mantova olive oils, both classic and extra virgin. Mid-range: £6-£10 In the medium price band the Greek olive oil Iliada is our top seller. High £10 and over At the higher end of the scale, the Seggiano olive oil is our biggest seller. He says: We stock almost equal numbers of SKUs in both the lower and higher price brackets. We find that the customer base for each price range is quite different but equally substantial. At the lower end we have people buying olive oil to cook on an everyday basis, whilst at the higher end, we have a lot of customers looking for gift ideas and olive oil is often purchased to add to a customised hamper as it is very much seen as a quality, ‘boutique’ item. Obviously price is an important factor when considering whether to list a product, but we consider a product as a whole and always put ourselves in the position of a customer and consider whether they would perceive a product as offering value for money. Vol.11 Issue 10 · December 2010

A promotional feature for glennans™

Roots to Market glennans™ may not be the first name that springs to mind when thinking of vegetable crisps, but this family run business was the first to produce hand cooked vegetable crisps back in 1994 and today, is the largest hand cooked vegetable crisps producer in Europe

aving grown the business over the years on private label, the Glennan family recently launched their own retail range of hand cooked vegetable crisps under the newly designed brand, glennans The Vegetable Crisp Company™. New varieties and new pack sizes, including 100g, 40g, 27g and an innovative hand cooked vegetable crisp multipack have been developed to help retailers grow the premium snacks market but more importantly, to establish the vegetable crisp as a product in its own right rather than an add-on to potato crisps sales. “Our new brand is positioned for independent retailers looking to offer customers something different, that is exclusive and of course, tastes fantastic,” says Richard Thompson, glennans™ brand manager. The secret behind these crisps is that they still made in much the same way as they were way back in 1986 when Bob and Brenda Glennan first set up the business hand cooking potato crisps. “At that time, it was all Cheesy Footballs and Pork Scratchings, we were one of the first manufacturers of premium hand cooked crisps in the UK” recalls Bob, who retired in 2003, leaving the business in the capable hands of his three children, Richard, David and Sarah. From their base in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire the business steadily grew from supplying local pubs and shops to nationally recognised brands. However, the decision in 1994 to develop vegetable crisps proved the major turning point. glennans™ developed this side of the business supplying private label and quickly became the market leader in vegetable crisps, albeit behind the scenes.

The glennans own brand foodservice range was born in 2004 with the introduction of an innovative re-sealable catering tub, ideally suited to help busy chefs reduce wastage. As sales director, Richard Glennan recalls, “vegetable crisps had been prepared in the kitchens of fine dining restaurants for a long time, it was only natural we should launch our brand into that sector and in the right format for a busy kitchen.” Since the launch of their own brand, the small family business from Uttoxeter has risen to many challenges, not least the move to a brand new custom built factory on the edge of town. Built specifically to make vegetable crisps, it is the only one of its kind in the UK, and has allowed glennans™ to continue the fantastic growth experienced over the last six years. However, this latest move into the premium snack category with their new retail brand may well prove to be their most difficult challenge yet, although one they are confident is right and are looking forward to! Sarah Glennan-Moore, the company’s business development director explains the reasons for the new look packaging “Throughout our long history in retail, the glennans brand has always focused on food service. Our research revealed there is a gap in the snacking market for a vegetable crisp category. We took the decision to re-vamp the glennans range, to be the first to remove visual references to vegetables on pack, replacing them with bold new designs with the strength to make a statement about product quality. We’re very excited about our vegetable crisp multi-pack, the first in the market and one that continues our family commitment to innovation in the premium snack market”

The glennans vegetable crisp range and flavours include Mixed Vegetable Crisps, Perfectly Peppered Parsnip Crisps, Plantain & Sweet Potato Crisps and Beetroot Crisps. The range comes in various pack sizes, 100g, 40g and 27g, as well as the first hand cooked vegetable crisp Multipack. The range is completely gluten free and totally natural and are free from GMO and have no added artificial flavours or preservatives. They are also a great source of fibre too! The company is confident the new packaging will deliver a strong message about product quality and help draw new consumers int ot he premium snack market. A heavyweight PR and marketing campaign will push the new packaging and help expand the hand cooked crisp category by extending the range and varieties. According the glennans family, 2011 it is going to be an interesting and exciting time for the sector and their business. glennans The Vegetable Crisp Company™ Range 18 x 100g Mixed Vegetable Crisps 18 x 100g Parsnip with Cracked Black Pepper Crisps 18 x 100g Plantain & Sweet Potato Crisps 18 x 100g Beetroot Crisps 18 x 40g Mixed Vegetable Crisps 18 x 40g Parsnip with Cracked Black Pepper Crisps 18 x 40g Plantain & Sweet Potato Crisps 18 x 40g Beetroot Crisps 36 x 27g Mixed Vegetable Crisps 36 x 27g Parsnip with Cracked Black Pepper Crisps 36 x 27g Plantain & Sweet Potato Crisps 36 x 27g Beetroot Crisps 12 x (6 x 27g) Multipack

www.glennans.co.uk 01889 567 338 46

December 2010 · Vol.11 Issue 10

glennans

the vegetable crisp company

™

Enjoy our vegetable crisps and you’re in good company Here at glennans - The Vegetable Crisp Company™ we have been perfecting the art of hand cooking vegetable crisps for over 15 years. Now we are proud to present our brand new range of crisps using only the finest vegetables and not a potato in sight! Available in 100g, 40g, 27g & Multipack, our four flavours are sure to offer something for everyone...

Order Now by calling: 01889 244 951 glennans The vegetable crisp company™ Dovefields, Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, ST14 8HU

www.glennans.co.uk

In canned fish only one brand beats the supermarkets*

The Chapman Family have been involved in the seafish industry in Grimsby for over fifty years, Over which time they have amassed invaluable knowledge especially with regards to recognizing and sourcing the best fish available. Chapman’s Finest Fishcakes are available in the following flavours:TRADITIONAL WHITEFISH & PARSLEY SMOKED HADDOCK & SMOKED BACON SALMON WITH LEMON & DILL HADDOCK & LEEK WITH CHEDDAR CHEESE THAI STYLE SALMON SMOKED SALMON Please call us if you would like to place an order!

Chapman’s Finest Fishcakes Ltd Seacatch Building Estate Road 7 S H I E Grimsby N E Lincolnshire. DN31 2TP Tel : 01472 269871 Fax : 01472 269893 Email : riversidefs@btconnect.com

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Hot Smoked Salmon Horseradish Fishcakes

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• As used on Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's Every Day series • 70% MSC certified (Marine Stewardship Council) • Named top sustainable canned fish by Greenpeace • Judged most ethical canned fish provider by Ethical Consumer

Call us on 01189238767 or email us at sales@organico.co.uk or ask your wholesaler for more information about Fish4Ever. www.fish4ever.co.uk 48

December 2010 · Vol.11 Issue 10

Smoked Haddock and Smoked Bacon Fishcakes

product update

seafood

Out of the blue MICK WHITWORTH casts his net wide to find the pick of this year’s fish and shellfish launches • A 650g fish pie and a 300g twin-pack of fish cakes are among the chilled handmade ready-meals from Ginger’s Kitchen in West Sussex. Both are supplied ready to cook in French-made Panibois wooden trays – a stylish format that has already attracted smart customers in London and the South including Tom’s Deli, Mortimer & Bennett and Sourced Market. The fish pie combines poached salmon, coley and prawns in a creamy herb sauce, topped with mashed potato and mature cheddar, while the fish cakes comprise salmon, coley, crushed potato and herb, pan-fried in a crispy crumb.

• Somerset smokery Brown & Forrest reckons its new hot smoked Arctic char is “truly special”. The white fleshed Arctic char is a relative of the salmon, but head smoker Tim Towill says it has its own characteristic flavour and a texture that readily takes on the hot smoke. Usually sourced from the lakes and fjords of northern Europe, Brown & Forrest’s Arctic char is farmed in low volumes by Dorset fish farmer Hans Hoff. Towill says: “Once filleted, the sides are marinaded in a brine with a base of brown sugar, soya sauce, sherry, garlic and lemon grass. The next step is to flash roast the sides over a roaring log fire before killing the flames to produce smoke that adds a very subtle flavour.” RRP is £12 for 300g. www.brownandforrest.co.uk

www.gingerskitchen.co.uk

• Importer Delicioso’s hand-filleted boquerones (anchovies in vinegar) and salted anchovies have been given smarter packaging this year by their Spanish supplier, which has also added a garnish to the boquerones to make them ‘ready to serve’. “Delis need a quality product, but they also need good presentation to get it off the shelf,” says Delicioso’s Kate Shirley-Quirk. “We’re finding that the added garlic and parsley garnish for the boquerones helps them sell more easily.” Both are in 110g packs. Trade prices are £2.55/110g unit for the anchovies and £2.40 for the boquerones. www.delicioso.co.uk

• Sicilian-style calamari is one of the adventurous flavours from Simple Simon’s Pies. The recipe – strips of calamari casseroled with tomatoes, chilli, black olives and capers – is based on the spaghetti sauce that founder Bernard Alessi enjoyed when growing up in Malta. “The pie [RRP £4.55 for 300g] is great for tastings,” says Alessi’s daughter Christina Wild. “People always pull their ‘ooh, I’m not sure about that’ face, but once they try it they understand where we’re coming from.” www.simplesimonspies. co.uk

• Sustainable canned fish brand Fish4Ever has launched seven new lines this year, bringing its range to 23. They include Scottish brisling sardines and mackerel (RRP £1.50 for 125g), three newly-sourced tunas from the Azores and the coast of Namibia, and both pink and red varieties of whole (with skin and bone) Alaskan salmon. The tunas include skipjack for everyday use as well as the more delicate flavours of yellowfin and albacore. Fish4Ever says its focus on sustainable fishing methods has the knock-on effect of ensuring fish is handled carefully, often canned by hand and always high quality. www.organico.co.uk

• London’s Cracking Food Co now offers four types of frozen crab cakes (above) under its Cracking Crab brand: dill & spring onion, lime & coconut, a plain variety and the Great Taste Award winning Thai crab cakes. Packed in 2 x 225g sushi packs in outers of 20, they cost £4.20 per pack and Cracking Food’s Caroline Hoblyn says they have been selling at £9.99 through online store The Fish Society. Cracking Food uses meat from Peruvian edible hairy crabs. “It’s not like the brown sludge people get in their crab sandwiches in Cornwall,” says Hoblyn. “You get more white meat and less brown, and it has an immensely different flavour.” Products in the pipeline include Chilean mussels packed in kilner jars with various www.crackingfood.com flavoured oils.

• Summer 2010 saw Meridian Sea extend its deli range with the addition of fresh hand-picked Cornish crab meat, dressed crabs and scallops from Looe. “The best crab will always come from small day-boats, fishing inshore in a sustainable way and landing directly into a small, specialist shellfish producer,” says Meridian’s Nigel Vogwill. “If product is fished or processed in large volumes, it can inevitably have an detrimental effect on quality and flavour.” Meridian’s dressed crabs (approx 200g) cost £2.95 each to the trade and retail for £3.75£4.50. “There are cheaper products on the market but they’re a mile apart from the product we sell, both in appearance, flavour and the amount of white meat used,” Vogwill says. “All the crab we sell is fresh, not pasteurised, and the meat is hand picked.” The company provides an overnight service for shellfish and other lines including soup de poisson, crab, lobster and langoustine bisque. www.meridian-sea.com Vol.11 Issue 10 · December 2010

Creamy Vanilla Custard • 100% natural

• Shelf life 3 weeks minimum refrigerated

• Unique 2-3 portion (330g) size - not available in the supermarkets

• Suitable for home freezing

• Perfectly complements our delicious handmade puddings • Contact Lynne on 017684 80864 or email info@countrypuddings.co.uk

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Creamy Vanilla Custard

Chocolate Fudge Sauce

Country Puddings, Lodge Farm, Dacre, Penrith, Cumbria, CA11 0HH

• • • • • •

Hider Food Imports Ltd is a family-owned business

100% natural which has been trading for nearly 50 years. During this Shelf life 3 weeks minimum refrigerated time we have gained a reputation for supplying quality Unique 2-3 portion (330g) size - not available in the supermarkets products which are delivered by our own fleet of Suitable for home freezing vehicles. A dedicated telesales department is employed Perfectly complements our delicious handmade puddings to support our external sales team in order to provide Contact Lynne on 017684 80864 or email info@countrypuddings.co.uk

all customers with a rapid response to any specific requirements. Country Puddings, Lodge Farm, Dacre, Penrith, Cumbria, CA11 0HH

Our best selling brands include Hazer Baba, Green & Black’s, Montezuma’s, Border Biscuits, Fudges Bakery, Belvoir Fruit Farm, Twinings, RJ’s Licorice, Mrs Crimble’s, Fentimans, Tyrells and many more.

County Design - Country Puddings ad.indd 1

We produce seasonal brochures each year including our popular Christmas brochure which features a superb range of luxury gift food. Also available under our own ‘Essence of Quality’ label is a wide range of pre-packed nuts, snacks, dried fruits, culinary and confectionery goodies. The recent launch of our ‘Sweet Shop’ brand has been warmly received by customers – offering a wide selection of good old-fashioned favourites. Please contact our sales team on 01482 504333 and ask for our latest product list which will hopefully give you a further idea of our full range of products. Hider Food Imports Ltd, Wiltshire Road, Hull, East Yorkshire HU4 6PA tel: 01482 561137 fax: 01482 565668 website: www.hiderfoods.co.uk email: sales@hiderfoods.co.uk 50

December 2010 · Vol.11 Issue 10

focus on

read always gets shoppers excited. That's why supermarkets pump the smell of baking bread around their aisles. But sourcing ‘real’ artisan loaves can be a serious challenge for independent stores. The difficulties revolve around the unforgiving nature of real bread, says Joe Tager of London wholesaler Flour Power City Bakery. It’s baked fresh daily, has a short shelf life and does not respond well to freezing – even blast freezing. That makes logistics a challenge for both craft bakers and their wholesale clients, and puts everyone’s margins under pressure. Tager comments: “You need a fast logistics network which is expensive to run or otherwise you need to use someone else's. But selling onto a wholesaler is often not worthwhile. The economics aren’t there, that's the major problem.” In October, Lyme Regis-based Town Mill Bakery, which began as a quirky, single-site bakery-café, dropped its attempt to spread artisan bread around the south of England when it closed its satellite bakery in Topsham, Devon. It had already sold its first satellite unit in Hook, Hants, last Christmas. Both bakeries had been underpinned by a deal to supply a major veg box operator, but Cobb said early sales volumes hadn’t been maintained – partly because of the problems of delivering a fresh product on time. Bread that would have been baked after midnight for sales in Town Mill’s own Lyme Regis café was being baked hours earlier to reach the veg box delivery hub – and then often reaching households too late for breakfast. “We couldn’t get bread made close enough to the point of delivery for it to be of the quality we wanted.” Since bread is bulky relative to its value you have to sell a lot of volume and make as many drops as

Clive Cobb/Town Mill Bakery

The real bakery challenge B

bread & cakes

Despite the apparent appeal of fresh bread, making the real thing work in delis still proves tricky, as ANNE BRUCE reports

Freezing makes Sponge’s cakes less risky for retailers

possible in as small an area as possible – something Flour Power manages to do in the London area, running six delivery vans around the M25. But building business outside that area would present various problems, not least philosophical ones, Tager says. “We supply an artisan product and I think it is important from a marketing point of view that it comes from the local area. If you are delivering 300 miles, there is a question-mark over provenance.” Clive Cobb had hoped to overcome this by setting up satellite bakeries to serve each region. But he found independents could not shift the necessary volumes. “It starts with tremendous enthusiasm, they reckon they will sell loads and within a month it’s down to seven or eight loaves a day.” At which point they lose interest, he says, “because if they lose two loaves they’ve lost their profit”. Tom Herbert, marketing director at the Cotswolds’ Hobbs House Bakery sells “real” fresh bread to retailers in a 50 mile radius using nine vans. He has found another way to stretch further afield, with an “artisanal frozen” bread range, launched last year. The range includes organic white sourdough, fig and walnut bread and baguettes. Herbert comments: “The market is flooded with nasty pale bake-off stuff. This is different, we bake it until it develops a colour and then blast freeze it. We are very careful, using the latest technology.” If many retailers are forced to look at bake-off as the nearest option to fresh bread, there is slightly less shelf-life pressure on high quality cakes, says Mark Joll, managing director of start-up Sponge. Sponge, an offshoot of Byfords deli in Holt, north Norfolk, supplies cafés and delis with sponge cakes as well as selling to consumers online, and Joll says business is going well. Customers are often local, but also include Selfridges. He says: “We send our cakes out at 5pm, guaranteed next day delivery before noon, you can order up to 2pm. Cakes are frozen when they go out and defrost on the way. Speed of delivery and shelf life are not problems. But we are looking at sending the cakes out frozen as some customers put them in the freezer when they arrive.” It’s certainly a new option for delis that want to offer this style of cake, and Joll says no-one struggles with Sponge’s £50 minimum order because they know the cakes can go in the freezer if necessary. But when it comes to fresh bread it seems the best advice is to befriend a top notch craft baker in your own area, because the real thing doesn’t travel. • Additional reporting by Mick Whitworth www.hobbshousebakery.co.uk www.sustainweb.org/realbread www.sponge.co.uk

Tom Herbert: ‘artisanal frozen’ range

Clive Cobb: ‘We couldn’t get bread made close enough to the point of delivery’ Vol.11 Issue 10 · December 2010

training school of fine food School’s in for retailers The Guild of Fine Food extends its training offer in 2011 to cover more deli and farm shop categories Most independent retailers acknowledge that a major way to differentiate themselves from the multiples is by ensuring that owners and staff are fully trained and can add theatre to the customers’ shopping experience. In response to calls for more training from United Kingdom Cheese Guild delegates the Guild has launched the School of Fine Food programme. Aimed at deli owners and their key staff, the School of Fine Food comprises a series of eight training modules that have been developed with funding and support from South West Food & Drink and cover principal fine food categories such as Cheese & Dairy, Charcuterie, Meat, Fish and Beverages. The aim of each subject module is to allow retailers the opportunity to develop a basic working subject knowledge together with an appreciation and awareness of how to successfully integrate the food type into their retail mix. The training modules are delivered through a combination of workshops and production location

visits presented by experienced producers and other specialists, all of which is underpinned by a comprehensive workbook, itself offering a mixture of discovery, activities, hard facts and valuable reference. The training not only helps generate an awareness and appreciation of the particular food category but covers handling, storage, seasonality, display, marketing and good retail practice. From the outset, the School of Fine Food approach has been to involve cooperation and support from recognised producers, subject specialists and authorative organisations – to help ensure the accuracy of information but also to help deliver the workshop sessions. The fish module has been developed with the help of Seafood Cornwall Training, based at Newlyn. The training day for this module will kick off with a ‘crack of dawn’ visit to Newlyn’s fish market to observe its traditional shout auction and for a chance to learn about some of the species of fish landed off our coasts.

This is followed by a session on catching methods and sustainability and a fish taster lunch prepared by local, award-winning seafood chef Keir Miekle. In the afternoon an experienced local fishmonger will lead a session on responsible sourcing, seafood quality assessment, fish handling, preparation and display skills. Sarah Crosbie of Seafood Cornwall Training believes the School of Fine Food is an important development. ‘By bringing delegates to Cornwall, it certainly gives them a front seat on the fishing industry,’ she said, adding, ‘It’s this kind of deeper understanding and background knowledge that’s often lacking. For the retailer, it can really illuminate the scope and potential of fish as a food category and add that little bit of excitement and magic.’ The modules within the course have been flexibly developed to either stand alone, or be studied as part of an integrated programme allowing delegates to consider those modules that are most relevant to their current business requirements. www.schooloffinefood.co.uk

Learn more, understand more and sell more The Guild of Fine Food has trained retailers for over 20 years. Our courses have enthused, enlightened and motivated thousands of counter staff, managers and owners. The only complaint is that our delegates want more. Which is why we have launched the School of Fine Food – a comprehensive series of food & drink modules that will expand your product knowledge and your foodie credentials. Throughout the next 12 months we will be delivering eight modules, covering many of the categories in your deli, farm shop or food hall. Our industry experts will improve your knowledge of each and every counter in your shop, including meat, fruit and veg, fish, preserves and beer & cider. You should know where the food and drink you sell comes from, how it’s made and who makes it. The School of Fine Food will give you the know-how to sell more. Call it counter intelligence. For more information and to read about the modules in more detail visit www.schooloffinefood.co.uk

Module Two

January 27 2011

Charcuterie

Guild House, Wincanton, Somerset BA9 9FE

Guild of Fine Food members £60.00 (plus VAT) Non-members £90.00 (plus VAT)

Module Three

March 01 2011

Fresh Fish

Newlyn Fish Market, Cornwall

Guild of Fine Food members £95.00 (plus VAT) Non-members £125.00 (plus VAT)

To book, call us on 01963 824464. Places are limited.

The School of Fine Food m0dules:

The School of Fine Food has been developed with funding and support from South West Food & Drink

• Cheese and Dairy • Charcuterie • Fresh Fish • Fresh Meat, including game • The Pantry (Jams, marmalades, olives and olive oil, honey) • Take a Break (Tea & coffee, biscuits and chocolate ) • The Drinks Cupboard (Beer, cider and perry & country wines) • The Kitchen Garden (Vegetables, fruits, salads & herbs)

Product knowledge training for fine food retail 52

December 2010 · Vol.11 Issue 10

A promotional feature for Anthony Rowcliffe & Son

Talking Cheese...

Let it snow, let it snow… As the cold weather sets in STEVE SMITH warms to hard Swiss cheeses

Thinking about what to write at this time of year – and always being aware of seasonality – makes big winter cheeses come to mind. Swiss cheese, French mountain cheese, robust blues, fondues and Raclette all come into their own. What also comes back clearly to mind is the terrible January and February we had weather-wise in 2010, with a couple of doses of heavy snow and freezing temperatures. I think I’m right in saying that snow and really bad weather is a double-edged sword for independent shops. While it can dissuade some people from venturing out, it can tempt others to take a walk to the local shops rather than getting in the car and heading to out-of-town supermarkets. So, with the chance of Alpine weather, it’s not a bad idea to think like the Swiss and get stocked up with hard, longer lasting cheeses ideal to use for all sorts of culinary purposes as well as to enjoy at lunch or supper in front of an open fire after a bracing walk. Give your customers

Giving recipes for fondue or Dauphinoise potatoes can help you sell larger volumes of cheeses like Raclette (right)

warming, simple menu ideas for a time of year when we’re all thinking about comfort food to raise our spirits during those dark evenings. We also have to face up to the fact that these months are the quieter ones and you may not carry as large a range as you do in the summer months. Making a big display of Gruyère, Emmental and Raclette can save your counter from looking a little sparse and with fondue and Raclette recipes you can actually sell larger amounts of cheese. There’s also the opportunity to sell ancilliary products such as cornflour, garlic, French bread – even Kirsch if you have a licence – so your customers have everything they need for their fondue. Silverskin onions, small gerkins and new potatoes for the Raclette party ensure that customers need not shop anywhere else for ingredients. A girolle machine to shave thin slices of Tête de Moine can also capture the attention of your customers and become a talking point. Hearty potato dishes are very popular at this time. I like Dauphinoise potatoes with grated Gruyère or Comte, but my favourite potato dish at this time of year has to be the French classic Tartiflette. This dish of sliced potato, onions, streaky bacon or pancetta and garlic, all topped off with peeled and sliced Reblochon, is pure indulgence. So provide your customers with complete menu options and recipe ideas for the cold winter nights. When the snow’s falling, the way to a customer’s heart is surely through their belly.

01892 838999 www.rowcliffe.co.uk Vol.11 Issue 10 · December 2010

Founder Baljit KullarBell with her existing Bibijis branding. A new look could be in place early next year.

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farmers’ markets around its Coventry base and to around 60 delis, farm shops and butchers. A selection panel from Wowme!, FFD and London’s Union Market (Deli of the Month, p14) chose Bibijis from a shortlist of competition entrants ranging from small, regional producers to speciality brands that

01666 827044 www.tracklements.co.uk

• Sloemotion’s new 4 x 5cl miniatures pack, comprising sloe gin, sloe whisky, sloe brandy and sloe vodka, allows customers to sample the full range of ruby-hued liqueurs in one package. The miniatures are presented in a smart box to make an unusual gift that retails at around December 2010 · Vol.11 Issue 10

£15.95. The mini hip flask bottles are also ideal for a wee nip on a cold day. 0844 800 1911 www.sloemotion.com

• New season’s Shetland lamb (PDO) is available from Briggs’ Shetland Lamb between September and Christmas. This lamb is one of only three products from Scotland to be awarded PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) status under the EU Protected Food Names scheme, recognising the provenance and distinctive flavour of the meat due to the topography, geology and climate of the Shetland Islands. www.briggs-shetlandlamb.co.uk

• Described as “popalicious” and “made with Mums in mind”, Peter Popple’s popcorn is made using natural flavours and ingredients and is air popped and cooked without excessive

are already selling nationally. The judges decided the four-year-old West Midlands business had the most potential to see a big sales uplift in the fine food sector given a rethink of its branding. The Bells have already had their first meeting with Wowme! directors Andy White and James Maycock, who will now work with the company to come up with a new image. Agreed designs should be unveiled in the next three months. The header-card branding on Bibijis’ pouch-packs has developed partly by chance, said Ian Bell. “We did our labels really quickly on a shoe-string. Our web designer did the basics and I finished them off. But we’ve gone from three sauces to eight fairly quickly and the branding has suffered a little bit. “We know our image is holding us back, and we think a new look – as well as the PR that comes with winning the competition – will open far more doors.” Baljit Kullar-Bell said her products were initially sold frozen in takeaway trays, but shoppers didn’t equate this with ‘premium’. The sauces are now gently pasteurised and pouch-packed to give a long life in the chiller cabinet. “The advantage with the pouch is that people can see the product. If they lift the label they can see that there’s no layer of oil on top – our sauces are all less than 2% fat.” So the pouches will be retained, but Andy White said the Bells had otherwise given Wowme! free rein to rethink the current branding. “Clearly the name has to stay, but they’re not being precious about anything.” It’s hoped a new look will be in place in time for a number of launches next year, including four “indulgent” sauces for those not seeking a low-fat option. www.bibijis.com www.wowmedesign.com

product news from Guild accredited suppliers

• Bengal pickle, a new addition from S U P L I E Tracklements, is said to P be ideal for loading onto poppadoms and scooping up with naan or chapattis. The sweetness of the carrots is moderated by the vinegar while the coriander seeds add a lemony peppery tang and the chilli finishes it all off with a touch of heat. Tracklements has also added its seasonal damson jelly into its yearround range.

S U P LI E P

products, packaging & promotions

Curry sauce maker Bibijis wins free design overhaul

Warwickshire-based Bibijis, a small producer of fresh curry sauces, has won a free brand overhaul in the competition launched two months ago by FFD and consultancy Wowme! Design. Run by Baljit Kullar-Bell and her husband Ian Bell, Bibijis makes low-fat Indian curry sauces based on family recipes, selling them at

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shelftalk

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

oil. It is available in 20g portions in a range of flavours to suit the family, including cheddar cheese, fruit chutney, salt & vinegar and Golden Syrup. 020 7286 8255 www.peterpopples.com

• A selection of British breeds of cows and pigs have been painted onto a range of ceramics and textiles by artist Richard Bramble, including plates and bowls, tablemats and boards. “The local rare breed pig farmers were very happy for me to paint their animals – though not all the pigs were cooperative,” says Bramble. Dinner plates retail at £29.95 each. 01935 815236 www.richardbramble.co.uk

• Importer Villanova has introduced Biscotti di Prato, a traditional dessert biscuit from a 150-year-old Tuscan

family firm that still works to its original recipe. The handmade biscotti can be supplied across the UK in sacks, boxes or tins by Villanova, which specialises in traditional and organic food from small producers in mainland Italy and Sardinia. 0208 961 8885 www.villanovafood.com

• L’ailolive says it has achieved the perfect mix of saltiness, sweetness and spiciness with its oak-smoked garlic and chilli in Italian extra virgin olive oil. A 250g jar costs £4.95 to the trade, while a 30g jar costs £1.30. Minimum order quantities are 48 jars but a 10% discount is available on orders of over 100 items. 020 8441 4828 mail@lailolive. com

n pe try 1 O en 201 r fo ary u Jan

The measure of

success

Striking GOLD in the GREAT TASTE AWARDS is much more than a pat on the back for the quality of what you make. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s your access to the most exclusive speciality food club in the country. A club that helps you increase sales through greater trade and consumer awareness driven by promotions, endorsements, events and tutored tastings.

Hurstwood Farm, Cold-Pressed Kentish Cobnut Oil Supreme Champion 2010

In 2011 Great Taste winners will be part of Over 80 Aga Rangemaster cookery demonstrations at foodie shows and events Over 200,000 copies of Taste Gold distributed to consumers Over 30 Great Taste Markets across the UK

asting theatres at major T consumer food shows

Be a part of it and put your food to the test. Open for entries in January. www.finefoodworld.co.uk/gta + 44 (0) 1963 824464

shelftalk

products, packaging & promotions

Fromage to Age picks up distribution for Teyssier

Organic oil from the Mani Peninsular

www.fromagetoage.co.uk

The joy of sacks Foolproof soufflés from the Smiths

www.pimhill.co.uk

01845 597769

www.smithyssouffles.co.uk

Posh puds for cheats Macphie of Glenbervie has launched a range of ‘cheeky posh puds’, including crème brûlée, panna cotta and crème caramel, that are quick and easy to prepare and make entertaining easier for busy consumers. Designed for customers who don’t have the time, skills or inclination to cook desserts from scratch, each 500ml pack makes four to six servings. The puddings are part of Macphie’s new DeviliShh range – its first consumer brand. This also includes raspberry and mango fruit coulis packed in 300g squeezy bottles, and chocolate and caramel sauces in 360g sizes. Macphie is supporting the move with a consumer PR campaign, social-networking promotions, a sampling programme and food festivals. 0800 652 8220 www.macphie.com

Go nuts this Christmas R

The Dormen Food Co unveiled several special festive lines after its brand redesign earlier this S U P LI E P year. Two special seasonal blends provide a combination of fruit, nuts and chocolate “with an infusion of Christmas”. Seasonal Fruit, Nut & Chocolate brings together orange flavoured cranberries, raisins, whole sweet and sour cherries, baked cashew & almonds and milk chocolate in one bag, while Seasonal Fruit & Nut offers cinnamon flavoured cranberries, Chilean and crimson raisins, baked cashews, almonds and toasted hazelnuts. EDITE CR

01793 422305

Enjoy honey in the raw

www.dormen.co.uk

December 2010 · Vol.11 Issue 10

Importer and distributor of Spanish foods Organic Andalus has launched the Puremiel range of organic raw honeys from the Sierra Grazamela park in the South of Spain. A choice of six varieties – orange blossom, rosemary, lavender, wild forest, thousand flower and eucalyptus – are available in single variety cases of six which wholesale at £3.85 per 330g jar and carry an RRP of £5.95-£6.50. 07917 315589 sales@organic-andalus.com

0208 547 2775 www.rawhealth.uk.com

Venison chorizo gets extra spice Scottish artisan producer Great Glen Game has developed an extra spicy chilli pepper chorizo to S U P LI E P bolster its range of charcuterie. The spicy variation on its Great Taste Award-winning venison chorizo is designed for customers wanting an extra flavour kick. The Great Glen range is made only with wild Scottish venison and includes salami, pepperoni, bresaola and smoked venison. The original and red hot pepper chorizos are ready to eat as a snack or can be used in cooking.

A range of twice-baked soufflés aimed at the emerging ‘eat out at home’ market have been developed from a ‘foolproof’ recipe used by chef Geoff Smith in his 13th century pub in Scawton, North Yorkshire. Smithy’s Soufflé’s have been launched by husband and ‘friendly ex-wife’ team Geoff and Jan Smith following requests from regular pub customers for soufflés to use at their own dinner parties. “Geoff’s soufflés have long been popular with our diners and the pub’s fortunes took a beating last winter when we had to close for several weeks due to the terrible snowstorms that lasted the course of the winter,” explains Jan Smith. “Although the pub’s bookings recovered and we’ve had a great summer, it became apparent that we needed to diversify our income.”

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Shropshire’s Pimhill Farm says an experiment to introduce 5kg bulk sacks of oats, muesli and flour has paid off, with the format winning business from the likes of Ludlow Food Centre and Gonalston Farm Shop. The 5kg sack – now distributed by Hider Foods and Queenswood Natural Foods – was first shown at the Speciality & Fine Food Fair and Bristol’s Organic Food Festival in September. Products available in this “highly economical and environmentally conscious” packaging are Pimhill’s porridge oats, jumbo oats, muesli and stoneground wholemeal flour. Ginny Mayall from Pimhill Farm said: “We had this idea about six months ago and were not sure at the time whether it would be well received but we’re really pleased that we followed our instinct.” Gonalston’s Georgie Mason said the 5kg sack was a practical size for everyday staples that made “perfect sense”.

01386 849345

Raw Health says the method of cultivation of olive trees in S U P LI E P Greece’s Mani Peninsular enhances the quality of its organic kalamata olive oil, which is made solely from olives grown in this region. Trees are pruned once a year, with watering restricted to keep them small. While an olive tree can produce up to 10 litres of oil, the Mani Koreneiki trees only produce 1-3 litres of green-gold oil. The product is available in 500ml green glass bottles and retails at £6.99, and a case of six costs £31.46. It is available from Windmill Organics, Tree of Life, Infinity Foods, Queenswood Natural Foods and The Health Store. EDITE CR

Teyssier patés and charcuterie are back in the UK market after French producer Teyssier Salaisons struck a distribution deal with S U P LI E P Gloucestershire cheese wholesaler Fromage to Age. Teyssier has been making Saucissons Secs and air-dried hams for 140 years. All its pork is reared and slaughtered in the Rhone valley and processed and matured at 1,100m metres in the Ardeche mountains. Its products are available both in retail packs and larger formats for the deli serveover. “I have been looking for a decent range of charcuterie for some time and Teyssier’s products and the way they do business ticked all the boxes,” said Simeon Hudson-Evans of Fromage to Age. EDITE CR

01397 712121 www.greatglengame.co.uk

THE SOURCE ingredients, equipment, services • An improved version of the existing Kliklok K model, the new hand-pack cartoner from Kliklok International is said to offer a “reliable and cost effective end load cartoning solution”. Suitable for producers that are just beginning to automate or who want a system to accommodate a wide range of products and pack styles, the KII is designed for low maintenance operation and can run at speeds of up to 80 cartons a minute. The stainless steel construction allows for full wash-downs and the machine’s features include a text display colour touch-screen for easier operation. One of the first users of the new machine is a family-run savoury and desserts product business in Belgium, which has installed three KII cartoners. 01275 836131 www. kliklok-int. com

Bill’s Produce Stores — Photography by Hudoq

The Farm Shop & Deli Show is a brand new show dedicated to meeting the unique needs of farm shops, delis and premium food halls. A range of exhibitors will be showcasing everything from dairy, chocolate, confectionery, charcuterie, meat, olives, sauces, preserves, condiments and chutneys through to equipment, speciality soft drinks, packaging, hot beverages, biscuits, cakes, beers, wines and spirits. Interested in exhibiting? Contact Jenna Patel on 01293 610 335 or email jenna.patel@william-reed.co.uk

classified

BAKING EQUIPMENT BOILERS BOTTLES & JARS BUSINESSES FOR SALE CL EXHIBITION EQUIPMENT FOOD PROCESSING EQUIPMENT HYGIENE PRO PACKAGING PHOTOGRAPHY RECRUITMENT REFRIGERATION SECURITY SH WANTED WEB DESIGN BAKING EQUIPMENT BOILERS BOTTLES & JARS BUS EPOS TECHNOLOGY EXHIBITION EQUIPMENT FOOD PROCESSING EQUIP • baking equipment

• bottles & jars

See our extensive range of bakery and food processing equipment at

• food processing machinery

• ingredients

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

www.bakeryequipment.co.uk

classified

Contact us at: 0116 254 2121 BAKING EQUIPMENT BOILERS BOTTLES & JARS BUSINESSES FOR SALE CL or email EXHIBITION EQUIPMENT FOOD PROCESSING EQUIPMENT HYGIENE PRO sales@bakeryequipment.co.uk PACKAGING PHOTOGRAPHY RECRUITMENT REFRIGERATION SECURITY SH D T Saunders Ltd WANTED WEB DESIGN BAKING EQUIPMENT BOILERS BOTTLES & JARS BUS EPOS103TECHNOLOGY EXHIBITION EQUIPMENT FOOD PROCESSING EQUIPMEN London Road, Leicester LE2 0PF www.FrenchFlint.com Unit 4G, The Leathermarket, Weston Street, London SE1 3ER

Tel: 020 7407 3200 Fax: 020 7407 5877

• baking equipment

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Do you make PIES? We make PIE MACHINES See our extensive range

• ingredients

In a pickle about where HS HS French Flint Ltd to buy your food jars? FF

• insurance

Doves Farm Foods

Speciality Glassware Suppliers for the moreof equipment for artisan producersproducer. of fruit juices, wines, ciders discerning and oils. Our wide range extends from extraction processes to •filtration, Authorisedbottling, distributors for Ardagh glass, Allied Glass and Beatson Clark sealing and • Nationwide delivery service available labelling. • Free samples available

We mill and bake high-quality, delicious and healthful products suitable for special diets Speciality ﬂour Baking requisites Gluten free premium pasta Delicious gluten free cookies Organic ﬂapjacks & cereal bars Fairtrade breakfast cereals

JOHN HUNT (Bolton) Ltd

St, Bolton,Leicester England BL3LE2 5BZ 0PF 103 Rasbottom London Road,

Order online: www.dovesfarm.co.uk or call our sales team on 01488 684 880

www.FrenchFlint.com

Visit www.johnhuntbolton.co.uk of bakery and food

processing TO SEE OUR RANGEequipment OF MACHINES, PLUS at

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OR CALL + 44 (0) 1204 521831 / 532798 or email

sales@bakeryequipment.co.uk OR FAX + 44 (0) 1204 527306

D T Saunders Ltd

OR EMAIL spencer@johnhuntbolton.co.uk

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• Glass jars, Beer bottles, Food grade pails, Plastic bottles Think high quality glass and Tel: SPINKS 01404for 892100 plastic Fax: containers. 01404 890263

Email: info@vigoltd.com Spinks Tel: Compak 020 7407 3200 Fax: 020 7407 5877 0113 2350662 · e: emma.speight@spinks.co.uk t:www.vigoltd.com www.spinkscompak.com

foodprocessing processingmachinery machinery • •food

Crestchem

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Suppliers of equipment for artisan producers of fruit juices, wines, ciders and oils. Our wide range extends from extraction processes to • filtration, Authorised bottling, distributors for Ardagh glass, Allied Glass andand Beatson Clark sealing • Nationwide delivery service available • labelling. Free samples available

PECTIN XANTHAN GUM CITRIC ACID POTASSIUM SORBATE GLYCERINE & more

Fax: 01404 890263 Contact us for further information: Email: info@vigoltd.com Spinks Compak 0113 2350662 · e: emma.speight@spinks.co.uk t: www.vigoltd.com www.spinkscompak.com

Contact: HEATHER AHMED heather@crestchem.co.uk T: 01494 434660 - F: 01494 434990 www.crestchem.co.uk

VIDEO CLIPS OF THE MACHINES IN OPERATION OR CALL + 44 (0) 1204 521831 / 532798 OR FAX + 44 (0) 1204 527306 OR EMAIL spencer@johnhuntbolton.co.uk

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

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Need a new van? Find it in

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

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

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

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Do you make PIES? We make PIE MACHINES TO SEE OUR RANGE OF MACHINES, PLUS

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Crestchem Ltd., Crest Station Rd, Amersham, Bucks HP6 5DW Crestchem Ltd., 10Hse, Hill152 Avenue, Amersham, Bucks, HP6 5BW

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Suppliers of equipment for artisan producers of fruit juices, wines, ciders and oils. Our wide range extends from extraction processes to filtration, bottling, sealing and labelling. Tel: 01404 892100 Fax: 01404 890263 Email: info@vigoltd.com www.vigoltd.com

Suppliers of: � Confectionery and Gift Packaging � Chocolate � Ingredients

L T D

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

01761 470523 F: 01761 471018 www.keylink.org w:Tel: 0114 245 5400 www.zumozest.com E: info@zumozest.com

DRY WHITE WINE

2010 · Vol.11 Issue 10 bottles & jars 58 • December

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• ingredients

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• labelling

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• training

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Stuart Gates Food Solutions Practical advice for speciality food producers and retailers

By J. O. Training

• packaging

I have 30 years experience in your market so if you think I can help please contact me on grocergates2@aol.com Tel: 07867 506495 Vol.11 Issue 10 · December 2010

December 2010 路 Vol.11 Issue 10