14 minute read
NEWS
Next Article
NEWS Hampers are available but retailers’ options are more limited and prices are higher
By Greg Pitcher
Major hamper suppliers have sought to calm fears of a shortage of the traditional Christmas produce baskets – but admitted that options would be more limited than usual and prices higher.
Both Somersetbased Gadsby and south London’s WBC told FFD they would have plenty of options for delis and farm shops to choose from during the festive season but did point out the impact of increased demand, reduced supply and logistical challenges.
Rob Copley, director at Farmer Copleys shop and café in west Yorkshire, said branded hampers ordered from the Far East this summer would not be arriving this year, forcing him to source alternatives. These will sell at £1 in the store rather than almost £5, he said, and not contain the Farmer Copleys name.
“The idea was that you bought someone a gorgeous hamper they could reuse, and filled them with our produce. Not having them impacts on our brand.”
Jennifer Horton, owner of The Corbridge Larder in Northumberland, said she was “struggling” to get extra wicker hampers from her usual French supplier and had turned to baskets instead.
“Once we run out of hampers, we will either offer a basket or use our jute bags,” she said. “I ordered 2,000 jute bags just in case earlier this year.”
Gadsby’s managing director Will Gadsby said a lack of workers to harvest UK wicker had long forced the firm to import all its hampers from the Far East. Delays and price rises were affecting shipping customers worldwide, he added, due to bottlenecks as economies reopened post-pandemic. These were being exacerbated by UK road haulage market conditions.
“On a lot of items, more than half of our sale price is shipping cost,” he said, adding: “We have no production problems and plenty of stock. We might not have the exact size and style delis want but there are plenty of options available.”
WBC managing director Andrew Wilson said the supplier had tried to order 40% more wicker this year to meet soaring demand but had been thwarted by capacity in Asia.
“Producers have not caught up with demand and there are also problems with shipping along with a wet production season in China so they couldn’t dry wicker in the sun.
“We still have wicker hampers but we are sold out of bigger sizes. We have introduced a lot more options – card boxes, wooden boxes – we are not going to run out.”
Suppliers, including WBC, said they do have hampers available to indies but that there have been big cost increases
New Belfast food academy will bolster food industry training
Ulster University Business School has launched a new educational hub, called Academy: the Centre for Food, Drink and Culture, as it looks to attract more students to the hospitality and food sectors.
Located on Ulster University’s enhanced Belfast campus, Academy incorporates a state-ofthe-art restaurant, culinary school, beverage school and conference facilities.
As well as giving students hands-on experience, it will provide comprehensive practical support to entrepreneurs, be an open-access learning and cultural centre for the public.
Professor Una McMahon-Beattie, Head of the Department of Hospitality & Tourism Management at Ulster University said: “As we launch Academy, we will have a renewed focus on equipping students with skills that help them progress in their careers and make a significant and positive contribution to society. Hospitality is central to our economy, culture and identity – and it is our talented graduates who will shape the sector’s character and success.”
academyrestaurant.co.uk
Spanish food wholesaler launches retail division
Spanish food importer and wholesaler Mevalco has launched a retail division following increased consumer demand for its products during the pandemic.
The distributor’s new retail range has been developed for the independent retail market and includes charcuterie, meats, artisan cheeses, cheese accompaniments and sweets, olives and pickles, pulses and vegetables, olive oils, vinegars, spices, sauces, and seafood.
The firm’s joint managing director, David Menendez, said that the retail market was a natural next step for the importer of premium Spanish foods.
Menendez said: “We know from the growth of our private clients and from our professional customers that there is a growing appetite from consumers for new, innovative, and inspirational ingredients.
“The retail market is exciting to enter, and we are reaching out to independent retailers as well as farm shops across the UK. Our new and innovative retail range is unique, highly relevant and represents the very best of Spain, alongside ‘staple’ ingredients across ambient, chilled, fresh and frozen categories.”
mevalco.com
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING ABOUT... HAMPER SHIPPING COSTS
ROB COPLEY,
FARMER
COPLEYS
I am told it costs £12,000 to ship a container to the UK now rather than £3,000. We ordered bespoke Farmer Copley branded hampers from China in May but they are not going to be delivered in time for Christmas. There do not seem to be any shipping containers – they are piling up empty at UK ports.
We would have paid $1,500 (£1,110) to bring in a container full of hampers and that is now $15,000. More than half of our turnover is from large customers – we sell them full containers. Independents order a small number from the website and we send them a pallet. There are a limited number of shipping lines and prices have gone up and up due to demand after the lockdowns.
Prices of raw wicker have gone through the roof, while a shipping container for us has gone from £2,000 to £15,000. We usually organise it in April and May so the delivery is here in September to sell before Christmas. Estimating demand is always a fine balance. Most of the smaller retailers want to be able to buy hampers at short notice.
WILL GADSBY, MD, GADSBY
ANDREW
WILSON,
MD, WBC
NEWS More closures likely as staffing shortages hit UK food businesses
By Greg Pitcher
A leading hospitality figure has warned of more closures across the UK after an historic Welsh delicatessen shut its popular café over the busy Christmas period to relocate staff on to the shop floor amid a recruitment crisis in both sectors.
Customers will be unable to visit the coffee house at Wally’s Delicatessen and Kaffeehaus in Cardiff in December after owner Steven Salamon opted to concentrate all his workers on the ground floor retail element of the business following a long and fruitless search for new employees.
Sustainable Restaurant Association managing director Juliane Caillouette Noble said staff shortages meant it was becoming “untenable” to keep many hospitality offerings open.
“This is something that we are seeing across the UK,” she said, citing one small business that had closed three of its five restaurants since the pandemic began due to recruitment problems. Others were reducing their opening hours to protect their remaining staff from burnout, she added.
Salamon said he had been struggling for months to find staff to replace six people who left during the Covid-19 lockdowns.
“Every time I took a step forward I took two steps back – someone would join then leave at short notice; or they would agree to join and pull out the day before; or someone else we had to let go. I just could not get staff to stick.
“Everyone was getting frayed so I decided to take all four remaining staff from the café into the retail side to solve the short-term problem. They will go back into the café in January when it is quieter.”
Salamon said people had been put off careers in retail and hospitality by the way shops and cafes were forced to close during the pandemic, and described a significant dip in applications from people born on the Continent since the UK left the EU. Wages were also soaring, he added, as workers realised they were in demand.
“I would like to see more opportunities for Europeans to come in at short notice to fill short-term roles,” he added. “The hospitality industry is crying out for workers.”
Caillouette Noble also cited Brexit as a major cause of the recruitment crisis.
“A high number of Europeans went home during the pandemic while venues were closed and are not returning to the UK,” she said.
“Additionally, young people – another key target for hospitality –have found other options through remote working and companies like Amazon offering less anti-social hours.”
Tim Mossholder/Unsplash
Foodservice businesses have struggled to find new staff
IN BRIEF
Walter Smith Fine Yorkshire Pecorino Foods has announcedFiore was named the the closure of Supreme Product three stores in theChampion at Midlands. The butcherdeliciouslyorkshire’s chain revealed2021 Taste Awards. over Christmas thatMainsgill Farm Shop its Denby Village,was named Best West Bromwich andIndependent Retailer. Coventry shops woulddeliciouslyorkshire. stop trading, leaving itco.uk with 11 outlets – many of which are within garden centres.The Cornwall Pasta Company has been granted an organic Tracklements haslicense by the Soil hired Ben HallamAssociation. The for the role of Falmouth-based commercial manager,business uses only which includesorganic and foraged identifying new marketingredientsto make its opportunities. Hallamrange of pasta. joins the Wiltshirebased condiment specialist after 11 yearsWaitrose has unveiled at dairy firm Yeo Valley. plans to use its farm at the Leckford Estate to pioneer regenerative Health food retailerfarming techniques. Planet Organic hasThe Hampshire estate moved into the hotwill be trialling new food delivery marketmeasures over the next and teamed15 years. up with high-end service
The 33rd World Cheese Awards brought a record-breaking 4,079 entries from 45 different countries, to Oviedo in Spain to be judged by more than 200 cheese experts at the Asturias Paraíso Natural International Cheese Festival. In the end, a cheese called Olavidia (you may have noticed it on the cover) from Andalusian producer Quesos y Besos was deemed the Best Cheese in the World. Turn to page 22 for a full report.
Lina Stores set to open new outlet in London’s Marylebone
Lina Stores is set to expand further across London with a new restaurant and deli in the Capital’s Marylebone Village area.
Opening in Spring 2022, Lina Stores Marylebone will be housed in a two-storey building on the corner of Wigmore Street and Marylebone Lane –adding to a portfolio that include outlets in King’s Cross, The City and Soho.
The ground-floor of the new premises will feature an all-day restaurant with an opentheatre kitchen and a menu that will include signature antipasti, showcasing Lina Stores’ delicatessen ingredients, as well as a range of sharing dishes and desserts.
There will also be an open-plan delicatessen, similar to the original Lina Stores site on Brewer Street. Its range will include an extended variety of new salads, panini, fresh pasta and pizzette to eat in or take away.
The shelves will also feature the newly released Lina Stores Collection, including Sicilian extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar from Modena and traditional biscotti.
linastores.co.uk
Fish4Ever was founded on the idea of bringing organic values to sustainability in fish.
Rated a world beating 89% by Greenpeace, our Skipjack isn’t only the best option in ethical terms, it’s also the best for quality. That’s because our little island factory in the Azores only works from whole fish rather than frozen pre processed loins and we only add really good, natural and organic ingredients. Using named, locally owned and operated pole and lines boats this is tuna you can trust for taste and sustainability
www.fish4ever.co.uk sales@organico.co.uk // 01189 238760
NEWS Tracklements granted people- and planet-friendly B-Corp accreditation
By Tom Dale
Artisan condiment maker Tracklements has been awarded B Corp certification after the business was assessed to ensure it upholds the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability.
The Wiltshire-based brand joins the 75 other food & drink companies among the 450 B Corps in the UK – representing the largest sector in the list.
Guy Tullberg, Tracklements’ managing director said: “We were searching for accreditation which explicitly verifies our ethos of behaving as good citizens in all things, and B Corp was the ideal certification for us to prove this.
“As a manufacturer, we know what we do impacts others, and we take our responsibility to our staff, suppliers, customers and our community very seriously.”
Committed to making “the most planet-friendly condiments you can buy”, the company was granted the status due to its initiatives such as sourcing ingredients locally, using recyclable packaging, treating its waste water on-site, and installing more than 10,000 sq ft of solar panels – enabling the company to generate 100% renewable electricity which is fed into the national grid at weekends through green energy company Good Energy.
Tracklements is set to construct extra warehousing space in 2022 which will more than double the firm’s solar capacity.
Hoping that the accreditation would have a positive impact on sales, Tullberg said: “Today’s shoppers expect businesses to be responsible and purpose-driven which is part of Tracklements’ DNA and B Corp gives us the framework for that.”
Now the condiment maker is in the process of installing more environmentally friendly gas boilers to cut the company’s carbon emissions by 40%, and is committing to cut nonrecyclable packaging by 25% annually alongside a reorganisation of its waste streams.
Other speciality food & drink brands with B Corp status include Belazu, Doisy & Dam, Dark Woods Coffee, Cook, and distributor Cotswold Fayre.
The Tracklements team form a giant ‘B’ in celebration
tracklements.co.uk
IN BRIEF
Taste of the West’s Hospitality & Retail Awards 2022 is now open for entries. The scheme is calling on all South Westbased food retail and hospitality businesses to register their interest by emailing awards@
tasteofthewest.co.uk
Chelsea-based Royal Warrant-holding grocer Partridges is celebrating its 50th Christmas in the exclusive London district, having first opened there half a century ago.
partridges.co.uk
The October 2021 Shopper Confidence Index, from ShopperVista has fallen to its second lowest level since it was first measured following a decline in five out of the last six months.
shoppervista.igd.com
Body commits to net zero DOWN ON THE FARM The latest from farm shops across the country
The Scotland Food & Drink Partnership last month committed to unite industry efforts towards a net-zero future.
The Net Zero Commitment consists of five long-term commitments to help Scotland’s food and drink sector cut its carbon emissions. Launched at a COP26 event held in Glasgow, the Commitment’s five longterm pledges are: Placing net zero at the heart of the sector’s strategies; supporting food & drink businesses on their journey; tackling shared challenges and including in other sectors in the discussion; using data to drive activity; making the sector’s net zero transition a just one.
foodanddrink.scot
Nixon’s Farm Shop in Cheadle, Cheshire, has recently added a play barn, with the majority of the play equipment now under cover. Features include football pitches, a Lego area, ride-on mini tractors and sandpits – all conveniently located right next to the café.
nixonsfarmshop.co.uk
open a premises on Ashford’s high street after refurbishments. The Richardson family has owned the farm for 35 years but this is the first off-site branch having traded from a shop at their base in Folkestone Road, Dover, since 1982
littlefarthingloefarm. co.uk
Kentish business
Farthingloe Farm Shop
is set to branch out and Buckinghamshire’s Peterley Manor Farm has opened its newly built Barn Kitchen in November. The permanent structure has replaced a ‘pop up’ yurt café, which started life some seven years ago. Having been so successful, the ‘pop up’ needed to grow and is now able to cater for a larger audience.
peterleymanorfarm. co.uk
The Farm Shop at Denby, near Ripley, has undergone a re-brand recently and will now be run by the Denby Pottery Company. The new Denby
Pottery Village Farm
Shop stocks a range of produce, sourced from local suppliers, including farm-fresh meats, deli produce, freshly baked breads, eggs, cheeses, and cakes.
All the produce is locally sourced, and the deli selection is proving an instant success with their customers. Meanwhile, the new Denby Tea House, serves Denby’s speciality loose leaf teas, barista coffees, homemade cakes, scones and afternoon teas.
