12 minute read
SHELF TALK
Next Article
Host of new food & drink brands joins sustainability certi cation
By Tom Dale
A ra of food & drink businesses has joined the ranks of certi ed B Corporations in recent months as sustainability continues to grow in importance to consumers.
Since November last year, 15 new brands have grown the number of food & drink companies with B Corp status in the UK to 103, joining the likes of Tracklements and Dark Woods Co ee.
Sustainable canned English sparkling wine Sustainable canned English sparkling wine brand The Uncommon is among the latest brand The Uncommon is among the latest cohort.
“We achieved a high B Corp score due to “We achieved a high B Corp score due to our fully domestic supply chain, commitment our fully domestic supply chain, commitment to local production, and support of local conversation projects and the environment,” said conversation projects and the environment,” said co-founder, Henry Connell.
Also certi ed are climate-positive spirits Also certi ed are climate-positive spirits brands Sapling Spirits and Two Dri ers Distillery, as is Summerdown Mint, growers of Black Mitcham peppermint and producers of chocolates, teas and treats. A spokesperson for the Great Taste award-winning brand – which is also part of the B Corp working group on regenerative agriculture – said it was delighted to have been granted the status.
As sustainability becomes increasingly As sustainability becomes increasingly important to consumers, more businesses are seeking external accreditation to assure the public that their operation is as green as it claims to be, and the B Corp certi cation of “environmental and social performance” is one of the most recognisable.
To be certi ed, businesses must undergo a B Impact Assessment and achieve a B Impact Score of more than 80 out of a possible 200. Overall B Impact Scores are calculated by combining the scores from ve Impact Areas: governance, workers, community, environment and customers.
For a full list of all the new food & drink brands that have joined the 600 UK B Corporations and more information about the certi cation, visit bcorporation.ukcerti cation, visit bcorporation.uk
WHAT’S NEW
Wold Top Brewery has launched its second low alcohol beer after the success of its first foray into the low-andno market. The Wold Newton-based producer has launched Inkling (<0.5% vol.), a light, golden ale. Inkling has an RRP of £1.26 for a 330ml bottle and is vegan friendly.
woldtopbrewery.co.uk woldtopbrewery.co.uk
Organic flour brand Doves Farm has launched two new seeded bread flours. Seedhouse – containing organic pumpkin, sunflower, poppy, millet and golden linseed – and Heritage Seeded – a blend of ancient grains and seeds – are sold in 1kg bags (RRP £2.69-£2.99).
dovesfarm.co.uk Doves
new seeded bread flours. sunflower, poppy, millet and golden linseed – and Heritage Seeded – a blend of ancient grains and seeds – are sold in 1kg
Normandy cider maker Maison Sassy has lanched its first Calvados. Made by distilling a young, fruity cider (1-3 months old) in a column copper still in small batches, the Calvados is then aged in oak casks for a minimum of two years. The 40% ABV spirit has a £32 RRP for a 70cl bottle.
maison-sassy.com
Launching at the tail end of last year is Pureté’s first product, wholemeal sourdough Sangak flatbreads.
The traditional Persian recipe has been in the founders’ family for generations, and now the brand is bringing the vegan-friendly, high-fibre bread to the UK.
The wholemeal, 16-hour fermented flatbreads – which have been in development for four years – contain no oil, preservatives, added sugar, or dairy, and have an RRP of £2.49-£2.79 (trade, up to £2.07 based on a case of six, cases of up to 40 are available).
Pureté Sangak Flatbreads are available through Cotswold Fayre, or direct. ilovepurete.com
Paley Photography
Counter points Co ee
Food writer and former deli owner Glynn Christian offers up some category-specific conversation starters to sharpen your sales technique.
• Arabica is the finest variety of coffee bean, robusta beans give harsher flavours and up to 2½ times more caffeine. Liberica beans are coffee, but not as most of us know it.
• Boiling water should not touch ground or instant coffee: 92°C is ideal. Stream off-theboil water from a height to reduce its temperature.
• Sealed refrigeration or deep freezing prolong the life of ground coffee and beans. Frozen coffee grounds cool water that is too hot.
• Coffee strengths on packs are not caffeine levels but degrees of roasting. The higher the roast, the lesser quality the bean.
Skimmed milk gives better cappuccino foam than full-fat
• Skimmed milk gives better cappuccino foam than full-fat.
• The first coffee house opened in Mecca in 1511. Floriano’s on St Mark’s Square, Venice, opened in 1645. The first in England was in Oxford in 1650.
WHAT’S NEW
New London-based start-up snack brand New London-based start-up snack brand Cheesies has turned cheese into a crunchy, baked snack. Made from 100% cheese, the brand has launched five variants – Cheddar; Red Leicester; Gouda; Goat’s Cheese; Emmental; Chilli Cheddar – each with an RRP of Cheddar – each with an RRP of £1.19 for a 20g bag.
cheesies.co.uk
Yorkshire-based Otterbeck Distillery has launched Cotton Garden Gin, which the producer says is a gin perfect for the colder months. Botanicals include juniper, cassia, cardamom, yarrow, elderberry and coriander leaf. The 42%
ABV gin has an RRP of £37.95 for a 70cl bottle.
otterbeckdistillery.co.uk
Vegan chocolate brand the Raw Chocolate Company has undergone a major rebrand to celebrate 15 years in the business. Made in carbon-neutral kitchens, the range is free from dairy, gluten, soya and refined sugars, with the brand’s B-Corp certification pending.
therawchocolatecompany.com
My magic ingredient
Nonya Secrets, Rendang Curry Mix
IAIN HEMMING
Owner, Thyme & Tides Deli Owner, Thyme & Tides Deli
Nonya Secrets is a jarred sauce brand that I think is going to really catch on next year.
As we Brits branch out into new Asian taste territory, these Malaysian sauces are real winners.
They’re made in London in small batches; really fresh. They do a Rendang that I love and which is doing really well in the shop.
The branding is great, it tastes great and – once bought – people are coming back for them again and again. You can’t argue with that.
It all comes down to the small-batch cooking. The flavours are so fresh, it tastes like a freshly made sauce. They retain their colour and their consistency – and you can taste the proper ingredients and aromats that are in there.
They’ve got a strong price (£5.95 for a 175g jar) but it packs a punch! People are willing to come back again and again which is great. nonyasecrets.com
It all comes down to the small-batch cooking. it tastes like a freshly made sauce
Pistachios take centre stage in range of nut milks and butters
“You could say that Bahram & I earned our ‘nut stripes’ from the ground up, having both grown up picking pistachios on family-friend owned farms in Iran,” said Behnam Heydaripour, co-founder of Borna Foods with his brother Bahrum.
The pair have since set about bringing pistachios to the fore of the burgeoning plantbased milk and healthy breakfast-at-home trends which have both grown during the pandemic.
Launched in 2014 in Greenwich as a nut wholesale business, Borna entered the retail market in 2018 when the brothers decided to enter the retail market and o er an alternative to the “tired and uninspiring nut o erings”.
The brand now makes a range of ve pistachio butters, including the recently added Sweet Roast Crunchy Pistachio Butter, and two pistachio milks – sweetened and unsweetened.
The brand has kept the price of the spread down thanks to its access to a ordable pistachios.
While the lines still weigh in at a higher RRP than comparable products made with other nuts, Heydaripour believes the unique gastronomic appeal and consumers’ growing appetite for premium food make the range viable.
“The pistachio is a nut brimming with gastronomic allure, and create a dense, velvetytextured nut drink that’s low in calories yet high in bre and good nutrition,” said the co-founder. “Plus, with the resurgence in breakfast’s popularity caused by stuck-athome commuters, clean-deck pistachio butters o er so much.” Borna Foods’ pistachio milks have an RRP of £1.99 for a 500ml carton, while its pistachio butters have RRPs of £8.49-£8.99 for 170g jars. The nut-focused brand is also launching a range of trail mixes later this year.
bornafoods.com The Wasabi Company has launched a trio of vegan mayonnaises: Vegan Wasabi, Vegan Miso and Vegan Wasabi.
The Dorset-based wasabi grower has been developing vegan versions of its popular sauces for some time, and has combined its British-grown wasabi, the popular Japanese citrus (yuzu) and umami-rich miso to make its trio of vegan condiments.
Available in individual jars (175g), and as a gifting pack including all three variants, the lines have RRPs between £3.60 and £3.95 (presentation box, £11.50) and are sold to the trade in cases of six direct from The Wasabi Company. thewasabicompany.co.uk
MEET THE PRODUCER
Sam Storey is the co-founder of BELLE & HERBS FARM, a fermented food brand launched mid-pandemic with business partner and fellow chef Pan Hmwe. Their big range has proved popular, picking up stars in last year’s Great Taste
WHAT’S NEW
What were you doing before you launched Belle & Herbs Farm?
I’d been involved in food for the past 20 years, and when COVID hit, I’d spent six years with a social enterprise working to research and help people with ‘altered eating’ problems, following cancer or other conditions, but COVID forced closure. Pan was forced to become a refugee in the UK 10 years ago. It was very hard to be parted from her family, and she decided to pursue her love of food. She has an encyclopaedic knowledge of Asian food. Just before COVID, she became head chef at an Asian restaurant, which had to shut.
Why did you decide to launch the brand?
We’ve been friends for 10 years, initially bonding over a shared love of food. When we found ourselves simultaneously unemployed, I floated the idea of doing a start-up, and Pan went for it.
What is the biggest lesson you have learned?
We still have a bit of a mountain to climb before fermented products become fully mainstream. There’s a growing awareness, though; we go to lots of food markets and talk to people, and the groundswell is there. After nearly a year, we now feel we’re in the right place at the right time, but initially, we started to think, ‘Oh god, what have we done,’ when days of sales calls, emails, and door knocking resulted in not much at all.
Why fermented foods?
When I was working with Altered Eating, we were part of a large multi-disciplinary research network. I got to do a deep dive into eating and wellbeing and became fascinated by gut biome and began researching it, then experimenting with fermentation. For Pan, growing up, fermentation was a part of life. Her family had been involved in fermentation businesses for generations. Her mum is our guru and seems to know the answer and solution to any issues we encounter. our white kimchi, we squeeze pear juice by hand as using a machine makes for a cloudy product.
You have a big range right out the gate. Did you have all the recipes ready to go?
No. In the early stages, we thought we’d make a good variety of products and see which emerge as favourites; sort of market research. It turned out they all sold equally well. We only dropped one product, a radish kimchi, which was perhaps a little too exotic. Though now, our Pickled Pink Mouli is a top seller.
What is the best thing about being a small business?
The challenge. The thrill of the chase. The feeling that you live or die on the sum of your efforts. The seat of the pants holding it all together. Seeing something you dreamt of come together and stagger to its feet is amazing.
…and the worst?
Ironically, eating very badly! And having to be a salesperson when really you just want to create food.
What’s next for Belle & Herbs?
We’re scaling up for kombucha and kvass which we’ll be starting in the spring. We’re also busy getting our products ready for Great Taste 2022. We entered two products last year and were thrilled to get a 1-star and a 2-star. Genie Drinks has launched a range of three kombuchas, one of which picked up a 1-star award at last year’s Great Taste. Sweet Citrus Kombucha, Dry Apple Kombucha, and Fiery Ginger Kombucha are sold in both 330ml cans and 275ml bottles.
geniedrinks.co.uk
Pan’s mum is our guru and seems to know the solution to any issues we encounter
What makes your ferments and pickles stand out from others on the market?
We strive for deliciousness first and foremost. We aim for our ferments to be naturally colourful and of the highest quality we can make them. They’re all hand-prepared with obsessive attention to detail. For instance, in
C
M
Y
CM
MY
CY Magnesium reportedly has a raft of health benefits including increased concentration and better sleep, which is why OHMG has launched the world’s first drink containing three types of the element. The range includes Still, Sparkling and three flavoured sparkling varieties.
ohmgwater.com
Two former employees of VitaCoco have launched a sugarfree cereal that “tastes like the cereal you loved growing up”, but is healthy and functional. Aimed at beating HFSS legislation, Surreal is high in plant protein, low in carbs and comes in four flavours: Cocoa, Frosted, Cinnamon, and Peanut Butter.
eatsurreal.co.uk
The producer of the first Assam liqueur in the UK – and possibly the world – has come away from the Spirits Business Liqueur Masters 2021 with a best-in-show accolade for its Assam Black Cold Brew Tea Liqueur. Whistler’s Storm’s Earl ’s Earl Grey liqueur also picked up an award in the brand’s first year award in the brand’s first year of business. The liqueurs have proven The liqueurs have proven successful in bars and
restaurants in the brand’s restaurants in the brand’s Freshly Ground Sponsor advert 2016 print ready.pdf 1 16/08/2016 10:37
