FFD July 2015

DELI OF THE MONTH 52

A S U PPL E M E N T T O

A Portuguese Love Affair

‘Our ethos is local or, if it can’t be local, British. And that’s where we stop,’ says Battlefield 1403’s owner

2015 Guide to Importers & Distributors

AM Health Artisan Food Club BBQ Gourmet Bellota Cotswold Fayre Cryer & Stott Delicioso Districts of Italy Divine Deli Empire Bespoke Foods Entremont Harvey & Brockless hf Chocolates Hider Foods Holleys Fine Foods Infinity Foods Just Trading Scotland Maltby & Greek MexImport New Alliance Paul’s Food Emporium R H Amar Samways Fine Food The Cress Co The Gorgeous Food Co Va-Lore Food Villanova Food

YOUR DIRECTORY OF FINE FOOD IMPORTERS, WHOLESALERS & DISTRIBUTORS

CATALOGUE RUTH ANSLOW 7 SHOPPING 21 The co-founder of Our annual directory of importers & distributors

ethical supermarket HiSbe on the challenge of putting people before profit July 2015 · Vol 16 Issue 6

ALL THAT GLISTENS

A S U P P L E M E NT T O

2015-16 Edition

Includes

Guide to British & Continental Charcuterie

Shimmering spreadables to sweeten your jams & preserves selection

Get cooking

49 suppliers & producers of premium charcuterie

Putting Parma centre stage

Great recipe ideas to help your customers think beyond the humble meat platter

How London’s Briciole is putting a premium on Italy’s famous export

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FREE WITH THIS ISSUE: Your A-Z guide to the best British and Continental charcuterie suppliers CHEF’S SELECTION 47 Kamil Oseka of The Pig near Bath gives the thumbs-up to Heavenly Hedgerows marmalade, Old Winchester cheese, Chase oak-smoked vodka and Madness IPA

NETTLE GURU 15 Why Catherine Mead of Lynher Dairies isn’t chasing more supermarket business with her nettle-covered Cornish Yarg

NEWS WELSH FOOD STRATEGY CHEESEWIRE JAMS & PRESERVES OLIVES SHELF TALK HARROGATE FINE FOOD SHOW – EDITORS’ CHOICE

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July 2015 · Vol.16 Issue 6

opinion

What’s new this month:

F

hempseeds, they have terrific texture or the first time in eight or nine and flavour. I loved them, and was years I missed the start of our pleased to be seconded by BBC Radio Harrogate Fine Food Show. It was 2 food guru Nigel Barden, who put my niece’s wedding in East Anglia them in his own pick of the show. on June 20 and, much as I enjoy the What Siv does need, however, feel of set-up Saturday at Harrogate is help with her packaging, which – more so with that accumulation of has the classic printed-at-home look friends and familiar faces that you of an artisan start-up. She proved get over the years – it was trumped remarkably tolerant as I spent 10 by the chance to play a guitar duet minutes pulling her packaging to with my nephew in a Suffolk church pieces (metaphorically speaking) during the signing of the register. before suggesting she talked to a Once-in-a-lifetime, and all that. distributor like Paul Hargreaves of Anyway, assuming I wouldn’t be Cotswold Fayre for a second opinion. much use to them, my Guild of Fine The Mistrys proved equally Food colleagues pretty much wrote tolerant when me out of the I laid into the Harrogate duty How many people roster. So aside walk into a shop asking branding and packaging of their from co-hosting a for a jar of ‘fusion’? fresh, pungent charcuterie tasting Maa‘s Indian Spice I spent more Fusion. “What’s spice fusion?” I time than usual wandering around, asked. “Fusion isn’t a product – it’s a dispensing wisdom to new exhibitors, word used by marketeers. How many whether they wanted it or not. people do you know who walk into a Two in particular benefited from shop asking for a pot of fusion?” my free consultancy: Siv Scotton of Very clever, I was, and also Mineral Harvest, whose über-healthy advised them to put their paste into crisp breads were among our Editors’ a glass jar, not plastic. It would give Choice products at the show (see longer shelf life and sit more sensibly page 49), and the Mistry family, who next to similar stuff on the shelf. Oh, were out in force to promote their and go and talk to a distributor like Maa’s Indian curry paste. Siv only Paul Hargreaves at Cotswold Fayre. launched her low-GI, mineral-packed It was tough love I was delivering, Snaps in the past few not criticism, because the Maa’s months, positioning product too is terrific, and like Siv them as health Scotton they took my feedback with products. In fact, good grace. In fact, within hours, with ingredients both producers had been to see Paul like sesame, oat Hargreaves, who – with the benefit bran, linseed, of actually knowing what he’s talking sunflower about – seems to have disagreed with seed, rye, pretty much every point I had made. spelt In future my advice to exhibitors and will be: beware of journalists with too much time on their hands.

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MICK WHITWORTH Editor

EDITORIAL

GENERAL ENQUIRIES

editorial@gff.co.uk

Tel: 01747 825200 Fax: 01747 824065 info@gff.co.uk www.gff.co.uk

Editor: Mick Whitworth Deputy editor: Michael Lane Art director: Mark Windsor Editorial production: Richard Charnley Contributors: Clare Hargreaves, Patrick McGuigan, Lynda Searby

ADVERTISING advertise@gff.co.uk Sales manager: Sally Coley Advertisement sales: Becky Stacey, Ruth Debnam Published by Great Taste Publications Ltd and the Guild of Fine Food Ltd Managing director: John Farrand Marketing director: Tortie Farrand Chairman: Bob Farrand Director: Linda Farrand Operations & Guild membership: Charlie Westcar, Karen Price, Jilly Sitch, Claire Powell Accounts: Stephen Guppy, Denise Ballance, Julie Coates

Guild of Fine Food, Guild House, 23b Kingsmead Business Park, Shaftesbury Road, Gillingham, Dorset SP8 5FB United Kingdom Fine Food Digest is published 11 times a year and is available on subscription for £45pa inclusive of post and packing.

Printed by: Blackmore, Dorset, UK © Great Taste Publications Ltd and The Guild of Fine Food Ltd 2015. 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, photographs or illustrations.

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Editor’s choice

Selected by MICHAEL LANE Deputy editor

DRINKmaple maple water www.drinkmaple.com

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The volume of “healthy” drinks entering our market doesn’t seem to be letting up. There’s always some kind of bottle, carton or can lurking amongst the other samples on my desk.

More often than not the packaging is slick – albeit emblazoned with various accreditations and endless lists of vitamins – but the product falls flat.

DRINKmaple bucks the trend. Yes, it’s free-from everything, loaded with antioxidants and contains “more manganese than a cup of kale” (nope, me neither) but it also tastes really good. Effectively it’s just the sap from maple trees that hasn’t been reduced to a syrup, so it’s like liquid pancakes.

By no means am I claiming a discovery here – it has already been touted as “the new coconut water” – but this is a “healthy” drink that might catch on outside the London food hall bubble.

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Vol.16 Issue 6 · July 2015

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fine food news Guidelines in Ireland protect terms like ‘artisan’ and ‘natural’ from abuse. Does the UK need similar rules?

Irish bid to save ‘artisan’ food from hijacking by big business

By ARABELLA MILEHAM

Small producers must defend terms such as ‘artisan’ and ‘handmade’ to stop them being abused by the marketing departments of massmarket operators, UK food experts have warned.

Andrew Burnside, senior trading standards officer at Cornwall Council, told FFD the descriptions were in danger of losing their meaning unless they were defended against larger companies who were “stretching the terms”.

“At the moment there is meaning in the term ‘artisan’.

Consumers understand it and don’t want it to be taken over and abused by [the likes of] McDonalds using it for their grilled chicken sandwiches,” he said. “We want the terms used in food to have meaning.”

His comments came after the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) issued guidelines in the Republic in a bid to prevent food marketing terms being used to mislead consumers.

It includes definitions of the word ‘artisan’ for food production – a definition that the UK Food Standards Agency has steered clear of making.

To count as ‘artisanal’ under the Irish guidelines, foods must meet key criteria, including being made in limited quantity (up to 1,000kg or litres per week) by a skilled craftsman in a traditional process that is not fully mechanised and using locally produced ingredients where practical.

Would Tesco‘s Finest stonebaked baton fit the Irish definition of ‘artisan’? M&S’s Melton Mowbray pork pie is ‘handfinished’ in a Leicestershire factory that is a sister company of Ginsters

The business must be a microenterprise that employs fewer than 10 people and have a turnover less than €2m. These or equivalent guidelines also apply to products imported to Ireland, it says.

While Ireland’s ‘Guidance Note on the Use of Food Marketing Terms’ is voluntary, it builds on EU general food law regulations broadly stating that labeling, packaging and advertising must not mislead consumers.

The FSAI’s more detailed code has been developed with a working group of trade and consumer representatives. They included pioneering West Cork cheesemaker and charcutier Gubbeen, and the Taste Council of Ireland, which represents local, artisan and speciality producers.

Cornwall Council’s Burnside said such guidance would help Irish enforcement officers identify where marketing terms were being abused, and help prevent terms such as ‘artisan’ creep into wider usage and losing their meaning.

However, Terry Jones of the UK’s Specialist Cheesemakers Association argued the Irish definitions were too strict. “Everyone would agree consumers shouldn’t be misled,” he told FFD, “but when it comes to limits on turnover and employment, I’m not sure it would work here as it wouldn’t allow successful businesses to grow.

“Broadly speaking, the system [in the UK] works pretty well.”

Food law expert Gerry Darby of artisanfoodlaw.co.uk said it was important to raise the debate and

find a way for smaller producers to reclaim these kinds of terms by challenging their misuse. “There is provision under the current legislation, but no one takes the initiative,” he said.

Defra confirmed to FFD there were no plans to introduce new FSA guidelines on artisan products, arguing that existing legislation already prevents the consumers being misled.

But Andrew Burnside said further legislation would be helpful.

“We need to think about how we support small businesses that are doing something different.”

The Irish guidelines are due to come into operation from the beginning of 2017. www.fsai.ie www.artisanfoodlaw.co.uk

Misleading consumers is wrong... but who defines what is ‘artisan’?

Small food producers have told FFD the term artisan is increasingly being used loosely by larger manufacturers and this creep is not being challenged.

“I find it infuriating when big companies call their products ‘artisan’ when they are made on an Sarah Churchill: automated line and there Infuriated when big manufacturers is only one human hand call factory in the entire process,” products ‘artisan’ Sarah Churchill of Gloucestershire preserves maker The Artisan Kitchen told FFD. “My products really are hand-crafted, so it’s hard to get that across consistently when

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July 2015 · Vol.16 Issue 6

you have large companies [using the same terms]. It would be good to have some sort of protection here.”

Chocolatier Amelia Rope argued the FSA should define descriptions such as artisan to prevent large companies devaluing Amelia Rope: Small them. producers have The term ‘handmade’ been left searching became meaningless once for new words for bigger manufacturers used hand-made foods it, she said, leaving small food businesses searching for a new way of describing what they do.

Wendy Wilson Bett from Peter’s Yard, the Swedish-style crispbread brand, agreed it was

“just plain wrong” to mislead the consumer.

“Clear definitions of what is and is not misleading is a good thing and if guidance were given we would follow it,” she said.

However, she added that it was a very difficult Wendy Wilson Bett: term to define. “My guess 10 different people is that if you asked 10 would have 10 people who love great different views of food what ‘artisan’ implies, what artisan means you would get 10 different perspectives.

“Are we right to call our crisp breads ‘artisan’? I guess the best judge of that would be the people who buy them.”

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IN BRIEF l Peter’s Yard is teaming up with chef Valentine Warner to promote its Scandinavian-style sourdough crispbreads.

Warner will be developing new recipes as part of a 12-month collaboration, which will see him participate in a series of events.

He will also present a series of short videos for the Peter’s Yard website, giving topping ideas and new seasonal recipes, which is aimed at extending the eating occasions for the crispbreads. www.petersyard.com

Buyers converge on Harrogate for 2015’s northern showcase small producers, as it gives them a platform to showcase their products.

There’s so much innovation in food and drink across the UK, so these regional shows have an important role to play in getting new products in front of buyers.”

In other theatre sessions, BBC Radio 2 food correspondent Nigel Barden presented his own pick of the show, and he joined FFD’s Mick Whitworth for an hour-long charcuterie tasting featuring producers from as far afield as Cornwall and the Scottish Highlands.

• See our Editors’ Choice of new products from Harrogate on p49.

Italian foods importer Alivini and recent start-up coffee roaster Black or White shared the “best stand” honours at this year’s Harrogate Fine Food Show, which drew nearly 1,100 trade buyers to the Yorkshire Event Centre on June 21-22.

The two exhibitors were selected by retail industry veteran Tony Howard, former MD of Lewis & Cooper, who said the quality of stands at this year’s event was “outstanding”.

“The show seems to go from strength to strength,” he told FFD. The People’s Choice award, voted for by visitors to the show, went to cheesemonger and

wholesaler Cryer & Stott.

The only dedicated fine food trade show in the north of England, Harrogate Fine Food Show once again attracted top buyers from across the country.

Adrian Boswell and Katie Williams of Selfridges, Tracy Devoile of English Heritage, Emma Young of Whole Foods Market, Jennifer Clarke of Harrods and Matthew Bruno of Booths were among the retail “dragons” who quizzed exhibitors in two Dragon’s Denstyle sessions in the Fine Food Live theatre over the two days.

Selfridges’ Adrian Boswell said: “This is a particularly great show for

Cress Co pushes further south

Fenwicks promises ‘world class’ offer in revamped food hall

By MICHAEL LANE

By ARABELLA MILEHAM

The Cress Co has expanded its delivery area further southwards and will now serve retailers in London and parts of Kent.

The Scottish distributor, which offers both chilled and ambient lines, has delivered in Yorkshire and the North of England for several years but began working in the South East earlier in 2015. This year has also seen the Joe Wall: business move to a ‘Exciting time’ bigger warehouse to accommodate a growing range.

“It’s an exciting time for the team as we continue with our expansion into the South of England,” said MD Joe Wall.

Fenwicks is upgrading the food hall in its flagship Newcastle store as part of a multi-million pound project.

The refit, due to be finished by mid-October, will see a speciality chocolatier added, alongside a fish and seafood counter, meat and game specialists, an artisan bakery and boutique coffee roasters.

It will concentrate on locally sourced products but a spokesman told FFD the final line-up has yet to be determined by the store’s food buyers.

Foodservice is also being overhauled, with Fenwicks planning a series of partnerships and concessions.

The food hall will include a Thai street food outlet, a seafood & oyster bar, a modern Mediterranean restaurant plus a café & patisserie (pictured). It is also remodelling its existing wine shop to include a wine and charcuterie bar.

www.thecressco.co.uk

l Steve Harrison (pictured below), owner of Retford deli-café Deli & Dine, has joined Lincolnshire’s Redhill Farm Free Range Pork as general manager.

Last year Redhill Farm opened a new processing facility to create a range of charcuterie, but co-owner Jane Tomlinson told FFD that she and husband Terry had struggled to find time to develop this side of the business. Harrison – a long-standing customer of Redhill Farm – said his new post was “a great role in a brilliant business”. “There will be plenty of interesting projects for me to get my teeth into,” he said.

He remains owner of Deli & Dine but his team will now run the shop day to day. www.redhillfarm.com

l A former deli manager at Jody Scheckter’s Laverstoke Park farm shop has joined North London artisan cheese shop Pistachio & Pickle Dairy. Jennifer Pettit, who was a runner-up in the 2013 Le Gruyère AOP Cheesemonger of the Year competition, will manage the Camden Passage-based shop, which opened 18 months ago as an offshoot of the Pistachio & Pickle Deli in Islington.

Pettit was previously a manager at the Cheddar Deli in Ealing and general manager at The Teddington Cheese.

l Mara Seaweed, which markets Rhys McKinnell, head of food and catering at Newcastle, said the store had consulted with consumers before starting the project, which has been two years in the planning.

“We believe we will deliver what they expected – a world class dining and retail experience,” he said.

Fenwicks has previously collaborated with Yorkshire deli Hunters of Helmsley to offer a Christmas concession in its York store.

a range of premium seasonings made from seaweed harvested around the Scottish coastline, has won an innovation trophy at the Crown Estate’s Scottish Marine Aquaculture Awards. The UK’s only seaweed seasoning maker, Mara was recognised for its commitment to sustainable harvesting and production, and the creative product development behind its shake-on seaweed flakes.

www.fenwick.co.uk

www.maraseaweed.com

Vol.16 Issue 6 · July 2015

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A promotional feature on behalf of Hider Foods

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Oh, oh no!

Y es folks it’s that time again. The sun is high in the sky, the swallows are rearing their nestlings, the sound of leather on willow and the plaintive cries of sunburnt children drift across the swards of our green and pleasant land… In short, its summer and we are already focusing on Christmas… This is the wonderful, bizarre reality of the speciality food distribution business.

When my grandfather established the business 50 years ago, things were very different with Christmas being a two week affair from start to finish but now as early as 7 1/2 months out we have our seasonal product list available and our vans are whizzing about taking selected ranges of our 1,300 or so Christmas products direct to the retailers for them to peruse at their leisure. The reality is that with such a disproportionately high percentage of annual turnover for most of our customers being concertinaed into the final 6 weeks of the year, Christmas is a deadly serious affair. We try to reflect this by freshening up our offering year on year in response to customer feedback and making the selection as easy as possible to view and select.

We pride ourselves on our order fulfilment rate which is hovering at about 96% (no mean feat even if I say so myself) and in order to maintain this on what are very often produced to order lines, we are as well to be ahead of the curve to avoid letting customers down at this crucial time.

So are we getting it right? I certainly hope so but the acid test is always in sales volume and this year is shaping up to be our best ever. We have been voted Britain’s Best in our category for 3 years running and the goal is to make it 4. So Christmas is go, go go.

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www.hiderfoods.co.uk 6

July 2015 · Vol.16 Issue 6

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fine food news Scottish cheese has been ‘under-sold and under-valued’, but the Scottish Government aims to change that

Cheese-makers welcome plans for Scottish dairy brand

By ARABELLA MILEHAM

Cheese producers north of the border have welcomed the Scottish government’s plans for a new national dairy brand, claiming it will help open up new markets within the UK. The Scottish Dairy Brand was unveiled by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead at last month’s Royal Highland Show. It will comprises a new on-pack logo, highlighting dairy products made in Scotland from 100% Scottish milk, underpinned by a three-year marketing plan.

The scheme is set to go live at the giant Anuga food show in Germany in October, although guidelines for potential producers will be published in advance.

A Scottish Government spokeswoman told FFD it was particularly relevant to small producers of farmhouse cheeses, and a number of producers had already signed up to the brand.

Products already set to carry the logo include artisan, organic and heritage/traditional dairy products, covering all sectors of the industry.

The scheme is primarily targeting export markets, she said, but those who sign up must also be supplying the product to known UK customers. “It's as much about

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon unveiled the new Scottish Dairy Brand at the Royal Highland Show. It will be rolled out from October onwards.

increasing awareness of the brand in the UK as it is about export markets,” she said.

Jane Stewart of St Andrews Farmhouse Cheese in Fife said artisan cheese-making was undergoing a resurgence in Scotland, and the move would help unlock new markets both inside and outside the UK. “It’s a long road to get to the market and make your reputation, so we’re delighted the Scottish Dairy Brand has launched,” she said.“It will

help those [smaller producers] who are fairly new to the market, and it’s great promotion for Scotland too.

“Scottish cheese has been under-sold to date and is undervalued – you don’t tend to see it outside Scotland.

“We are particularly trying to push our cheese further afield – we were in Harrogate recently and will be at the Speciality & Fine Food Fair in London in September. And that’s just within Britain.”

She added that it was good

If I'd known then what I know now...

Since then, the amount of stock we hold has tripled. The shelves have got taller and we’ve become good at listening to what customers want.

People have asked for more local craft beers, so our alcohol range has RUTH ANSLOW HISBE, BRIGHTON grown, and more people are coming in for free-from products. We’ve also experience, we needed to employ Someone once told me to be slow to expanded our food-to-go counter, people with that experience. We hire and quick to fire, and they were which started off as just coffee and were wrong. More important was absolutely right. Perhaps because cakes, to include sandwiches and personality and that they fitted with they are attracted to working for other savoury lines. our culture. We spent three years an independent supermarket that is Running a store is all about building a profile and a voice prior to founded on ethical trading practices, daily, weekly we get hundreds of people wanting Our staff get paid a living wage of and monthly to work here.

I founded HiSbe – it stands for £7.85 per hour. No one works a 60-hour processes. These are easy enough ‘how it should be’ – with my sister. week for the minimum wage. to write but hard She had always been in community to bring alive. The key seems to be opening, and as a result we found work whereas I worked for big keeping staff happy and ensuring it easy to attract attention. This was food companies like P&G, Unilever they have what they need. Our staff also instrumental in attracting the and Sara Lee for 14 years. During get paid a living wage of £7.85 per £250,000 of investment we needed that time I did a lot of negotiating hour. No one works a 60-hour week to open the store. with the multiples and became for the minimum wage.

Looking back, I wish we’d been disillusioned with the way they This philosophy extends to the a bit braver when we opened. We operated. I felt we could create a way we work with suppliers. We spent £25,000 on stock. We could model that put people before profits. treat them with respect. For example, have spent double that, but we were At the beginning we thought we charge 60p for a pint of milk, cautious. that, because we lacked retail

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to have positive support from government. “That kind of backing will make a big difference. When you’re milking the cows, making the cheese, and ensuring the quality, it is not easy to do the marketing as well.

Ian Wilson of Cambus O’May on Royal Deeside said the move was likely to add value to the dairy sector in the longer-term, and would help drive international sales, by providing one port of call for potential stockists.

“All cheese-makers have their own independent brands, but the whole Scottish dairy brand concept will mean it comes under one larger brand at the same time, which will give greater drawing power.”

However Neal’s Yard Dairy, which sells a selection of Scottish artisan cheese, said premium quality lay less in the “Scottish-ness” of an umbrella brand than in the attributes of individual suppliers.

Earlier this month, farming minister George Eustace said he would push the EU to introduce mandatory labelling on dairy products so that consumers would have greater clarity over whether the products they buy are UK-made.

of which 49p goes to the farmers.

Normally dairy farmers sell at cost.

We have to make sure we choose the right suppliers. There are two types: those who supply the supermarkets and those who supply the independent trade. Ours all fall into the latter category. Because they tend to be smaller producers, we have to make sure they are not going to have supply issues that might result in us running out of stock.

That said, we work with suppliers of all sizes, down to the producer who brings in 10 brownies a week. We love growing alongside them.

We hit our sales target of £700,000 for year one and 18 months on, we’ve proven the big point: you can have a supermarket that respects suppliers, staff and customers, and doesn’t just focus on short term profit.

Our plan is to grow within Sussex, opening 10 stores within five years. In the long term we want to be a national supermarket chain.

Interview by LYNDA SEARBY

Vol.16 Issue 6 · July 2015

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fine food news new openings

Opening or expanding a shop? Email details to editorial@gff.co.uk

Keelham chooses Skipton for second farm shop

Stag completes £250k expansion after three-year sales surge

At a glance l The new site comprises 20,000

By ARABELLA MILEHAM

Keelham Farm Shop opened its second store in Skipton on June 24 after converting a former garage into a new eco-friendly farm shop and café as part of a two-year, £4m project.

The 20,000 sq ft site is situated on Gargave Road, close to the Skipton Auction Mart that has supplied the farm shop’s Thornton butchery counter for more than 40 years.

In line with the business’s environmental ethos, the existing building was regenerated and now includes a sedum roof, a ‘living wall’ made of plants, reclaimed and upcycled materials and wind turbines to generate its own electricity.

The Skipton shop will be overseen

by Thornton’s head of operations, Kevin Mitchell, but will have its own management team run by general manager Warren Terry, with Michael Boyle, who set up the award-winning Welbeck Farm Shop, heading up fresh produce.

“We’ve taken all the best bits of our Thornton store and expanded on them in Skipton,” owner Victoria Robertshaw told FFD. “At Thornton, we’ve seen turnover grow from £2m in 2006 to £11m last year, which is proof that what we do is working. The time seemed right to take this successful concept and expand it in a new location. If people like this one, we would love to roll out this concept to more sites in Yorkshire eventually.”

With a focus on championing regional farming, it will stock products from more than 400 local farmers and producers. These include new suppliers Dark Horse Brewery and Hesper Farm in Skipton, which will supply skyr, an Icelandic product similar to yoghurt that is naturally fat-free.

It has introduced a ‘bag your own’ area for more than 70 dry cooking and baking ingredients, and customers will be able to view products being made

sq ft of retail space and café and includes a butchery, bakery, juice bar, winery and ale house and a barn dedicated to activities and events. l New features include a ‘bag it yourself’ cooking and bakery aisle, and a living plant wall. l New suppliers: Dark Horse Brewery will supply its Hetton pale ale and rose-water infused Rosed Ale; Hesper Farm will supply its authentic Icelandic skyr. Keelham’s existing suppliers include Yellison (goats’ cheese and goats’ milk), Hambleton View Farm (eggs) and Grassington-based Dales Dairies (milk).

in the dedicated bakery and butchery counters. Other features include fresh fruit and veg aisles, a juice bar, a winery and ale house that will stock 200 local beers from more than 20 local breweries, the 100-plus cover Keelham Kitchen café, headed up by executive chef Jason Wardill, and a barn for activities and events.

“Our customers like the fact that they can buy as much, or a little as they want, and because our food is locally-sourced we can offer it at everyday prices,” Robertshaw said.

“We make the experience of shopping fun for customers, offering tastings or recipe ideas, and include innovations, such as our juice bar, to reflect changing tastes.” www.keelhamfarmshop.co.uk

Rumwell Farm Shop nr Taunton, Somerset Rumwell Farm Shop has nearly doubled the size of its Somerset store, with the addition of an airy, semi-circular café.

The 2,370 sq ft café at the front of the building, which opened in mid-May, can accommodate 80-100 people and serves food prepared onsite from produce sourced from the family farm and regional suppliers. As well as breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and a Sunday carvery, it offers a gluten-free menu, an outside seating area, and is licensed to serve alcohol.

A children’s play area is due to open later in the summer.

“We have a very long-standing and loyal customer base and wanted to offer something extra. Our aim is

to use fresh, local produce that is in season as much as we can,” owner Anne Mitchell said.

The café has been on the cards for more than two years, and marks the biggest development since the shop opened it butchery counter in 2006, Mitchell said. It has added 25 new staff at the Bradford-on-Tone-

based family business.

The farm shop, which opened in 1997, comprises a food hall, traditional butchery counter, delicatessen, bakery, and jam kitchen, which produces around 50 jams and chutneys, as well as Christmas puddings. www.rumwellfarmshop.com

New bakery and warehouse space will be operational by next month

By MICK WHITWORTH

Scottish producer Stag Bakeries has reaffirmed its commitment to the independent sector as it completes a major investment in production and storage.

An estimated £250,000 is being ploughed into a 350 sq m bakery extension, plus new offices and warehousing, at its base in Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides. Building work is due to be completed next month.

The baker, whose seaweed water biscuit was named Best Scottish Speciality at Great Taste 2013, has seen sales double yearon-year for the third year running.

Since relaunching its sweet and savoury biscuits in new branding three years ago it has picked up new UK retail customers, created a foodservice range and begun targeting export markets.

Already selling to 10 countries worldwide, it hopes to boost exports further after attending the Anuga food show in Germany this October.

It also maintains a “very healthy trade” as a traditional bread and cake baker serving the Scottish islands.

In April, FFD reported that Stag was among more than 20 speciality producers to win listings under their own brand in over 400 Marks & Spencer stores as part of the multiple’s British artisan foods range.

Bakery owner Charles Macdonald said that, in a highly competitive market, it was important for Stag to “remain innovative and work on hard on developing the bakery to remain ahead of the game”. But he added: “We remain committed to developing sales with the independent trade, be it in the UK or further afield.” www.stagbakeries.co.uk

8

July 2015 · Vol.16 Issue 6

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fine food news

Wales plans for life after True Taste Interview

Two years after scrapping True Taste, the Welsh Government is pressing ahead with a new food strategy based on business growth. What does that mean for smaller producers? MICK WHITWORTH reports.

W

hen the great and the good of Welsh food met in Builth Wells in autumn 2012 for the 11th Wales the True Taste awards, there were already whispers this would be the last celebration of its kind.

With the UK barely out of recession, the once-extravagant annual dinner had been subtly scaled down. But it wasn’t until summer 2013 that the Welsh Government confirmed what half the audience at Builth seemed to know: it was scrapping the scheme and carrying out a major review of its approach to food and drink development.

Launched in 2002, True Taste had been a largely consumer-facing programme. Although the brand was used in everything from tourist promotion to Welsh pavilions at overseas trade shows, it leant heavily on the annual True Taste awards which, in their last year, attracted 830 entries from around 250 companies.

However, announcing the scheme’s demise, then Welsh food minister Alun Davies said it had been too much about taste and not enough about “business growth and development”, which was now the priority.

Ironically, Davies too has since been scrapped – sacked from Government in 2014 in a minor political scandal – but not before publishing a comprehensive new plan for the Welsh food sector.

In the foreword to the 60-page Towards Sustainable Growth: An Action Plan for the Food & Drink Industry 2014-2020, Davies said it was designed to deliver “greater profitability, growth, more jobs and ultimately prosperity in Wales”.

And he revealed a bold target of growing the industry by 30% to £7bn over the following six years.

At the plan’s core are 48 action points, covering everything from improving skills training to making export assistance more flexible and responsive, and helping firms to access Government support services more easily. There is strong backing for EU Protected Food Names (18 Welsh products are currently going through the application process) and great emphasis on the environment – echoing the

the FDWIB, but Alison Lea-Wilson told FFD she had n Plan Drink for th Indust ry 2014 e Food and no concerns the –2020 Welsh Government was turning its back on small producers. “I believe the Government fully recognises that the SMEs and micro businesses are the backbone of the Welsh economy,” she said.

At the same time, Morris said the Government wants to do more for firms that could deliver serious growth, whether that means Deputy food minister Rebecca Evans joined food critic Charles Campion financial aid or other measures. (centre) and Guild of Fine Food MD John Farrand at the first ever Welsh “Many businesses, especially at the round of Great Taste judging in Cardiff last month. Evans hopes the new artisan end, don’t want to grow Welsh food Action Plan will help deliver 30% growth by 2020 massively,”he said. “They want to focus on the local market or internet sales. But we are doing replaced with simpler Food & Drink Irish Government’s Origin Ireland better at identifying the ones that Wales branding. sustainability programme. do have growth potential and And after 11 years, consumer According to David Morris, ambition. And then we can do a lot recognition of True Taste was still deputy head of food at the Welsh to support their plans.” surprisingly low – particularly in Government, among the most In early June, the Welsh England, which is a key ‘export’ important actions has been the Government sponsored the first market. creation of the Food & Drink Wales round of Great Taste awards Halen Môn’s Alison Lea-Wilson Industry Board (FDWIB), bringing judging ever held on Welsh soil – a told FFD: “True Taste was a great together bosses from all parts of three-day session in Cardiff. With boost for industry morale and it the industry to “keep ministers the True Taste awards gone, Wales gave us an excellent reason to get informed and offer advice”. has looked at other international together once a year. But it cost A provisional board was set schemes and decided this year to a lot to run and research showed up last year, under the interim support producers in entering Great the consumer was not altogether chairmanship of Robin James of Taste, run by FFD’s publisher, the familiar with the marque.”

Wrexham’s 250-employee The Guild of Fine Food.

Another key issue for Morris Village Bakery, and a first round Entries from Wales were up was an over-emphasis on cottageof recruitment brought in others 25% this year, with 490 products industry producers at the expense of including Alison Lea-Wilson, put forward, and speaking at a those best placed to deliver revenue co-owner of speciality sea salt judges’ dinner at Llanerch Vineyard, and jobs. business Halen Môn. Further deputy food minister Rebecca Evans “The old approach had strong members are due to announced described the Cardiff judging round focus on micro-businesses and the soon. as a “real milestone” for Welsh smaller end of ‘SME’. That wasn’t Speaking to FFD, Morris said the food. wrong, but in terms of growth we approach to food under the Action She also restated the ambitious were never going to be terribly Plan is “broader” than over the target of 30% growth in food & successful focusing all our resources previous decade. drink by 2020, and said the Welsh on that end of the industry. So we So was True Taste ultimately a Government would be putting have ‘rebalanced our resources’.” failure? investment, advice and support into So should smaller Welsh That would “probably be a bit delivering on its 48-point plan. producers worry that state support harsh”, Morris said. “It did work at Halen Môn’s Lea-Wilson says will now dwindle? No, insists a level – but not at every level.” that while much of this growth Morris. “Micro-businesses make For example, the ‘Wales The will come from medium and large up 80% of food manufacturing True Taste’ strap-line seemed to be enterprises it’s the smaller ‘food businesses in Wales, and there are lost on trade customers, particularly heroes’ of Wales that raise the about 800 of them, so we would at overseas shows. It has now been profile and build the brand of Welsh abandon them at food and drink. “I'm optimistic the our peril.”

Micro-businesses make up 80% of plan will help support businesses of Those food manufacturing in Wales, so we businesses are all sizes,” she told FFD. would abandon them at our peril not exactly www.business.wales.gov.uk/ prominent on foodanddrink David Morris, deputy head of food, Welsh Government TOW A SUST RDS G R O WA I N A B L E TH: An Ac tio

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Vol.16 Issue 6 · July 2015

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A promotional feature on behalf of Loveden Estate Additionally, our bees forage through approximately 5,000 acres of organic land which makes up Pollybell Organic Farm. Bountiful hedgerows, wildlife-rich pastures and plenty of plants to pollinate make this a very special place for bees to live.

Not all honeys are equal Tom Brown is an artisan producer, based in North Lincolnshire. His love of honey began as a small boy and his interest in beekeeping has developed over a number of years. To begin with, Tom learnt his craft from some local beekeepers and he then worked on honey farms based around the UK. Since then he has travelled to the far corners of the world (Australia, New Zealand and South America) to perfect his passion, working on farms, visiting honey bee related businesses, and attending conferences.

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July 2015 · Vol.16 Issue 6

mean that the honey needs additional processing.

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cheesewire Unsung heroes Hidden gems from British producers

news & views from the cheese counter

Milk supply and price issues hold back UK goats’ cheese

By PATRICK McGUIGAN

ROSETHORN BLUE In a nutshell: Barkham Blue was named supreme champion at this year’s British Cheese Awards, but Two Hoots Dairy also makes another blue cheese that often flies under the radar. While Barkham is made with Channel Island milk, Rosethorn Blue is made with pasteurised Friesian milk from local farmers. It is matured for around six weeks, has a pretty grey-blue rind and comes in 1kg rounds.

Flavour and texture: Less dense than Barkham, Rosethorn has a soft, creamy texture, gentle spiciness and mellow blue tang.

History: Located in the village of Barkham, Two Hoots is run by Sandy and Andy Rose and daughter Nia. The couple were originally animalmad smallholders (the company is named after some rescued owls) but eventually moved into cheesemaking in 2003 after being inspired by their cousins Anne and Andy Wigmore.

The artisan goats’ cheese market in the UK is being held back by the limited supply and rising price of milk, according to Iona Hill, owner of Ribblesdale Cheese in Hawes, Yorkshire.

The cheese-maker told FFD that supply issues surrounding goats’ milk were likely to discourage new producers from entering the market and were inhibiting new product development.

While cheese-makers with their own herds have protection against supply problems, small producers that buy from third parties are left exposed to fluctuations in the market.

This happened last year when there was a severe shortage of goats’ milk in the UK due to rising consumer demand allied to a drop in production in the UK and Europe.

Although the situation is less critical this summer, supplies of goats’ milk are still tight and unreliable, said Hill.

“If you are a very small processor, maybe off the beaten track, and only want small volumes and infrequently, then I think you will experience problems,” she said.

“This presents a massive barrier to entry for most start-up goats’ cheese-makers.”

Ribblesdale, which buys 150,000 litres of goats’ milk a year from

Price increases and milk shortages will affect NPD and put off new cheese-makers, according to Iona Hill

a local farm, has seen prices rise by around 40% since 2008 and 9.4% in the past two years, but has struggled to pass this on to customers. It is instead looking to make more added value products, while Hill said other makers were switching to sheep and even buffalo milk.

“An understanding by the large wholesalers of our cost base and a better appreciation of the value and quality we generate [would help],” she said. “Otherwise there will be little true British artisan goats’ cheese in the UK and a lot of imported cheaper cheeses.”

Terry Jones, secretary of the Specialist Cheesemakers Association, said the situation had been exacerbated by British goats’ milk being exported to markets in the

Cheese care: Rosethorn has a best before of four weeks from when it leaves the dairy. Store with other blue cheeses. The flavours will intensify as it matures.

Why stock it: An interesting counterpoint for retailers stocking Barkham Blue. Like its more famous sister, Rosethorn is mellow enough that it can convert people who say they don’t like blue cheese.

Perfect partners: Andy Rose suggests fine oatmeal biscuits and a sweet onion chutney, but it also works well as a cooking cheese in soufflés, melted over mushrooms or in salads and burgers.

Where to buy: Various wholesalers, including Harvey & Brockless and The Cheese Man. FFD features a different ‘unsung hero’ from Specialist Cheesemakers’ Association members each month. To get involved, contact: patrick.mcguigan@gff.co.uk

Welsh producer Carmarthenshire Cheese Company will double capacity when it moves to new premises later in the summer with exports a key market for growth.

Set up in 2006 by food technologists Steve and Sian Peace, the company is investing £250,000, in the move from its current location at Food Centre Wales in Horeb, where it has reached capacity. The investment includes a £100,000 grant from the Welsh Government.

The new premises at Boksburg Hall in Llanllwch will help the company boost production from 105 tonnes last year to 150 tonnes in 2015 and more than 200 tonnes in the future.

The company plans to grow exports, particularly to the US, after securing a £22,000 ‘innovation voucher’ from the Welsh Government. This has been used to investigate the science of cheese maturing and improve shelf life without the use of preservatives.

The company makes cheeses under the Pont Gâr and Llangloffan brands.

Far East where demand is also high.

“Goats’ milk processors large and small are telling us that sourcing milk is a struggle,” he said. “Some of the larger manufacturers are trying to encourage existing herds to expand and new entrants to set up, but that doesn’t really answer the question for artisan producers.”

At Shropshire-based Brock Hall Farm, which has its own herd, owner Sarah Hampton said that rearing goats is an expensive business.

“It would be far more profitable to buy in the goats’ milk at about 65-70p per litre and slash all the overheads of staff, milking, feeding and bedding and so on.”

However, she added the quality, traceability and supply benefits of having control over milk production outweighed the expense.

RED LEADER: Appleby’s Cheshire has won this year’s James Aldridge Memorial Trophy, which recognises the best raw milk cheese in the country.

The award was presented to Paul and Sarah Appleby at the Specialist Cheesemakers’ Association’s annual general meeting last month.

“This is the most valued of all awards amongst us British raw milk producers as it is judged by our fellow cheese-makers,” said Paul Appleby. “We are extremely proud.”

The company was set up by Lance and Lucy Appleby (the famous Mrs Appleby) in 1952 at Hawkstone Abbey Farm in Shropshire, where the cloth-bound cheese is still made today. The business is now run by Edward and Christine Appleby and their son and daughter-in-law Paul and Sarah with head cheese-maker Garry Gray. www.applebyscheese.co.uk

www.carmarthenshirecheese.co.uk

Vol.16 Issue 6 · July 2015

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LE GRUYÈRE AOP

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BORN IN SWITZERLAND, 1115 A.D. And remains the only cheese that’s 100% Natural, 100% Traditional, 100% from Switzerland and 100% Le Gruyère AOP *AOP = PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) – must be traditionally and entirely prepared and produced within the region, thus acquiring the unique properties of Gruyère AOP cheese, to bear the name Le Gruyère AOP.

The uniquely smooth, savoury flavour you’ll find only in Le Gruyère AOP is a product of its upbringing – where the cows that supply the milk are grazed (only in the villages of Western Switzerland), the way the cheese is aged and cared for (slow-aged in the region’s cheese cellars and caves), and the recipe that’s remained, unchanged, for centuries (hand-made, in small batches). For a smooth and mild yet extremely satisfying taste, Le Gruyère Classic is aged 5 months minimum. Le Gruyère Reserve, which has been aged for 10 months or more, has a smooth but more robust flavour. Both varieties are great in recipes, or sliced as a snack. Either way, we’re sure you’ll enjoy the only cheese that can call itself Le Gruyère AOP.

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cheesewire

No sting in this tale Interview

Since its creation in the ‘80s, Cornish Yarg has become one of the most recognisable speciality cheeses in Britain.

PATRICK McGUIGAN speaks to its maker Lynher Dairies about expansion, new recipes and the all-important nettle harvest.

T

here can’t be many food businesses whose fortunes are intertwined with a plant that most people consider a weed. But for Lynher Dairies harvesting a good crop of nettles during May and June is an essential part of planning how much Cornish Yarg it can make during the rest of the year.

The zesty, crumbly cows’ milk cheese is wrapped in wild nettle leaves, which are foraged from woods, hedgerows and fields across Cornwall by a team of 50 pickers.

Each year they harvest around three tonnes of the prickly plants (plus a tonne of wild garlic for Wild Garlic Yarg), but the size of the crop can be affected by the weather.

“We’ve had awful years with nettles in the past,” admits owner Catherine Mead. “If we have a really rainy May we’re absolutely duffed in because you can’t pick nettles in the rain. It’s one reason why we have to be careful about fixing the amount of cheese we are going to make too early because we can only make as much cheese as we have nettles. It’s no good saying half way through the year we’re going to gear up production if we don’t have enough leaves.”

The good news is that this year has brought a bumper crop of stingers thanks to perfect growing conditions. By the time you read this article a fair chunk of them will have been painted onto rounds of the pasteurised cheese, which was first invented in the 1980s by cheese-maker Alan Gray (Yarg is his surname spelled backwards). The rest of the leaves will have been carefully frozen in bundles for the rest of the year.

The company makes around 220 tonnes of cheese annually, which is almost 10 times more than when Mead first became involved in the business in 1995. The dairy, which is based at her husband Ben’s family farm near Truro, has already been extended twice and a £300,000 project to build new maturing rooms is in the pipeline.

This will increase capacity for a new hard cheese, called Cornish Kern, which will make the company a little less reliant on nettles while also flattening out seasonal peaks and troughs.

Made with pasteurised cows’ milk in 1.7kg black-waxed rounds, the washed curd cheese is matured for 15-16 months. Like gouda, it develops a flinty texture with crunchy crystals as it matures, but

Lynher Dairies employs some 50 pickers to harvest three tonnes of nettle leaves for wrapping its flagship Yarg

We’ve had awful ^years with nettles in the past. It’s no good saying half way through the year we’re going to gear up production if we don’t have enough leaves.

Catherine Mead

_

it is also made with starter cultures commonly used in Alpine cheeses, which give it interesting savoury flavours.

“We get huge peaks in demand at Christmas and during the summer because of Cornwall’s tourism, so we wanted something we could make in the months in between,” explains Mead. “It was never going to be a soft cheese – we wouldn’t have had vat space in the summer – so it had to be something long maturing.”

Kern won the Best English category at the British Cheese Awards last year and was named Best Modern British Cheese at this year’s event – recognition that has convinced Mead to ramp up production in 2015.

There have also been improvements to the quality and consistency of Yarg thanks to the input of influential dairy consultant Ivan Larcher, who has helped the company gain a better understanding of seasonal changes to the milk and how to stay on top of them by tweaking the process.

“Because it’s a young maturing cheese we’re seriously defined by texture and we were concerned about textural changes,” says Mead. “Yarg goes out at five weeks and is eaten at six or seven, so

what you get out of the presses is not going to be too far off what you eat. It’s really important that we get it right in the vat by driving off enough moisture. We want a cheese that is open and crumbly; something lactic, lemony and fresh, not soft bodied.”

The company aims to grow sales of Yarg by no more than 10% this year, as well as establishing Kern, but Mead is not tempted to do this by going further down the supermarket route. Sales to Waitrose, Sainsbury’s and M&S already account for around 30% of volumes, which is quite enough, she says.

“Years ago the volumes we put through the supermarkets enabled us to grow our presence and develop our profile so we can’t just ignore that. But we look to keep a very sensible balance otherwise we end up having too much volume in one place,” she says. “I think there’s still a lot of room in the speciality market. Delis, farm shops, box schemes and farmers’ markets are all still growing. There were times in the past when we worried about their sustainability and their future, but at the moment it seems it’s the supermarkets that are having a more difficult time.” www.lynherdairies.co.uk

Vol.16 Issue 6 · July 2015

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July 2015 · Vol.16 Issue 6

For more information on field fare's ready meals & desserts, simply visit www.field-fare.com or call 01732 864344.

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AM Health Artisan Food Club BBQ Gourmet Bellota Cotswold Fayre Cryer & Stott Delicioso Districts of Italy Divine Deli Empire Bespoke Foods Entremont Harvey & Brockless hf Chocolates Hider Foods Holleys Fine Foods Infinity Foods Just Trading Scotland Maltby & Greek MexImport New Alliance Paul’s Food Emporium R H Amar Samways The Cress Co The Gorgeous Food Co Va-Lore Food Villanova Food

YOUR DIRECTORY OF FINE FOOD IMPORTERS, WHOLESALERS & DISTRIBUTORS

importers & distributors Empire Bespoke Foods Europa House, 45 Rowdell Road, Northolt Industrial Estate, Northolt UB5 6AG 020 83574080 080 85374081 www.empirebespokefoods.com

Last year saw the acquisition of Bespoke Foods by Empire Foods Brokers, creating one of the largest food importers and distributors in the UK. The West London-based company focuses on authentic world food and sources product from the USA, Europe and Asia. Among its lines are American confectionery and peanut butter, Canadian maple syrup, French mustards, and mayonnaises, amaretti and panettone from Italy, Malaysian and Vietnamese sauces and meal kits, fairly traded vanilla from Uganda, and bean-to-bar chocolate from Madagascar.

The Gorgeous Food Company 25 The Glenmore Centre, Jessop Court, Quedgeley, Gloucestershire, GL2 2AP 0845 4633356 hello@gorgeousfoodcompany.co.uk www.gorgeousfoodcompany.co.uk

It supplies more than 800 independent and specialist retailers across the UK, including delis and farm shops, as well as department stores, supermarkets and foodservice, and has a fast-growing distribution network in Europe.

Brands include: Thai Taste, Malay Taste, Nem Viet, Briannas, Delouis, Chancerelle, Flipz, Fluff, Mrs. Elswood, La Mortuacienne, Buiteman, Amaretti del Chiostro,

info@maltbyandgreek.com www.maltbyandgreek.com

Launched three years ago, Maltby & Greek has become a leading supplier and distributor of premium Greek food and drink. Working with small artisan producers and endorsed by

18

July 2015 · Vol.16 Issue 6

Thai Taste These authentic, traditional Thai meal kits, pastes and cooking sauces are based on family recipes and made exclusively for Bespoke Foods in Asia, using natural, local ingredients. Each pack contains cooking tips and recipe ideas, and there is a comprehensive range of Thai ingredients.

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Bespoke Foods Bespoke’s own range includes a range of goose and duck fat – produced from birds that are allowed to feed freely– and readyto-serve, cooked and peeled quail’s eggs in brine.

the Side, Atkins & Potts, Scarlet & Mustard, Paddy & Scotts, Mr Stanleys, La Chinata, Brewhaha Tea, Hampstead Tea, Potts Partnership, Garofalo Pasta, The French Dressing Company, Olive Branch, Taste Gourmet Spice Company, Karimix, Taylersons, Anila’s, Shropshire Spice Company, Caballo de Oros

WI Foods Based on recipes from members of the Women’s Institute, this “the closest thing to homemade” range of jams, chutneys, cooking sauces and pie fillings are made by traditional producers using British ingredients.

paul@thefoodemporium.co.uk www.pukara-estate.co.uk

Paul’s Food Emporium started trading online five years and is starting to establish itself though fine food exhibitions and events, markets and retailers in the north of England. The company specialises in Australian extra virgin olive oils and balsamic vinegars, which are grown in the wine regions of Hunter Valley in New South Wales.

Pukara Estate Pukara Estate’s range of vinegars are handcrafted on a ‘batch-bybatch’ basis from high quality Australian wine and grape juice, before being blended and infused. The estate has its own olive grove and produces a roasted garlic extra virgin olive oil, a zesty lime extra virgin olive oil, a caramelised balsamic vinegar and fig balsamic vinegar.

Taste Gourmet Spice Co Hand-made in small batches, this range of herbs, spices, rubs, flavoured salts and infused aged balsamics gives “fuss free flavour” and innovative combinations, from Asian-inspired dragon rub to a chocolate & vanilla aged balsamic.

Simply Cornish A range of handmade biscuits from Cornwall’s oldest bakery, Simply Cornish’s traditional selection is full of local butter and laden with clotted cream to give an indulgent, rich and tasty treat.

Brands include: WI Foods, Simply Cornish, Coeur de Xocolat, The Bit on

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Mrs. Elswood Made by the Lambe family, Mrs Elswood is the UK’s leading range of pickled cucumbers, which are grown in Europe and harvested and come in a variety of different varieties.

With an eye for something a bit different, The Gorgeous Food Company sources its products from the UK, Spain, Italy and Ireland and prides itself on building personal relationships with its producers and stockists. Since it was launched in 2011 it has grown its customer base to include delis, farm shops, garden centres, independent foodhalls, boutique hotels and specialist caterers across the UK.

Maltby & Greek

Madécasse, Games For Motion, Ndali, Peanut Butter & Co, NoNo, Filet Bleu, Stubb’s, Pertzborn

chefs and independent retailers, it says traceability, quality and flavours are of the utmost importance. Product lines include marinated fish, smoked eel, bottarga, cured meat, cheeses, greek yoghurt, honey, extra virgin olive oil, olives and foraged greens.

Brands include: Trikalinos Co., V. Geitonas, Farma Fotiadi, Ecofarma, Tositsa Foundation, Koufopoulos, Kostarelos, Vassilakis Estate, Atrapos, Meligyris, Idiston, Andritsaina Pasta, Naoumidis

Handmade Red Peppers, Oreanthi, Drogi, Radiki Trikalinos Bottarga This bottarga is produced sustainably from grey mullet roe, which is salted and dried and preserved with a coating of natural bee's wax.

Kostarelos Barrel-Aged Feta Made from milk from free-range indigenous sheep, the 12-month barrel-aged feta has “incredible concentration and depth of flavour”.

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July 2015 · Vol.16 Issue 6

importers & distributors Cotswold Fayre

BBQ Gourmet

River Barn, 14 Tessa Road, Reading RG1 8HH 03452 606060

Unit 7-8, Rodbourne Rail Farm, Rodbourne, Malmesbury, Wiltshire SN16 0ES 01666-829-200

sales@cotswold-fayre.co.uk www.cotswold-fayre.co.uk

info@bbqgourmet.co.uk www.bbqgourmet.co.uk

Now in its 16th year of trading, Cotswold Fayre has grown to become one of the leading wholesalers in the speciality food market. As well as carrying a range of well-known brands and core exclusives, the Berkshire-based company also specialises in helping small producers and working with them in partnership to grow across its customer base of independent delis and farm shops.

Through its 10 regional account managers, Cotswold Fayre works to ensure proximity between the producer and the consumer by organising tastings and promotions every week of the year.

Having established itself as a specialist supplier of championship-winning barbecue rubs, sauces and marinades in the UK over the last 12 months, BBQ Gourmet began wholesaling in early 2015. Its rubs, also known as dry marinades, are the true source of the taste of real barbecue. Each brand and blend has been developed and proven in the heat of BBQ competitions in the United States, where BBQ is considered the national cuisine and almost a religion. Rub recipes are very carefully guarded and many enjoy a loyal following.

All its rubs are exclusive to BBQ Gourmet.

Brands include: Belvoir Fruit Farms, Bim’s Kitchen, Bourne & Wallis, Cotswold Meringues, Crosta & Mollica, Curry Sauce Co, DeSiam Cuisine, Frobisher’s, Garlic Farm, Just

Artisan Food Club 07971 270299 marcus@artisanfood.club www.artisanfood.club

Initially set up by Marcus Carter in 2013 as a “food dating” service to help small producers and independent shops find each other, the Artisan Food Club evolved into a central invoicing service before introducing its most recent business model in 2015 (dropshipping).

A Portuguese Love Affair 142 Columbia Road, London, E2 7RG. 0207 6131482 info@aportugueseloveaffair.co.uk www.aportugueseloveaffair.co.uk

Crisps, Lupetta, Monty Bojangles, Olives Et Al, Pelagonia, Peter’s Yard, Portlebay Popcorn, Pott’s Partnership, Prestat, Scarlett & Mustard, Shortbread House of Edinburgh Belberry This Belgian brand began in 1956 selling preserves in the local market in the west-Flemish city of Kortrijk. It now produces jams, extra fruit jams, confits, chutneys, cheese & fruit delices, preserved lemons, fruit syrups, sweet vinegars, sweet sauces and chocolate spread.

Lupetta Launched in March 2014, the Lupetta

Now effectively a wholesaler that does not hold any stock, the company aims to emulate the flexibility of ordering direct from producers without all of the ensuing paperwork.

It focuses on artisan producers – many of whom are new start-ups – that may be too small to promote themselves effectively or to gain listings with other wholesalers.

The Artisan Food Club

brand was developed by importer Donatantonio to showcase regional specialities from across Italy and includes a variety of pasta shapes from Lombardy, semi dried tomatoes from Sicily, ‘nduja paste from Calabria, PGI Balsamic Vinegar of Modena and an extra virgin olive oil from Spoleto, Umbria.

Hodmedod’s Hodemedod’s works with British farmers in East Anglia to source and provide 11 varieties of dried Britishgrown beans and peas as well as Essex Quinoa and three canned products including whole fava beans, baked beans and organic Vaal dhal.

central invoicing service means that retailers can order from any of the 150-plus producers on its roster over the course of any month and receive just one invoice to pay at the end of each month.

Retailers can sign up to the new, improved Food Club website and create a list of products they are interested in, with no commitment, and the team will call to arrange deliveries of trial quantities, which are less than standard minimum orders.

Brands include: Oakridge BBQ, Plowboys BBQ, Rufus Teague, Killer Hogs BBQ, Bone Suckin’, Bad Byron’s Butt Rub, Three Little Pigs BBQ, Cowtown BBQ, EAT BBQ, Meat Church, Kosmo’s Q, Blues Hog, Dizzy Pig BBQ Oakridge BBQ Oakridge BBQ’s rubs have won over 2,500 BBQ competitions in the United States over the last three years. These rubs feature “ultra high quality” herbs and spices and all natural sea but it is the raw, unrefined cane sugar – and its high burning point – which make them versatile enough to handled both slowand-low barbecue and hightemperature grilling.

Brands include: Vadasz Deli, Proper Nutty Peanut Butter, Nom Nom, Leighton Brown, Patchwork Paté, Duke of Deli, The Artisan Kitchen, Abernethy Butter, Rani Mix, Cusacks Mustards, Hastings Lemon Ketchup, Hoyle’s Honey

A Portuguese Love Affair specialises in upmarket foods from Portugal and The Azores.

The London-based firm was set up in 2013 and represents five brands of premium canned sea foods, including sardines, tuna, mackerel, anchovies and squid. Its range also includes olive oils, vinegars, fruit jams and raw honeys.

Brands include: Minerva, José Gourmet, Conserveira de Lisboa, Santa Catarina, José Nero Conservas, Maria Organic, Acushla, Picoto, Quinta do Freixo, Mel Claros, Solar de Merufe.

Vol.16 Issue 6 · July 2015

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-`KT][Q^MTa JZQVOQVO aW] \PM ]VQY]M K]T\]ZM IVL OI[\ZWVWUQK PMZQ\IOM WN 1\ITa Connecting best UK&ROI distributors with top producers of Italian Specialties: visit us at S&FFF2015, Stand 1947

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The UK’s leading supplier of fine Greek food, wine & beer.

T 0207 993 4548 E info@maltbyandgreek.com

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July 2015 · Vol.16 Issue 6

Winner of 2 Great Taste 2014 awards for Parmigiano-Reggiano and Culatello: email us for more details

importers & distributors New Alliance

Delicioso UK

New Alliance Monimail, nr Cupar, Fife KY15 7RJ 01738 622851

Unit 8 Tower Business Park, Berinsfield, Oxon OX10 7LN 01865 340055

contact@newallianceltd.co.uk www.newallianceltd.co.uk

In six years, New Alliance has grown from supplying Fife farm shops with only two products, to around 650 independent retailers and restaurants across the UK with more than 160 lines. The company attributes its growth to its quality of service, stocking unique, exclusive brands, offering speedy order and delivery (order before lunch for next-day delivery) and small minimum orders.

The Fife-based firm specialises in handmade oatcakes and Scottish shortbread, breakfast cereal, porridge bars, soft drinks, condiments, cooking sauces, chutneys, relishes and jams. It also exports to the USA, Sweden, Switzerland, The Gulf and Japan.

Brands include: Your Piece Baking Company, Fior Fruit Merchants, Fife Jamming Co, Atkins & Potts, Trotters Independent Condiments Your Piece Baking Company The multi-Great Taste awardwinning range has traditional oatmeal and porridge oatcakes, 5 seed, quinoa, and a new dukkah spiced oatcake with toasted hazelnut, coriander, cumin and sesame seeds.

Fior Fior Lavender Lemonade This traditional, still lemonade uses real lavender flowers, fresh lemon juice and spring water.

info@delicioso.co.uk www.delicioso.co.uk

Now in its 11th year of trading, Delicioso continues to develop its range of artisan foods from all regions of Spain, forging ever-closer trading relationships with specialist producers, many of them family-run businesses, to ensure the quality of its products. Last year alone, its products won 20 Great Taste awards.

It has recently moved into larger premises and carries around 475 different lines, including charcuterie, cheese, fish and seafood, salsas and patés, pickled vegetables, pulses and rice, olives, olive and nut oils and vinegars. It also sells a range of spices and seasonings, biscuits, nuts and kitchenware.

Delicioso supplies both independent retailers and restaurants.

Pujado Solano, Conservas de Cambados, Delicioso, La Cuna, Jose Lou, Leyenda, Azada, El Rey de la Vera, Sal de Ibiza, Gancedo, Jose Pelluz, Turron 1880, Trias, Vira, Dios Baco, Rioja Vega Azada Azada produces a number of flavoured olive oils – made by cold pressing Arbequina olives with fresh ingredients – and nut oils as well as vinaigrettes. The flavoured oils come in 250ml tins or in three- and fivebottle gift sets while the nut oils come in 100ml bottles.

Sal de Ibiza Flor de Sal This Flor de Sal (Salt Blossom) from Ibiza is harvested exclusively in the nature reserve Parc natural de ses Salines d’Eivissa and slow-dried in the sun. In addition to pure salt, Sal de Ibiza offers flavoured salts and seasoned nuts and crisps.

Turrón 1880 Made in Alicante, 1880 is said to be the most famous Turrón (nougat) in Spain. As well as the hard (Alicante) and soft (Jijona) turrón bars and round torta, there are chocolate flavoured varieties. 1880 also makes salted and sugared almonds and almond biscuits.

Brands include: Bernardo Hernandez, Torre de Nunez, Palcarsa, Artequeso,

hf Chocolates 5 Fitzhamon Court, Wolverton Mill South, Milton Keynes MK12 6LB 01908 315003 sales@hfChocolates.co.uk www.hfChocolates.co.uk

Established in 1957, hf Chocolates supplies chocolate, liquorice, nougat and other confectionery to small, independently owned, specialist food shops, delicatessens and department stores. It also services gift shops, garden centres, farm shops and hamper companies. It carries branded items but also re-packages

a significant number of lines and supplies own label products to a large number of customers. In addition, it sells personalised confectionery for promotional usage to corporate buyers. Hf operates from fully temperature controlled premises which provide ideal conditions in which to store and pack chocolate.

Brands include: Amarelli, Amatller, Anthon Berg, Barú, Booja Booja, Coco Pzazz, Divine, Dolfin, Gnaw, Grown Up Chocolate Co, Ko-Koá, Koska, Leone, Lily O’Brien’s,

Montezuma’s, Monty Bojangles, Prestat, Quaranta, Schwermer, Willie’s Cacao Lily O’Brien’s Gourmet chocolates from Ireland.

Lines include boxed collections of dessert-flavoured chocolates, resealable sharing pouches and paperwrapped gift boxes.

Quaranta Italian Soft Nougat Available in spectacular cakes and bars, this nougat can be supplied with display stands. It remains moist when exposed to air but can also be bought in fully wrapped slices.

Schwermer Königsberg Marzipan and German Chocolates Marzipan filled chocolate bars in 18 flavours, such as Pina Colada and Sex on the Beach.

Just Trading Scotland Unit 3/4, Wallneuk Road, Paisley PA3 4BT 0141 255 0901 info@jts.co.uk www.jts.co.uk

JTS specialises in distributing ethical fine foods, primarily from Southern Africa but also from Asia and South America. All products are made from fresh and organic smallholder-grown

ingredients and processed locally, thus supporting local communities.

using traditional hand-sowing and harvesting practices.

balsamics and a collection of flavoured mustards and relishes.

Brands include: Kilombero Rice, Ukuva iAfrica, Cape Treasures, Oryx Desert Salt, Meru Herbs, Eswatini Swazi Kitchen, Ma’s Happy Life Kitchen, Zamora Plantain Chips

Cape Treasures This range boasts the UK's first Fairtrade-certified red wine vinegar, a selection of flavour-infused

Ukuva iAfrica Fair Trade sauces, hot drops and spices. From a mild Boabab Chakalaka to the intense Zulu Fire sauce. All are all WTFO Fair Trade certified.

Kilombero Rice An aromatic African long grain grown by smallholder farmers in the Karonga region of Malawi. It is produced Vol.16 Issue 6 · July 2015

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importers & distributors Harvey & Brockless 44-54 Stewarts Road, London, SW8 4DF 020 7819 6001 sales@harveyandbrockless.co.uk www.harveyandbrockless.co.uk

Formerly known as Cheese Cellar, Harvey & Brockless reverted to its original company name in early 2015. While it is best known as a distributor of cheese and other dairy products, the company’s portfolio also covers British and Continental charcuterie, Mediterranean foods, bespoke sauces and dressings, biscuits and chutneys.

Now in its 45th year of trading, Harvey & Brockless supplies independent and multiple retailers as well as the foodservice industry across the UK via a fleet of more than 70 vehicles. It also has its own dairy – Cheese Cellar Dairy – which produces a number of cheeses.

RH Amar Turnpike Way, High Wycombe, Bucks HP12 3TF 01494 530 200 info@rhamar.com www.rhamar.com

Brands include: Croxton Manor, dell’ami, Fresh As freeze dried fruit, Huge Sauce (bespoke sauces and dressings), Lescure, Shipton Mill, Uniekaas Dutch goudas, Colston Bassett, Cropwell Bishop, Neal’s Yard Creamery, Alex James Presents, Galbani, Quickes Cheese Cellar Dairy Cheese Cellar Dairy makes a range of farmhouse cheese at Broomhall Farm in Worcester.

These include Worcester White, Snodsbury and Double Worcester as well as its increasingly popular goats’ curd.

Deli Farm and the newly listed Woodalls.

Fresh As Fresh As from New Zealand provides premium freezedried fruits and vegetables, as well as trend setting yuzu and balsamic flakes for delivering the finishing touches to dishes and cocktails.

Dell’ami Dell’ami is Harvey & Brockless’s in-house brand that provides an extensive range of British and Continental charcuterie. Featuring leading producers such as Suffolk Salami, Great Glen Charcuterie,

Brands include: Carbonell, Cardini, Certo, Cooks&Co, Crespo, D’Aucy, Del Monte, Drogheria & Alimentari,

www.infinityfoodswholesale. co.uk

Since starting up in 1971 with a small shop in Brighton, Infinity Foods has become a national distributor of organic, Fairtrade and natural products, sourced from all over the globe. It boasts an extensive range of vegetarian and gluten-free products, from store cupboard essentials to freshly baked bread and seasonal fruit and vegetables.

Its Infinity Foods organic range is all certified by The Soil Association. Alongside hundreds of food lines, the company also supplies a variety of nonfood items including cleaning products, packaging and publications.

Cooks&Co Cooks&Co offers an extensive range of fine food products that are sourced from producers across Europe. The range includes speciality seed and nut oils, risotto mixes and a meze range offering stuffed vine leaves, roasted red peppers, sundried tomatoes, marinated artichokes and stuffed olives.

Mary Berry’s The Mary Berry brand features a range of gourmet sauces, marinades and salad dressings made to the acclaimed TV cook’s family recipes. As well as classics like Hollandaise sauce, mayonnaise and Caesar dressing, the line-up also includes a number of chutneys.

MexImport Unit 9b, Britannia Estates, Leagrave Road, Luton LU3 1RJ 01582 391511 www.meximport.co.uk info@meximport.co.uk

MexImport was launched by entrepreneur Katya Torres de la Rocha – the businesswoman behind the direct-to-consumer website MexGrocer.co.uk – to supply Mexican ingredients and beverages to retailers and foodservice.

Assisted by business partners Francisco Yong (ex Mission Foods July 2015 · Vol.16 Issue 6

46 Dolphin Road, Shorehamby Sea, West Sussex, BN43 6PB 01273 456376

Ella’s Kitchen, Gaea, Geeta’s, Kikkoman, Kühne, Mary Berry’s, Monini, Mutti, Ortalli, Provena, Sacla’, Taylor & Colledge

foodservice businesses throughout the United Kingdom.

Celebrating its 70th anniversary this year, RH Amar is a third generation family-owned fine food importer and distributor based in High Wycombe. It sources a wide range of products from over 20 countries including the UK, France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Germany, The Netherlands, the US, Japan, India, Morocco, Australia, Belgium and Turkey.

Its catalogue features oils, vinegars, dressings, sauces and marinades as well as olives and jarred meze products. It also supplies seasonings, baby food, baking products and gluten-free cereals.

From its 90,000 sq ft central warehouse, the company distributes to independent and multiple retailers, wholesalers and

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Infinity Foods

Europe CEO) and Eduardo Gomez Resendiz (founder of Tequila & Mezcal Fest), Torres de la Rocha wants to improve British knowledge of her home country’s often misunderstood cuisine.

As well as a range of authentic hot sauces, dried chillies, beans and tortillas, MexImport also carries beer and premium mescal, including tequila. The company is not just targeting the growing interest in Mexican food beyond burritos but also carries a number of products that it believes have universal appeal. These include high smoke

point avocado oil and agave syrups, which can be used as an alternative sweetener.

Brands include: El Yucateco condiments, True Agave – Naturally Organic, Tortillas Guanajuato, Tradicion Chagoya mescal, Terana spices, Tequilas Del Senor, Kante Essence of Mexico cooking oils, Endotzi, Laterra Artisan Harvest sauces and dips, Ahuacatlan avocado oil, Cerveza Ocho Reales, Las Catrinas dried chillies and ingredients.

Vol.16 Issue 6 路 July 2015

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01865 340055 | info@delicioso.co.uk | www.delicioso.co.uk Delicioso UK Ltd, Unit 8 Tower Business Park, Oxfordshire OX10 7LN

Cryer & Stott are a family run cheesemongers & fine food wholesaler. We are big enough to meet demand, but small enough to care.

Sourcing over 700 British cheeses we care about artisan produce with provenance. Staff training and dairy visits are our passion and unique selling point. info@cryerandstott.co.uk ·

01977 510638

Honest, Authentic, Remarkable food

harveyandbrockless.co.uk | London 020 7819 6001 | South West 01392 908 108 Central 01905 829 830 | Scotland 0141 428 3319 | North 0161 279 8020

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July 2015 · Vol.16 Issue 6

importers & distributors Bellota 8 Witney Road, Burnham on Crouch, Essex CM0 8JS 01621 770132 info@bellota.co.uk www.bellota.co.uk

Established in 1998, purely for the love of all things Spanish, Bellota carries a range of delicacies from the country. As well as top quality Iberico ham from Salamanca and Serrano ham from Trevélez, the company sells charcuterie, regional cheeses, canned seafood, olives, oils, spices and sherry vinegars.

Always focused on quality over price, Bellota supplies independent delis, food halls, restaurants and pubs.

Iberico ham Aged for 42 months and acorn-fed, this ham is produced

by Ibericos Torreon, a longestablished family business based in the heart of ham production in Salamanca.

Samways Fine Food Distribution Unit 7, Little Ann Bridge Farm, Little Ann Bridge Farm, Andover, Hampshire SP11 7DN 01264 332128 sales@samways.uk.com www.samways.uk.com

Samways says its unique selling point is that it offers pure distribution – bringing goods from the manufacturer or importer directly to the shops in the same week. The company prides itself on the freshness and long dates of its products. Its direct links and short supply chains mean that Samways can instantly offer any new lines or promotions from its suppliers.

Its catalogue features a large ambient offer with a growing portfolio of chilled and fresh lines, with a range spanning everything from caviar to peeled plum tomatoes and fresh eggs. Samways is also in talks with a bakery about listing fresh bread.

As well as an extensive line-up of British speciality brands, Samways carries the full ranges from specialist

Districts of Italy Bryn Melyn, Bodafon Road, Llandudno, North Wales, LL30 3BB 07725 010015 Rosemary sheep cheese This is a 12-month-aged raw milk manchego with an aromatic coating of dried rosemary and it also has a World Cheese Awards Gold to its name.

Smoked yellowfin tuna belly This is a brand new product and comes from the same producer that supplies Bellota’s beech smoked mackerel – Don Reinaldo.

Atlantic-caught yellowfin belly, famed for its soft texture, is gently smoked over beech before being finely sliced.

sales@districtsofitaly.co.uk www.districtsofitaly.co.uk

Districts of Italy began trading in 1993 selling Tuscan specialities in Florence before moving to the UK in 2005. Now based in North Wales, it acts as the sole agent for a number of distributors and producers from across Italy. It also offers private label and bespoke sourcing services to retailers. The Districts of Italy catalogue includes extra virgin olive oil, fine chocolates, dried and fresh pasta, condiments, balsamic vinegars

Entremont 25 Faubourg des Balmettes, 74000 Annecy, France 07929 418672 jreignier@entremont.com www.entremont.co.uk

A French farming co-operative, Entremont distributes a range of French artisan cheeses in the UK.

importers, including Brindisa, Empire Bespoke, Petty Wood and La Credenza.

Brands include: Belvoir, Atkins & Potts, Wilkin & Sons – Tiptree, Moores Biscuits, Fosters, Tyrrell’s, Laverstoke Park, Doves Farm, Olives Et Al, The Fresh Olive Co, Wilton Wholefoods, Thursday Cottage, Epicure, Truffle Hunter, Folkingtons Juices and Sugar & Spice Tray bakes and cakes.

Sugar & Spice Samways picks up Sugar & Spice’s fresh cakes, tray bakes and muffins directly from the Old Bake House in rural Oxfordshire every week. These products are well-suited to coffee shops or patisserie counters.

and cheese and charcuterie. Its most recent Great Taste award-winning products are Culatello di Zibello and Parmigiano Reggiano Brands include: Tanara Giancarlo SPA, TortaPistocchi, Frantoio Franci, Bonolio, Ca dal Non, Sapori della Rossa, OVIS, Bella Emilia and others.

Tanara Giancarlo Parma Ham The thighs selected for Tanara Giancarlo’s ham are all from the Bassa Padana area, renowned for pigs that produce the best pork

Laverstoke Park Farm Jody Scheckter’s organic/ biodynamic farm in Hampshire produces buffalo mozzarella in a variety of sizes as well as other cheeses, ale, energy drinks and air-dried meats.

La Credenza La Credenza imports a wide variety of Italian speciality foods into London every week. Its most recent addition is a new line-up of pannetones from Filippi.

for the long curing process. A little natural sea-salt is added and this is the only preservative used as the meat is left to hang for a minimum of 18 months.

TortaPistocchi Very little cocoa powder is used and no flour, egg, butter or sugar is added to the mixture for this chocolate truffle cake with a “rich, velvety texture”. Every Torta Pistocchi cake is vacuum-packed and can be refrigerated for six months without losing its flavour.

Frantoio Franci extra virgin olive oil Frantoio Franci’s flagship oil Villa Magra dei Franci is produced exclusively with olives from the Villa Magra olive grove for an intense fruit flavour. It also produces the lighter Olivastra Seggianese, using a single variety from the centuries’ old olive trees of Amiata.

It supplies Entremont-branded Emmental, Raclette, Reblochon and Beaufort as well as the exclusive deli counter range of Comté, Morbier and Le Gruyère from Monts & Terroirs, Renard Gillard Brie de Meaux and Val de Weiss Munster.

Vol.16 Issue 6 · July 2015

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BEAUFORT LAIT D’ÉTÉ

As passionate about the service we offer… as we are about the gorgeous food we distribute.

Beaufort AOP summer milk Wheels of 40kg Beaufort AOP summer milk 1/12th – 3.5kg Contact: Jerome at 07929418672 W W W. M O N T S E T T E R RO I R S . C O M 28

July 2015 · Vol.16 Issue 6

For more information call us on 0845 463356 Email us at hello@gorgeousfoodcompany.co.uk Or visit www.gorgeousfoodcompany.co.uk

importers & distributors Cryer & Stott Cheesemongers 20-24 Station Road, Allerton Bywater, Castleford, West Yorkshire, WF10 2BP 01977 501638 info@cryerandstott.co.uk www.cryerandstott.co.uk

Bought by directors Richard and Clare Holmes as a market unit in Wakefield in 1998, Castleford-based cheesemonger Cryer & Stott has grown into a multi-faceted business with its own wholesale arm supplying Yorkshire cheese and its own hand-raised pies to delis, restaurants, hotels and other foodservice companies.

Its range includes cheeses from Wensleydale, Ribblesdale and Shepherds Purse, as well as lesser-known varieties and its own Ruby Gold rhubarb cheese.

The company also runs three of its own cheese shops and a food hall in Allerton Bywater.

Hider Foods Wiltshire Rd, Kingston upon Hull, East Yorkshire, HU4 6PA 01482 561137 sales@hiderfoods.co.uk www.hiderfoods.co.uk

One of the largest suppliers of speciality ambient products to the independent sector, Hider Foods celebrated its 50th anniversary this year.

The family-run firm started out as a fruit and nut importer in 1965 but now supplies delis, foodhalls, farm shops and garden centres across the UK with more than 3,500 products.

It specialises in British-made artisan brands but continues to import, clean and pack quality dried fruit and nuts from around the world.

The Yorkshire-based company has a dedicated telesales department and its own fleet of branded vehicles. In addition to a quarterly product list highlighting new and established lines, it produces Christmas and Easter brochures every year focusing on luxury gift food.

Divine Deli Supplies Unit E The Pavilions, Bridgefold Road, Rochdale, OL11 5 BY 01706 313001 sales@divinedeli.com www.divinedeli.com

Founded 10 years ago, Divine Deli specialises in gourmet food and artisan ceramics from around the world, which it sells through small independent stores, specialist food retailers, farm shops and garden centres. Its expanding range includes small batch preserves from Wye in Kent, bread-dippers from Canada, authentic Indian spice blends and an exclusive range of bespoke Italian

Villanova Food The Barley Mow Centre, 10, Barley Mow Passage, London W4 4PH 020 37355155 info@villanovafood.com www.villanovafood.com

Italian fine food specialist Villanova was founded in 2005 and works with small producers across of Italy to focus on authentic, artisan and organic Italian foods.

It currently carries one of the largest selections of organic Italian products in the UK, with lines including artisan cheeses, charcuterie, antipasti, olive oils, vinegars and truffle oils, sea urchin

pulp from Sardinia, pasta, and speciality breads.

Brands include: Hazer Baba, Border Biscuits, Wessex Mill Flour, Lindt, Peter’s Yard, Belvoir, Cotswold Meringues, Atkins & Potts, Botham’s, Cawston Press, Pipers Crisps, Green & Blacks, Clearspring, Joe & Sephs, Farmhouse biscuits, Anna’s Swedish Cookies, RJ’s licorice, Angelic Gluten Free, Teapigs, Lucy’s Dressings Hazer Baba Turkish Delight Turkish delight brand Hazer Baba is available exclusively from Hider Foods and comes in more than 50 varieties, from classic rose and lemon to mint, cherry or amaretto, in a range of sizes and packaging, from hexagonal boxes to traditional wooden drums.

food imported direct from Piedmont in Italy.

Divine Deli also stocks Lakeland slate, brie brules and pizza stones, together with bespoke ceramics from Spain and rustic woods from Tunisia.

The Yorkshire-based company was bought by Andrew Chadwick in 2013, and is supported by a small but enthusiastic team.

Brands include: Wildly Delicious, Petite Maison, Karimix, Arvinda’s Spices, Mr Fitzpatricks, Cascina San Giovanni, The Wooden Spoon Preserving Company Karimix Winner of 10 Great Taste awards,

ingredients, including prosciutto crudo from Golfera to produce its tortellini and organic gnocchi.

Brands include: Salumificio Golfera, Salumificio Pedrazzoli, Salumificio Rovajo, Pasta Faella, Pasta Fresca Rossi, Aceto Balsamico Giusti, Aceto Balsamico Mengazzoli, Biscotti Deseo E Mattei, Oleificio Secchi, Sarda Affumicati, Montanari E Gruzza, Formaggi Pinna, S’atra Sardigna, Garrone, Alta Langa.

Biscotti Deseo & A. Mattei Biscotti Mattei Deseo has been baking cantucci in the same bakery since the 19th century and still uses artisan production methods to manufacture its traditional biscotti.

Organic filled pasta from Pasta Fresca Rossi Pastificio Rossi use organic

Salumificio Golfera Organic Charcuterie For Golfera, organic

Corsini The Italian family-run business is a leading manufacturer of Cantuccini – classic Tuscan biscuit with almonds – and other speciality biscuits and cakes including, biscotti, amaretti, croccoli, panforte and Christmas favourites, panettone.

Wessex Mill Traditional techniques help Wessex Mill produce its flavoursome and versatile range of quality cake and bread flour and bread mixes for home and craft baking.

Karimix’s sauces, relishes, chutneys and marinades fuse the flavours of South-East Asia (Penang, Indonesia and Singapore) with UK favourites. Look out for the Tamarind Chutney.

Cascina San Giovanni Italian Foods Cascina San Giovanni uses local produce in its rustic range, which includes olives, olive oils, antipasti, sun-dried tomatoes, and wild boar, arrabiata and venison pasta sauces.

The Wooden Spoon Preserving Company This family-run firm produces traditional small-batch preserves and condiments in a converted oast house in the Kent village of Wye.

is less about the selection of raw materials and production processes than a guarantee of sustainable production, ethical consumption, and respect for resources and the environment. Its entire production process comes under the control of a certifying body, which inspects and certifies that the product contain the required organic characteristics.

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The best Portugal has to offer We offer a delicious selection of Portuguese conserved sea goods delicately canned in designer tins, world awarded olive oils, handpicked fruit jams and raw honeys.

A Portuguese Love Affair

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July 2015 路 Vol.16 Issue 6

Columbia Road, London E2 7RG 路 Phone: 02076131482 Email: info@aportugueseloveaffair.co.uk www.aportugueseloveaffair.co.uk

importers & distributors Va-lore Food 23 Cleveland Road, Hale, Altrincham, WA15 8AY 0161 9804039 stefano@va-lore.it www.va-lore.co.uk

From its headquarters in the delta of the River Po in Northern Italy, Va-lore imports a range of Italian brands, from large commercial pasta brands, to Italian cheeses, cured meats, canned vegetables and regional breads. It started distributing in 2009 but has only been active in the UK market since 2014 supplying catering, wholesale and retail.

Brands include: Belli & Buoni, Fiordimaso, Novafunghi, Pasta Monte Grappa, Pezzetta, Salviani, Tesori d’Apulia, Toscana Pane Fiordimaso Fiordimaso has a range of cheese and charcuterie, including Ruzzolone Bio Salami, a salami made from organic, naturally-fed pigs which has been matured for longer to give depth of flavour.

Belli & Buoni Va-lore’s own Belli & Buoni brand recently launched a range of regional breads from the Veneto region, including a twice-baked Pan Biscotto that comes in different shapes and flavours.

Novafunghi Mushroom specialiast Novafunghi has extended its core line with a new range of grilled courgettes, aubergines, radicchio di Treviso and artichokes.

The Cress Co Castle Industrial Centre, Queensferry Road, Dunfermline, KY11 8NT 0845 643 1330 info@thecressco.co.uk www.thecressco.co.uk

Since The Cress Co was founded

by Joe Wall in 2004, the chilled and ambient fine food distributor has expanded steadily, launching deliveries in the South East and London this year.

It operates distribution units in Yorkshire, Luton and Dunfermline and supplies around 12,000 products from more than 200 suppliers. Around 85% of these are UK-based, and the company prides itself on its range of regional British foods, from Stornaway Black pudding to a specialist cheeses, through its collaboration with Tanny Gill Artisan Cheese. It also stocks speciality products including Italian pasta, Greek olives, New Zealand nougat and Australian ginger beer.

It supplies independent retail, cafés, farm shops, food halls, garden centres, delis, hotels, butchers, fishmongers and tourist attractions.

Brands include: Bundaberg, Tracklements, Mo’s Cookie Dough, Summer Harvest, Fentimans, Stag Bakeries, Little’s Coffee, Nevis Cakes, Merangz, Luscombe, Peter’s Yard, Pipers Crisps, Eat 17, Rannoch Smoked Meats, San Pellegrino, Duskin apple juice, Potts Partnership, Farmhouse Biscuits Great Glen Charcuterie Based in the Scottish Highlands, this innovative charcuterie company uses sustainably sourced local wild venison to produce awardwinning salamis, chorizos, pepperonis, bresaola and smoked venison. The range is available in retail packs or whole for slicing in store.

Teoni’s Cookies, Kernow Chocolate, West Country Meringues, Furniss of Cornwall, Bart Spices, RJ’s Licorice, Mrs Darlingtons, Ritter Sport, Glutamel gluten-free breads, AriZona drinks, Atkins & Potts, Nevis Bakery

Unit C, Poplar Park, Poplar Way East, Cabot Park, Avonmouth, Bristol, BS11 0DD 0117 938 0084 sales@holleysfinefoods.com www.holleysfinefoods.com

easy transport links enable it to deliver throughout the UK. It specialises in food from the West Country, with a portfolio of small, local brands, but in addition to biscuits, confectionery, savoury snacks, preserves, cakes, soft drinks, seafood and meringues, it also stocks world foods, herbs and spices.

Brands include: Tiptree, Lindt, Highfield Preserves, Wessex Mill flour, Border Biscuits, San Pellegrino, Teapigs, Farmhouse Biscuits,

AM Health 16 Vasilikon Str, 104 42, Athens, Greece +30 210 5136008 info@amhealth.biz www.amhealth.biz

Founded in 2006, AM Health is a healthcare business importing Greek honey and bee products to the UK, which it supplies to organic food

Edwards Cordials Edwards Cordials cold-presses fruit from British farms to keep its flavours fresh for its distinctive range, which includes rhubarb & lavender and strawberry & mint.

Traybakes This small artisan bakery in the Lake District uses high quality ingredients to produce hand-crafted traybakes fresh to order, offering shelf-ready cartons of 12 individual ‘grab and

Holleys Fine Foods

Fourth-generation family business Holleys has been supplying ambient speciality foods to independents since 1970. From a warehouse in Bristol,

go’ slices, as well as catering trays for foodservice customers.

Kernow Chocolate Kernow Chocolate’s new Becky Bettesworth chocolate bar range combines the Devon artist’s vintageinspired seaside designs with 12 interesting flavours, including lemon meringue, Eton mess, caramel sea salt, and ginger & lime.

Glutamel Free-from bakery specialist Glutamel believes people with special dietary needs shouldn’t settle for second best and offers long-life bread that is naturally gluten-free and contain no dairy or codex wheat starch.

stores, delis and pharmacies.

It recently created its own Smile range, which includes an organic thyme honey sourced from the Natura protected habitat in Eastern Crete, organic multiflora pollen, and bee bread – a partially-fermented protein source made by bees from pollen and honey, which makes an easily digested, vitamin-rich supplement.

Vol.16 Issue 6 · July 2015

31

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Australian Flavoured Olive Oils and Balsamic Vinegars paul@thefoodemporium.co.uk |

07936622036

www.pukara-estate.co.uk @PukaraEstateUK

product focus

jams & preserves

A fine spread Whether it’s curds, honeys or fruit preserves you’re looking for, LYNDA SEARBY’s round-up is literally jam-packed with new lines and curious flavour combinations Maya’s Jams is bringing the seasonal flavours that are popular in New York’s boutique cheese shops and restaurants to the UK market. Three generations of jammaking expertise – from the mother, daughter and granddaughter team – go into these limited edition micro batches, which include pairings such as raspberry Thai chilli and blackberry & ginger. All jars have an RRP of £5.25 for 220g (wholesale £3.55).

Honey and jam often sit next to one another on shelf but rarely do they end up in the same jar. That was until Granny’s Secret developed its honey jams, which are blends of either blackcurrants, raspberries or oranges blended with acacia honey.

Wholesale price is £2 per 375g jar and £1.75 for 340g. www.grannyssecret.co.uk

Cheshire Chutney Co

Cheshire Chutney Co’s chocolate curd, made using 70% cocoa chocolate, has been billed as “luxury in a jar”. Recommended for spreading on croissants or for filling a cake, it comes in 210g jars (wholesale £1.80, RRP £2.75). Also new from this producer is a lime marmalade (225g, wholesale price £1.65, RRP £2.50). Both are available directly from the producer with a minimum order for free delivery in England and Wales of £95.

Handmade Preserves and Chutneys

www.mayasjams.com

www.cheshirechutney.co.uk

Following the popularity of its Blaisdon red plum jam, The Artisan Kitchen is introducing two further heritage plum varieties: Gloucester Rowells plum jam and Early Rivers Prolific plum jam. The plums are all grown locally to founder Sarah Churchill’s jam kitchen in Gloucester by a fifth generation orchard grower in Frampton on Severn.

Other new varieties to look out for are raspberry & passion fruit jam, pink grapefruit & vanilla marmalade and sweet orange & passion fruit marmalade. RRP £4.49 for 200g.

Olive isn’t a fruit that usually finds its way into the jam pan, but inventive Greek producer Deliroom has combined Kalamon olives with apples, sugar, honey and spices to make a sweet accompaniment to cheeses, salads, meat and seafood. www.deliroom.gr

Usually consumers have to choose between either raw honey or organic honey. Now, Hilltop Honey’s new raw organic squeezy honey means they can have both. To make this possible, the British honey producer has had to source this range from Europe because, as owner Scott Davies explains, organic honey requires at least 28,000 acres of certified organic land for the bees to fly on. Available in acacia, honeydew, multiflower and lime blossom flavours, the raw organic honey has a trade price of £4-4.20 for 370g. Also new from Hilltop Honey are cut comb honey slabs; trade prices are £4.50 for 200g and £7 for 400g. www.hilltop-honey.com

www.theartisankitchen.co.uk

New to jams & preserves…

Clare Gault decided to turn her passion into a business after obtaining a professional culinary diploma from Ashburton’s Chefs Academy.

Her eponymous jam and marmalade making business, Clare’s Preserves, launched in November 2014 with a six-strong line-up that has since been enlarged to take in a lemon, honey & ginger marmalade made with Dartmoor wild flower honey.

All her marmalades and jams are handmade in small batches using traditional open pot methods, wth the aim of fuller flavour and less sweetness.

To achieve this Clare says she carefully controls the amount of sugar added, allowing the taste of the fruit to come through and not be overpowered by sugary sweetness.

Based in the foothills of Dartmoor, the Devon producer currently has eight stockists, among them Ashburton Delicatessen, Chandos Delicatessen and River Cottage Canteen & Deli. www.clarespreserves.co.uk

While traditional products such as strawberry preserve, which is supplied to Kensington Palace and Hampton Court Palace tearooms, are the mainstay of Deerview Fine Foods, the Sussex producer has also been busy experimenting.

The latest product to come out of its kitchen is Jumbleberry preserve – a blend of summer fruits. RRP £2.99 per 12oz jar; trade price £11.40 for a case of six. www.deerview.co.uk

Vol.16 Issue 6 · July 2015

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July 2015 路 Vol.16 Issue 6

product focus

jams & preserves

Plan Bee has rebranded its products as ‘Origin Honey’ and created a new infusions range, which combines Scottish blossom honey with cinnamon, vanilla and Italian truffles to create three corresponding varieties. The RRP per 125g is £6.95 for the Italian truffle honey and £5.50 for the other two varieties. The honey is cold extracted, minimally filtered and unpasteurised to retain antibacterial agents and healthy enzymes, which the producer says are lacking in processed blended honeys. All of Plan Bee’s products are the result of a pioneering initiative to offer companies, communities and individuals the opportunity to preserve declining bee populations by adopting their own beehives.

It’s all about rhubarb at The Garden Pantry, which has just introduced a rhubarb & star anise jam, and a range of three marmalades, two of which feature the tart stalky vegetable.

The rhubarb & orange marmalade, pear & lemon marmalade and rhubarb, lime & mint marmalade have an RRP of £3.50 for a 230g jar. Trade price is £2.25, with a minimum order of 15 jars. www.thegardenpantry.co.uk

Indies looking for a honey range with modern branding should check out Helt. This Danish honey has been on sale in its domestic market since 2012, but only just landed in the UK, where it is on sale in Selfridges (RRP £4.99 for 200g). The 10 varieties of honey, which include classic honey, honey with sea buckthorn and honey with peppermint, are made

by Englishman Anthony Lee on his farm outside the town of Skanderborg in the ‘lake district’ area of Denmark. www.helthoney.dk

www. planbeeltd. com

The English Cream Tea Company’s new five-strong range of soft set preserves are said to contain as much British fruit as possible and offer a slight twist on classic flavours. Strawberry with a hint of elderflower, raspberry with a hint of blackberry, blackcurrant with a hint of plum, St Clement’s (orange & lemon) marmalade and lemon curd with a hint of passionfruit all come in 227g jars (RRP £2.95). They are also available in ‘British etiquette gift packs’: triple packs of preserves with etiquette tips on the back (RRP £8.95-9.95).

With ‘wonder’ seeds massively popular among healthconscious consumers, Profusion Organic’s new chia and hemp peanut butters are bang on trend.

Available from Windmill Organics, the high protein, vegan and palm fat-free spreads have an RRP of £3.69 for 350g.

www.englishcreamtea.com

Wilkin & Sons has taken inspiration from the dessert trolley with two new rich and creamy Tiptree preserves: salted caramel spread and banoffee spread (both 320g, RRP £3.49). Both can be used in cakes, pastries and desserts or spread on toast. www.tiptree.com

www.windmillorganics.com

The language of taste...

JAMS & PRESERVES

FIND OUT WHAT GREAT TASTE JUDGES LOOK FOR IN KEY PRODUCT CATEGORIES, WITH SILVIJA DAVIDSON There’s no avoiding it. Vibrant is the descriptor that appears over and over again in judges’ notes on awardwinning preserves. “Vibrant and really juicy,” they exclaimed when tasting The Artisan Kitchen’s Blaisdon Red Plum Jam (Great Taste Top 50 Foods 2014). It’s not simply a handy, off-thepeg word, it’s exactly what the best jams, curds and conserves achieve: a bright, glowing flavour profile that shimmers irresistibly on the palate.

Of course bright, true-to-life colours can also be described as vibrant, whether we’re talking of pillar-box red strawberries, blue

velvet blackberries or sun-gold citrus. And the colour profile of a preserve is going to help taste perception along a bit, as is another elusive characteristic – limpidity. Drop a spoonful of preserve onto a white china plate or into a glass beaker and if it glints enticingly, it’s limpid.

Not all preserves can seize on the kudos of limpidity. Thick-cut or tawny marmalades – which rely

❛

on long-cooking of chunky peel – have to make do with an amber glow, while Continental (particularly Sicilian) preserves, cloudy from comminuted citrus fruit, need the appeal of ‘honesty’. ‘Honest’ is undoubtedly good, a bit like Cinderella without a sparkly ball gown. These preserves can still shine if they’re vibrant (there we go again) on the palate. And goodness, can a Sicilian mandarin marmalade sing.

Brightness and honesty aren’t quite enough of course. We’re very demanding of our jams and preserves and texture is hugely important.

Marmalades must have tender peel that still retains satisfying texture; similarly stone fruits and currants

Vibrant is not simply a handy, off-the-peg word. It’s exactly what the best jams, curds and conserves achieve.

❜

should have soft skins, and berry jams – a tough one this – an absence of perceived pippiness. At the same time, whole berries or chunks of stone fruit will certainly earn brownie points as long there’s no hint of toughness.

Runny separation of jelly and juice is a no-no. Curds must be creamy and unctuous and again not runny.

Last but not least, there’s zestiness of flavour. Any preserve – mincemeat, jam or curd – should be zesty, even where flavours are predominantly gentle, soft and sweet. It’s a quality both elusive and obvious and it relies on the perfect balance of fruit and sugar. A jam may appear to be one of life’s simpler pleasures, but the skill and craft behind the best are a matter of shock and awe.

• Food writer and editor Silvija Davidson is chief judging coordinator for the Great Taste awards.

Vol.16 Issue 6 July 2015

35

Behind every great jam is the perfect pectin.

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For more details and hundreds of recipes, visit www.certo.co.uk

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July 2015 · Vol.16 Issue 6

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product focus

jams & preserves

In launching its Bramley apple & liquorice jam and Yorkshire rhubarb & orange jam (bott 227g), Rosebud Preserves has gone down the reduced sugar route.

Instead of sweeteners or sugar substitutes, the Yorkshire producer has targeted a high fruit content for the two new jams, both of which contain less than 50g of sugar per 100g. The Bramley apple & liquorice has a trade price of £2.02 per jar while the rhubarb & orange jam costs £1.99. www.rosebudpreserves.co.uk

Wild at Heart says it has captured the taste of summer in a jar with its latest launch. Its elderflower preserve comprises foraged elderflower petals on a tart base of yellow crab apples from orchards in Kent, for an “unmistakeable floral aroma”. The hedgerow preserve, meanwhile, is said to be bursting with blackberries, damsons and crab apples. Launched last summer, both are returning to the shelf this year in redesigned packaging, with an RRP of £4.25 for 260g.

The Carved Angel has added seven preserves to its super-premium ‘Gold’ collection. Strawberry, raspberry, morello cherry, blackberry, Victoria plum, apricot and chocolate raspberry sensation join the range, which is characterised by a high fruit content and gold foil branding. RRP is £3.954.25 and trade price £2.60 for 215g.

O Organic apricot jam is the latest release from Roots & Wings.

RRP £2.75. www. rootsandwingsorganic. com

Raisthorpe Manor claims to be making the UK’s first sloe port jelly.

Combining port with estate-grown sloes from the heart of the Yorkshire Wolds, the fruity jelly (trade £1.95, RRP £3.20) is said to be a great as a preserve or an accompaniment to game and meat.

New to honey…

In Cheshire, bee farmer Crispin Reeves is busy building a following for its Haughton Honey brand of English honey.

Featuring traces of dandelion, chestnut, lime, blackberry, clover and other wildflowers, Haughton Honey is cold-extracted to protect the natural enzymes and proteins that characterise English honey. Five pence from the sale of every jar (RRP £5.49-5.99 for 340g) goes to Bumblebee Conservation Trust to help protect bumblebees, and preserve and restore their habitats.

So far, stockists include the new Walter Smith Fine Food outlet at Bridgemere Garden World, Tatton Park, The Hollies Farm Shop, and Hawarden Estate Farm Shop. www.haughtonhoney.com

grown in the berry fields of eastern Scotland are the star ingredient in Mrs Bridges’ latest preserve.

The raspberry & rhubarb preserve has an RRP of £2.65 per jar. www.mrsbridges.co.uk

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www.raisthorpemanor.com

www.awani.com

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Made on the island of Bali, Awani’s jams bring together the fragrant, exotic flavours of Indonesian tropical fruit and the traditional western craft of making jams and marmalades in small, open pan batches. Following its launch in Selfridges and a few other stockists at the end of 2014, Awani is hoping to grow its UK retailer base further.

The range spans single fruit jams (mango, pineapple, pink guava, tamarillo), single fruit marmalades (tangerine, lime), and fresh young ginger blends (pineapple jam with ginger, lime marmalade with ginger).

Awani’s Heather Li says the preserves are wonderful on buttery breads like croissants and brioche and can be eaten with Greek yoghurt or baked in puff pastry with mascarpone.

Each 255g jar has an RRP of £5 and a wholesale price of £3.30. Gift packs containing 98g and 28g jars will be available from September.

ig Farm ...The Pink P pe, e, Scunthor Shop, Holm Lincolnshire

gifting market features perennially popular strawberry jam, raspberry jam and Seville orange marmalade in miniature jars. RRP £7 for 300g; trade cost £4.50.

www.thecarvedangel.com

www.wildatheartfoods.co.uk

Top sellers…

O The Bay Tree’s new trio for the

& fir tree honey and wild thyme & fragrant herb honey have been treated to new packaging as part of a rangewide update for the Greek food brand. www.odysea.com

O Oranges, sugar and fresh lemon juice are the only ingredients in Rosie’s Relish and Pickles’ new Seville orange marmalade (RRP £3.50). www. rosiesrelishandpickle.co.uk

O Galore! Foods’ new Seville orange & Amontillado sherry marmalade is now stocked in Fortnum & Mason after winning double gold at the World Marmalade Awards in February. www. galorefoods. co.uk

Vol.16 Issue 6 July 2015

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product focus Victoria Cranfield, owner of The Proper Marmalade Company, sees the World Marmalade Awards as a great opportunity for developing new flavours. This year’s competition provided the impetus for the creation of a Proper Tawny rich, dark Seville marmalade (wholesale £2.50, RRP £3.90) and the Improper blood orange & espresso marmalade (wholesale £2.55, RRP £3.95). Her efforts were rewarded with a double gold and gold respectively.

jams & preserves Greek beekeeper Dimitros Hasapis is keen to start exporting his honey to UK retailers. The two varieties – raw honey and wild thyme honey with wildflowers – are produced on the island of Lemnos.

HoneyLimnos is packaged in 250g jars and the price is subject to the total volume produced. www.honeylimnos.com

www.thepropermarmaladecompany.co.uk

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Posh Pickles and Preserves has ramped up the ginger content of its sticky pear & ginger jam to give it extra “punch”. The improved recipe is said to be “packed to the hilt” with stem ginger, root ginger and ginger powder. The preserve can be paired with blue or goats’ cheese, or used in apple crumble or dressings.

RRP £3.50-3.75 for a 12oz jar.

Hoyle’s Honey is offering an English lime tree honey for the first time. Using nectar collected from the small yellow flowers on the English lime tree, this vintage is described as “slow to crystallise and mouthwateringly smooth” and having a “sweet, wooden flavour”. Hoyle’s Honey comes from hives on the family farm and neighbouring farms in Essex, providing a guarantee of its purity and provenance.

www.poshpicklesandpreserves.co.uk

www.hoyleshoney.com

Castleton Farm Shop has crossed raspberries and blueberries with Seville orange to make a Jamalade. “It looks and feels like jam and on initial taste it tastes like jam, then at the end you get a marmalade flavour,” says the shop’s Anna Mitchell. The Jamalade, which is produced on Castleton Farm in Fordoun, Laurencekirk, wholesales at £16.50 for a case of 6x330g jars (RRP £3.50 each). www.castletonfarmshop.co.uk

Top sellers…

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Ogilvy’s goes back to British When he first set up, Shamus Ogilvy planned to sell honey from his native Perthshire but several bad seasons at home meant he had to look further afield.

Having sourced award winning monofloral and regional varieties from Brazil, India and the Balkans, Ogilvy has finally achieved his original goal with launch of several British honeys.

British orchard honey is the first of the new Ogilvy’s line-up that the intrepid honey hunter has developed with an apiary on an exclusive basis. The operation has some 700 hives, which it moves to various locations across Britain in order to achieve different styles of honey.

“It’s a common practice to move your bees because you get a variety

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July 2015 · Vol.16 Issue 6

of pollens,” says Ogilvy, adding that changes to the bees’ diets not only leads to markedly different results in the end product but also keeps the insects happy. “If you were eating porridge every day you would go a bit stale.”

More varieties of British honey will be released over the course of the year as they come into season. Wildflower and borage honeys from the Heart of England are up next before a pair of heather honeys – from Derbyshire and Angus in Scotland – comes on the market. A woodland honey from Norfolk will join the range at the end of the year and there is also some comb honey in the offing this year.

While these British honeys will all come in the usual 240g jars, Ogilvy’s will also be revamping its gift pack format to offer 3x120g sets featuring

both the British and the world honey ranges.

Those who are fans of Ogilvy’s more exotic products needn’t worry, though. Ogivly tells FFD that he is readying two more honeys for market – one in Africa and one in South America – but it’s a process that can take years rather than months. www.ogilvys.com

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Jam Packed with Fruit, Jam Packed with Flavour Hand-stirred in Surrey

Our mission is to produce artisan preserves to die for that are jam packed with fruit and jam packed with flavour, hand-stirred from traditional family recipes in small batches; just like Grandma used to make. We aim to produce superior quality preserves using the finest, hand-picked local ingredients whenever possible that keep customers coming back for more.

Preserves Made With Love From the fruity and ordinary to the weird and wonderful our more than 50 different flavours are made with love in small batches. All our ingredients are delicately selected from the highest quality range. Fruit, herbs, leaves, peels, sugar and scents are softly preserved and carefully packed in lovely tiny jars. This procedure makes each of our preserves a limited edition that will probably not be repeated.

www.facebook.com/jampackedpreserves www.etsy.com/uk/shop/JamPackedPreserves If you would be interested in becoming a stockist or receiving further information please e-mail sue_woodward@ntlworld.com

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July 2015 路 Vol.16 Issue 6

contact@thetinymarmalade.com | www.thetinymarmalade.com

Sarah, one of our cooks, created a brownie recipe using our new fruity, buttery Raspberry Curd.

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An extraordinary range of sweet and savoury condiments

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Great Taste Great Provenance Great Branding Great Service

.

www.scarlettandmustard.co.uk 01728 685210

&RPELQH DOO LQJUHGLHQWV WRJHWKHU LQ D ERZO DQG PL[ EXW GRQ¶W RYHU PL[ *HW \RXU RYHQ XS WR WHPSHUDWXUH DW DURXQG JDV PDUN 3XW \RXU EURZQLH PL[ LQWR D WUD\ DQG EDNH IRU PLQV RU XQWLO WKH WRS LV EURZQHG :KHQ \RX UHPRYH WKH EURZQLHV WKH\ ZRQ¶W VHHP FRRNHG«GRQ¶W ZRUU\ %H SDWLHQW DQG OHDYH WKHP WR FRRO«WKLV ZLOO PDNH WKHP VHW 'XVW ZLWK LFLQJ VXJDU DQG DGG FORWWHG FUHDP DQG UDVSEHUULHV info@kitchengardenfoods.co.uk +44(0)1453 759612 www.kitchengardenfoods.co.uk

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July 2015 · Vol.16 Issue 6

product focus

olives snack packs

Pits perfect LYNDA SEARBY picks out the latest speciality olives After years of selling his own marinated olives through his restaurant, chef David Farraday is launching them in retail jars under the Farraday’s Tasty Olives brand (RRP £4.95 for 320g; trade price £2.50). Farraday, who runs the Postilion Restaurant in the Lake District village of Bowness, says the idea for the “inside out” marinated olives came from his dissatisfaction with flavoured olives in jars of oil with dried ingredients. “As oil is a liquid but also a preservative, all this does is preserve the dry ingredients,” he says. “You can’t get flavour out of dry ingredients in oil.”

Farraday’s recipes use only fresh, pasteurised ingredients and pitted olives for maximum flavour. www.stay-tasty.com

The Fresh Olive Company’s new Spanish olive mix takes in Manzanillas and rich and creamy Zorzalena as well as Cornicabra and Arbequina – two little olive varieties with a deep flavour. Trade price is £23.95 for 4kg (drained weight). The mix is part of the company’s new range of ‘stone it’ mixes, which are unpitted to preserve the flavour, texture and shape of the olives. www.fresholive.com

In a radical departure from the traditional brine or oil preserved olive, Ralo, the Italian company behind the Castellino brand, has created a marinated roasted and grilled olive using the Sicilian Nocellara Etnea variety. It says the flavour of the olive intensifies during its two-step roasting and grilling process, and that it also acquires a smoky flavour. Ralo’s importer price to delis is around £22.28 per 1.9kg vacuum bag/tray. The RRP is £1.69 per 100g loose or they can also be supplied in 180g jars. www.castellino.it

New start-up MardeOIivos is marketing Aloreña olives – the first table olives in Spain to receive EU Protected Designation of Origin status – in 300g jars (wholesale £1.80, RRP £2.50). Grown in the Guadalhorce valley in the Malaga province, these olives have a crunchy texture with loose stones, which detach easily from the flesh. They are cured using chemical-free water and salt solution before being seasoned with thyme, fennel, garlic and pepper. www.mardeolivos. co.uk

The language of taste...

OLIVES

FIND OUT WHAT GREAT TASTE JUDGES LOOK FOR IN KEY PRODUCT CATEGORIES, WITH SILVIJA DAVIDSON Green, black and every shade of purple; smooth and shiny; shrunken and wrinkly; pungently briny or rich and oily; satisfyingly stuffed or perfectly plain. When it comes to olives, everyone has their preference.

Until you’ve worked out your own, a colourful mixed potful seems the best bet when visiting the olive bar.

No two olives are the same and fashions may shift but, happily, Great

Taste judges have broadranging palates and an eye for quality. So what are we looking for?

Clearly not the black-dyed, bouncy, bland-yet-salty pizza sprinklers. Black olives may be fleshy, crunchy and bracing – like the best Kalamatas – or diminutive, wrinkly and chewy, with the mushroomy,

Olives Et Al is moving into the olive snacking space with the introduction of a handy pouch format (RRP £3.69). Available pitted (220g) or whole (240g), the olives are hand-marinated in lemon & coriander, rosemary & garlic, basil & garlic and chilli & garlic infused oils. www.olivesetal.co.uk

Fragata has reported a strong uplift in sales on the back of a packaging revamp for its Snack ‘n Olives range. The Spanish brand’s pitted green olive pouches come in five flavours: Touch of Lemon, Hint of Mediterranean, Pinch of Chilli, Provencal Touch and Touch of Andalusia. RRP £0.99. www.fragata.co.uk

Odysea has enlarged its Karyatis range of 70g snacking olive pouches with a new variant: green olives with Mediterranean herbs. www.odysea.com

Pouches are the fastest growing pack type for olives, according to AC Nielsen data, a trend which is driving sales of Crespo’s liquid-free, resealable olive pouches. The 70g pouches are available via RH Amar in flavours such as pitted green olives with herbs & garlic, pitted green olives with chilli peppers, and pitted dry black olives with herbs & garlic. www.rhamar.com

winey depth and length of flavour of dry-cured Tanches or Nyons. And then there are the purply shaded varieties in between which give little external clue to texture and flavour, unless bruising is evident, which generally means oxidation or re-fermentation, translating as musty or overly sharp and mushy in texture.

The best green olives will always retain some crunch, even where flavour and texture are nutty, buttery and almost sweet, as in Sicilian Nocellara. Crispness is the trademark of Bella di Cerognla, and meaty yet crunchy, saline juiciness of the equally sizeable Gordal. Bitterness is a bone of contention. Mediterranean palates

tend to favour naturally cured green olives where marked bitterness is inevitable. The British taste is generally for more muted bitterness thanks to lye curing – but not at the cost of blandness.

We’ve outgrown composite paste-stuffed olives and look for the sweet crunch of good almonds, the briny hit of plump anchovies and the like. Herbs and spices should transport us to sun-baked hillsides or bustling souks. And an ideal marinade – however innovative – will be vibrant and harmonious, giving a final lift to a shining example of the olive within.

• Food writer and editor Silvija Davidson is chief judging coordinator for the Great Taste awards.

Vol.16 Issue 6 · July 2015

43

Sunshine food for your belly!!

On the hunt for some tasty olives made by a small friendly team?

We’d love to hear from you……

Call Rachel on 01768 48 33 32 or visit www.silverandgreen.com

The UK’s favourite brand of olives* Crespo and RH Amar have worked in partnership since 1955 to supply the best quality olives to UK consumers.

www.rhamar.com *Source: Nielsen scantrack 52 w/e 25.04.15

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July 2015 · Vol.16 Issue 6

shelf talk

products, promotions & people

Turkish coffee producer eyes deli market with UK blend

By ARABELLA MILEHAM

A coffee producer rooted in northern Cyprus is hoping to tap into the growing trend for stronger premium coffees by launching a traditional Turkish coffee blended especially for the UK market.

Turkish style coffee – very finely ground coffee that is brewed slowly on the hob using a special pot or ‘cezve’, and drunk strong, unfiltered and foaming – is currently available at a small number of speciality retailers, Middle Eastern and Turkish outlets, but North Nicosia-based Özerlat wants to broaden its appeal in the UK. It has developed Mozaik – a finely ground blend of three different Arabica beans from South America that are usually used in espresso coffees– especially for the UK market. It launched at Taste of London last month. Özerlat is targeting sales primarily in delis, fine food retailers and speciality stores.

UK director Iley Özerlat-Gunduz told FFD that Turkish coffee had a very particular style in terms of blending, roasting and grinding beans and that the Mozaik blend

Iley Özerlat said the Mozaik blend bridges traditional and modern tastes

combined the authenticity of traditional Turkish-style coffees with a modern flavour more consistent with those widely consumed in the UK. “Our aim was to create a Turkish coffee inspired by the flavour of espresso that can be enjoyed as a Turkish coffee,” she said. “We needed a blend that bridged tradition with the way that people drink coffee today.”

Online speciality retailer The

Roast and Post Coffee Company said UK consumers were more accustomed to stronger coffees and darker roasts and increasingly keen to try new experiences.

“There is a definite trend for drinking stronger coffees now,” marketing director Tabitha Wilson said. “They've gone from filter to expresso and there is the possibility they will jump to a stronger shot.”

Stokes ready for summer Stokes Sauces has created several new lines and formats – including a range of dressings and a selection of condiment sachets – as it targets summer sales.

Classic Caesar, raspberry & mango, mango & orange and olive & balsamic dressings can all be used as marinades as well as on salads.

The Suffolk-based condiment specialist has also developed a Sweet & Sticky sauce and a Hot & Sticky BBQ sauce to sit alongside its Original variety.

Eight of the producer’s most popular sauces will now be available in 32-40g sachets (trade 17p each) for use in foodservice outlets such as deli-cafés and restaurants.

They are: tomato ketchup, Bloody Mary ketchup, real mayonnaise, brown sauce, classic English mustard, original barbecue, tartare sauce, and cider & horseradish wholegrain mustard. www.stokessauces.co.uk

www.ozerlat.com

Seaweed butter

what’s new

ABERNETHY BUTTER CO www.abernethybuttercompany.com

Healthy granola

Husband and wife team Will and Alison Abernethy have crafted a new butter using native Irish Dulse seaweed and sea salt. Already listed by Fortnum & Mason and Partridges, the hand-rolled butter is produced using Dulse sourced from Irish Seaweeds in Belfast and comes in 100g packs (RRP £1.75). The Northern Irish producer says the butter is ideal for use in cooking.

CEREAL LOVERS www.cereallovers.co.uk

Created by Dorset hotelier Jenny Fox-Johnson, this new brand of granola has already been shortlisted in the Free From Food Awards 2015, only days after its retail launch.

All the Cereal Lovers’ Simply Fruit range is made with just oats, malt, rapeseed oil and fruit pieces. They are sweetened with pure fruit juices rather than added refined sugars and are also free from salt, milk, nuts and eggs. Simply apple, Simply orange, Simply blackcurrant & apple and Simply banana & chocolate all come in 60g and 400g packs (RRPs £1.35 and £3.95 respectively).

Packaging refresh DRINKMAPLE www.drinkmaple.com

Pitched as an alternative to coconut water, US brand DRINKmaple has re-launched in more colourful packaging and two new formats.

The water – sap extracted directly from maple trees in North America – has already gained listings in Harvey Nichols, Selfridges, Partridges, Harrods and Whole Foods. As well as 250ml TetraPaks (RRP £1.99), the drink will come in 355ml resealable bottles and 1 litre cartons (RRPs £2.59 and £3.99 respectively). Said to contain half the sugar of coconut water, maple water is low in calories and boasts 46 different nutrients.

Loaf cake

Belgian white chocolate chunks, fresh farm eggs from the North East of Scotland and rapeseed oil.

Liquid Fudge FUDGE KITCHEN www.fudgekitchen.co.uk

Created accidentally when Fudge Kitchen MD Sian Holt tried vacuum-packing her fresh whipping cream fudge, liquid fudge launched this month in three flavours: sea salted caramel, vanilla toffee and rich chocolate. Made in small batches and worked by hand, the liquid fudge (235g-250g jars, RRP £3.99) can be used as a dessert topping and cake ingredient or eaten straight from the jar.

NEVIS BAKERY www.nevisbakery.com

The Highland bakery has added a strawberry & white chocolate variety to its portfolio of loaf cakes.

Available in cases of 12x360g (RRP £2.60 per unit), the cakes are made with real freeze-dried strawberries, Vol.16 Issue 6 · July 2015

45

Cheese retail: it’s all in the detail

Guild Retail Cheese Training dates:

Training is vital to retail success and will dramatically improve sales. Guild retail cheese training will help you to: • Enhance your understanding of the cheese making process • Understand the impact terrior has on cheese • Recognise the main families of cheese • Learn how to select, display, sell and care for cheese • Comparatively taste over 40 cheese types • Inspire customers with your knowledge, enthusiasm and passion for your cheese counter • Succeed and increase turnover Call 01747 825200 or email jilly.sitch@gff.co.uk

LEARN

BE INSPIRED

Sept 1 Sept 2 Oct 26 Nov 2 Nov 3 Nov 4

Course fees Guild Member Offer: £75 plus 20% VAT Non-members: £100 plus 20% VAT

SUCCEED

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co.uk 46

July 2015 · Vol.16 Issue 6

www.gff.co.uk |

London London Guild House, Dorset Edinburgh Edinburgh Venue to be confirmed

@guildoffinefood

shelf talk

Looking for suppliers accredited by the Guild of Fine Food?

Follow the logo

Top chefs tell CLARE HARGREAVES their deli essentials

what’s new

Greek delicacies TRÉSORS DE GRÈCE

Kamil Oseka lemon & mint, pomegranate & rose and peach & lychee flavours. With health conscious consumers in mind, it has also created two sugar-free cordials – cherry & elderflower and apple & lemonbalm – sweetened with Sucralose and Stevia. Both come in 375ml bottles with an RRP of £3.50.

Cambodian pepper KADODE

www.kadodepepper.co.uk

The Kadode brand of Kampot pepper will now be available in the UK in three varieties in 40g boxes.

Sourced directly from farms in the Kampot region of Cambodia, every pack is 100% traceable back to the individual farmer. All three peppercorns have different flavour profiles. The black, which offers “a deep spicy flavour yet floral notes”, has a wholesale price of £2.99 while the smoky red pepper costs £3.49 per unit.

The rare white variety is sold to the trade for £3.99 per unit. All boxes are vaccum-sealed in Cambodia and the peppers are zero VAT rated.

Two ranges

FIVE VALLEYS CORDIALS www.fivevalleyscordials.co.uk

Cotswolds-based soft drinks producer Five Valleys has launched a 300ml sparkling range (RRP £2.20) featuring

The Pig near Bath, Hunstrete, Somerset www.thepighotel.com

Born in Poland, Kamil came to the UK in 2006 and worked at the Sandbanks in Poole for two years. He moved to the Harbour Heights hotel, then became sous chef at The Pig in Brockenhurst. He was appointed head chef at The Pig near Bath in 2014.

Heavenly Hedgerows Seville orange marmalade

www.tresorsdegrece.gr

Having recently been listed

by M&S, Trésors de Grèce is a premium Greek food brand seeking listings with UK delis. As well as extra virgin olive oil in two formats and four varieties of jarred olives, it also offers organic honey, sun-dried tomatoes, seven different fruits in syrups, sesame butter and bread rusks from Crete and Kythera.

CHEF’S SELECTION

www.heavenlyhedgerows.co.uk

More mojos

THAT HUNGRY CHEF

Chris Westgate, who makes this, lives just minutes away so we do lots of things together and she supplies us with a range of produce from jams and honeys to freshly foraged stuff such as wild garlic and flowers. We’ve offered her hand-cut Seville marmalade at the hotel breakfast table since we opened. I love it because it’s less sweet than other marmalades. I also cook with it. I add a dash to the oil, vinegar & mustard dressing that I use to finish our smoked duck salad – it gives it a sweetness and slight taste of orange. I also make it into a dessert jelly that I serve with thyme ice cream.

www.thathungrychef.com

That Hungry Chef has added two more chilli relishes to its Mojo Risin’ range. Sweet tomato & chilli and mild chilli & herb can be used as marinades for meat, fish or vegetables but can also be used as dips, sauces or cheeseboard accompaniments. Both relishes come in 100g jars and join the existing line-up of green chilli, red chilli and smokey chilli relish (all 110g).

Wild Beer Co’s Madness IPA www.wildbeerco.com

This strong IPA – 6.8%! – is made by another local producer, Wild Beer Co, and it’s great after a long day in the kitchen. It’s rich in tropical and citrus flavours thanks to its high content of late and dry hops. The barman suggested I use it in venison pie, one of our favourite winter warmers, and it works brilliantly – it provides acidity, and unexpected flavour. We use venison from our own estate – we use the loins for carpaccio and dice the legs and shoulder for the pies, which we finish with the beer.

Old Winchester cheese www.lyburnfarm.co.uk

Pure water

AQUA CARPATICA www.aquacarpatica.co.uk

Already listed by Harrods, the Aqua Carpatica brand of water is making its UK debut in both still and sparkling varieties in glass (330ml and 750 ml) and PET bottles (500ml and 1.5 litre). It is claimed that this water – drawn from an ancient spring in Romania’s Carpathian Mountains – is one of the purest in the world, with minimal nitrate and sodium levels. As well as being suitable for babies to drink, Aqua Carpatica is also recommended for active people and those who follow vegan and organic diets.

We started using this pasteurised farmhouse cheese when we opened the first Pig, at Brockenhurst and we were looking for an English-style Parmesan. Lyburn is based in the New Forest, so were local. Old Winchester is a more mature version of Winchester, a sort of cross between a cheddar and a gouda, It’s aged for over 18 months which creates a lovely nuttiness, a bit similar to that of an Old Amsterdam. It’s less strong than Parmesan but works just as well and is equally good for grating, melting or shaving. We put shavings onto our smoked venison carpaccio, and into our Jerusalem artichoke salad. I also add it to risottos to finish them.

Chase English oak-smoked vodka www.chasedistillery.co.uk

Apparently the idea for this vodka was born after Chase’s Master Distiller tasted some particularly fine smoked salmon at a food fair, and the method used to create it is much the same. It’s made by smoking Chase Original Vodka with English oak for around seven days, which creates a fantastic taste with a smooth, soft finish. The smoked vodka works well to marinade meats such as brisket which we then smoke and chargrill. We use this smoked vodka, as well as the rhubarb and marmalade vodkas, in our desserts too. We also pop it into our foraging shots, combining it with our homeproduced apple juice and nettle sorbet to give the shots a nice kick.

Bath Harvest extra virgin cold pressed rapeseed oil www.bathharvestoils.co.uk

I used to always use olive oil and when someone suggested we use rapeseed oil at The Pig I resisted. But then I tried this rapeseed oil and loved it, so now we use it for almost everything.

It’s a bit stronger than other rapeseed oils, nice and nutty, and it’s grown and produced on a family farm at Wilmington near Bath so it’s local too. We use it in dressings and in cakes, and to marinade meat. For the herb-infused oils we put on the tables we mix olive and rapeseed oil half and half.

Vol.16 Issue 6 · July 2015

47

RetailReady `

RetailReady is a two day course that will steer you No one should even consider entering through the minefield of opening and running a fine any form of fine food retail without food store. completing the Retail Ready course at The The course is designed to equip managers of Guild of Fine Food. The two day course prospective, new or developing delis and farm shops is brilliantly structured offering advice on with the business essentials of fine food and drink every aspect of the business from insider retailing. experts and successful retailers. It gave me The next course takes place on insight I was lacking, to feel fully confident October 27-28 2015. about getting started.

Visit www.gff.co.uk/training for more details and Matthew Drennan, former editor of delicious. and aspiring deli owner an application form or call Jilly Sitch to find out more on 01747 825200.

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www.gff.co.uk |

@guildoffinefood

shelf talk

The Chosen Ones At every Harrogate Fine Food Show, FFD journos MICK WHITWORTH and MICHAEL LANE hop off the fence and present their personal pick of the best new launches on display. Here are their choices from last month’s event.

Yorkshire halloumi Yorkshire Dama Cheese This has a well-balanced, savoury taste and meaty texture without being too rich – and it’s British. It’s not as greasy as some halloumi and while cooking drives off a surprising amount of moisture it tones down the saltiness too. We prefer our halloumi without mint, and this plain version does the job nicely.

Shoreline English regional wine Lyme Bay Winery One of the first two still white wines (the other is a Bacchus) to be made by Lyme Bay with grapes from its three Devon vineyards, this medium-dry Seyval/ Bacchus/Pinot Noir has already picked up a Decanter silver medal. With Lyme Bay so well established in delis and farm shops, this should do well alongside other, increasingly high-achieving English whites.

White Elixir tea Quinteassential If you read the May edition of FFD, you already know that Michael is a fan of Quinteassential’s cuboid packaging. The QR-code linking to music to time your brew by and the build-yourown tea bags are innovative while the (Great Taste one-star) tea inside, with its jasmine and brassica notes, is spot-on.

Tamarillo jam Awani Interesting, half-tomato, half-berry, is-it-a-fruit? flavour, all the way from Indonesia.

This might be lost on toast at breakfast, but with Stilton or particularly with pork, as recommended, it’s an intriguing option. Get your guests to guess the ‘fruit’? We also quite like Awani’s pink guava jam: like slightly over-ripe pear.

Rhubarb & ginger vinegar The Little Herb Farm It’s brave going up against Womersley, and we’re not sure how much space there is in such a narrow niche, but this one is a commendable addition to fruit vinegars. The two named flavours are well defined, and it’s the rhubarb that is dominant, with the ginger adding warmth. We also tried it diluted in water for a quick FFD mocktail – not bad at all.

Achari Beef curry pickle That Hungry Chef Not the hottest product we tried (that honour goes to another Hungry Chef creation!) but there is enough chilli heat here to satisfy most spice-lovers, and plenty of flavour, too. While the concept of jarred, curried meat might seem a little strange, the Achari Beef works as both a cold snack or as a base for a hot dish.

Spaghetti with rocket & chilli Tenuta Marmorelle Perhaps we should ask for Editors’ Choice samples to be supplied in case quantities, because Mick has been getting through loads of this at home.

A gutsy spaghetti with just a few subtle flecks of chilli to give it an occasional bite. We could see supermarkets and mass caterers trying to copy it and completely missing the point.

Snaps Mineral Harvest Our wildcard choice. Moreish, homemade-style crispbreads, thin and snappy with great texture, and much less worthy than you’d think from the vegan-friendly ingredients that include sesame, oat bran, linseed, hempseeds and Himalayan rock salt.

Mineral Harvest just needs some help with its packaging, so we’ve picked Snaps in the hope it gets some!

Luxury mocha bar Kacao Gentle on the coffee flavour, which comes from a suitably ‘handmade’ smatter of fresh coffee beans and “mocha crunch inclusions”, with a mix of decent milk and dark chocolate leaving a pleasant milkycoffee aftertaste. Not the newest idea in the world but nicely done, with a sensible price-point (trade £2.10, RRP £3.50).

Ruzzolone organic salami Va.Lore A simple, soft, subtly spiced salami from the Veneto region of Italy, with an attractive white mould on its natural casing, this is imported by recently formed agent Va-Lore Food.

It’s presented whole in a neat little package – and it’s organic.

Stem ginger & cardamom brownie Wood’s Brownie Co For brownies with enough life to stand up in a distribution chain, these are good, especially at a trade price of £1.40-£1.50. The almost unnervingly soft centres are protected by a crispy exterior. We couldn’t eat too many at one sitting,

they are so rich, but we like the way the ginger counteracts the sweet stickiness in this recipe. (The cherry & almond variant was quirky too – “It’s a Bakewell brownie!” said Michael.)

Ancho chilli salami Three Little Pigs We’d eaten half of this while we were still discussing whether it was too ‘everyman’ for a fine food product.

Three Little Pigs delivers another great British-made alternative to Continental salamis – hot, but not overly so – which will go down handsomely with a nice bottle of British-brewed craft lager this summer.

Vol.16 Issue 6 · July 2015

49

AW Ly AR me B DS ay at En the gli De sh w ca ine nte s r In hav ter e s na coo tio na ped l W TW ine O Aw ard s

From the green rolling hills of Devon to where the land meets the sea.

Seven years ago this year we embarked on an adventure. The adventure, born from passion, ambition and a dream, was to make outstanding English wines embodying Lyme Bay Winery’s fruit-driven, award-winning ethos.

In 2010 we planted 26,000 vines and with hard work we have been rewarded with an excellent harvest in Autumn 2014.

The Winery and its three vineyards are situated in Devon’s beautiful Axe Valley. A maritime region, it enjoys a temperate climate and a long, warm growing season, affording the grapes exceptional depth and expression of character.

Versatile and unsual condiments, inspired by the world

We are delighted to offer you our stunning range of still and sparkling English wines for the first time.

Shoreline 2014

m: 07792196728 www.thathungrychef.com @thathungrychef facebook.com/thathungrychef

Lyme Bay Winery Shute, Axminster, Devon, EX13 7PW Telephone: 01297 551355 Email: sales@lymebaywinery.co.uk

@LymeBayWineLtd

/LymeBayWinery www.lymebaywinery.co.uk

Need Good Food with Excellent Provenance?

Ask the Italians!

Calling all buyers! Whether you are a large food hall, small deli, farm shop or caterer just call Lorenzo or Stefano who will assist you in finding the very best quality Italian products for the right price!

01619804039

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July 2015 · Vol.16 Issue 6

· 07986795618 · stefano@va-lore.it www.va-lore.co.uk

As seen at Harrogate Fine Food Show 2015

DANIEL@ARTOFCHOCOLAT.CO.UK | 01254447070 WWW. ARTOFCHOCOLAT.CO.UK

THE GREAT TASTE GOLDEN FORK AWARDS DINNER Monday 7 September 2015 The Royal Garden Hotel, Kensington, London Drinks Reception followed by Dinner and Award Presentations Hosted by Nigel Barden and John Farrand

Join the Guild of Fine Food for a night when the stars will be out

Be the first to hear the eagerly anticipated results of Great Taste 2015 as the Golden Forks and the Supreme Champion are revealed during a three course meal showcasing winners past and present.

Places are limited. To avoid disappointment, reserve your ticket today. Email charlie.westcar@gff.co.uk or call 01747 825200 Ticket price includes pre-dinner drinks and ½ bottle of wine £130 including VAT for Guild of Fine Food members £150 including VAT for non-members 6.30pm Drinks reception 7.15pm Seated for dinner 11.00pm Carriages Dress: jacket & tie

5

www.gff.co.uk | www.greattasteawards.co.uk |

@greattasteawards |

/greattasteawards

shelf talk

Arrows of fortune Not many retailers have their foundation in bloodshed but Battlefield 1403’s blend of historic location and the modern taste for local food have proved a successful farm shop formula

Deli of the Month INTERVIEW BY MICHAEL LANE

T

he Battle of Shrewsbury, fought in 1403 between armies led by King Henry IV and the rebellious Percy family, is said to be one of the bloodiest ever fought on British soil.

The area of Shropshire countryside that once hosted this hail of longbow fire, and a resulting body count in the thousands, lies just to the north of the town on the modern day Albrighton Estate and it is still known as Battlefield.

You would be forgiven for not knowing any of this (I didn’t) because it isn’t on the National Curriculum. And only the most local of residents will be aware of another more recent struggle waged on the very same spot.

This time it was local planners versus the Jagger family, who have farmed the estate for seven generations. The Jaggers wanted to turn a redundant farmyard on the fringes of the historic site into a development featuring a farm shop, café and a visitor centre to tell the oft-forgotten story of the battle. But the authorities had concerns about access to the site of what would become Battlefield 1403 after seven years of wrangling.

“Building a driveway up a battlefield is never going to be met with much support,” says owner Jeremy Jagger with a smile. His mother Joyce first began pursuing the farm shop plan in 2001.

Joking aside, Jagger tells FFD that the reason the project took so long to come to fruition was solving the problem of safely linking the site to the nearest road, the A49.

After years of impasse, Tesco turned out to be the unlikely catalyst when it bought a site in town. This set off the chain of moves that led to auctioneer Halls relocating its livestock market and building a roundabout, which provided the access that Battlefield 1403 needed.

The farm shop was built in around six months – under the watchful eye of archaeologists and English Heritage – before opening in April 2008.

It seems that the seven years since opening have been much kinder to Battlefield 1403. When I

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July 2015 · Vol.16 Issue 6

General manager Chris Darlington (top) and owner Jeremy Jagger make sure Battlefield 1403 sticks firmly to its local sourcing ethos

Moydens. Darlington is also keen to arrive mid-morning on a Monday, I Birmingham) and then have lunch in point out the county’s strength in have to use the overflow car park. the café. While it is free to enter, the depth when it comes to beer.

There are customers milling about visitor centre also generates wideSuch is the adherence to their in the long narrow farm shop and ranging footfall from casual tourists local policy that Darlington doesn’t filling the café’s tables, both inside to school trips, be they primary even carry olive oil. He opts for and outside in the former farmyard, school pupils or postgrad students. three different brands of rapeseed which is quite the suntrap.

Wherever visitors spend their oil instead: Shrewsbury’s Great Ness The site employs 32 staff and has money, the likelihood is that they’ll Oils, Just Oil from neighbouring an annual turnover in the region of be buying something that is locally county £1.7m, which is split evenly between the There’s a lot of grey area that people use to their Staffordshire and Shropshirefarm shop, butchery advantage. You’ll walk into a shop that’s boasting based counter and café. ‘local’ and see a nice display of lemons. newcomer “All of the Bennett & Dunn. departments are The Albrighton Estate’s herd of quite symbiotic,” says general sourced. Some 90% of the farm cattle provides the butchery counter manager Chris Darlington. “If any shop’s stock comes from within a with beef for half of the year. For one department was here on this 50-mile radius and the other 10% the other six months Battlefield site on its own, it would probably – mainly cheese and fresh produce sources locally reared whole struggle.”

– are sourced from further afield in carcasses, which it will then hang Battlefield is a destination, Britain. in its own stores, from its regular he says, with several angles of A good deal of Darlington’s slaughterhouse. The estate also appeal. Some visitors may come for must-stocks list centres on produces lamb and it is now trialling coffee and cake before making an companies from Shropshire: pigs in its woodlands. impulse buy in the farm shop or at preserve-maker Heather’s Harvest, Ready meals made in-house, the butchery counter. Others may cereal producer Pimhill Farm, the including the Great Taste awardcome just for the meat (one family Shropshire Spice Co and cheesewinning Battlefield Beef & makes a weekly pilgrimage from makers Belton Farm and Mr

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products, promotions & people

As well as its long, narrow farm shop, Battlefield 1403 also features a café and butchery counter

Shropshire Ale pie, are also a key feature of the Battlefield offer both in the shop and in the Sparrow’s Café (which takes an old family surname).

Given the lengths that Battlefield goes to sticking to his mother’s original vision, Jeremy Jagger sometimes finds it frustrating to visit other retailers.

“The problem is there’s quite a lot of grey area that people can use to their advantage,” he says. “You’ll walk into a shop that’s boasting ‘local’ and see a nice display of lemons.

“There are times when people have come in asking for certain types of tomato out of season or strawberries at Christmas time. We say they’re not grown around here.”

“We’ve made it clear that our ethos is local or if it can’t be local, British. And that’s where we stop.”

While avoiding the temptations of tropical fruit is relatively easy, Darlington’s task is made tougher by his sourcing restrictions. It’s certainly

a far cry from his previous job at Starbucks, where he spent more than a decade as a trouble-shooter and store manager.

“Starbucks is pretty easy in that you almost don’t know what the trade price is,” says Darlington.

“They send you the stuff in and says ‘That’s how much you sell it for, here’s the POS, run with it’.”

“There’s not much in the way of retailing – you get a blueprint and you have to go with it.”

He adds that a large portion of his time with the coffee chain was spent managing people. This experience has come in handy in his four years with Battlefield, particularly as he has to deal with so many suppliers directly. Apart from Blakemore Fine Foods (née Heart Distribution), there are no other distributors that can meet Battlefield’s requirements.

Another issue Darlington has had to get used to is finding new products, even though he’s never short of offers.

“It is difficult.

TOCKS 03’S MUST-S 4 Everybody makes jam or 1 LD E FI LE BATT ar vest carrot cakes,” he says, adding Heather’s H that he’s recently been y chutne inundated with curry hard Oldfield’s Orc r sauces, despite having de ci y er ov Disc two going well on his ons Mrs Darlingt on curd shelves. “If we’ve got a ndary lem ge Le strawberry jam on the porridge shelf and it sells really Pimhill farm well, we’re not going to pshire Lad Woods Shro get a strawberry jam from bitter somebody else. There’s no aties ry Biscuits O point.”

Frank’s Luxu se ee Local markets, he Red Fox ch Belton Farm says, are a good source of cheese Wrekin Blue Mr Moydens producers and Darlington ed oil garlic rapese will always look to help Great Ness monade fledgling businesses make raspberry le Heartsease the step into retail. In fact, he et sees it as part of Battlefield’s Tanners clar hire Ale pie eef & Shrops B duty.

Battlefield uce ny bread sa Though a product may Spice Compa re hi ps ro Sh impress him and work in other nearby locations that doesn’t for ideas – of course we are – but always translate into sales. at the same time, we’re all on the “There’s a brand of loose same side against the multiples.” leaf tea and they’re in a food hall In order to get new customers down Ludlow way,” he says. “It flies visiting, Battlefield 1403 has been off the shelf there, people love it. taking the shop to them. It sells But up here people don’t get loose its ready-meals and items from leaf tea at all. They want it in a bag the butchery at local markets and and a cup. It’s a lovely product. It for the last 12 months it has been just didn’t sell and [the producer] running the café at Shrewsbury’s St totally understood.”

Mary’s Church, which boasts annual Darlington regularly invites his footfall of 60,000 visitors. suppliers in to run tastings in the This arrangement with The shop, often in a bid to spur sales Churches Conservation Trust, which of a certain line, but if something also manages nearby Battlefield won’t shift after that he has no Church, is a pilot project that it qualms about de-listing products hopes to roll-out other parts of the even from a regular supplier. country. Although it “washes its Both Darlington and Jagger face”, the church café’s primary role are unequivocal about loss is as a marketing tool, says Jagger. leaders – there’s no space for Retailers from as far afield them. Everything earns its keep, as Somerset have come to visit with margins in the shop varying Battlefield’s little outpost. While he between 33% and 38%, although is happy to advise other retailers some lines like wine (12%) make interested in a similar venture, very little, and margins on dishes in Jagger says Battlefield won’t be the café are more than 60%. rolling out any more cafés.

Battlefield 1403 needs to be Similarly, there are no plans to on its game, given the level of start wholesaling meat or any readycompetition in the area. Darlington meals and pies. Jagger won’t do cites Spar and The Co-op – and their anything that puts too much strain local sourcing policies – as one of the on the kitchen and dilute the quality main competitors but there is also a of what it produces.

Tesco-owned Dobbies Garden Centre Looking at the site, there are not on the other side of Shrewsbury, not many more places for Battlefield to mention a host of farm shops in 1403 to go. That said, it will soon the surrounding area. be selling firewood sustainably “Staff leave and move onto sourced on the estate but – despite other farm shops and think ‘Right, both Jagger and Darlington we’ll clone Battlefield’ which is kind acknowledging that the narrow of a strange form of flattery,” says farm shop could be expanded – Jeremy Jagger. “You do see other don’t expect any massive changes places and they’re clearly trying to anytime soon. emulate the courtyard we’ve got.”

“Lots of places, very successfully, “It just keeps us on our toes. will go from something this size We were probably the first like this to food hall. It works but I’m not in this region, but other people are saying we’ll do that,” says Jagger. more than entitled to set up their “One of our USPs is the character of own business. We just have keep the place and we don’t want to lose thinking of the next thing we’ll sight of the fact that we’re farmers, do and nobody will ever have a we’re not specialist food retailers.” battlefield attached to them.

“We’re all looking at each other www.battlefield1403.com Vol.16 Issue 6 · July 2015

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