GUILD TALK

View from HQ

By John Farrand managing director

ONLY SOME OF you are going to get this cultural reference. I wasn’t a Star Wars or Star Trek boy. I was very much Back to the Future. I loved that foray looking ahead to 2015 in part two. There were hoverboards, people chatting over video phones and ying cars. Technology to get excited about.

So, I tucked into the rushes of this month’s lead feature looking at the future of retailing (p34) with child-like enthusiasm. What’s to come, what will it look like, and most importantly, will we need a ux capacitor? The article looks at key areas of innovation, broadly looking at what the supermarkets are doing. We should all embrace technology, but independents shouldn’t be implementing it for the same reasons as the multiples.

Surely the food and drink goliaths are embracing no-contact and self-service to have fewer employees and lower costs? They don’t need to chat to customers or tell them the story behind why that cheese has a layer of olive stone ash running through it, or indeed ask them how their mum is.

Which is what I did this morning in our local shmonger. We’d promised him some of the Great Taste Golden Fork-grabbing Sublime Butter No. 55. We made that delivery, having promised Ash some a er swapping recipe ideas before Christmas. We chatted about trade generally, our family, his family, and le . We didn’t even buy anything. But we’ll be back because

The Word on Westminster

By Edward Woodall ACS

WITH ALL THE discussion around No.10 it is easy to forget that there is some policy work going on in Government. The regulation of products high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) is one area where the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) is focusing on in order to tackle obesity.

For shops, this means restrictions on how you can promote and position certain products in your stores. Despite the complex nature of these regulations, there is little detailed advice from Government, so we have launched a new comprehensive guide on the HFSS regulations due to be implemented in October that can be viewed at acs.org.uk/advice/hfss-regulations.

The delay to the Government issuing advice to industry is in part because these types of interventions are unpopular with many Conservative backbench MPs whose views weigh more heavily on the Prime Minister’s mind postparty-gate. The Prime Minister’s attempt to woo the more libertarian side of the Conservative party has been dubbed ‘operation red meat’, and HFSS regulations are rumoured to be on the chopping block.

The HFSS regulations, which aim to restrict the location and promotion of over a dozen product categories, clearly do not align with the right of the Conservative Party. Firstly, it will affect thousands of businesses – including many small businesses – requiring many to carry out a fundamental rethink of their strategy and the way that their store is laid out. Secondly, it will also require the enforcement community to be out visiting stores with their tape measure to check everything is in the right place.

It is no secret that we think these regulations hit small shops hard and that the Government should re-think their approach. However, the current situation represents the worst of both worlds; no clarity on the detail of the policy and no certainty on the implementation date. This leaves many businesses undecided on whether to invest thousands of pounds to refit their stores.

This approach to policy development is a textbook example of how not to be the party of business; costly and opaque interventions with no clear timetable. We think that the Prime Minister should listen to the concerns of small shops and his backbenchers. But with only eight months to go, we need decisive action.

we like Ash and we like shopping there and the sh is top-drawer.

Our trade needs people, service and contact. And technology could remove that as well as help you. I can see a place for having an online

o er bolted onto your shop, and I quite like the augmented reality angle: we’ve been looking at QR codes on shelves for award-winners for a couple of years. E-commerce can nd you more customers and the latter could help you explain that Morbier-like goats’ cheese from southern Spain through a well-made video. Whether I’ll be watching it on Star Trek-style Smart Glasses is questionable. I may just stick to my phone.

We should embrace technology, but not for the same reasons as the multiples

Edward Woodall is government relations director at the ACS edward.woodall@acs.org.uk

Entry now closed

Great Taste 2022 entry has now closed, with over 14,000 products submitted from around the world.

After four successful coordinator workshops last month, the judges are ready, and judging will take place between mid-March and midJune across two main locations – No. 42 in London and Guild House in Dorset. We will be in touch with every producer that has entered two weeks before judging to request delivery of their products. We’d like to remind producers that they do not need to send anything until they receive this request.

gff.co.uk/greattaste

Fine Food Show North returns

Fine Food Show North will return to the Yorkshire Event Centre in Harrogate on Monday 27th and Tuesday 28th June this year, showcasing some of the most exciting food & drink producers from across the UK.

Retailers, buyers, chefs and restaurateurs join us for two days of new product launches, tastings and demonstrations, including the opportunity to meet the team behind the Great Taste Supreme Champion-winning product from 2021, Jaffy’s Mallaig Kippers. Don’t miss out on this essential industry event this summer.

Contact Sally Coley at opportunities@gff.co.uk if you are interested in exhibiting.

gff.co.uk/ffsn

The Guild of Fine Food represents fine food shops and specialist suppliers. Want to join them?

GENERAL ENQUIRIES Guild of Fine Food

Guild House, 23b Kingsmead Business Park, Shaftesbury Road, Gillingham, Dorset SP8 5FB UK

Tel: +44 (0) 1747 825200 Fax: +44 (0) 1747 824065

info@gff.co.uk gff.co.uk THE GUILD TEAM: Managing director:

John Farrand

Special projects director:

Tortie Farrand

Sales director:

Sally Coley

Operations & marketing director:

Christabel Cairns

Sales manager:

Ruth Debnam

Sales executive:

Becky Haskett

Operations managers:

Claire Powell Meredith White

Operations coordinator:

Chris Farrand

Events manager:

Stephanie HareWinton

Marketing manager:

Sophie Brentnall

Financial controller:

Stephen Guppy

Accounts assistant:

Julie Coates gff.co.uk

Chairman:

Bob Farrand

Director:

Linda Farrand