FFD October 2014

COLIN WOODALL 35 ‘There was quite a learning curve to travel,’ says the man behind the air-dried ham brand

SIMON BURDESS 11

CHEESE & CRACKERS 12

The ex-Fortnums food boss on creating a hotel deli-bar with a ‘neighbourhood buzz’

Ann-Marie Dyas and John Siddall on the ‘accidental’ success of The Fine Cheese Co October 2014 · Vol 15 Issue 9

MEET ALL THIS YEAR’S ‘GOLDEN FORK’ WINNERS, STARTING ON P17 CHEF’S SELECTION 48 Adam Simmonds of Kensington Pavilion puts 5J Iberico ham, Woodlands Dairy goats’ milk yoghurt and Global Harvest fennel pollen on his shopping list

BATH SOFT CHEESE 31 As their new dairy nears completion, Hugh and Graham Padfield talk to FFD about 21 years of cheese-making

BLOOMIN’ GOOD ‘People feed on our enthusiasm’, says the Bloomfields deli boss NEWS CHEESEWIRE CHARCUTERIE COOKING SAUCES PIES SHELF TALK DELI OF THE MONTH

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LONGMAN HAND ROLLED BUTTER –

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BEST IN SHOW INTERNATIONAL CHEESE AWARDS

September 2014 · Vol.15 Issue 8

What’s new this month:

Opinion

Reading the news on page 4 left me wondering why civil servants working at the Rural Payments Agency couldn’t cultivate a little French savoir-faire. According to BOB FARRAND Callum Henderson, MD of EVOO from Spain, they’ve misinterpreted the small print of yet another EU “Ils ne vont pas dépenser, ils sont regulation and, from December, ici en vacances,” (“They won’t be retail sales of olive oil from spending, they’re here on holiday”) re-fillable vats and boxed bags are mumbled the shop assistant to her banned. They’re probably the kind colleague as she sliced me a taste of of people who do their weekly shop her Ossau Iraty. in Tesco and use olive oil to remove She was right about the holiday. wax from their ears.

Mrs. F and I had cruised up the Personally, I don’t care for oil Rhône from Avignon to Lyon and sold from vats as it deteriorates were standing in Mother Richard’s if badly stored and some retailers cheese store in Les Halles de Lyon, don’t clean the vats before re-filling. the world famous food market Oil sold from sealed bags is perfectly named after Paul Bocuse, France’s fine as the bags cannot be re-filled equally famous chef. with cheaper oil.

Eight butchers, It’s a two fishmongers, nonsense piece These civil servants six delicatessens, of legislation are probably the kind three bakers, dreamt up by of people who shop in five shops selling bureaucrats Tesco and use olive oil who pander to oysters, 10 restaurants and to remove wax from big businesses four cracking and, unlike the their ears cheese shops French, lack any sit alongside passion for fine caterers, wine merchants, bakers, food. Much the same as our local chocolatiers and a cookery school. government planners who, despite And one cynical assistant who the Government’s 2012 National couldn’t have been more wrong Planning Policy designed to prioritise about me spending money – there town centre regeneration, have was no possibility of me leaving granted permission for 75% of all without cheese. new retail space to out-of-town Spend time with the French sites (page 5). Plus ça change, plus and you soon appreciate the c’est la meme chose! extent to which food and wine It’s possible the French shop dominate their lives. The three assistant may have felt a hint of French friends who accompanied us shame as I walked away clutching around Les Halles are businessmen my cheese. The bureaucrats merely unconnected with food, yet they wait for their pensions. might easily have been deli or farm shop owners – such was their Bob Farrand is publisher of expertise and interest in provenance Fine Food Digest and chairman and heritage. of the Guild of Fine Food

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EDITORIAL

GENERAL ENQUIRIES

editorial@finefoodworld.co.uk

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

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

ADVERTISING advertise@finefoodworld.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 Chairman/publisher: Bob Farrand Managing director/associate publisher: John Farrand Director/membership secretary: Linda Farrand Marketing & circulation manager: Tortie Farrand Administrators: Charlie Westcar, Julie Coates, Karen Price, Jilly Sitch Accounts: Stephen Guppy, Denise Ballance

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 2014. 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.

For regular news updates from the industry's favourite magazine visit:

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Editor’s choice

Selected by Mick Whitworth

The Foraging Fox beetroot ketchup www.foragingfox.com

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At the Speciality & Fine Food Fair each year, Guild of Fine Food duties mean I don’t get much time to scour the stands for interesting new stuff. Last year I didn’t even get to the first-time exhibitors’ section, where a lot of the best newcomers hang out. So I'm indebted to Nicola and Robert Young of Atkins & Potts who this year insisted I go and have a quick taste of this simple but rather lovely ketchup from a fellow sauce-maker: new startup The Foraging Fox. Atkins & Potts could no doubt make something similar, but it wasn’t their brainwave, and Robert Young generously suggests we ask him and other producers to sign a pledge not to pinch Frankie Sheekie’s brilliant idea.

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www.ffdonline.co.uk Vol.15 Issue 9 · October 2014

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fine food news Extra virgin olive oil decanting to be banned in delis as Europe clamps down on fraud

UK kills off on-tap olive oil in response to new EU regs Refills and gift bottles have been a good route to market for Europe’s small EVOO producers

Fine food suppliers and retailers have criticised a ban on the sale of olive oil through on-tap systems as being “flawed” and “illconsidered”.

From December 13, retailers in the UK will no longer be able to sell virgin or extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) in stainless steel tanks (called fusti) or bag-in-box systems for customers to decant into bottles.

In a move that has taken many in the sector by surprise, the Rural Payments Agency (RPA), which works on behalf of Defra, has banned on-tap systems because of EU regulations brought in to combat fraud and ensure quality in the sector.

Pure olive oil must be sold in “sealed” bottles or containers that “can’t be ‘re-sealed’ after the first time it’s opened” to make sure that oil is not tampered with, said the RPA. Infused and flavoured olive oils are not covered by the legislation, nor are other types of oil, such as rapeseed or vegetable oils.

Restaurants will also be able to decant olive oil into jugs for the table if they are not actually sold to the consumer.

Martin Kirby, co-founder of Spanish extra virgin olive oil company Mother’s Garden, which supplies 20-litre bag-in-box systems, said the ruling would have a very serious effect on the entire sector.

“It is seriously flawed, illconsidered and raises a host of questions,” he said. “How can just one core food, olive oil, be singled out when this is not applied to other on-tap oils, such as infused, seed and vegetable oils? Where, please, is the logic and the fairness?

“The RPA says the original EU regulation was to guarantee the

Marco Guidi/dreamstime.com

By PATRICK McGUIGAN

authenticity of the oil. We give all information – mill, country, pressing and bottling dates – more than legally required. We are astounded and desperate for clear answers.”

At Extra Virgin Olive Oil From Spain, MD Callum Henderson said the ban would disproportionately

A rule designed to prevent fraud in southern Europe is hitting UK delis

hurt small companies in Spain and the UK. “The ontap sale of olive oil has been a good route to market for small producers [in Spain],” he said.

“The UK has a fairly strong on-tap sales base, from small delicatessens to gardens centres like Dobbies.

“Many have invested in buying stainless steel drums to dispense the olive oil. These are approximately £50 each. Retailers that have these are indicating they will switch from selling olive oil to selling rapeseed oil instead.”

Around 40% of Henderson’s turnover is via on-tap systems and he anticipates a 25% fall in sales when the ban is implemented as customers switch to conventional bottles and alternative fill-your-own oils. He argued that the ban was being introduced because of the way the RPA had interpreted changes to the rules.

“The EU regulations make no specific reference to on-tap sales,” he said. “The on-tap ban in the UK is the UK’s interpretation of the regulations and case law.”

Angus Ferguson, MD of ‘liquid deli’ Demijohn, which sells oils, vinegars and liqueurs from a decanting system, said the new legislation was “bad news” for the fine food sector in Britain”. He said: “This is an EU law that was designed to prevent the known fraudulent

actions of a few in the olive oil industry, mainly at the mills.

“We, the small shops that ensure quality and integrity of all our products, were not the problem.

For us it will make all olive oil more difficult to sell and that is not what the legislation was intended to do.”

The RPA had not responded to FFD’s questions at the time of going to press.

Fusti system is bad for quality, says Mackay Not everyone in the olive oil sector is sorry to see the end of on-tap systems.

Ian Mackay, an olive oil expert and co-founder of Spanish producer Cavada, welcomed the ban, arguing that olive oil sold in stainless steel tanks in delis was often of poor quality.

“From my experience these establishments are not well prepared,” he told FFD. “The oil is not handled properly, it oxygenates very quickly in the fusti and with the heat from the shop lights and changing temperatures you will have a defective olive oil in no time at all.

“Another problem is that few shop assistants can actually detect when the olive oil has gone defective – or if it was defective before putting it in the fusti in the first place. So this is a vicious circle of contamination.”

However, he added that bagin-box systems were much better in terms of maintaining quality.

“With this system the oil is never in contact with the air and the staff only need to throw out the box or bag once it is empty.”

Spanish olive oil price up 11% The price delis pay for olive oil is expected to rise significantly because of production problems in Spain and Italy.

According to research company Mintec, Spanish olive oil prices were 11% higher in September compared to a year previously.

This is on the back of extremely hot weather in Spain in May and July during the olive

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October 2014 · Vol.15 Issue 9

trees’ flowering period, which could restrict the harvest to around half of what it was in 2013/14. At the same time, an insect-born bacterial infection hit the Puglian olive harvest earlier this year with predictions that Italian olive oil prices could rise by as much as 30-40%.

“There basically isn’t enough supply for next year,” one supplier told FFD.

Ian Mackay of Cavada

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Government criticised over town centre planning failures

An edge-of-town supermarket is to be built in Yorkshire ‘food capital’ Malton despite widespread objections

By PATRICK McGUIGAN

The Government’s ‘town centre first’ planning policy has been called into question by MPs and independent retailers, who say local planners are still favouring out-of-town developments.

The Government introduced a new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) in 2012 designed to encourage local councils to prioritise planning applications from small town-centre retailers, such as delis, over large out-of-town proposals.

But research from the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) has found that 76% of new retail floor space given planning permission since the policy was introduced was actually located outside of town centres.

The issue was raised last month

by MPs on the Communities and

Local Government Select Committee at an evidence session, which was part of an investigation into the NPPF, while the ACS – of which FFD publisher the Guild of Fine Food is a member – has been campaigning all summer for the ‘town centre first’ principle to be strengthened.

“Planning decisions [are] being driven by developers rather than local people, and destroying high streets up and down the country,” said ACS chief executive James Lowman.

“The NPPF is simply not being applied properly, as under-resourced councils fail to get to grips with making coherent local plans and outof-town developers fill their boots.”

Planning permission for an edge-of-town supermarket in Malton, North Yorkshire, was given the go-ahead last month despite widespread opposition from residents and businesses. The town

is known as Yorkshire’s food capital and is home to several butchers, greengrocers and bakers, plus two delis, but the council still granted permission for the development, which is rumoured to be a target for Tesco.

The decision was upheld last month by Eric Pickles, the Communities and Local Government minister.

Sophie Legard, owner of Malton Relish deli, said that she was not worried by the potential arrival of a supermarket, but did think the Government needed to do more to enforce the ‘town centre first’ principle.

“What they say and what they do are quite different,” she said.

“It took us six years and lots of paperwork to get permission to put just a few chairs and tables outside our shop.”

Record harvest brings drop in global wheat prices

By PATRICK McGUIGAN

Falling feed wheat prices – due to a bumper global harvest – have been welcomed by hard-pressed artisan food producers.

As FFD went to press in September, a tonne of feed wheat was trading at £110, down 35% from a year ago and 50% from 2012 thanks to predictions of a record world harvest. Bread wheat prices were around 10% lower at £150 a tonne.

The news comes as a relief to artisan food producers, including charcuterie companies, cheesemakers and bakers, who have been squeezed by high commodity costs in recent years .

Jeremy Levell, director of Forest

Pig Charcuterie in Worcestershire, said the fall in feed wheat prices was good news after two years of poor harvests and high input costs.

“We didn’t put prices up when feed prices were really high in the past few years – we just had to swallow the costs – so this will hopefully help us to regain what we lost,” he said.

At Trealy Farm Charcuterie, James Swift said it would take time for any benefits to filter through to producers. “Lower prices will feed in slowly over the next few months and it then takes nine months for a pig to be ready for slaughter,” he said.

Baker Troels Bendix of the Hungry Guest in West Sussex told FFD that the fall in milling wheat prices was “on his radar” and he was hoping for a fall in flour prices in the coming months.

IN BRIEF l According to research from the Local Data Company, British shop vacancy rates have decreased from their peak of 14.6% in February 2012, reaching 13.4% in May 2014.

Southern town centres have seen vacancy rates improve by around 9%, but centres in the North and Midlands have seen just a 3% improvement. The North West continues to be the worst region for all (retail and leisure) vacancy at 16.9%. l Two independent retailers in Conwy joined forces last month to hold an exclusive tasting for customers. Nearly 30 people bought tickets for the event at the newly refurbished butcher’s and deli Edwards of Conwy, which teamed up with wine shop Vinomondo. The night included a butchery demonstration and food matched with wines from Vinomondo. Edwards celebrated its 30th anniversary this year with a £500,000 refurbishment of the flagship shop. l Winchester- based The Good Life Farm Shop was burgled last month after thieves smashed down the front door and ripped the safe from the floor. The shop’s marketing coordinator Katie Westwood said: “We have had a lot of support and kind words from our customers. We are dealing with it and moving forward.

It wasn’t nice and makes you feel a little bit vulnerable.” l Spanish blue cheese brand Castello has launched a pop-up cheese shop in East London’s Shoreditch area. The “veritable cheese emporium”, which runs until 24 October, sells 30 varieties of cheese and will host tasting sessions, drinks matching and events with TV presenter and food writer Stefan Gates. l The Labour Party has pledged that the National Minimum Wage (NMW) would rise to £8 per hour by 2020 if it won the next election. The current rate rises to £6.50 this month.

The Association of Convenience Stores said the announcement threatened to undermine the Low Pay Commission, which sets the minimum wage. Chief executive James Lowman said: “We do not believe that it is responsible for politicians to use the NMW as a bargaining tool for the election.” l Darts Farm, Drewtons, Ludlow Food Centre, Craigie’s and The Wellbeck Farm Shop are among the shortlisted retailers across the categories in the 2015 FARMA awards. The winners will be announced on February 24 next year.

Vol.15 Issue 9 · October 2014

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fine food news British charcuterie market ‘on the cusp’ of growth

Gourmet training designed to deliver ‘outstanding’ service for Harrods clients

Consumer awareness is the key to expanding the market for Britishmade charcuterie, according to the marketing manager for the UK’s first national prosciutto-style ham brand.

James Crease of Woodall’s Charcuterie told FFD the sector was “on the cusp”, but that growth would have to be organic. “It’s like the British sparkling wine market, or even British artisan cheese: we’re not going to achieve that consumer awareness overnight.”

Woodall’s was established last year by pork processor Cranswick in conjunction with Cumbrian butcher Colin Woodall. His family launched the first commercially made air-dried ham 30 years ago, but he argues that air-drying has been carried out for centuries at a farmhouse level, as a means of preserving pigmeat through the winter months.

The Woodall’s brand is now listed by several major food halls, including Selfridges, and has begun targeting high-end restaurants that are looking to replace Parma and Serrano hams with a British alternative.

Crease said Woodall’s would look to develop retail and foodservice “hand in hand” on the basis that consumers who saw the product on menus would then seek it out in shops.

The brand has also exhibited at consumer shows such as BBC Good Food and Taste of London to

Harrods is the UK’s first retailer to launch a nationally-recognised qualification in gourmet food. The Harrods Gourmet Food Academy is registered as a Level 3 qualification

by OFQUAL and provides expert training across 10 food and drink modules. Staff must complete a workbook written by Harrods buyers and gain experience on different counters in the food hall.

Workshops delivered by suppliers are also a key feature.

The 14 current trainees have recently visited Neal’s Yard Dairy, Forest Pig charcuterie, Dukeshill Ham Co, Direct Seafoods and will visit Tiptree as part of the Pantry module.

“The Gourmet Food Academy is becoming an established annual programme, which every member of the food retail team can apply for,” said Harrods director of foods Bruce Langlands. “It is important to equip the team with in-depth, not superficial, knowledge about the products that they sell.”

James Crease: ‘People will buy what they know’

complement its trade activity.

Price remains the biggest barrier to getting more British charcuterie into shops, Crease said, although, with the backing of the Cranswick, Woodall’s RRPs are on a par with premium Spanish and Italian sliced hams.

But he added: “The other barrier is people’s perception that Parma

and Serrano are the be-all and end-all, and that we’re just copying them. People are set in their ways and when they go into a shop they will buy what they know.

“But part of our mission is to get the message out that this method of preservation has been going on in Britain for hundreds of years.”

• Full interview – page 35.

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

a point but still want chocolate and coffee and ketchup with their chips.

We also had this idea of using Lebanese unleavened bread to make really cool, interesting toasted wraps.

They looked and tasted amazing, but Charlotte Thompson The Pantry, edinburgh were so impractical. Each individual wrap took 10 minutes of a staff member’s time. Although people lot more ambient products and less My husband Chris and I would visit loved them, they were draining us of refrigerated foods. other cities in the UK and be really profit.

In the two years that we’ve been excited by the delis, cafés and artisan It dawned on us that just in business – we opened in December shops we found. Edinburgh seemed because you love something, you 2012 – much has changed, as we’ve to be getting left behind by being can’t keep on doing it if it doesn’t sought equilibrium between holding stuck in its ways. make money. That was Our original vision was for a café People want to buy local and a real eureka moment, connected to an urban farm shop, so customers could eat, say, Liddesdale seasonal to a point, but they still when we recognised we had turned into business Farm sausages with Henshelwoods’ want chocolate and coffee people. mustard in the café and then buy Now we do ‘posh’ toasties on onto our dreams and making a profit. it from the deli. We quickly realised chunky bread instead. We make We’ve realised that while it would be this was flawed, as people were only 15-20 in four different flavours every great to be absolute in our ideology, it eating at the café once and after morning – rather than making them is simply not practical. that were buying the ingredients to to order – and when they are gone Initially, we adopted a strict local make the dishes themselves. It meant they are gone. and seasonal sourcing policy; we the café was losing out on repeat It was a similar story with our made our own ketchup and mayo business. cakes. Our baker, Annie, came up and only used Hebridean sea salt. Not So we tweaked the concept and with wonderful recipes like lime, only were we not making any money, made the two entities into one. Now courgette & chilli cake, which we but we were putting people off – they retail displays are sited in among ended up throwing away at the end want to buy local and seasonal to and around the tables, and we sell a

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October 2014 · Vol.15 Issue 9

Bruce Langlands (centre): ‘It’s important to equip the team with in-depth, not superficial, knowledge’

of the day, whereas her carrot cake sold out within 45 minutes. I had to learn to put a sensible head on and insist she stick to carrot cake.

We worked a lot of this out with the help of our accountant.

Accountants don’t share your dreams; they are risk-averse and will tell you what works and what doesn’t.

Our biggest challenge has been keeping our overheads down and making a profit. Our accountant told us we were spending too much on staff and needed to find a way of making money in the afternoons – she pointed out that we were open from 10am-5pm but were taking most of our money between 11am and 2pm.

We looked at how we could use our kitchen during off-peak periods and now make our own jam and offer outside catering and an office sandwich supply service.

We’ve gone from just about breaking even in year one to looking as though we will make a profit – albeit less than 10% – in year two.

Interview by LYNDA SEARBY

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fine food news Somerset cheddar-makers open doors to retailers

Top ranking again for Tunstall in Taste of the West awards

By MICK WHITWORTH

By MICK WHITWORTH

Tom Calver of Westcombe Dairy was one of three Somerset cheddarmakers to welcome retailers from the Guild of Fine Food’s long-established cheese training course on a study visit last month.

Leading artisan producer Jamie Montgomery of North Cadbury and medium-sized dairy AJ & RG Barber of Ditcheat, maker of Barber’s 1833 vintage reserve, also opened their doors to the Guild delegates.

It was the first time the Guild, publisher of FFD, has added an optional ‘producer day’ to its one-day classroom-based courses for deli counter staff and managers. It now hopes to add similar sessions to its one-day charcuterie courses too.

The visits were part-funded by Somerset County Council, which is keen to raise awareness of the county’s cheese-makers.

At Westcombe Dairy, near Evercreech, delegates heard about Calver’s plans for an underground cheese maturing cellar, while at

Multi-award winning retailer Justin Tunstall of Town Mill Cheesemonger in Lyme Regis picked up more plaudits last month when his shop was named Best Speciality Retailer in the Taste of the West (TotW) awards.

Tunstall, who collected the same title in 2012, said: “Our team are consistently praised for knowing what they’re talking about and it’s lovely to have dealt with our mystery shoppers in a manner that clearly impressed them.”

Family-run butchery Pork Heaven from Devon, which rears Saddleback pigs at its farm in Stoodleigh, near Tiverton, collected the Champion Product title for its Butcher’s Classic pork sausages. It had entered 10 products in the scheme, run by food group Taste of the West, and won an award with every entry, making it this year’s most successful producer.

Cheese and wine producer Sharpham Partnership, based on the Sharpham Estate near Totnes in Devon, collected the Carol Trewin South West Producer of the Year title, which recognises successful, entrepreneurial food businesses.

TotW chief executive John Sheaves said the standard of entries from producers and hospitality and retail outlets from across the region had been “much higher than in previous years”. The proportion of restaurant entries receiving a gold award rose from 50% in 2013 to 64% this year. “This demonstrates a huge uplift in quality across the range,” said Sheaves. “This is good news for the South West economy as a whole as our ‘offer’ in terms of food and drink is now more diverse and of a higher quality than any other region in the UK, let alone Europe.”

Other retail winners included Hartley Farm Shop in Wiltshire and Croscombe Village Stores in Somerset, while curry kit maker Boom Kitchen of Braunton, Devon, took the Most Innovative Product award.

Delegates visited Westcombe Dairy (left) and Barbers (above) as well as top artisan producer Montgomery

Barber’s, co-owner Anthony Barber explained the importance of starter cultures in traditional farmhouse cheddar production.

The day included a tutored tasting at Guild HQ in Dorset with George Keen of Keen’s Cheddar, Tom Calver, Jamie Montgomery, Phil Rainbow from Somerset Cheese Company and Chris Slocombe of

distributor Longman’s.

Guild training coordinator Jilly Sitch said: “It was quite something to bring 500 years of artisan cheddarmaking heritage into one room. Now we’re keen to add similar producer visits, focused on other regional cheeses, to the courses we run in other parts of the country.” www.finefoodworld.co.uk/training

Bim’s rebrands after move to North Wales

By MICK WHITWORTH

African sauces specialist Bim’s Kitchen has revealed new branding across its entire range after owners James and Nicola Adedeji relocated from north London to north Wales.

The move from their home in Palmers Green to a Grade II listed former pub in Afonwen, Flintshire, gives the couple – who initially considered contracting production out to a third party – their first commercial kitchen unit.

“We were literally doing this from a domestic kitchen in a London semi,” Nicola Adedeji told FFD, “so by default we will now have more capacity.”

Their new branding, unveiled at last month’s Speciality & Fine Food Fair, was created by Jayson Winters of Grace Design in Northamptonshire, who also designed the Bim’s Kitchen website. www.bimskitchen.com

www.tasteofthewest.co.uk

JUST FOR STARTERS: A cluster of six brick-and-pantile buildings owned by the Fitzwilliam Malton Estate in Malton, which styles itself Yorkshire’s Food Capital, have been converted into start-up units for artisan food businesses.

The units in Talbot Yard, located opposite the Talbot Hotel and James Martin Restaurant, range in size from 43 sq m to 345 sq m, with monthly rents from £270 to £1,200 and flexible leases from three to 10 years.

Tom Naylor-Leyland of the Fitzwilliam Malton Estate said: “Talbot Yard is a great place for a business that might have started life as a ‘kitchen table’ enterprise that is looking for bigger premises to allow their business to grow and move to new levels.” enquiries@maltonestate.co.uk

The Carol Trewin Award for the South West Producer of the Year went to Totnes wine- and cheesemaker Sharpham Partnership, whose Mark Sharman and Lara Smith are pictured receiving the award from Great British Bake Off’s Glen Cosby (left) Vol.15 Issue 9 · October 2014

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October 2014 · Vol.15 Issue 9

fine food news Deli offer will add ‘neighbourhood’ feel to Kensington boutique hotel

By MICK WHITWORTH

Former Fortnum & Mason food chief Simon Burdess says the continuing “convergence of retail and hospitality” is reflected in a new café, bar and retail deli concept opening in a London boutique hotel on October 21.

Burdess is now vice-president food & beverages Europe for InterContinental Hotels Group, which is opening the new unit in the Hotel Indigo London Kensington Earl’s Court. It will be operated as a concession by café-restaurant operator Quarter Group, owned by Doron and Valeria Zilkha.

Designed by architects Dexter Moren, whose credits include the Shangri-La hotel in The Shard, the new Kensington Quarter is intended to become a neighbourhood café and deli for residents and workers in the area as well as providing a relaxed breakfast option, daytime café and evening bar and eatery for hotel guests.

Burdess told FFD The Kensington Quarter would include “6-8 linear metres” of retail space featuring speciality brands including Grumpy Mule coffee, Amelia Rope and Daisy & Dam chocolate, Choi Time tea, Moor’s organic juices, Granny’s Secret preserves and Meantime craft beers.

A range of fine foods from France, supplied by distributor Une

Simon Burdess: Deli will include a ‘tight edit’ of grocery categories, plus baked goods and wines

Architects Dexter Moren have blended hotel, deli and bar in The Kensington Quarter’s design

Normande a Londres, will target the large French ex-pat community around the hotel’s Barkston Gardens location.

“It will be a tight edit of key grocery segments, left-of-centre wines, and viennoiserie [croissants, etc] made in Hotel Indigo’s own bakery each day and then baked off in the deli-café,” Burdess said.

“The idea is that locals can sit down during the day and enjoy

a flat white while they read their paper, but they can also buy a jar of Corsican marmalade or a bar of Amelia Rope chocolate, or top up if they’ve run out of olive oil or speciality tea at home.”

Burdess said too many hotel restaurants were deserted once breakfast was over, and shunned by both guests and locals. “You often see people going to the front desk and asking, ‘Where’s the best place

to go to dinner round here?’ We want to be able to say, ‘Actually, most people come to us’.”

He continued: “If we can get the local community using this space, we will create a neighbourhood buzz. But if you want to be truly neighbourhood you have to be from the neighbourhood.

“That’s why we are partnering with the Quarter Group. They’ve got a small chain of independent cafés and restaurants in London – they currently have one in Heals [on Tottenham Court Road] – and they used to have a popular restaurant, the Brompton Quarter, not far from here.”

Dexter Moren’s role had been key, he added, in coming up with a look that blended “hotel, public space, deli and bar”. www.kensingtonquarter.com

new openings Chillilicious

Turner & George Selfridges Food Hall, London

Fife, Scotland

Scotland’s first ever chilli farm, run by mother and daughter Patricia and Stacey Galfskiy, is opening its doors to visitors with a new shop and pick-your-own polytunnel. The shop will stock its own chillies and chilli products, including condiments, oatcakes and chocolate, as well as other producers’ lines, provided they contain chilli. The new visitor area, which was opened because members of the public were showing up on a daily basis, also features a biodiversity nature pond and bee hives.

Turner & George, the Islington butchery created by James George of the East London Steak Company and Richard Turner of Hawksmoor (pictured), has opened a concession in Selfridges’ Food Hall. The counter will offer naturally reared beef, lamb, mutton and pork from traditional

and rare breeds, all sourced from small independent UK farms. Meat will be dry-aged on the bone inhouse so customers will witness a working butchery. It will also offer herb-fed chicken (and turkey during Christmas) from Yorkshire. www.turnerandgeorge.co.uk

Bell Plantation

Towcester, Northants Bell Plantation has opened a 1,600 sq ft farm shop on its site, which already features a garden centre and a café. The shop will sell cakes and other baked goods made in house as well as local produce and meat.

Bell Plantation’s owners, the Warren family, plan to set up a butchery in the shop serving their own beef and pork. Among the shop’s local drinks suppliers are Silverstone Brewery, Saxby’s Cider and nearby wine merchant Verres de Vin. Manager Erris Major is still looking for local producers in a number of categories. www.bellplantation.co.uk

www. chillilicious. co.uk

Vol.15 Issue 9 · October 2014

11

fine food news

S

o how do you grow a successful speciality food business? If you’re Ann-Marie Dyas, the answer is ‘unintentionally’.

“So many things that have happened to us have been accidents, but very thoughtful accidents, because if opportunities have arisen, we’ve gone for them,” she says, referring to a number of key decisions in the life of The Fine Cheese Company.

Born nearly 30 years ago out of a desire “to make sure artisan cheese wasn’t crushed”, it has grown from a shop on Bath’s Walcot Street into an operation that employs more than 150 people and boasts a combined turnover of £15m.

It has a hugely successful, if not iconic, brand of crackers, including the now must-stock Toast For Cheese range. These are made in its own bakery in Derbyshire, whose multimillion pound purchase in 2006 ranks among the most significant of all of the “accidents” along the way.

This bakery also produces the Artisan Biscuits stable of brands – another business in its own right – supplied to delis and farm shops by a host of speciality distributors.

From its warehouse and cheese maturing rooms just north of the city on the M4, The Fine Cheese Co’s own wholesale arm supplies its biscuits, accompaniments and cheese directly to some 1,200 UK customers, predominantly independent retailers but also foodservice.

What’s more, you will also find its wares in over 45 different countries, including Kazakhstan, the USA and even France – the latter being one of Dyas’s proudest achievements.

During the course of my meeting with Dyas and her fellow director and husband John Siddall it becomes increasingly apparent that theirs is very much a global business. Over the course of a couple of hours, we cover their recent foray into Uruguay, the line-up of competition in Jakarta’s luxury biscuit market and the grave impact of a weakening Yen and impending sales tax in Japan.

“It’s good to have a mixedeconomy business,” says John Siddall. “If something goes wrong somewhere or in several places hopefully not everything will go wrong at the same time.”

And despite the scale of their business now, it is still very much informed by its roots at the beginning of Britain’s cheese revival, when Dyas first began sourcing cheeses directly from makers. She fondly recalls “swapsie” meetings held at the late Caerphillymaker Chris Duckett’s place in north Somerset. The names she was dealing with on an almost clandestine basis back then are now a Who’s Who of Britain’s artisan cheese establishment – the Wigmores, Robin Congden of

12

October 2014 · Vol.15 Issue 9

Ann-Marie Dyas and John Siddall have grown The Fine Cheese Co into an operation that spans retail, wholesale and nearly 50 countries

An accidental empire Interview

Once a small cheese shop, The Fine Cheese Co has flourished into a multifaceted business producing top brands and selling them far and wide. MICHAEL LANE speaks to its directors about their global ambitions.

Ticklemore, Kirkham’s Lancashire, Appleby’s Cheshire.

“The cheese-makers we have in the shop today, by and large, are the cheese-makers we had 30 years ago,” she says, adding that British artisan cheese has evolved into a range that rivals, and in some cases, betters the Continental alternatives.

“Name me a cheese and I think I can find you something from these isles that is its competitor,” she says.

This has seen Dyas and Siddall go in search of a better Continental offering for both their counter and wholesale offers. Dyas is especially chuffed with the recent discovery of the “Manchego of her dreams” made from the milk of black rather than white Manchega sheep. She also points out recent additions like Swiss cheese provided by Walo von Muhlenen, mixed milk cheeses from Alta Langa in Italy and artisan Gouda produced by Wijngaard Brothers as examples of on-going

search for Europe’s best.

“People may associate us with crackers but the beating heart of the company is cheese,” she says.

“Sourcing the best, caring for it and continuing to improve the quality of what we’re offering.”

The same self-improvement ethos has also spurred Dyas and Siddall’s journey from bakery novices to “biscuiteers”. Dyas first hit on the idea of developing her own crackers when customers asked her to stock flavour-added cheeses. Rather than place an order for Wensleydale with cranberries, she wanted to put the flavours into crackers and set about developing a range with Ashbourne Biscuits in Derbyshire.

These proved popular in the shop and soon with other independents too. Dyas and Siddall continued to expand and tweak the line-up and the listings kept increasing to the point that its brand was accounting for almost a

quarter of the bakery’s output.

Then, without any warning, Ashbourne Biscuits was put up for sale in 2006 due to the lack of a successor in the owners’ family.

Given the amount of work it was putting through the bakery, Dyas says The Fine Cheese Co had to mount a bid.

With support from the bank that no small business would expect these days, it hocked itself “to the absolute hilt” and bought a bakery it never intended to own.

Up to that point, says Dyas, The Fine Cheese Co’s sideline in biscuits had been straightforward.

“It’s what I call a virtual business.

You didn’t have any of the worries of making anything, you just wrote the invoices. You could do it from a beach in the Caribbean. They made it, they dispatched it and you made a royalty. Now all of a sudden we had the responsibility of 100 people in a bakery and a blank canvas.”

The Fine Cheese Co wholesales a wide range of cheese and accompaniments

Despite regular approaches from audiences, she says. In Japan for supermarket buyers, the couple don’t instance, Two By Two is bought by want to sell larger volumes, while women aged 18 to 35, rather than the idea of “value engineering” a children. product for a greater margin is the Discovering these things is all antithesis of their approach. part of Dyas and Siddall’s “ambition “We’re always trying to engineer to become a global brand”, an a better product if we can and exercise that now accounts for 30% sometimes it means we have to of sales across the two businesses take a lower margin because if we and is being executed in a number charged what we should, nobody of ways. would buy it,” says Dyas. “Toast For Firstly, they have tracked where Cheese is probably one of the lowest internationally successful brands margin products we make.” like Walker’s shortbread, Belgium’s Siddall adds that too many Destrooper and the USA’s Pepperidge producers are margin-obsessed. “If Farm are sold around the world and you don’t sell anything it doesn’t sought listings in the same retailers. matter what your margin is,” he says.

“That has partly driven our "So we’ll start with the selling price – strategy to put a flag down in every what we think something will be on country we possibly could,” says the shelf for in a UK deli – and work Siddall. Exhibiting at major trade back from that” shows such as SIAL in Paris and New That said, Siddall has identified York’s Fancy Food Show has also areas where the bakery can be more helped to build presence. So, too, efficient without compromising have listings with airlines and luxury quality – including an automatic hotels. Claridges, British Airways First packing system – and is Class, Virgin Upper also looking to expand Deck and Etihad People may the operation by are all customers. associate us with buying another bakery.

It is all crackers but the In case you need a question beating heart of the any more evidence, of “careful this husband and wife placement” rather company is cheese team are not planning than flooding the on taking a back seat. Dyas remains market. “We don’t want to be Coca very hands-on – including the odd Cola,” says Dyas. shift at the shop, where they have The Fine Cheese Co will never just invested £35,000 in upgrading be sold in UK supermarkets, while the chilled display. Even though the only Artisan Biscuits line in a Oliver Sutton and Dean Lord (who multiple is the Miller’s range, listed in run cheese export and UK wholesale Waitrose. respectively) look after of some dry Siddall tells FFD that “in some goods export accounts, Siddall and ways it’s a betrayal of trust” when Dyas will continue to take on the brands pitch themselves as solely for Far East and Latin America. There independents, only to wind up in are also new crackers and even new supermarkets. cheeses they want to develop.

“It depends what your “We’re not people that rest,” motivation is,” he says. “Ann-Marie’s says Dyas. “We’re constantly looking and mine is not money. We don’t to do things better, source things have children so we’re not trying to better and to make things better. create an inheritance and we’re not We push ourselves and we push intending to sell the businesses.” everybody around us at the same Dyas adds that they are looking time.” into creating a trust for their employees as part of a succession www.finecheese.co.uk plan. www.artisanbiscuits.co.uk

❛

Dyas and Siddall began by phasing out the bakery’s private label work (an area they are not planning to re-enter, despite some recent misinformed rumours) and sought to create brands targeted at a number of demographics.

They developed Mondovino for younger adults to enjoy with alcohol, and the Two By Two range of animalshaped sweet biscuits for children.

But not everything has been an overnight success. For example, says Siddall, the Elegant & English range struggled initially because they were trying to convey three concepts in one: the dual flavour of each biscuit, the idea that the biscuits were to be served with tea and a strong emphasis on “English”. “We forgot that old maxim: you should just have one direction,” he says.

So instead, they positioned each flavour as an accompaniment for a different type of tea, and put images of teapots on the pack. “And it

then became successful,” concludes Siddall. “Had we just carried on, it wouldn’t exist any more.”

Elegant & English also highlights the other considerations that have to be made when exporting brands – even close to home. Dyas says that if you put the word “English” on a box it won’t sell in Scotland, Wales or Ireland.

Not everything works for every country, or appeals to the same

The business started with a cheese shop on Bath’s Walcot Street

❜

Vol.15 Issue 9 · October 2014

13

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October 2014

Winners of 22 Gold Great Taste Awards since 2007 · Vol.15 Issue 9

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Voted for by the readers of Fine Food Digest

the big winners

Stars on ice

A luxury free-from raspberry sorbet from London’s Snowflake topped this year’s bigger-than-ever Great Taste scheme

harrods trophy Supreme Champion 2014 Raspberry sorbetto Snowflake Luxury Gelato

By MICK WHITWORTH

It’s six years since north-east icecream and patisserie makers Peter and Ian Craig of Beckleberry’s won the Great Taste Supreme Champion trophy with a luxurious, kirsch-laden blackcurrant sorbet.

Since then the top title has twice gone to meat (Hannan Meats and McCartney’s of Moira), and once each to a Kentish cobnut oil (Hurstwood Farm), Greek-style yoghurt (Marybelle Dairy) and a gluten-free brownie (More? The Artisan Bakery).

But Great Taste is back firmly in sub-zero territory this year, after ice cream entrepreneur Asad Khan and his Italian gelataio (gelato chef) Paolo Rivieccio collected the biggest of the 2014 ‘golden forks’ with a fat-free, dairy-free, gluten-free and veganfriendly raspberry sorbetto.

The winning product is one of many sorbetto and gelato recipes made daily, using seasonal fruit, in Khan’s London business, Snowflake Luxury Gelato.

The company operates three ‘gelato boutiques’ – in Westbourne

L-R: Guild of Fine Food MD John Farrand, Harrods’ director of foods Bruce Langlands, Paolo Rivieccio (gelataio, Snowflake), Asad Khan (owner, Snowflake) and BBC Radio 2’s Nigel Barden

Sponsored by:

London-based Snowflake Luxury Gelato’s raspberry sorbetto is fat-, dairy- and gluten-free Vol.15 Issue 9 · October 2014

17

the big winners Grove, Bayswater, Wardour Street, Soho and a concession at Harvey Nichols – and also sells wholesale to a limited number of restaurants and hotels.

Khan – the son of a greengrocer, who moved into the fine food world after an earlier career as a software excutive – was first smitten with gelato during a trip to Italy. But the idea for Snowflake Luxury Gelato was born out of a brainstorming session with his brother, the ‘cool’ name intended to convey purity and freshness.

Despite ticking so many special-diet boxes, Snowflake’s flavour-packed, handmade sorbetto won ringing endorsements from expert judges in the world’s biggest speciality food awards scheme.

Karen Barnes, editor of delicious magazine, said the winning entry had “the flavour of the fruit, the leaf, the entire bush”, while another judge likened it to “a walk through a pick-your-own field”.

The Supreme Champion trophy was presented to Asad Khan by Bruce Langlands, director of foods at Harrods, Great Taste’s lead sponsor, at the Golden Forks awards dinner at London’s Kensington Garden Hotel on September 8.

The event, attended by 300 guests, topped off another year of growth for Great Taste, with 10,000 products entered and nearly 3,400 receiving an award at either one-star, two-star or three-star level. Only 153, however, achieved the maximum three stars.

Other Golden Fork winners this year included Harrogate’s Fodder local food shop, named Great Taste Shop of the Year (above right), and The Artisan Kitchen in Gloucester, which won Small Artisan Producer of the Year for its Blaisdon Red Plum Jam. Presented to producers who are at an early stage of their business, this award was created to encourage new artisan food and drink start-ups.

More than just a trophy, it includes advice, support and mentoring from relevant professionals and from established, successful food producer.

Products from The Artisan Kitchen are made by hand “in small batches in a big copper pot bubbling away at the heart of a small Gloucester kitchen”.

Uig Lodge Smoked Salmon, based in Uig on the Isle of Lewis, became Speciality Producer of the Year. The Hebridean company has been a consistent Great Taste award winner since entering for the first time 2007. It won a three-star award this year for its smoked salmon, described by judges as “a glorious salmon to look at and to taste: moist and melting in the mouth with a perfect balance of sweet, smoke and ocean flavours”. www.finefoodworld.co.uk www.snowflakegelato.co.uk

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October 2014 · Vol.15 Issue 9

‘Totally engaging’ staff help Fodder to top trophy

Shop of the

Year

Fodder: Clean and bright, with keen prices and clever layout

Harrogate’s celebrated farm shop on the Yorkshire Showground, Fodder, took the Golden Fork for Great Taste Shop of the Year in one of the closest finishes to date. The store just pipped runners-up, Gonalston Farm Shop in Nottinghamshire and Darts Farm in Topsham, Devon, for the honour, although the judges reported all three shops to be perfect examples of highclass fine food retailing at its best.

The Great Taste Shop of the Year is unique in being based on nominations from Great Taste producers, who put forward those shops that are doing the best job for the sector as a whole. Shortlisted

shops are then ‘mystery shopped’ by expert judges to choose the winners.

Darts Farm was described by judges as a “stonking testimony to West Country food and its producers and a true destination for anyone interested in speciality food and drink”. “You could happily spend all day there,” they reported, “such are the layers of interest, with cider making, fish tutorials, great local vegetables and a professionally run restaurant.”

Judges admired the in-store layout and clever marketing at Gonalston, including good price promotions and related product positioning close to

excellent cheese, fish and fresh meat counters. “Their fresh meat counter is as good as it gets,” they said, “with a gorgeous display of dry-ageing beef.”

The overall winner, by just three points out of a maximum of 200, excelled in every department. A bright clean shopping environment is enhanced with clever promotions, keen pricing and a layout that gently guides customers through each department, underpinned by “totally engaging and knowledgeable staff who clearly love their shop”. www.fodder.co.uk www.dartsfarm.co.uk www.gonalstonfarmshop.co.uk

Lidgate honoured for setting standards in British butchery Fourth-generation London butcher David Lidgate (left), who founded the influential Q Guild of butchers, was presented with Guild of Fine Food’s 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award.

Lidgate, who inherited the family firm with his brother at the age of 20, learned his trade the hard way, spending 18 months shifting 86kg hindquarters around on Smithfield Market. He went on to become one of the country’s most respected independent retailers, with the family firm, C. Lidgate, winning numerous titles ranging from Tatler magazine’s Best UK Butcher to Eurobeef’s Best Butcher in Europe.

He also took his seat alongside her Majesty the Queen at the Diamond Jubilee Dinner at Waltham Forest two years ago.

Presenting the award, Guild chairman Bob Farrand described

how Lidgate and his brother had initially considered selling the family firm, which had suffered during their father’s last illness. But they persevered and, soon after, David Lidgate experienced a “Eureka moment” while on holiday in Austria. A local butcher offered to show him round his shop, where the young Englishman saw high quality, perfectly butchered small cuts of meat laid out attractively on steel trays – the complete opposite of the rough and ready English butchery in the 1960s.

He was also struck by the Austrian’s investment in machinery to make sausages, salamis and other foods so that no meat was wasted. On his wife’s suggestion, Lidgate first hired a professional caterer to make quality pies to sell in the shop.

Then he took on a world-class butcher who’d trained at Holland’s

top butchery school, and a Michelin starred chef who, in his first week, grew the range of sausages made in-house from two to 15.

And at a time when meat production was all about large-scale farming of intensively reared animals, Lidgate sourced lamb from a farm in the Shetlands. He sought out grassfed beef and outdoor reared pork and, more recently, Wagyu beef from the country’s only pedigree herd.

In 1987, he founded the Q Guild of Butchers, an association dedicated to sharing ideas, improving standards and defending independent retailing against the supermarkets.

Bob Farrand said Lidgate, who has now passed the reins of the business on to the fifth generation, had “set the standard in British butchery for more than half a century”. www.lidgates.com

Luxury Gelato

Proud

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www.irishatlanticsalt.ie | e: info@irishatlanticsalt.ie Vol.15 Issue 9 · October 2014

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October 2014 · Vol.15 Issue 9

the big winners Best Speciality from London & the South East Raspberry Sorbetto Snowflake Luxury Gelato

L-R: John Farrand, Asad Khan (Snowflake Luxury Gelato), Milton Cowan (Anthony Rowcliffe) and Paolo Rivieccio (Snowflake Luxury Gelato)

Sponsored by:

Best Speciality from the North of England

Best SpecialitY from East Anglia & the Midlands Loin of Pork Redhill Farm Free Range Pork

L-R: John Farrand and Aga Rangemaster marketing director Richard Fozard with Jane and Terry Tomlinson of Redhill Farm

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Dry Cured Back Bacon Metcalfe’s Beef and Pork

Saddleback Pork Belly Pipers Farm

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L-R: John Farrand, Bee Hodge (InkREADible), Henri Greig and Will Greig (Pipers Farm)

Sponsored by:

L-R: John Farrand, The Cress Co’s Nikki Castley and John Metcalfe of Metcalfe’s Beef & Pork

Best Welsh Speciality

Red Pesto Paté The Patchwork Traditional Food Company

L-R: John Farrand, Jenny Witham (Patchwork), Jane Bonner (Welsh Government), Rufus Carter, Margaret Carter and Cisa Borsey (all from Patchwork)

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Best Scottish Speciality Jaffy’s Mallaig Kippers J Lawrie & Sons

L-R: John Farrand and Stephanie Pritchard (Scotland Food & Drink) with winners Jeff and Shona Lawrie

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Vol.15 Issue 9 · October 2014

21

Award Winning Organic Redbush A star performer from beau with love Email: beauproducts@btconnect.com Phone: 01844 202166 www.beauproducts.co.uk/

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www.jaffys.co.uk 01687 46 22 22 2014 · Vol.15 Issue 9

Quality, our salesman.

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www.stefanpalssonab.se Vol.15 Issue 9 · October 2014

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Our genuine Smoked Wild Salmon is caught using sustainable methods and quotas and is oak smoked for 24 hours to release the full flavour of this unique fish Our Organic Salmon are from isolated farms that ensure the fish swim approx 14.000 miles ensuring a clean tasting and firm fleshed fish these are also smoked in the traditional manner.

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IN: ABLE L I A V A , 500g , 200g

& 100g s sliced e d i s d an d unslice

Call Liam Quinlan: 00353 66 9473131 | liam@kerryfish.com

24

October 2014 · Vol.15 Issue 9

the big winners Best Irish Speciality

Best Speciality from Northern Ireland

Irish Atlantic Sea Salt with Dill Pollen Irish Atlantic Salt

Moyallan 3 Sweet Bacon Ribs Hannan Meats

Sponsored by: Sponsored by:

L-R: John Farrand and Henry Horkan (Bord Bia) with Mike and Aileen O’Neill (Atlantic Sea Salt)

L-R: John Farrand, Invest NI director of food John Hood and Peter Hannan of Hannan Meats

Woman & Home Great Taste VIP Award Somerset Cheese Company

Best Imported Speciality Whole Hot Smoked Salmon Stefan Pålsson

Sponsored by: L-R: John Farrand and Woman & Home food editor Jane Curran with Anita Robinson and Phil Rainbow of Somerset Cheese Co

Sponsored by:

L-R: John Farrand, Stefan Palsson and S&FFF show director Soraya Gadelrab

7–9 September

Feel Good Food

Speciality Producer of the Year Uig Lodge Smoked Salmon

Nigel Barden Heritage Award

Golden Raspberry & Apache Chilli Vinegar Womersley Fruit & Herb Vinegars

itage Nigel Barden Her

L-R: John Farrand and Partridges MD John Shepherd with Uig Lodge’s Jasper Green and Philippa Franks

Sponsored by:

L-R: John Farrand, Rupert Titchmarsh (Hider Foods), Rupert Parsons (Womersley) and BBC Radio 2’s Nigel Barden

Award

Sponsored by:

Vol.15 Issue 9 · October 2014

25

Gold Star food for Gold Star taste buds Fresh dry king scallops, cured using an over 100 year old recipe and carefully smoked using a special blend of oak and beechwood with a hint of experience!

www.ewingseafoods.com Call on 028 9032 5534 or email crawford@ewingseafoods.com We are BRC and Organic Food Federation accredited

Game Pie

T H E

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I S L E

O F

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October 2014 路 Vol.15 Issue 9

the big winners Deli & Farm Shop Signature Dish

Ambient Product of the Year Ellopia Thyme Honey Ellopia Greek Foods

Strangford Prawn, Leek & Comber Potato Soup Yellow Door Deli Deli & Farm Shop

Signature Dish

Sponsored by: L-R: John Farrand, John Potter (Petty Wood) and Antonis Katepodis (Greek Embassy in London)

Sponsored by:

L-R: John Farrand, Michael Lane (assistant editor, Fine Food Digest), Simon Dougan and Stephen Dowds (Yellow Door Deli)

Small Artisan Producer of the Year

Great Taste Shop of the Year

The Artisan Kitchen

Fodder Shop of the Year ucer of the Year Small Artisan Prod

L-R: John Farrand, Selfridges director of foods Nicola Waller and Sarah Churchill of The Artisan Kitchen

Sponsored by:

Guild of Fine Food Lifetime Achievement David Lidgate

L-R: John Farrand, Sandy Ruddock (Scarlett & Mustard) and Jane Thornber (Fodder)

Sponsored by:

Charcuterie Product of the Year

Jamon de Bellota 100% Iberico Pata Negra Juan Pedro Domecq

uct of the Charcuterie Prod

Year

Sponsored by:

L-R: Butcher David Lidgate with Guild of Fine Food chairman Bob Farrand

Sponsored by:

L-R: John Farrand, Teresa Domecq (Juan Pedro Domecq) and Mick Whitworth (editor, Fine Food Digest) Vol.15 Issue 9 路 October 2014

27

AOP, the sign of special products...

A traditional cheese

Appellation d'origine protégée

The cheese of western Switzerland, with a delicate, distinguished flavour.

Made since at least 1115 AD in and around the small town of Gruyères, today it is still produced by village cheese dairies in western Switzerland according to the traditional recipe.

Le Gruyère AOP owes its characteristic delicacy and flavour to the top quality raw milk produced by cows fed on grass in the summer and hay in winter, coupled with the skill of the mastercheesemakers.

No less than 400 litres of fresh milk are needed to produce a single wheel weighing around 35kg.

During the slow maturation process, which takes several months in special cheese cellars, the wheels are turned regularly and rubbed down with saltywater. The maturing process lasts between five and 18 months.

Each cheese is systematically identified by the number of the mould and code of the cheese dairy. The day and month of production are also noted on the wheel. These black markings are made with casein, the cheese protein. No artificial additives are involved here either.

Le Gruyère AOP takes pride of place on any cheese platter. It makes for a delicious desert and can be used in tasty warm dishes. What’s more, no real fondue would be complete without genuine Gruyère AOP.

From this time on, the name ‘Gruyère AOP’ and the code of the production facility appears on the heel of each wheel of Gruyère AOP as an effective way of preventing fakes and guaranteeing authenticity.

This technique employs branding irons, which give an indentation in the wheel. It is this marking that makes it possible to identify and trace each individual cheese.

The humidity and rind washing process develops the characteristic appearance of the cheese and assists in bringing the cheese into full maturity.

This is what gives Le Gruyère AOP its famous, distinct flavour. It’s no great surprise that this authentic gift of nature is appreciated by cheeselovers throughout the world.

www.gruyere.com ruyere.com Cheeses from Switzerland.

Switzerland. Naturally.

2 August 2014 · Vol.15 Issue 7

www.switzerland-cheese.com

cheesewire Unsung heroes Hidden gems from British producers

news & views from the cheese counter

Irish mozzarella dairy looks to break into UK

Wellesley In a nutshell: Will and Caroline Atkinson have won plaudits for their seasonal soft goats’ cheese Stawley, and have recently started making a hard cheese called Wellesley. The tomme-style cheese is made in 1kg rounds with unpasteurised milk from the couple’s own herd of goats.

Flavour and texture: The cheese has a pliable texture reminiscent of Comté or Beaufort with sweet caramel flavours and floral notes.

“It has a clean flavour without the goatiness you get in some goats’ cheeses,” says Will Atkinson.

History: Caroline and Will Atkinson set up Hill Farm Dairy in Somerset in 2008. Caroline previously worked at Neal’s Yard Dairy and with cheesemaker Mary Holbrook, while Will was a lawyer. Available in autumn and winter, the cheese is named after the Duke of Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, who took his title from the Somerset town of that name.

Cheese care: Cheeses are released after four months but can be matured for at least a further two. Wrap tightly in wax paper to maintain moisture and, once cut, sell within a week. The cut face can be covered with cling film overnight.

Why stock it: Hard goats’ cheeses are rare in the UK with only a few products, such as Mary Holbrook‘s Old Ford and Ribblesdale’s Gouda Gold. Wellesley allows the chance to offer a Hill Farm cheese when Stawley is out of season.

Perfect partners: Best accompanied by a punchy red wine.

Will Atkinson recommends a glass of St Joseph (syrah).

Where to buy: Neal’s Yard Dairy, Hanson Fine Food and Country Cheeses.

FFD features a different ‘unsung hero’ from Specialist Cheesemakers’ Association members each month. To get involved, contact: patrick.mcguigan@finefoodworld.co.uk

Toonsbridge Dairy makes its mozzarella by hand using raw milk from its own buffalo

By MICHAEL LANE

An Irish dairy is planning direct sales to independent retailers across the UK after finding a fast enough method for delivering its buffalo milk mozzarella.

Toonsbridge Dairy makes the fresh cheese using unpasteurised milk from its own herd of buffalo but, until now, has only sold it in Ireland because it could not find a suitable route further afield. The County Cork-based business is also planning to nearly double its milk output in the next year.

Co-founder Toby Simmonds told FFD his dairy’s mozzarella, which can now be delivered 48 hours after making, was better tasting and fresher than most of those currently available in the UK. “We’ve tried a few central distributors but this only works when you sell direct,” he said, adding that the cheese is only at its best for five days after making.

“Mozzarella made on Monday

can be anywhere in the UK on Wednesday. There’s no way you would get it in a supermarket faster than seven days.”

Simmonds said Toonsbridge’s cheese, which is made by fourth generation Italian cheese-maker Franco Picciuolo, could compete with anything made on the Continent or in the UK. “It can go toe-to-toe,” he said.

“In fact, it’s a superior product. It’s made from grass-fed pasture milk, not from buffalo fed on cotton seeds and maize in cramped conditions.”

Toonsbridge has already enjoyed a good deal of success selling at markets and in cheese counters, via sister business The Real Olive Co, across the Republic of Ireland.

While it has taken time to convert consumers to the sweetness and the firm texture of his ‘proper’ mozzarella from mass-produced product, Simmonds said his stalls in Ireland were now regularly selling at

Turnbull embarks on cheese voyage

By MICHAEL LANE

Deli owner and cheese judge Charlie Turnbull has been hired by international cruise company P&O to help it select the cheese for it newest vessel.

Turnbull, who runs his eponymous deli in Shaftesbury, Dorset, will be advising on the range of British and Continental cheese served on board Britannia in its contemporary fine dining restaurant, The Epicurean, and the less formal Market Café.

He will also be travelling on board the multi-million pound ship several times a year, hosting cheese and beer tastings as well as onshore excursions.

“As Britannia will be the sailing ambassador of the best of British food, I am delighted to be the shepherd of her cheeses as she travels the world,” said Turnbull.

“I will also be taking advantage of ports of call in the Mediterranean to guest some local cheeses, as

well as getting on shore with fellow travellers and seeking out local specialities to compare with our own.”

The Brittania, which launches in March, will feature a number of celebrity chefs and food experts – including James Martin, Atul Kochhar, Marco Pierre White and wine authority Olly Smith – as part of P&O’s Food Heroes concept www.turnbulls-deli.co.uk

Deli owner Turnbull will advise P&O

least 80-90kg every week.

UK retailers can order the mozzarella in 1.5kg or 3kg bags containing 20g, 75g or 125g balls for €13.50/kg. The courier service costs €10 per 20kg.

Toonsbridge also produces ricotta and ricotta salata from the whey left over from mozzarellamaking as well as Scamorza, a dry-aged Caciocavallo, halloumi and a “Greek-style brined cheese”. All of these can also be delivered to the UK. The dairy has been breeding and expanding its herd of buffalo, farmed by Simmonds’ business partner Johnny Lynch, since 2011 when it started with 18 animals imported from Italy. It is currently milking around 90 heifers but hopes to increase this to 150 in the next year and up its mozzarella production to 2,000kg a week. www.therealoliveco.com/pages/ toonsbridge-dairy

Long Clawson blues win big

Long Clawson Dairy’s blue cheeses won three categories, including the Global Champion title, at this year’s Frome Cheese Show.

The Leicestershire-based company’s Blue Stilton took the top gong at the Global Cheese Awards as well as the Best Blue category while its Smooth Blue won the Best Speciality award.

Lynher Dairies newest creation, the hard cows’ milk Cornish Kern, was Reserve Global Champion as well as Best Regional cheese.

Belton Cheese’s Leicester won Best Organic while Keen’s raw milk cheddar was deemed Best Traditional Cheddar. www.globalcheeseawards.com

Vol.15 Issue 9 · October 2014

29

Toonsbridge Dairy Buffalo Mozzarella Raw milk, hand spun buffalo mozzarella made from our herd of water buffalo, that graze the lush pastures of the Toon Valley in West Cork, Ireland. Made by our fourth generation Neapolitan buffalo mozzarella cheese maker to traditional methods that include natural whey starters.

Now available for direct delivery within 48hrs of manufacture anywhere in the UK. A selection of our other buffalo cheeses also available including ricotta salata, scamorza, cacio cavallo and haloumi. All available smoked as well.

sales@toonsbridgedairy.com 00353 87 3457790 Our sister company, The Real Olive Company can also supply top quality related Mediterranean products to compliment any orders.

Please visit our website to read our story, view our extensive product range and make contact with us.

www.therealoliveco.com 26

October 2014 路 Vol.15 Issue 9

cheesewire

Building up the business

Interview

It all began with a recipe for a forgotten cheese but, after more than 20 years in business, the Bath Soft Cheese Company is constructing a new dairy to cope with demand. PATRICK McGUIGAN reports.

B

ath Soft Cheese Company’s Hugh Padfield sounds remarkably chipper for a man who is at the sharp end of project managing the construction of a new dairy.

“It’s a bit scary because we’re not qualified builders, but it’s all going well,” he says breezily when FFD speaks to him and his father Graham in mid-September. “The steel frame is up and the concrete is going in next week. We’re beginning to see the light at the of the tunnel and I think it will be a really fantastic dairy.”

The new 650 sq m premises at Park Farm in Kelston should be up and running by the New Year (builders permitting) and will include a viewing area so visitors can learn more about the production process.

It will also double capacity to around 100 tonnes a year.

The move can’t come quick enough, says Hugh, with the old dairy struggling to keep up with a big jump in orders that has seen sales triple over the last five years to £750,000 a year.

It’s a far cry from when thirdgeneration dairy farmer Graham Padfield and his wife Gabrielle first turned their hands to cheesemaking in 1993 to add value to the milk from their herd of Friesian cows. Back then the market for artisan cheese was in its infancy and Graham says they were the “new kid on the block”.

“It was at the beginning of the resurgence in interest in British cheeses,“ he explains. “There had been a gap in agriculture when people hadn’t been making cheese.

Cheddar-makers like Montgomery’s had held on, but we were among the first of the new wave.”

The recipe for the company’s eponymous square cheese was discovered in an old grocer’s book

The cheese-maker’s Park Farm dairy can barely keep up with orders

edible to begin with!”

The eye-catching packaging was similarly home-grown, designed

by Gabrielle with a little help from their 11-year-old son Felix (Hugh’s brother), who came up with the distinctive font.

Bath Soft Cheese was joined by the Gouda-like Wyfe of Bath in 2000 and Bath Blue (similar to Stilton) in 2008 with sales now split fairly equally between the three.

All the cheeses are pasteurised and organic and the backbone of the business has always been delis and farm shops, plus wholesalers supplying restaurants and smaller independents. A limited amount goes to Sainsbury’s, but the company is wary of getting into bed We played around with with the multiples lots of trial and error in a big way.

“Delis value the to make a cheese that fact that you’re not was edible. Of course, in the supermarkets a lot wasn’t edible to and supermarkets begin with! do potentially offer Graham Padfield some risk,” says

from 1908 in the local reference library, with intriguing instructions such as using a feather to spread salt on the curd. Further research found that a soft cheese had been made locally for hundreds of years – legend has it that Admiral Lord Nelson was sent some by his father as a gift in 1801 – so the Padfields set about recreating the long-lost cheese in their farm kitchen.

“We wanted to create a local authentic cheese, so I was reluctant to be told by professionals how to do it,” says Graham. “I knew I’d end up making it their way, so we played around with lots of trial and error to make a cheese that was edible. Of course, a lot wasn’t

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Hugh, who joined the company four years ago after a career with Vodafone.

Farmers’ markets are another lucrative channel, with the company attending around half a dozen locally and many more in London, including a permanent stall at Borough Market.

“I initially started doing a few farmers’ markets in London to raise awareness with no intention to use them as a sales route,” says Hugh.

“I wanted to meet people and hope they would spread the word.

I didn’t realise what a great retail channel it was. How much you take really depends. I’ve been at farmers’ markets in the pouring rain, literally hugging the umbrella to stay dry, when you don’t even cover your fuel costs for getting there. But you can have days when you sell out before the end of the market. It varies a lot but, on average, they are really worthwhile.”

Farmers’ markets and shows now account for around 30% of sales with three full-time members of staff dedicated to that side of the business.

Markets, delis and wholesalers will continue to be a focus after the move to the new dairy. The Padfields say they see no reason why these sectors won’t continue to grow, but they are also eyeing exports.

“Cheddar and Stilton have always been well respected but I think people are realising that Britain makes an awful lot of other good cheeses,” says Hugh. “Exports are going to be a big growth area for everyone. This industry only really started to flower after 1990 and it takes quite a mature business to export. There are quite a few artisan cheese-makers, including ourselves, who are now in a position to do that.” www.parkfarm.co.uk

Vol.15 Issue 9 · October 2014

31

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October 2014 · Vol.15 Issue 9

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Vol.15 Issue 9 路 October 2014

33

Manufacturers of depositors & filling machines for the food production industry

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New Biodegradable Pyramid Tea Bag Line

The perfect finish to winter roasts – rich, glossy gravies from Kent’s Kitchen

Specialist tea business working in Sri Lanka bringing high end quality single estate teas made to our own requirements ready for distribution from our own premises direct to the trade.

These three NEW packs contain 100 % biodegradable pyramid bags. The Assam is a loose leaf tea from a single estate where traditional manufacture is still used. The Chamomile contains a blend of Chamomile Flowers with lemon balm, lemon verbena, flower petals and honey. The green tea pack contains a selected large grade loose leaf green tea with Jasmine blossoms.

The chicken, beef, onion, turkey and lamb & mint gravies will enhance any roast, are easy to make and don’t need refrigeration after opening.

Just add a couple of teaspoons of gravy concentrate to cold water, dissolve and heat to give your roast a delicious finish.

Visit www.kentskitchen.co.uk, email emma@kentskitchen.co.uk or call 01732 758024 34

October 2014 · Vol.15 Issue 9

Ke nt no ’s K w it Co av chen t an sw aila ’s f d S old ble ull am Fa fr ra wa yre om nge ys

All the Kent’s Kitchen gravies are wheat free, gluten free, dairy free and suitable for coeliacs.

e-mail: info@wilstea.com or by telephone at: 01460 77508

cut & dried

making more of british & continental charcuterie

Giving prosciutto a run for its money Profile

Thirteen months after Woodall’s launched at Olympia, MICK WHITWORTH gets a progress report on Britain’s first premium air-dried ham brand

I

f consumers choose to buy ‘artisan’ charcuterie, does it also have to be ‘inconsistent’?

Not according to Colin Woodall, who lent his family name and curing expertise to the Woodall’s brand of British air-dried hams, launched just over a year ago at the 2013 Speciality & Fine Food Fair.

Consumers have as much right to expect consistent quality from charcuterie as from cornflakes, he tells FFD this month. It’s just a lot harder to achieve.

Selfridges, Harrods, Harvey Nichols and Whole Foods Market are among the big names that have now listed this home-grown alternative to prosciutto either on their retail shelves or, in Harrods’ case, on their restaurant menu.

Foodservice distributors Leathams, Turners Fine Foods and Oliver Kay Produce are all handling the range, which includes three styles of air-dried ham, plus a smoked pancetta and a Cumberland salami.

Blakemore Fine Foods, formerly Heart Distribution, is carrying the products into the independent sector south of Manchester, and Woodall’s is on the lookout for retail distribution further north and into Scotland.

Marketing manager James Crease says his initial objective was to get listings in serious food stores such as Selfridges. Since mid-2014 he has also been targeting high-end restaurants, with larger 250-300g catering packs to complement the 70g packs and whole boneless legs sold into delis and food halls.

In retail, sampling has been key to getting over the perception that “Parma and Serrano are the be-all and end-all”. Deli customers are encouraged to take whole legs, he adds, since the slicing process brings ”theatre” in store and gives the retailers the chance to engage with shoppers and explain the history of the Woodalls’ hams.

The brand was created, in conjunction with Colin Woodall, by pork processor Cranswick, which has

added a small air-drying facility onto one of its factories in Manchester, creating a hand-crafted product with the benefits of consistency that comes from a bigger operation.

The Woodall family of butchers have been curing hams in Cumbria for centuries. Like York hams, these would have been air-dried for several months before cooking. But older hams would eventually have been too dry to cook, and would have been sliced and eaten straight from the leg – much like prosciutto.

In the 1980s, as a well-known regional supplier of cooked hams, Colin Woodall’s uncle was asked by an Ambleside hotelier why no-one in Britain was producing prosciutto on a commercial scale, so he began experimenting. “We were taking hams that had been dried for three or four months as a starting point,” says his nephew, “and developed that into a product that could be eaten uncooked.

“But we did have quite a learning curve. Back then, most people didn’t even know what a prosciutto-style ham was. So everything was trial and error – there was no Googling to find out how other people did it – and there’s no question we made some mistakes.

“We were fortunate that we

Woodall’s marketing manager James Crease at Olympia last month: challenging perceptions that ‘Parma and Serrano are the be-all and end-all’

Woodall says the product was nonetheless more hit and miss than is being achieved with Cranswick’s scale and technical back-up. “It pains me to say it, but the products we were making then wouldn’t have been as consistent as this.”

It starts with the raw material, he says. “Pigs in this country are much smaller than on the Continent, and one of the difficulties is ensuring the animals are big enough and fat enough. You have to have a certain amount of fat or your end product will be Back in the 1980s, too dry, too tough and most people didn’t even possibly too salty, and know what a prosciutto- from a commercial style ham was point of view your yield will be less because it Colin Woodall will dry out too much.

“With the tens of thousands of were a well-established business and pigs that go through Cranswick’s were able to fund production of the slaughterhouses each week, it’s hams. If we had 3,500 legs hanging, relatively easy to get the right they were costing £20 a leg, so that carcasses.” was £70,000 laid out for 12 months.

All the legs currently being But we didn’t have to borrow cured by Woodalls are deboned money to do it, and we saw it as an by a specialist team at the abattoir, investment.” using a cut that Colin Woodall says Once Woodall’s air-dried hams is currently unique to the company. were established in the North-West, Thinner than a bone-in leg, they the firm had upwards of 7,000 legs can be cured in six to eight months, maturing at any time. But Colin

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❜

compared with a minimum 12 months for Parma ham. “I was somewhat doubtful at first that we’d get the flavour development we wanted in that timescale,” he says, “but I was wrong.”

Starting last year with just a couple of hundred legs in maturation, Woodall’s currently has around 1,000 at various stages of air-drying. That’s a tiny fraction of the number in a typical Parma or Serrano factory but many more than other British charcuterie makers have in store.

Many artisan-scale producers have struggled to come up with a consistent air-dried ham despite their success with salami-style sausages and smaller cuts, such as cured loins.

Colin Woodall says: “When we started to do this 30 years ago, we ran into the same difficulties as a lot of other people. There was quite a learning curve we had to travel to get a product we were happy with.”

James Crease stresses that while Cranswick can offer technical backup, the knowledge of the process is “all about Colin”. “The Woodall family have been doing this for a long time. We didn’t come up with this curing method overnight.” www.woodallscharcuterie.com

Vol.15 Issue 9 · October 2014

35

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product update

sauces & ingredients

Sauce of knowledge From short-cut pasta and curry sauces to spice kits, pastes and stocks, LYNDA SEARBY rounds up the latest cooking sauces and ingredients

l For customers who are turning their thoughts to Christmas gravy, Essential Cuisine has a turkey stock. Each 96g pot (RRP £3.96) of ambient powdered stock makes at least 6 litres of instant stock. www.essentialcuisine. com

l Essence of Morocco says that,

Pelagonia’s Macedonian food range, available via Cotswold Fayre, has been extended to include six ingredients for cooking. Said to lend aroma, intensity and flavour to dishes, sweet paprika, hot paprika, dried sweet pepper flakes and dried hot pepper flakes all have a trade price of £10.80 for 8x50g jars and an RRP of £1.90 per jar. The other two ingredients are dried porcini mushrooms (trade price £14.95 for 6x30g, RRP £3.50 each) and a porcini powder for adding to soups and stews (trade price £15.10 for 8x50g, RRP £2.65 each). www.pelagonia.co.uk

There’s more to Indian cooking than curry, according to Roy and Usha Verman, who are setting out to “revolutionise Indian cooking at home” with a new brand of pastes and rubs called Dhaniya, which translates as ‘coriander leaf’. So far, the range consists of five pastes (RRP £3.69) and five rubs (RRP £2.99). The classic curry, spiced korma, jalfrezi, fish curry and tandoori pastes are designed to form the base of a sauce, while the five rubs – Bombay potato, tikka, spiced pomegranate, fish and lamb – can be used as marinades to intensify dishes. www.dhaniya.co.uk

Top sellers… ...at Bakers Norfolk

s, Holt, and Larner

e t curry sauc Punjaban ho e ad curry sauc adras chettin m ! w Co y ol H Geeta’s saag

can fennel & oneers Moroc Seasoned Pi ne sauce apricot tagi bay potatoes Chiman’s Bom

Within a week of launching at Wokingham Food Festival last month, Shemin’s sold over 300 packs of its Thai green curry paste. Unlike most other curry pastes, this is a chilled paste made from fresh ingredients including lemongrass, coriander, galangal, green chillies and kaffir lime leaves. Despite being a natural product, the paste still has a shelf life of more than 20 weeks. Each 100g pot has a wholesale price of £2.50 and an RRP of £3.25. www.shemins. co.uk

with its new spice mixes, home cooks can recreate authentic tagines and Moroccan dishes, from chicken & caramelised onion tagine to couscous, chermoula fish and mezzes. www.esofmo.com

l Mary Berry’s lemon & thyme sauce, carried by RH Amar, has been treated to a new-look label. The new design features a photograph of Mary Berry to reinforce the association with the Great British Bake Off star. www.rhamar.com

l With Christmas

The Kitchens Fine Food Co is trying to get people to “think outside of the jar” with a new range of accompaniments that double up as cooking ingredients. Marketed under the company’s Cooks’ Range banner, these include Moroccan spiced relish for making Moroccan lamb, garlic pickle for adding into sauces, casseroles, stir fries and curries, and lemon & smoked garlic pickle for making lemon chicken or mixing with crème fraîche or mayonnaise to make a dip. Trade price per jar is £1.95 (RRP £3.25). The Kitchens has just been listed with speciality food distributor Blakemore Fine Foods.

just around the corner, retailers may want to stock up on Steenberg’s new turkey seasoning.

This easy-to-use rub combines black pepper, salt, lemon peel, garlic, fennel seeds, parsley, coriander seeds, lemon myrtle, paprika and lemon oil. RRP is £2.60 for a 55g jar.

Trade (list) price is £1.62/kg. www.steenbergs.co.uk

l Navarino Icons is hoping to acquaint British cooks with the culinary heritage of Peloponnese, Greece, through three new ambient lines: roasted crushed eggplant, olive bruschetta and roasted red pepper & tomato dip. www.navarinoicons.com

www.thekitchensfinefoods.co.uk

l Welsh restaurantPrevins used last month’s Speciality & Fine Food Fair at Olympia as the launch pad for its new curry sauce catering tubs.

The Indian food producer is now making 10 sauces, including butter chicken, masala fish, keema, bhuna and paneer, fresh-to-order in catering quantities, at a price of £0.65 per portion. Previns also plans to launch a 380g retail pot by the end of the year. www.previns.co.uk

cum-producer The Coconut Kitchen has tweaked the recipes for its green curry paste and honey, garlic & pepper sauce – a marinade for spare ribs.

Both have a trade price of £2.95 and an RRP of £3.99 for 250ml. www.thecoconutkitchen.co.uk

l New start-up N.E Food Ventures brings to market its first product, Spice Dunamis, this autumn. The allpurpose African spice blend comes in mild and hot versions and can be used to pep up dishes, including fish, chicken casserole, steamed vegetables and rack of lamb. www.spicedunamis.com

Vol.15 Issue 9 · October 2014

37

Fosters Traditional Foods Ltd, Great Bowden Road, Market Harborough, LE16 7DE | Tel: 01858 438000 www.fosters-foods.co.uk

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October 2014 路 Vol.15 Issue 9

product update

sauces & ingredients

At last month’s Speciality & Fine Food Fair, Salt House unveiled a gourmet salt range that takes in 12 world salts, from Fleur de Sel from France (125g, RRP £5.99), to health-giving Himalayan salt (60g, RRP from £1.99) and Aguni no Shio from Japan (160g, RRP £6.99). The launch comes as consumers are becoming more discerning about salt and pairing dishes with specific salt varieties, according to MD Gregorie Marshall.

“At Salt House we provide the perfect salt to complement a particular dish by targeting specific taste buds and unlocking a new flavour experience,” he says. “Whether it is the charcoal-washed infusion of Hawaiian black lava sea salt, the warm sweet and crisp notes of smoked Welsh sea salt, or the full and hearty taste of Japanese sea salt from the volcanic Oshima Island, it is amazing to be able to appreciate the wonderful variety out there and how it can truly enhance your food.” www.salthouseonline.com

Top sellers…

Farm Shop, ...at Grange Suffolk Woodbridge,

’s Do Dah ustard Rosie Scarlett & M sauce curry paste e Sri Lankan ic Sp se oo Ch basil pesto Purely Pesto e b tagine spic oroccan lam Spicentice M kit

pasta sauce ttage Yum! Thursday Co

Dried mushrooms have become an essential store-cupboard item thanks to their ability to add an umami flavour dimension to savoury dishes. Uncle Roy has harnessed this trend by smoking six varieties of dried mushroom over Scotch whisky-barrel oak sawdust for use in risotto, ragout, sauces, soups or stews.

The Oak Smokies, which range from mixed forest mushroom to morels, have RRPs from £2.15 to £15.50 for 25g.

According to Dorset’s South West Garlic Farm, sales of British black garlic have increased fourfold this year on the back of media interest in this ingredient, which originated in Asia. Black garlic combines the flavours of aged balsamic, black cardamom, leather, smoke, tamarind and liquorice with the texture of dried apricots and doesn’t have the strong odour of white garlic. The South West Garlic Farm has been supplying black garlic to the trade since last July at a cost of £2.50 per bulb (RRP £3.50-5.00). www.britishblackgarlic.co.uk

www.uncleroys.co.uk

Mediterranean food importer Donatantonio is now carrying a Sicilian cherry tomato sauce and a Calabrian ‘Nduja paste as part of its recently developed Lupetta range.

The ‘Nduja paste (175g, RRP £4.99) is a traditional spicy Calabrian spread made with pork, extra virgin olive oil and hot pepper in San Demetrio Corone, Southern Italy. Only the best meat from the shoulder and foreleg is used to make the paste, as well as a small amount of fat from under the belly. The Lupetta cherry tomato sauce (trade £11.28 for 6x330g bottles) is made with sweet Sicilian cherry tomatoes which are bottled within 24 hours of harvesting.

Little Dabbas are a new product inspired by the Masala Dabba (spice tin) at the heart of every Indian kitchen. Tiny gold tins are filled with portioned masala blends made to old family recipes. Its three Gujarati blends – for seafood, for meat and for vegetables – all have an RRP of £3.99. www.mistryandco.com

www.donatantonio.com

Oriel Sea Salt Company claims its new Irish sea salt is the first “true ingredient sea salt”. Typically, sea salt comes in flake or crystal form and is used as a finishing salt but the company’s Irish virgin sea salt is almost powder-like and is very intense.

MD Brian Fitzpatrick says a patented harvesting process protects the intensity of flavour. “It never comes in contact with air or earth as it is harvested through a sealed pressurised system,” he says. “This delivers a virgin sea salt with no sharpness or impurities. It’s just an incredibly powerful yet smooth intensity, unlike any other sea salt.”

Chilli Papas has branched out beyond its core oil-free curry mixes offering to launch a SpagBol mix.

As with the company’s other products, the ethos is to promote easy and healthy home cooking.

The RRP is £2.50 and wholesale price £1.87 (based on orders of 30-79 units). www.chillipapas.com

Retailers on the look-out for something different should check out Vana Voru birch syrup – Estonia’s answer to maple syrup. With a flavour that is described as “complex with hints of molasses, caramel, liquorice, fruit, wine, citrus and balsamic spice”, the syrup can be used as a pouring syrup or added to salad dressings, marinades, glazes and sauces for meat, fish and root vegetables.

It also works well in dessert cookery, making a fine chocolate or fudge sauce, says Vana Voru. Only 10,000 litres of the syrup are made annually worldwide and Vana Voru is currently the only commercial producer in Europe. The product’s exclusivity is reflected in an RRP of £12.99 for a 200ml bottle or £29.99 for a 500ml bottle. www.vanavorusyrups.com

www.orielseasalt.com

Vol.15 Issue 9 · October 2014

39

Authentic Curry Masala

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The fantastic new Lupetta Italian ingredients range is available now and has recently been expanded to include high protein, bronze die pastas as well as and a superb extra virgin olive oil. Offering excellent quality at affordable price points the Lupetta range can add value to any Italian range offering.

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Swaadish Curry Sauces No more chopping onions or tomatoes A very healthy option of vegetarian curry sauces.

No preservatives, additives or colouring. These are Gluten free and Dairy free sauces. These sauces are so delicious that they can also be used straight from a jar, simply as a dip (with bread, pitta bread, crisps, etc.) or even as a marinade for BBQs or oven roasts.

To make Curries, just add your raw ingredients with a desired quantity of water and cook until thoroughly done. Yes as simple as that!!

Awarded 2nd prize for product in Royal County of Berkshire Agricultural Show, September, 2014.

For more details contact us on sales@lupetta.co.uk or 020 8236 2222 www.lupetta.co.uk 40

October 2014 · Vol.15 Issue 9

www.swaadish.com

Shrila Amin 020 7610 6795 from 2-8pm Monday-Saturday SIMPLY HONEST CURRY LTD

product update After repeated requests for takeaways from his restaurants in Woodbridge, Suffolk, Vernon Blackmore decided to give enthusiasts the tools and know-how to make their own South East Asian curries. Choose Spice has become established in Suffolk and is now looking to cast the net for its pastes more widely. Blackmore has created three pastes for making rendang, Goan and Sri Lankan curries “with very little effort”. These have an RRP of £4, for a 280g (12 portion) pot, and a trade price of £2.75.

sauces & ingredients

Cotswold Fayre has added two new short-cut cooking sauces to its catalogue. Kent’s Kitchen’s bread sauce mix (RRP £2.10 each, wholesale price £9 for 6x150g) adds to the company’s range of stocks and stuffing mixes, and the Pig Easy American BBQ-style pulled pork gourmet sauce mix from Gordon Rhodes is said to provide an easy way to create juicy, ‘melt in the mouth’ pulled pork. Made with smoked paprika, fennel and chipotle chilli, the mix is available to the trade at £6.80 for 6x75g (RRP £1.60 each). The distributor is also carrying a new range of meat roasting kits for turkey, chicken, pork, beef and lamb from Pott’s Partnership. The RRP is £5.90 per kit and wholesale price £25.15 for six kits. www.cotswold-fayre.co.uk

choosespicemarketing@gmail.com

Leicester-based Spicentice’s range of rubs and spices keeps growing, with a Malaysian rendang curry kit and three rubs – chipotle, ras el hanout and chimichurri – joining the line-up.

All four products have an RRP of £2.49. www.spicentice.com

The Bay Tree has launched Moroccan tagine sauces for both lamb & red meat and chicken & white meat. The red meat sauce combines apricots, spices and tomatoes, whilst the white meat sauce is made with lemon, garlic and olives. Also new from the Somerset stalwart are a medium heat rogan josh curry sauce and a Chinese black bean sauce. All products have a trade unit price of £2.10 and an RRP of £3.15 for a 300g pouch.

Top sellers…

Harrogate, ...at Fodder, Yorkshire

paste iversal curry Mr Huda’s un s mix Chilli madra The Twisted & onion mix ices masala Asharun Sp for jalfrezi aks chilli jam m Man 3 pe The Chilli Ja y sauce medium curr Really Indian

Tapping into the foraging trend is Wild at Heart, with a new pesto made from wild garlic leaves handpicked from Kent woodlands.

The garlic leaves are combined with chopped cashew nuts, lemon juice, rapeseed oil and vegetarian pasta cheese. The preserving process softens the pungency of the garlic and gives the pesto a long shelf life. Wild garlic pesto is available in cases of 6x200g jars priced at £20.20 via Cotswold Fayre. RRP is £4.75. www.wildatheartfoods.co.uk

www.thebaytree.co.uk

Indian born Priya Kenyard believes she has spotted a gap in the market for chilled marinades made from freshly roasted and ground spices that are free from gluten and dairy. “Think of the taste difference between freshly roasted and ground coffee versus instant coffee – it is the same with spices,” says Kenyard, who launched Ambu Tree in July. She adds that most Indian tikka sauces contain yoghurt and Chinese sauces contain gluten (in soy sauce), unlike her marinades, which double up as sauces. The initial range comprises mild tandoori marinade, spicy tandoori marinade and Chinese five spice marinade, all in 100g pots with an RRP of £3.85. So far, the sauces are only on sale in Barrett’s of Belsize in London. www.ambutree.com

Following a branding update, all Atkins & Potts pasta sauces, gravies & stocks, world sauces, finishing sauces, soups and sweet sauces are in the same sized pouches with new labels featuring the strap line ‘inspired dining’. The Berkshire producer has also added a new flavour to its pasta sauce range. The red pepper, garlic & green bird’s eye chilli sauce comes in a 350g pouch with a trade price of £2.09 and an RRP of £2.99. www.atkinsandpotts.co.uk

Vol.15 Issue 9 October 2014

41

Have a Berry Christmas!

Established for over 25 years and still a family concern National distribution Bake off pies Deli Pies Retail Packed Cooked Meats Pates Ox Tongue

Martyn & Melanie Reynolds Tel 01768 863841 Fax 01768 868900 info@burbushs.co.uk www.burbushs.co.uk

Artisan-produced, all-natural, condiments & preserves, a colourful array of products from traditional favourites to innovative specialities.

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To find out more about our tasty products call: 016973 45974, email: claire@claireshandmade.co.uk or visit our website: www.claireshandmade.com

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October 2014 路 Vol.15 Issue 9

Handmade in Devon.

Game and Redcurrant Turkey and Cranberry

product update

pies

Crust never sleeps LYNDA SEARBY eyes up the latest developments in speciality pie-making

Four new pies have come out of Okemoor’s West Country kitchen in the last 12 months: chicken curry, chicken & chorizo, ham hock & pea and ploughman’s pie – made from local pork, local Cheddar cheese and homemade spiced apple chutney.

All have a trade price of £2.38 (RRP £3.40) and are supplied in boxes of nine pies. www.okemoor.co.uk

Brockleby’s is targeting male shoppers with 300g ‘man size’ pies in seven flavours (trade £2.55-£3.30, RRP £4-£4.50): Wild Beaver (beef in ale), wild deer, Longhorn steak pie with Stilton, Tarka pie (free-range chicken tikka), Little Chukky (chicken & mushroom), Moroccan lamb, and Penguin (smoked haddock and potato in cheddar & onion sauce).

Pies can be delivered fresh or frozen and cooked straight from frozen. Also new from the Melton Mowbray producer is an organic Stilton pork pie (190g) which has been listed by Abel & Cole.

www.uppercrustpies.com

Timmy’s Pies is now producing Tiny Timmy’s pies – mini versions of its classic shortcrust pies. Using only free-range British meat and game, the pies come in seasonal flavours

www.toms-pies.co.uk

Several recent collaborations have yielded some new creations from Mr.C’s Hand-Crafted Pies.

September saw the launch of a new variety developed for organic meat supplier Peelham Farm using their Italian sausage mix and ruby veal, as well as the first deliveries of mini pork pies and game pies to Donald Russell for sale under the online butcher’s own label. Mr.C’s is also busy working on several new pies for launch in Fortnum & Mason this autumn: pork pies with Fortnum & Mason’s piccalilli, ploughman’s pies with Isle of Mull Cheddar & Fortnum & Mason’s pickle and three sizes of game pie.

A new pigeon pie has been “flying off the shelves” at York’s Ye Olde Pie & Sausage Shoppe. Filled with locally shot pigeons marinated in port and cooked with wild mushrooms and a port gravy, the individual shortcrust pastry pies (RRP £2) are also available to retail outlets, pubs, restaurants and hotels in York and surrounding areas. www.yorksausageshop.co.uk

such as chicken, mushroom & white truffle oil, wild rabbit & mushroom and slow roast pork & rhubarb. Each mini pie has a seven-day shelf life and a trade price of 90p. Retail boxes of 18 have an RRP of £25.

Fellow London pie purveyor Square Pie is also tapping into the downsizing trend with Canapies – miniature three-bite pies in four flavours: chicken & mushroom, BBQ Bourbon beef, steak & ale and spinach,

www.mrcspies.co.uk

The Great North Pie Co has raided the local larder for its autumn pie menu (RRP £3.95 each), which features ox cheek, potato & horseradish; Goosnargh chicken, Stornoway Black pudding, apple & mustard; Cheshire blue cheese, pear & walnut and Lancashire cheese & onion. www.greatnorthpie.co

www.brocklebys.co.uk

The Uppercrust Pie Co is cashing in on the latest trend, adding a BBQ pulled pork variant to its picnic range of lidded 140g pies and a pulled pork pie topped with scrumpy apple cider chutney to its collection of 140g party pies.

The Manchester producer has also developed four new fillings for its party pies: chicken & ham topped with apple & ginger chutney, Gloucester Old Spot pork topped with brandy apple cider chutney, and turkey & ham with cranberry & port and lamb with redcurrant jelly.

Mini pies

Inspired by the classic Southern Indian recipe, Tom’s Pies’ new beef Madras pie is said to deliver a sweet, savoury and earthy combination of toasted spices, slow-cooked blade of beef, tomatoes and coconut, encased in Tom Cull’s trademark thin and buttery shortcrust pastry. Trade price is £2.15 and the RRP is £3.50 per pie.

Gluten-free pie brand Clive’s Pies has launched two new veggie flavours and redesigned its packaging to better protect the delicate pastry. Mushroom & leek packs in herbs and vegetables in a creamy sauce and Homity – Devon’s own open-topped cheesy potato pie – is filled with fresh vegetables, vegetarian cheddar cheese, mustard and herbs. Both come in newly designed boxes that double up as a handy tray for on-the-go eating. www.clivespies.co.uk

sweet potato & goats cheese.

Initially, Canapies are launching exclusively with Ocado, in multipacks of 4 x 60g pies, at an RRP of £3.79. This is Square Pie’s first foray into retail – previously it has concentrated on selling its pies through its own five London outlets. www.timmyspies.com www.squarepie.com

New to speciality pies…

Since February, The Gourmet Pie Company has been showing its wares at events in and around Nottinghamshire and has just secured a listing with The Country Victualler.

Founder Damien Toms says he is focusing on using traditional craft methods, rolling the pastry by hand for maximum shortness and cutting the meat by hand so every customer gets large chunks in each pie.

Savoury options include steak & Roaring Meg ale pie and rabbit pie with wholegrain mustard &

leek, both with an RRP of £4 for an individual pie, £6 for a medium pie and £15 for a dinner party pie.

On the sweet side, there is Bramley apple, blackberry & apple, raspberry & apple and black cherry, which retail at £3 for an individual pie and £5.50 for a large pie. www.thecountryvictualler.com

Vol.15 Issue 9 · October 2014

43

cooks&CO

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WHAT’S NEW ON THE SHELF? in our award-winning antipasti range

NEW!

Contact us to find your local fine food wholesaler: Tel +44 (0) 1494 530 200 info@cooksandco.co.uk

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October 2014 · Vol.15 C&C FFD 141x204.indd 2

Issue 9

NEW!

A BRAND OF

22/09/2014 14:29

shelf talk

products, promotions & people

Manfood on the march with new lines and premises

By MICHAEL LANE

Pickle producer Manfood is hoping to expand its customer base after upgrading its production facilities and nearly tripling its range to include sweet preserves and sauces.

Andre Dang, who launched the brand with four pickles in summer 2013, told FFD that he was also seeking a distributor for his 16 products, which now include ranges of cooking sauces, beer jellies and cocktail jams.

The former Harrods and Selfridges buyer said he had interest from several speciality distributors as well as from buyers – both in the UK and Sweden, New York and Thailand – at last month’s Speciality & Fine Food Fair.

Dang said the brand had also attracted the attention of a few of the multiples’ product development teams, including one that ordered some of his creations from Manfood’s online shop.

“A lot of people have been interested in the look and the feel of the brand,” he said. “There will always be imitators but we’re doing something quite unique. I don’t think the likes of Tesco could replicate it because we do it by hand.”

Manfood has recently gained SALSA accreditation for the production unit, to which Dang has relocated after starting the business in his home kitchen.

Dang, who also has a parallel

Andre Dang with partner Jon Honeyball and the expanded Manfood range

career in PR, said he was pleased with the progress of the business but admitted the step into food production had been a “learning curve”.

“It’s been an interesting experience because I’ve always been on the other side of the fence as a buyer,” he said. “I never knew about all the hoops that producers had to jump through.”

He added that his work in buying and PR had helped him develop the Manfood line-up, which he plans to add another eight products to in 2015.

Manfood currently has listings in around 40 outlets including Fortnum & Mason and all branches of Harvey Nichols, as well as being included in The Wine Society’s hampers.

Dang is assisted in the day-today running of Manfood by Gemma

Stimson and also receives help from his partner Jon Honeyball and his mother, whose recipe is used for the producer’s Malaysian achar pickles. www.welovemanfood.com

www.teapigs.co.uk

By MICK WHITWORTH

SPRUCED JUICE: James White’s Classics apple juice range has a new look, launched in time for Christams orders. Positioned as a non-alcoholic alternative to wine, the range has received its first label update in 10 years. The final designs were chosen from a shortlist of labels presented to consumers on social media, with 64% of respondents voting for the winner. The Classics range comprises five varieties – Bramley, Cox, Russet, apple & elderflower and apple & summer berries – and is available in both 75cl and 25cl glass bottles, is stocked in many independent retailers and caterers.

The creator of a new beetroot ketchup has doubled her first production run after receiving an “awesome” response at last month’s Speciality & Fine Food Fair.

Former PricewaterhouseCoopers tax accountant Frankie Sheekey says buyers from Selfridges, Booths and Planet Organic were among visitors to her stand at Olympia, where she launched the innovative ketchup under her new The Foraging Fox brand.

The all-natural, premium condiment, slightly sweeter than a tomato ketchup, is made with beetroot, apples, red wine vinegar and brown sugar, plus seasonings and spices.

Sheekey developed the recipe at her home near Stansted, Essex, using surplus garden produce, as a cookery project with her two young children. However, she has now contracted out manufacturing to a private label sauces specialist in East Anglia, which is producing an initial run of 1,800 cases of 6x300g bottles “based on the reaction from Olympia”.

She told FFD: “It has taken six months working with the factory to replicate an artisan product made on my AGA with two children screaming in the background!

I’ve put blood, sweat and tears into its ‘produceability’ but I didn’t want to launch until I was really happy with it.”

The initial trade price of £2.50 a bottle looks likely to fall a little once Sheekey has distribution in place, to give an RRP around £3.75-3.95. “It’s currently retailing at up to £4.60 – but that’s in the microclimate of Notting Hill,” she said.

www.jameswhite.co.uk

www.foragingfox.com

what’s in the range Pickles: Ale chutney, piccalilli, bread & butter pickles, achar pickles Sauces: Peanut satay, chip shop curry, smoked tomato and beer BBQ sauce.

Beer jellies: Beer jelly, Asian spiced ale jelly, chilli beer jelly and lemon & ginger jelly Cocktail jams: Peach Bellini, bramble, mojito, strawberry negroni All products come in cases of 6x300g jars (trade £2.40, RRP £4.95 each).

Teapigs launches five blends Teapigs is introducing five new “blow your socks off” blends this month, in response to consumer demand for ever more adventurous flavours.

The new range features “bold, punchy, indulgent” teas (RRP £3.99 per pack), all of which are caffeinefree and only 3 calories per cup.

Two are gingery teas – rhubarb & ginger and sweet ginger with a cinnamon kick – while the range is completed by apple & cinnamon, chocolate & mint and fennel & liquorice.

Foraging Fox in demand

Vol.15 Issue 9 · October 2014

45

Last minute ideas for Christmas

Oliver’s

Something different for a Christmas Pudding Award winning sticky toffee puddings

After having been in business for just 18 months, Oliver’s Kitchen were rewarded with a two star Great Taste award for their Original Sticky Toffee Pudding. Now, back by popular demand their Festive Sticky Toffee Pudding, flavoured with orange and Cointreau is available for the coming season. A ginger version is also a popular choice.

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Shop Online: www.berries.co.im 46

October 2014 · Vol.15 Issue 9

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www.countrypuddings.co.uk Vol.15 Issue 9 路 October 2014

47

shelf talk

CHEF’S SELECTION

Top chefs tell CLARE HARGREAVES their deli essentials

New formats for Loch Duart

Adam Simmonds

By MICHAEL LANE

Head chef Kensington Pavilion, London

Loch Duart has come up with new formats for its fresh and smoked salmon, designed for ease of use.

It is now offering its oak roasted flaky salmon in 100g ready flaked vacuum packs (trade £2.80 each) with a minimum date code of 21 days.

The producer said the packs were ideal for consumers preparing salads, sandwiches, pasta and risotto.

Meanwhile, Loch Duart has also developed trade packs of 20x140g pre-cut frozen salmon fillets for retailers and foodservice.

Each Freedom Food-approved salmon is reared on Loch Duart’s farms in north west Scotland before it is harvested, filleted, packed and blast frozen as soon as possible for maximum freshness. ‘’We simply don’t have sufficient volume to make our salmon available nationwide and the only way we can fill the many gaps in our distribution is to offer this service’’ said co-founder

www.kensingtonpavilion.com

Adam Simmonds is head chef at the newly opened Kensington Pavilion. Having achieved his first Michelin star at Ynyshir Hall, Wales, in 2006, Adam gained further Michelin stardom at Danesfield House, Marlow, where he headed the kitchen until the end of last year. Adam has competed twice in BBC2’s Great British Menu and in this year’s series made it through to the finals to cook for D-Day veterans.

5J acorn-fed Iberico ham www.cincojotas.com

and sales director Andy Bing. ‘’It is the simplest way of getting our salmon to people who may have seen it mentioned on restaurant menus. The portions are sold frozen and designed to be kept in the freezer – ready when needed by restaurants and specialist retailers.”

Each 20-portion box weighs 2.8kg and is delivered in specially designed insulated packaging with frozen gel packs to maintain temperature. www.lochduartsmokedsalmon.com

MINT TO BE: Two years ago, Steve Gilston was sat in a bath in Thailand when he was struck by a craving for a raspberry mint cream. Unable to seek out this flavour combination anywhere in the world, he returned to the UK and made it himself. His company Minted in England has now launched the Hint of Mint range, which features raspberry, black cherry, lime and pineapple flavoured mint creams. Each box contains 10 individual chocolates with “a 3D mouth-feel”.“We have engineered a new way to balance creamy fruit with the delicate notes of mint which gives the chocolate a truly extraordinary body,” said Gilston. www.mintedinengland.com

Wolfy’s Porridge adds two pots to range Having enjoyed rapid growth since its launch in 2013, Wolfy’s Porridge has added two more flavours to its range of instant porridge pots.

Mocha porridge with maple syrup features a little pot of maple syrup to swirl into the porridge mix while coconut porridge with lime contains a “generous spoonful” of shredded coconut in every pot as well as a portion of sister company Kitchen Garden’s own lime marmalade.

Kitchen Garden Foods said the brand had been an “exceptional success” since its launch in May 2013.

The creamy with berry pot – one of the three original varieties – won a star in this year’s Great Taste.

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October 2014 · Vol.15 Issue 9

The current three-strong line-up, including spiced pear with ginger and nutty with honey, has already gained listings in independents across the UK as well as selected Waitrose stores, MidCounties Co-op and both First Great Western and East Midlands trains. www.wolfys.co.uk

Although 98% of the cured meats we serve here are English, this is our Spanish one. We always have two legs on the go. These are the hind legs of free-range Iberico pigs reared in south west Spain on an acorn-based diet, which gives the meat its incredible flavour. The ham is so good that in the restaurant we just serve it sliced on a plate. We sell it in our deli, too. I buy it through Classic Fine Foods.

Woodlands Dairy natural goats’ milk yoghurt 450g www.woodlandsdairy.co.uk

We serve this for breakfast, with our homemade granola or with muesli or fresh fruit. Sometimes we serve it with fresh honeycomb. It’s wonderfully smooth and creamy. Breakfast is an important meal for us, and it’s great to be able to offer something that’s really healthy and a bit different. I’ve made sorbet with the yoghurt. It has a great flavour – not too intense or ‘goaty’ but not too light either.

Fresh Olive Company Romeo extra virgin olive cooking oil www.fresholive.com

I’ve used this general purpose cooking oil for years. It’s made from Cornicabra olives grown in central Spain. It has a neutral flavour and it doesn’t lose its taste when heated, so it’s the ideal cooking oil. I’ll use it in a tomato fondue, for instance. Not bitter or peppery, it has a nice fruity aroma.

This oil is good value for money too. I buy it in 1litre or 5litre plastic bottles.

Billington’s golden caster sugar www.billingtons.co.uk

We use this unrefined sugar for mueslis as it has a nice flavour without being too sweet. I hate sweet stuff for breakfast and this sugar is very different from ‘normal’ sugars. I also use it in savoury granolas. I made a granola to go with smoked pigeon when I did my first Great British Menu in 2013. I combined ground sweetcorn with sunflower and pumpkin seeds, honey, puffed wild rice and this sugar, then I added pine oil made from Douglas fir.

Global Harvest wild fennel pollen (28g tin) www.fruitforcheese.com

You can see why this won a Great Taste award – it’s amazing. I use it in my suckling pig dish. I make a fennel pollen and apricot purée to go with it: I halve the apricots; stuff them with fennel pollen, some sweet wine, sugar and salt; cook it en papillote until soft; then skin the apricots and blend the mixture. I serve the purée with a fennel and bacon sauerkraut, roasted gem lettuce, and suckling pig. The pollen complements the tartness and sweetness of the apricot. I also make a fennel pollen ice cream to serve with a lemon parfait. When it’s chilled, the pollen takes on another taste profile.

Looking for suppliers accredited by the Guild of Fine Food?

Follow the logo

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THOMAS J FUDGE’S www.thomasjfudges.co.uk

Thomas J Fudge’s has added a sour cream & spring onion wafer to its range of nibbles. The wafers come in 100g packs with an RRP of £2.50.

The family-run company, which completely overhauled its branding and products last October, also offers cheddar, Stilton and jalapeno wafers. MD Steve Fudge said: “This latest launch is intended to offer a cool variant and provide an additional entry point for consumers keen to trial the premium savoury biscuit category.”

chocolate.

The producer, which is based near Milan, also offers dark chocolate with almond, dark chocolate with coffee and milk chocolate with hazelnut in its smaller format. The new 85g bars have an RRP of £1.89 while the 35g range has an RRP of 89g.

Haggis rebrand MACSWEEN

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Following consumer feedback the haggis pioneer Macsween has refreshed its whole line-up. As well as the new look packaging, logo and website, Macsween’s products are now organised into three ranges, designed around

Tea powders BLOOM TEAS

www.bloomtea.co.uk

Bloom has boosted its tea powder range with two more lines, made using antioxidant-rich organic Japanese matcha green tea.

Tropical matcha is a blend of the concentrated green tea and

Sticky toffee puddings OLIVER’S KITCHEN

www. oliverspuddingcompany. co.uk

In business since April 2013, Oliver Barton has already received a two-star award in this year’s Great Taste awards for his original flavour sticky toffee pudding (wholesale £2.40, RRP £3.60). The producer has also developed two other puddings: a gingerflavoured variation on the original (wholesale £2.60, RRP £3.90) and an orange & Cointreau sticky toffee pudding (wholesale £2.80, RRP £4.20), which was developed due to customers’ requests for an alternative to Christmas pudding.

The minimum order quantity is 30 units.

Spice and graters how consumers use them. The In A Hurry range features products that can be cooked in 60-90 seconds while the Delicious Every Day range includes whole haggis and black pudding that can be easily prepared for a midweek dinner.

The Traditional range features a selection of classic haggises for celebratory or ceremonial use.

Seasonal cookies

CINNAMON HILL

www.cinnamonhill.com

Cinnamon Hill specialises in supplying the “finest and freshest” cinnamon, sourced from Sri Lanka and Vietnam. Both its Ceylon (winner of a one-star in Great Taste 2014) and Saigon cinnamon are available in packs of five 5-inch sticks (RRP £8) and only feature each country’s most recent harvest. Cinnamon Hill

NILA HOLDEN

www.nilaholden.co.uk

natural mango flavour while Sunrise matcha (awarded a one-star in Great Taste 2014) is flavoured with grapefruit. Both come in cases of 6x30g jars (trade £9.90, RRP £19.80 per jar). All of Bloom’s powders can be used to create drinks by adding 1g (1/2tsp) to hot or cold water, milk or juice and whisking. Other powders include mojito matcha, Supercharge matcha (two Great Taste stars), Mindpower matcha (one star) and Warmup rooibos.

Bigger bars GO*DO

www.godochoc.com

The organic Italian bean-to-bar chocolate brand will now also offer its three most popular 35g bars in an 85g size. The larger bars will be available in dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), milk chocolate and white

Artisan bakery Nila Holden has unveiled its seasonal range of decorated cookies and cakes for Halloween, Christmas and Valentine’s Day. Items range from individual cookie pops to assorted jars and gift sets and there are products to suit all budgets as prices vary from £4 to £35. The company is taking orders for these ranges now and can deliver to retailers across the UK and abroad.

ingredients including mineralrich caramel-flavoured lucuma. The minimum order is 12x40g bars (mixed cases available) with a wholesale price of £2.50 per bar and an RRP of £4 per bar.

More antipasti COOKS&CO

www.cooksandco.co.uk

Distributor RH Amar’s ingredients brand has added two more lines in glass jars to its range of antipasti. Its pepperoncini chilli peppers (280g, RRP £1.59) are medium hot, authentically Turkish and can be used to accompany a variety of dishes including kebabs, cold meats and burgers. The brand’s new semi-dried tomatoes (295g, RRP £3.29) are dried in ovens and infused in a blend of garlic, herbs and extra virgin olive oil for a more succulent texture.

Green tea JOE’S TEA

www.joesteacompany.com

also supplies specially designed graters to add the spice at the table – to coffee and ice cream – or in cooking and baking. They are available in honey oak or the newly launched jet grater in black plastic.

Bean to bar

FOREVER CACAO www.forevercacao.co.uk

The raw chocolate specialist’s latest creation is a 65% bean-tobar, made with entirely organic

London-based organic tea firm Joe’s Tea has recently unveiled its latest brew, Queen of Green. Founder Joe Kinch says the low caffeine, antioxidant-rich tea is “lighter and smoother than regular gunpowder blends”. It is available both in catering formats and in retail boxes of 15 biodegradable fuso bags.

Vol.15 Issue 9 · October 2014

49

M HA EM LF O TH PR FF BER IS ICE ER S’ AU T TU RAI M NIN N G

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Vol.15 Issue 9 · October 2014

51

shelf talk

CALM EXTERIOR: Sue Belcher says maintaining a ‘small business’ ethos across three sites is a major challenge

Making Mr Bloomfield proud Sue Belcher borrowed her dad’s name for her three-site deli operation. But that’s about all she has borrowed since setting up in business with just £20 and a strong work ethic.

Deli of the Month INTERVIEW BY mick whitworth

E

very deli reflects the personality of its owner, and I’ve barely set foot inside Bloomfields Fine Food, in the pleasing little market town of Highworth, near Swindon, before I start getting the measure of Sue Belcher. She’s hands on – that much is clear – and she’s obsessive about customer service.

It’s 11.30 on a Wednesday morning when I arrive at her towncentre store: an easy-on-the-eye blend of traditional timber-and-glass with modern branding. Belcher is busy out the back, making takeaway salads to clear a flurry of early-lunch buyers. But I’m greeted with a beaming smile and an offer of coffee by front-of-house staffer Laura Bailey, who invites me to browse the shelves

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October 2014 · Vol.15 Issue 9

of the compact, 24 sq m (250 sq ft) shop while I wait.

Over the next 10 minutes I’m offered more coffee by another of Belcher’s chirpy team, and watch as assorted staff members bustle out of the kitchen to unite customers with freshly made sarnies and salads, confidently announcing: “One chicken piri-piri special wrap?” or “Two cheese & onion baguettes – one white, one brown?” If they don’t actually add “Enjoy!” it’s implied by the energy with which they present each parcel.

When Belcher finally detaches herself from salad-making I see where this energy comes from.

“Part of our success here,” she tells me, “is that people feed on our enthusiasm. It’s infectious.”

Belcher is a third generation shopkeeper, with a work ethic to match. Her grandmother kept the family newsagents in Gloucester running single-handed during World War II. Her parents too had a successful retail business – her dad

would have traded on Christmas Day if he’d been allowed, she says – and the young Sue soon learned that when her mum was talking to a shopper, she was not to be interrupted.

So customer service is second nature to her, and she remembers being taken aback when it didn’t come so naturally to some of her staff. “It’s the part of the job you can’t teach but it’s what keeps customers coming back, isn’t it?”

That’s one reason she is relatively unbothered by the plentiful supermarket competition in the Swindon area. “I look at the Coop and wonder what they ask in their job interviews. ‘Do you have no personality, can you be rude to customers and can you smoke round the back of the shop?’”

The threat from Waitrose is similarly shrugged off. “They have these designers who come in and try to make them look like a deli. But they’re supermarkets and they can’t give the customer service.”

Belcher opened her first small deli, in her home village of Shrivenham, in 2006. It followed six years as a restaurateur and, before that, a sandwich round, servicing local businesses from her home kitchen. She is self-made, building the business slowly and steadily from cash-flow, not borrowing, which she says removes at least one potential stress. “I started with no capital but the £20 in my purse.”

The bigger Highworth store was opened in 2009, winning a regional Deli of the Year title in 2012. More recently, she was asked to open a lunch-led deli-café on a business park in Watchfield, another satellite of Swindon. This also handles Bloomfields’ outside catering work, which accounts for 15% of sales.

“I didn’t plan to open the café,” Belcher says, “but we were invited in by the business park. They already had a facility but people were going off-site and coming to us instead. So we took our Bloomfields brand and tweaked it for the lunchtime trade.”

products, promotions & people CKS S’ MUST-STO BLOOMFIELD nic butter rm Berkeley Fa and milk

Dairy orga

White Horse ge lla Brewery’s Vi e al en ld go t Idio d ol w The Cots i and Curer salam o iz or ch mic dressing

balsa Gilly’s Foods ed oil Farm rapese Stainswick nuts Pippin Dough ranola Goodness G Classic oirs Vineyard The Three Ch g NV in Cuvée sparkl gin and queurs sloe Wiltshire Li a damson vodk atra organic Sum e Grumpy Mul ee ground coff ts chilli jam en Tracklem ken pie ’ Breton chic Plenty! Pies Syrups Malmesbury Taylerson’s p mulling syru

One of her biggest challenges as a multi-site operator has been ensuring her ethos and ‘passion’ (she insists, with a smile, that she was the first to use the word) were not watered down. Which means being seen to be around.

“You don’t want to lose that ‘small business’ feel, or it’s like going into a pub when the landlord isn’t there.”

A year ago Belcher was joined in the business by husband Tim – latterly a local food advisor with the Big Lottery’s local food fund – and she now wonders how she managed without him. Running three sites is full-on and exhausting.

“We’re showing a calm front today,” she reveals, mid-way though our interview, “but we’ve just had two people who were due to start work with us today phone in sick.

“Yesterday I had to be here at 6am, at the deli-café at 8am and at the other deli at midday. So I do sometimes wonder if it’s worth it.

You can’t maintain 11-hour days for too long.”

She continues: “I love being where the action is, and I generally put myself in the most stressful job, so today I’ve been in the kitchen.

But I also think running a deli is a lifestyle choice. No-one should go into it thinking they’re going to retire with a fortune.”

Weekly sales at Highworth range from £7,000 in low season to £14,000 at peak, with around 60% coming from foodservice – not just sandwiches but a growing range of pies, pastries, tartlets, Scotch eggs, salads and cakes produced in-house.

“We’ve seen big growth there, and it’s the part we all enjoy,” Belcher tells me. “We all love working with food and that instant appreciation you get when you come out with a tray of something and offer it around.”

Of the 40% of sales classed as retail, just 35% comes from ambient goods. At first glance, the chrome wire shelves seem quite scantily stocked, but look closer and you can see Belcher has chosen cleverly.

There’s a little of everything but no space wasted on also-rans, and a big emphasis on local or regional producers: The Three Choirs wines from Gloucestershire, Taylerson’s Malmesbury Syrups, Guilbert chocolates from Bristol, Stainswick Farm rapeseed oil from Oxfordshire, and Gilly’s balsamic dressing, also from Oxfordshire.

One trendy looking brand of jams & preserves that I don't immediately recognise has been given more space than most. It turns out to be Bloomfields’ own-label range, made for it by The Bay Tree.

The Somerset producer may not be on the doorstep but the labels were designed locally, and are smarter than many proprietary brands.

A map on the wall highlights nearby producers and this theme extends to the deli counter, where Cotwold bakery Plenty! Pies has become a key supplier, and from there to the foodservice offer.

The daily specials menu includes ingredients like Kelscott free range pork sausage, from five miles away, and Oxford Blue cheese.

“A successful deli is one that has no waste,” says Belcher, “and that’s what your specials board is for. I make my staff aware that if anything is thrown away it means we’re not doing our jobs properly.”

Based on the northern fringes of Swindon but also close to Lechlade – “the gateway to the Cotswolds”– Bloomfields picks up a certain amount of passing trade but is firmly geared to serving its local community. With Tim Belcher

involved in the Totally Locally campaign, which shares 'shop local’ promotional tools among businesses around the country, they are also well supported by their fellow independent traders. North Swindon MP Justin Tomlinson has used an image of Bloomfields at the top of his webpage, and the firm was named Business of the Year 2014 in the Burford & Lechlade Business Awards “I’ve read people in Deli of the Month saying they target the AB consumer,” says Sue Belcher.

“But we want to appeal to the whole community.”

She opened in Highworth in the depths of the recession, convinced the pretty shopfront and its location – next to a cash point, close to two car parks and right on the market square – made it a potential winner, even though the premises had stood empty for 18 months. “Most people admired our bravery,” she says, “and I think that's one reason they have got behind us.”

Sales have risen “steadily” since opening but really began picking up this April and are currently up 20% year on year. Buoyed by this, the Belchers are about to begin a major remodeling that will see an upstairs coffee shop added before Christmas, along with space for hamper-making and a little more retail space downstairs.

Sue Belcher adopted her father’s name, Bloomfield, for her business, saying she always wanted a shop with his name over the door. Although her parents are no longer together they both remain supportive, and her dad apparently carries his daughter’s business card with him, telling people “I’m the Mr Bloomfield of Bloomfields Fine Foods”.

“I wanted to make dad proud,” Belcher tells me, and when I ask if she succeeded she doesn’t hesitate.

“I have.” www.bloomfieldsfinefood.co.uk

SERVICE WITH A SMILE: Front-of-house colleagues Jan Hopwood (Sue Belcher’s sister) and Laura Bailey behind the counter in Highworth Vol.15 Issue 9 · October 2014

53

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shelf talk

Highly decorated Whether you’re seeking innovative ideas or re-affirmed quality, there’s a Great Taste award-winner to suit every need. Here is a selection of 2014’s products.

Made using the labour-intensive ‘traditional method’ or ‘methode champenoise’, Ashridge Cider’s vintage sparkling cider is one of 2014’s Great Taste three-star winners. The Devon-based company’s founder Jason Mitchell oversees the very labour-intensive production, which involves a secondary fermentation stage where the bottles are gradually inverted and twisted before the resulting plug of sediment in the neck is removed. The end result is a smooth, clean, apple-y fizz, which is now available in a newly re-branded bottle. The cider comes in cases of 12x75cl bottles (£102). www.ashridgecider.co.uk

Olive Branch’s sweet olive, fig & almond relish pairs well with strong cheeses, such as Stilton, Manchego or goats’ milk varieties. The two-star product – made with Kalamata olives cooked in sweet syrup and mixed with fresh figs and almonds – can also be served with Greek yoghurt or on ice cream. As well as the Great Taste judges, the product’s flavour combination has also won over many top chefs including Yotam Ottolenghi.

It is available in cases of six jars with a trade rpice of £2.39 per unit.

Bloom Tea’s Supercharge Matcha powder can be added to a number of drinks to help kickstart the day. The caffeinated organic green tea powder, with added maca root and guarana, can be stirred into juices and smoothies or whisked into hot or cold water for an energizing breakfast. Each 30g glass jar (cases of six, wholesale £9.90 and RRP £19.80 per unit) features a spatula to help consumers measure out the right dosage of the two-star winning powder.. www.bloomtea.co.uk

www.myolivebranch.co.uk

Serbian food specialist Granny’s Secret racked up two Great Taste awards this year. Its home-style orange jam (cases of 6x375g, RRP £3.50 each) garnered two stars from judges for its “gorgeous colour” balance of sweet and citrus flavours. In addition, its all-natural wild apple juice claimed a one-star award with judges praising its “fresh apple flavour and intriguing caramel notes”. It comes in cases of 12x200ml (RRP £1.50 each) and 6x700ml bottles (RRP £2.75 each). www.grannyssecret.co.uk

Inverawe Smokehouses produces smoked salmon and trout from its base in Argyll, Scotland. Its products have a back catalogue of top industry awards and over 19 Great Taste accolades, including two stars apiece for its smoked trout and smoked Scottish salmon this year. Its triple terrine – of smoked salmon, roast smoked salmon flakes and smoked salmon mousse – picked up a one-star award.

Inspired by its founder’s Creole French culinary heritage, Gourmandises offers a range of hand-crafted French patisserie items with exotic flavour twists, such as lime, passion fruit, coconut and mango. Its threestar winning passion fruit tart is a buttery, sweet, shortcrust pastry case filled with a fresh passion fruit curd and a hint of lime. Gourmandises supplies its exotic tarts to cafes and delis in Cambridgeshire. Prices start at £3.20 per tart. www.gourmandises.co.uk

www.smokedsalmon.co.uk

Cavanagh Free Range Eggs is a family-owned company based in Co Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, and it has been in business since 2002 but the brand itself was only created in 2012. It can now also boast a Great Taste one star award for its free range eggs. All of its 32,000 hens have the freedom of large fenced paddocks dotted with trees so the birds have a stressfree life, foraging during the day with the safety of individual barn perches at night. www.cavanaghfreerangeeggs. co.uk

West Berkshire’s Two Cocks Brewery picked up a number of Great Taste awards this year including a two-star for its 1643 Roundhead.

The 4.2% ABV best bitter comes in cases of 12x500ml (wholesale £22+VAT) and each bottle features the brewery’s signature hand-applied feather.

Based on a 40-acre farm, the brewery uses fresh water from its own borehole and some of its own hedgerow hops to create its small batch beers, which have gained a “loyal following” from a number of Michelin-starred chefs. www.twococksbrewery.com

Maya’s Jam’s quince Courvoisier jam showcases the New York quince and enhances its honey and autumn blossom aromas with a splash of Courvoisier Cognac.

This one-star-winning product is said to be ideal for cheeseboards and comes in cases of 12x120g jars for £36.65 (plus shipping). Maya’s Jams is a women-owned and family-run micro batch jam business. It sources all of its fruit from small family farms in upstate New York and uses absolutely no artificial ingredients, preservatives, concentrates or fillers. www.mayasjams.com

Vol.15 Issue 9 · October 2014

55

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October 2014 路 Vol.15 Issue 9

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shelf talk Chipper jam, a “sweet and fiery” chilli and red pepper jam made by The Harrogate Preserves Co received a one-star award this year. It is available in a range of sizes including 100g hexagonal pots (RRP £2.50) – a perfect size for hampers or wedding favours – and 210g round pots (RRP £4+) for retail. Both are dressed with brown paper, swinging label and bay leaf.

Scarlett & Mustard’s biggest winner this year was its “deliciously rich, smooth and intensely tangy” passionfruit & lemon curd, made with British free range eggs and British butter. The producer says this two-star product can be mixed into crème fraiche as a cake or tart filler, swirled into vanilla ice cream or simply eaten straight out of the jar. The producer’s entire range of curds has an RRP of £3.50 per jar.

The Anglesey Sea Salt Company’s Halen Môn PDO salt with vanilla impressed the judges with its “wonderful large flakes of sea salt well balanced with vanilla seeds”.

The salt, which was awarded two stars, comes in cases of 10x100g (RRP £5.99 each). The producer recommends using it as a finishing salt on puddings, cakes and fruit as well as serving with seafood like scallops and lobster. It adds that the salt is also ideal for flavouring sweetsavoury popcorn. www.halenmon.com

Simon & Simon Photography

www.theharrogatepreservesco. com

Winner of two stars this year, Loch Duart’s oak smoked salmon is produced exclusively from Loch Duart salmon in the company’s smokehouse on the Hebridean Isle of South Uist off Scotland’s north west coast. The traditional methods used are designed to enhance the delicate flavour of the fish, which comes from the first salmon farm ever to receive Freedom Food approval. www.lochduartsmokedsalmon.com

www.scarlettandmustard.co.uk

The Proper Marmalade Company, a brand launched this year by multi-awardwinning preserve-maker Cranfields Foods, claimed its first Great Taste stars with three of its products. The pick of the bunch was its two-star Chocolate Splattered marmalade, made with Seville oranges and pure dark chocolate. The range is made by Victoria Cranfield in Devon and consists of eight ‘proper’ varieties and four ‘improper’ flavours. Wholesale prices range from £2.45 to £2.60 per jar. Delivery is free for orders of 72 jars or more. www.cranfieldsfoods.com

Michelin-trained chef Patrick Le Mesurier creates all of his Le Mesurier condiments to restaurant standards and, this year, his dill mustard sauce was awarded one star by the Great Taste judges. Available in cases of six (trade £11.95), the sauce can be combined with smoked salmon for a “hasty and tasty” festive gravalax and presents a cross-promotion opportunity for retailers. All of the Le Mesurier range of condiments, sauces and mustards is available through distributor Cotswold Fayre. www.lemesuriers.com

Alder Tree has a long list of Great Taste awards to its name for its fruit cream ices and 2014 saw even more accolades added to it. For the second year running, the Suffolk-based company has claimed a three-star and made the Top 50 Foods roster. The winning gooseberry & limoncello flavour (500ml tubs, RRP £5.25) is made with local brewer Adnams’ award-winning liqueur and wowed the judges with its balance of fruit and lemon flavours “singing together beautifully”. www.alder-tree.co.uk

Eight years in the making, the recipe for The Coconut Kitchen’s Easy Thai green curry paste has been honed by owners Preechaya Phetprasert and Paul Withington in the company’s restaurant in Abersoch, North Wales. The paste, which is available to retailers in 125ml glass jars (RRP £3.99), claimed three stars and won a spot in the Top 50 list. Home cooks only need to add coconut milk, vegetables and meat to create a curry “made with all the delicate skill of a top Thai chef’s palate”. www.thecoconutkitchen.co.uk

Judges awarded Bensons Totally Fruity’s newest product, Joosed! Junior blackcurrant & apple, two stars. Bensons is the only juice manufacturer to be Red Tractor-accredited. It sources solely from British farmers and never adds artificial colours or preservatives. The Joosed! Junior range is compliant with the new school standards and counts as one of your five a day. Retailers can purchase the 250ml bottles in cases of 24 for £11.52. www.bensonstotallyfruity.co.uk

Vol.15 Issue 9 · October 2014

57

e r ar fo e g rs W in to ok bu lo istri d

DORSET FARMS Our passion is to produce the finest quality hams and bacon from free range & organic West Country pork.

Using time honoured, traditional methods from our base deep in the local countryside, all our hams are hand produced and individually cured without extra water or additives.

Our award-winning range includes nine exciting varieties, all of which are available whole on or off the bone as well as in halves and convenient retail packs. www.dorsetfarms.co.uk Email: sarah@dorsetfarms.co.uk Tel: 01308 868822

K T O P 50 U E H T E D A M &

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October 2014 路 Vol.15 Issue 9

shelf talk The Mack family has been working the land of the Norfolk Broads for more than 100 years. That includes growing, harvesting, pressing and bottling their own cold pressed rapeseed oil, under the Yare Valley Oils brand, on their farm. To mark their centenary, they decided to create an oak-smoked oil using oak wood chips from the farm. Thanks to the small batch cold-smoking process, the resulting Great Taste two-star oil is well-suited for roasting vegetables, finishing dishes or as a bread dipper. www.yarevalleyoils.co.uk

Established in 2011, Tyne Bank Brewery, has already enjoyed plenty of success with its flagship ale. And the 4.9% Silver Dollar’s latest triumph is a coveted three-star award in Great Taste 2014.

Amber in colour, this ale has a “robust” malt base and “bold” citrus flavours – provided by hops from America’s west coast – with a bitterness that is “lasting but not overpowering”. The brewery also won a one-star for its cherry stout. Silver Dollar comes in cases of 12x500ml bottles (RRP £2.50-£3.50 each).

Produced by Welsh Lady Preserves on the Llyn Peninsula in North Wales, this lemon curd has won Great Taste stars for three years in a row. It is still made to the original recipe developed

by Dio Jones in 1966, and has always been the producer’s biggest seller. Its creator says it’s all down to “selecting good ingredients, using real butter, and traditional methods”. The curd, which won one star this year, comes in shelf-ready boxes of 6x311g jars for £7.56.

To make its Dark Island Reserve, The Orkney Brewery takes its flagship Dark Island ale and then matures it in malt whisky casks. As well as the classic Dark Island flavours of roast malt, dark chocolate, caramel, figs and dates, this three-star winner also boasts notes of vanilla, spice and bitter orange imparted by the wood and whisky. The brewery recommends pairing the strong, dark ale with cheese and charcuterie. Every bottle comes with a clay stopper so the 10%ABV beer can be resealed and savoured across several sittings. www.sinclairbreweries.co.uk

www.tynebankbrewery.co.uk

www.welshladypreserves.com

Having wowed the judges with its Top 50 steak & Stilton pie last year, Theydon Bois butcher and pie-maker Quality & Excellence has been at it again. Among its awards this year was the new lamb & sweet potato pie, which won two stars. It comes in 225g and 300g sizes (RRP £2.69 and £3.49 respectively), both in cases of 12 pies. There is also a large 650g version (RRP £5.39), which can be ordered in cases of six units.

Based in Blaenau Ffestiniog, North Wales, Model Bakery sells a range of products, which it says no other bakery offers. One example is a new type of Kurdish bread, invented by owner Kurmang Rashid.

His honey & olive oil bread with seeds & herbs received two stars in this year’s awards and is available in several sizes: small cobs or flats (400g) cost £3 while larger 800g versions cost £6.

www.qualityandexcellence.co.uk

rashid@kurmang.wanadoo.co.uk

The creation of chef and author Jordan Bourke, Pure Delish nut butters are made using carefully selected single origin nuts and contain no cane sugar, palm oils, additives or preservatives. The nuts are roasted and ground down, using the natural oils to form both smooth and chunky butters, which are a source of protein, vitamin E and potassium.

The new brand’s maple & almond butter (170g, RRP £3.49) won three stars this year and is available in trade cases of six jars for £16.80.

Soon to be launched in the UK, Ooh La La Artisan Confectionery’s chocolate pecan pebbles were awarded one Great Taste star this year. The South African producer – set up by former barrister and Francophile Karen Schneid-Lieberman – roasts its native pecan nuts in copper cauldrons with its own salted butter caramel, made with fleur de sel from Brittany. These are then hand-dipped in Belgian couverture white chocolate. The salty-sweet pebbles come in 100g or 200g cellophane bags.

www.puredelishfood.com

www.oohlalaconfectionery.com

Two-star Quinlan’s wild smoked Irish salmon is produced in the old fashioned way: filleted by hand and dry salted then dried and oak-smoked. While the fish loses up to 15% of its weight in 24 hours during the salting, the producer says it creates a far finer and heathier product, with no added sugar and only 3% salt content. All the salmon are caught in sustainable fisheries on the Atlantic seaboard. Quinlan’s wild smoked salmon comes in 125g and 250g portions (RRP £12.50 and £25 respectively). www.kerryfish.com Vol.15 Issue 9 · October 2014

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Winner of 19 Great Taste Awards

Choi Time, Award Winning Chinese speciality teas that unfurl and blossom in your cup. Hailed as “the Dom Perignon of the tea world” by the Sunday Times Style Magazine.

Snowy Flakes Phone: 0845 0533269 Email: wholesale@choitime.com Visit: choitime.co.uk

An unmatched sensory experience With bright colour, intense flavour and unique taste, the Reserva range is exclusively composed of young plant extracts, which contains a higher concentration of essential oils. www.cantinhodasaromaticas.pt geral@cantinhodasaromaticas.pt | Tel: (+351) 227710301

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October 2014 · Vol.15 Issue 9

shelf talk “Fruity, tingly and ruby red.”

That’s how Miss IntegriTea describes its three-star whole leaf Moroccan mint & hibiscus tea (35g, trade £4, RRP £5.99).

This antioxidant-rich blend of “sweet, tart” hibiscus and whole leaf peppermint can be served hot or chilled and is said to aid digestion and freshen breath.

All of the company’s teas are handblended in tiny batches and designed to have therapeutic qualities, drawing upon qualified medical herbalist Cindy Ledgerwood’s 20 years of experience.

Il Gelato di Ariela set out to create a product that was suitable for everyone, including those with food intolerances, and the result was its two-star dark plain chocolate sorbet.

Made exclusively with pure cocoa powder, dark plain chocolate, sugar, water and natural stabilizers, this “fantastically rich, smooth and indulgent” can be eaten by most people, especially the lactose intolerant. All of the producer’s gelato is made using authentic artisan methods with ingredients sourced, on the whole, from Italy. www.ilgelatodiariela.com

Described by their creator as “sweet, salty, soft and sticky”, these Moyallon 3 sweet bacon ribs are Hannan Meats’ latest Great Taste triumph. The product was Hannan’s ticket to a third straight Golden Fork for Best Speciality from Northern Ireland, not to mention yet another three-star and Top 50 spot. Each rack of ribs is dry-cured to a secret recipe before they are buried in a pit of three blended sugars for 10 days. They are available in packs of 20 for a wholesale price of £6.50/kg.

www.thenorfolksloecompany. com

www.hannanmeats.com

www.missintegritea.com

Rossa thinks it has created the perfect Christmas gelato and theGreat Taste judges were inclined to agree, awarding its panettone flavour two stars.

The producer has blended a light vanilla gelato with lemon zest, Marsala-soaked dried fruit, almonds and finished it off with large chunks of panettone. This seasonal gelato is available in 500ml pots, as well as 2.5 litre and 5 litre napolis for counters.

A specialist importer of products from the French Basque region and Spain, Patriana has won its fourth Great Taste award for yet another of its charcuterie products, duck breast saucisson. This unusual air-cured product comes from the free range Arnabar duck farm in the Basque region, and is made from pure duck breast with only seasoning and Armagnac brandy added. Each saucisson weighs around 100g and comes in wholesale vacuum packs of 10. www.patriana.com

The Norfolk Sloe Company says it has packed its Black Shuck sloe gin with fruit for an intense flavour that pleased Great Taste judges so much they awarded it three stars. It is made in small batches using premium quality gin to ensure that every bottle receives maximum attention to detail.

The drink comes in 10cl flaskes (RRP £8.49) and 50cl bottles (RRP £20.49), which can be bought in wholesale cases of 24 and 12 units respectively.

www.rossaicecream.com

Empanadas is the quintessential Argentine dish, according to Mora Foods, whose Malbecbraised beef empanada was deemed worthy of a one-star award this year. The producer slow-cooks the meat and vegetables in an Argentinian Malbec Reserva before handforming each empanada from small batches of dough. They are blast-frozen and packed, ready to bake, in cases of 36.

Great Taste judges described Cloudberry’s three-star winning sea-salted caramel as “the sexiest caramel sauce we have ever tasted”.

Entirely hand-made using only Irish ingredients with no additives or preservatives, it is available to retailers in cases of 12 jars and, for a limited time, these also come with an additional jar and point of sale material for sampling. The producer recommends spreading the sauce on toast or drizzling it on pancakes, waffles, ice cream or even fruit. www.cloudberrybakery.com

www.morafoods.com

The third generation to work in the family business, Ross and David Thompson personally taste and select every tea on behalf of their company and its flagship brand, Punjana. The two-star-winning blend combines teas from Kenya and Assam to produce “a rich, flavoursome and bright coloured cup”. Packs of 80 tea bags have an RRP of £2.39 while 160-bag packs retail for £4.49. Packs come in cases of eight and six units respectively. www.punjana.com

Vol.15 Issue 9 · October 2014

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classified • baking equipment

Do you make PIES or other sorts of pastry products?

We make incredibly versatile PIE MACHINES VISIT www.johnhuntbolton.co.uk TO SEE OUR RANGE OF MACHINES, PLUS VIDEO CLIPS OF THE MACHINES IN OPERATION OR CALL + 44 (0) 1204 521831 / 532798 OR FAX + 44 (0) 1204 527306 OR EMAIL spencer@johnhuntbolton.co.uk

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Windsor

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Freshness & Flavour sealed in ice

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

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

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The heart of UK food manufacturing ‘‘Dynamically Designed Depositor’’ Contact: Daniel Dunne

Sugar & dairy Standard & ingredients bespoke dairy blends Starches & sweeteners Emulsifiers & stabilisers Fats & oils Tel: (01454) 411446 sales@garrettingredients.co.uk www.garrettingredients.co.uk

Unit 2, Bridge Mills Rochdale Road, Edenfield Lancashire, England BL0 0RE Office: 00 44 (0)1706 825596 Fax: 00 44 (0)1706 826686 Mobile: 07710 723901 Email: david@interbake.co.uk

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

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October 2014 · Vol.15 Issue 9

01747 825200

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Fabrications for the food industry Stainless Steel & Aluminium Fabrications Tables • Sinks • Racks • Trolleys Bespoke Fabrications • Ware Washing Contact:

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SOPHIE’S STORE 14

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SALLY JACKSON 4

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DELI OF THE MONTH 48

Nick Hoare’s family spice connections add at to lease negotations Shop Stourhead Farm 7 · Vol 15 Issue August 2014

GET FRUITY jam Cram in more up with our roundves of sweet preser 45 CHEF’S SELECTION Mohacho Nieves Barragán white keeps El Navarrio asparagus, Calasparra rice and Don Bocarte at larders anchovies in the restaurants London tapas Fino Barrafino and

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23 GET FESTIVE August’s the time to get serious about your so Christmas range, read our round-up of new lines for the 2014 season

NEWS CHEESEWIRE CHARCUTERIE CAKES & PUDDINGS JAMS & PRESERVES TEA SHELF TALK

4 17 21 31 33 37 43

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www.finefoodworld.co.uk

Vol.15 Issue 9 · October 2014

63

Tuxford & Tebbutt

Taw Valley

Trevarrian

Award-winning cheeses from the UK’s No.1 dairy company, Arla Foods Arla Foods is proud to produce award-winning cheeses from British and Danish cheesemakers and farmers. Our rich variety of cheeses are produced with care at our creameries, which are devoted to preserving the heritage of fine cheesemaking. Several of our creameries have been established for over a hundred years and still use traditional methods that have been passed down through generations of passionate master cheesemakers.

To find out more about our quality cheeses and our award-winning portfolio, go to www.arlafoods.co.uk or contact Arla Foods on 0845 600 6688.

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