Ffd sept 13b by Guild of Fine Food

SAM ROSEN NASH 12

PRITI PATEL 4

PHIL JAMES 6

Essex MP tells us ‘We’re seeing far more local authorities of the foodie crowd’ must be ‘more says the Fortnum & progressive’ to Mason grocery buyer save high streets

‘We did a BOGOF deal for Pancake Day and had feedback saying, “Don’t do it again – it lowers the tone”’ September 2013 · Vol 14 Issue 8

PLATFORM FOR GROWTH Sourced Market’s Ben O’Brien on finding a second site to match his ground-breaking St Pancras store

TOP 50 FOODS 15 Find out the judges’ favourites among 2013’s Great Taste O D 3-star winners P5 0 FOO

CHEF’S SELECTION 74 Perthshire chef-hotelier Tom Lewis sings the praises of Katy Rogers’ crème fraîche, Cuddybridge apple & sea buckthorn juice and Arran blue cheese

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01/08/2013 12:30

What’s new this month:

Opinion

Only it doesn’t taste like vintage, and if producers and supermarkets constantly cheat on cheese, telling porkies about a few strawberries will hardly raise an BOB FARRAND eyebrow. According to Liverpool deli owner Candice Fonseca, her city centre is being “eaten alive by Tesco was fined £300,000 last Tesco”. “There are now 10, with month for misleading consumers a small one due to open just 30m by claiming to sell strawberries at from my door,” she tells us (page half price. Judge Michael Chambers 9). The net result is independent said the case was “shocking by shops are moving out. Why would its very nature” because shoppers anyone buy a properly matured have a “high degree of trust” in our British vintage cheddar from a national supermarket groups. deli if, according to the label, You bet your curly wig they you can find the same wedge do, your Lordship, and boy oh boy, for less than half the price in 10 has that trust been abused, as this local supermarkets – and park for month’s news pages testify. It’s not nothing into the just strawberries bargain? they lie about. If producers and Which appears The British supermarkets to be something Cheese Board is constantly cheat Conservative MP urging delis and on cheese, telling Priti Patel, chair farm shops to of the All Party check where their porkies about a Parliamentary Small cheddar is made few strawberries Group, has (see page 6). By will hardly raise an Shops missed as she urges courtesy of some eyebrow local authorities to lunatic Brussels be ‘more progressive’ legislation, if in tackling town centre decline cheese is cut and packed in the UK (page 4). She believes high streets there’s no need to tell consumers should become community hubs its country of origin. This is not and assures us Mary Portas’s Pilot exactly lying but, arguably, it’s still a scheme is doing a great job. betrayal of consumer trust. The honourable member for “How long does a cheddar Witham might care to read what need to mature to qualify as retailers really need to help their ‘vintage’?” I asked the chief struggling businesses. Trust me: steward halfway through judging at it’s certainly not an aspiring media a cheese competition last month. luvvie more wedded to creating “Depends who’s making the rules,” reality television than showing he replied. “For some supermarkets, genuine concern for fine food eight months is more than enough. retailing. They tell us to bung in loads of starter culture and raise maturing temperatures and, hey presto, Bob Farrand is publisher of Fine Food you’ve got a cheese that tastes like Digest and chairman of the Guild of vintage in less than half the time.” 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 News editor: Patrick McGuigan Art director: Mark Windsor Editorial production: Richard Charnley Contributors: Clare Hargreaves, Anne Bruce

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 Accounts: Stephen Guppy, Denise Ballance, Vicky Missen

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 2013. 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

Sliced salami MAP packs Suffolk Salami www.suffolksalami.co.uk

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I like to think I’m keeping a pretty close eye on the British charcuterie market at the mo, but it’s hard to keep pace with the rate of change. While many producers are wondering how they can afford to move their sliced meats out of vac-packs (which are far from ideal for thin-sliced lines) and into the better presentation of modified atmosphere packs, Suffolk Salami has just gone ahead and made the switch. While others are pondering how to promote this emerging sector generically, Suffolk Salami has trademarked a simple British Charcuterie logo that would have done the whole sector proud. Taking a leaf from Nike’s book, they just did it. Good on ’em.

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www.ffdonline.co.uk Vol.14 Issue 8 · September 2013

fine food news All-party Small Shops Group chair calls for ‘more progressive’ approach to town centres

Patel: Future of high streets is ‘leisure’, not weekly shop What should government do to help high street retailers?

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The best way to encourage people to set up new businesses on the high street would be to reduce business rates for start-ups. Rent on a small shop on our high street is around £25,000 and on top of that retailers have to pay around £6,000 in rates, which doesn’t even cover rubbish collection. We pay at least another £1,500, plus VAT, on rubbish each year. Rates are so high that a tough winter or a couple of lean months puts real pressure on businesses, particularly start-ups.

Sangita Tryner, Delilah, Nottingham

Claire Bruce-Clayton, Lawson’s Deli, Aldeburgh, Suffolk

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It’s got to be parking for us. The governmentowned car parks in Nottingham are some of the most expensive in the country. The nearest one to us is £3.60 for 10 minutes and the nearest on-street parking with meters is 15 minutes walk away. Traffic wardens hide down the side streets waiting for people to park outside our shop. It’s ludicrous. Central government has to do more to set stricter boundaries for councils, limiting how much they can charge for parking.

A lot has been made of the government getting banks to lend more to small businesses, but I would like to see more done to bring down charges for day-to-day business banking. I’m sure the big supermarkets don’t pay as much as us in banking charges. We get charged for putting cash in the bank and charged for taking it out again. It adds up to thousands every year, which comes straight off our bottom line.

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David Greenman, Arch House Deli, Bristol

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Employment law is a real burden. The same rules apply whether you are the BBC, the NHS or a high street shop, which doesn’t seem right. [Large organisations] have departments to deal with sick pay and holiday entitlement, but I have to deal with all that myself. Disciplinary procedures, for example, are difficult – you have to have investigatory meetings, get an independent chair and make sure all the paperwork is spot-on. It should be simplified for small businesses.

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Val Berry, Haley & Clifford, Leeds

Priti Patel MP says deli-cafés are well suited to a ‘leisure’ based high street By PATRICK McGUIGAN

Delis are well placed to benefit as Britain’s high streets evolve to become leisure destinations, according to the head of the Parliamentary group that campaigns on behalf of independent retailers. Conservative MP Priti Patel, who chairs the All Party Parliamentary Small Shops’ Group (APPSSG), told FFD local authorities need to be “more progressive” in the way they tackle declining high streets. She said town centres must be developed into places where people come to access services and have enjoyable experiences, rather

September 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 8

than simply to buy products – a proposition that is tailor-made for delis and food retailers. “High streets as they once were, that model is no longer going to work,” she said. “We need to make it an attractive destination where people want to come and spend their evenings or do a bit of shopping, go to lunch, go to the local deli, buy some good local produce. You cannot get that through a click of a mouse on the internet or going to an out-of-town supermarket.” To help achieve this, local authorities should make it easier for delis and cafés to put tables and chairs outside their shops, she

said, while integrating public leisure facilities with high streets was also key. “Our high streets need to encompass our public realms, making them community hubs. You want people to come and have a leisure experience, whether that’s a swimming pool or a theatre or a park within walking distance of the high street.” The APPSSG meets every two months to discuss different topics with the relevant government minister and representatives from the Independent Retailers Confederation, which includes FFD’s publisher, the Guild of Fine Food. Discussions have included

business rates, parking and planning consent with energy prices to be debated after the recess. Patel defended the government’s Portas Pilot scheme, fronted by TV retail expert Mary Portas, which aims to encourage towns to develop innovative ideas to revive their troubled high streets. “I’ve seen and heard the criticism of the Portas Pilot, but Braintree in my constituency has had money and they are using it effectively,” she said. “Money is not the answer; it’s about the political direction and leadership of some of these authorities.” Follow us on

@ffdonline

Westmorland recruiting for new M5 services

IN BRIEF

By MICHAEL LANE

l The Real Bread Campaign

A new Gloucestershire motorway service area from the operators of the innovative Tebay services on the M6 in Cumbria has begun the task of hiring staff in preparation for next summer’s opening. Westmorland’s second motorway services, between M5 junctions 11a and 12, will be a similar set-up to its Tebay site, which features two farm shops with a strong emphasis on regional food. Gloucester Services is looking to hire more than 150 staff, including a site manager as well as management positions for its retail, catering, café and farm shop departments as well as the role of head chef. The northbound services will be developed first, opening in time for Summer 2014. The project is valued at £40

launches a month-long celebration of sourdough this month. Sourdough September will see bakers run special bread-making classes, tastings and events. Organisers are also encouraging members of the public to ‘name and shame’ breads that falsely claim to be sourdough using the Twitter hashtag #sourdoh

l Figures from the Office for

million and will employ 300 people in total. The new service area will be the first to work in partnership with a charity and hopes to raise £10m over 20 years for Gloucestershire Gateway Trust, which will spend the

money on community initiatives. Anyone interested in applying for the job of business manager or any other post should visit the Gloucester Services section of Westmorland’s website. www.westmorland.com

Waitrose on the march with farm shop and Truro store By MICK WHITWORTH

The inexorable march of Waitrose continued last month with the High Court giving the green light to a controversial new store in Cornwall and the John Lewis Partnership opening its first farm shop. A High Court judge overturned objections by Truro City Council and some local retailers to the £40m Truro East development that will now see a Waitrose store built on Duchy of Cornwall land on the edge of Truro. The scheme will incorporate a park-and-ride and the building of 100 new homes, while the Waitrose building will incorporate a separate Cornish food hall to be operated by The Taste of Cornwall, a consortium of farmers and food processors. The food hall aims to “bring a complete selection of Cornish produce from across all of Cornwall under one roof and make it available, seven days a week, to as many shoppers as possible”. Although protestors expressed disappointment at the judicial review, The Taste of Cornwall’s chairman, Elwyn Jones, welcomed the news, saying the Truro East development was supported by 80% of the local population. A few days earlier, Waitrose announced the opening of ‘The Farm Shop, Leckford Estate’, a 165 sq metre store on the John Lewis Partnership’s 4,000 acre working farm in Hampshire – now known as “the Waitrose farm”. As well as showcasing the Estate’s produce the shop has already established links with over

National Statistics showed that food price inflation rose from 3.9% to 4.4% in July, despite overall inflation falling. Fruit prices were up 10%, with apple prices 36% higher than a year ago and pears 30% dearer. Pork sausages were up 11%, beef mince rose 8.4% and bread and cereal prices increased 4.6% as poor harvests and rising global demand pushed up feed costs.

l Small food and drink businesses will get the chance to pitch their products to Sainsbury’s buyers as part of a new initiative to provide companies with a direct route onto retailers’ shelves. PitchUp with Sainsbury is part of a national campaign called StartUp Britain, which helps start-up businesses find routes to the market.

l Long Clawson Dairy’s Claxstone Smooth Blue was named Supreme Champion at this year’s International Cheese Awards in Nantwich. The title of Reserve Supreme Champion was awarded to an Extra Creamy Gorgonzola, produced by Arrigoni and distributed by Bradbury's.

l Northern Irish cheese-maker Leggygowan Farm has upgraded its facilities, which will allow it to make four times as much goats’ cheese and meet growing demand at home and abroad. The Co Down-based business, which makes a white semisoft and a blue cheese, will be able to process 300 litres of milk a week.

l Scottish producer Mackie’s Crisps has moved into a new factory, located on the 11-acre site of the former brickworks in Errol, that will see it double its production capacity to service growing demand at home and abroad.

60 local suppliers. The farm shop, which includes an 80-cover coffee shop, is housed in a purpose-built oakframed building, with shop fittings handmade by a local carpenter. Waitrose said the Estate had worked with Taste of the South East and Hampshire Fare to identify local producers. Nationally, the company stocks 2,500 locally and regionally sourced products from 600 suppliers.

l East Kent Goldings hops have become the latest British food and drink product to gain Protected Designation of Origin status from the European Commission.

For regular news updates from FFD visit: The Leckford farm shop: bespoke fittings in a bespoke building

www.ffdonline.co.uk Vol.14 Issue 8 · September 2013

fine food news Call for clearer labelling of imported block cheeses Independent retailers are being urged to double check where their block cheddar comes from, with concerns that some cheese carrying UK labelling actually originates from Ireland. The British Cheese Board and other dairy industry groups wrote an open letter to the European Commission last month calling for mandatory labelling for dairy products, which would clearly inform consumers of the country of origin of the milk and the place of manufacture. Under current EU legislation, cheese made outside the UK but cut and packed in this country can carry a UK health mark on its packaging. “This is misleading consumers and is unfair to hard working dairy farmers,” said the campaigners in

the letter. “Our aim is simple: only dairy products made in this country from milk produced by Britain’s dairy farmers should be labelled as British.” Nigel White, secretary of the British Cheese Board, said the problem centred around Irish block cheddar. “Around 100,000 tonnes of Irish cheddar is put into this market each year and our total cheddar market is around 330,000-340,000 tonnes so it’s quite a large percentage,” he said. “The deli sector does a good job of clearly labelling the origin of its cheese, but it can be hard to tell the difference visually between Irish and British block cheddar. If you’re not fully sure where the cheese was made it is worth checking with your supplier.”

British block cheddar – or is it Irish?

Delifonseca drops ‘deli’ for Liverpool city centre outlet Award winning Liverpool retailer Delifonseca has replaced its citycentre deli with a bar and café due to stiff competition from the multiples and because customers prefer to drive to its edge-of-town outlet. Retail sales at the company’s first store in Stanley Street have suffered since it opened a 3,000 sq ft food hall, butchery and restaurant on the city’s Brunswick Dock in 2010, said owner Candice Fonseca. “The Dockside branch has good parking and it has been stealing customers from Stanley Street,” she said. “Liverpool city centre has shifted since the Liverpool One

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

Phil James Ludwell Stores & Post Office, Dorset There’s been a village shop here for 200 years and we’ve been here since 2007, so we’re really just passing through. The shop will keep going long after we’ve left, so it’s our job to make sure we don’t ruin it. My wife Jo and I come from a background in wine – we had more than 25 years in retail and I was also on the buying and selling side. It was good having that experience but in some ways we didn’t appreciate fully that after 200 years the shop isn’t ours, it belongs to the customers. I was a bit arrogant in my wine selling days – people would come to me to buy. But we’re part of the community here and return business

September 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 8

Gulf investor buys Tyrrells By MICHAEL LANE

Crisp and snack producer Tyrrells was bought from Langholm Capital for £100m last month by Bahrianbased private equity firm Investcorp. Tyrrells’ chief executive David Milner said the investment would help accelerate the Herefordshire company’s sales growth in export markets, which currently account for 20% of sales. Investcorp, which also has offices in New York, London and Saudi Arabia, invests in a variety of sectors across the globe. Other recent acquisitions include Scandinavian luxury brand Georg Jensen and oil services provider Hydrasun. This is the second time Tyrrells has changed hands since it was set up in 2002 by potato farmer Will Chase. It was purchased by Langholm in April 2008 for around £40m. Still based at Tyrrells Court Farm, the company employs 270 people. www.investcorp.com www.tyrrellscrisps.co.uk

shopping development opened so footfall is not as high as it used to be. “The city is also being eaten alive by Tesco. There are 10 now in the centre with a small one due to open just 30m from my door.” She added that the new basement bar and café would target the lunchtime trade and would be popular with diners in the evening as they wait for tables in the busy ground-floor restaurant. “It’s sad but true that Liverpool city centre is not a foodie destination,” she said. “People won’t spend the money, but they will if they are able to park.” www.delifonseca.co.uk

Tyrrells: export drive

post office. We try to be jack of all trades and not to have a USP. We’ve looked around for similar shops but we haven’t found anyone like us yet so we’ve had to learn the path we wanted to take for ourselves. We’ve picked up things from customers as we’ve gone along. So, for example, our customers don’t like promotions. They just don’t work in our shop. Around pancake day we offered a buy-one-get-one-free deal

the capital back and reuse it on something that’s going to sell. We worked out that if you stock things in abundance, they will sell, especially fruit and veg. There’s no point having one or two aubergines in stock. Buy a whole tray and they will fly out. We were named the Daily Telegraph & Countryside Alliance Village Shop of the Year in 2011, which was voted for by the public. We knew nothing about it until they told us we had won. Turnover went up 30% in the months straight after and 15% over the year. We’ve decided to use the money we made to install a kitchen so we can sell takeaway sandwiches and coffees. A village shop is not just somewhere to buy things; it’s also a place to for the community to meet. There are always customers chatting to each other in the shop. It’s like a village green.

is so important. We’ve learned to see the big picture. That person who’s buying a stamp and who you haven’t smiled at could be the one who was going to buy a bottle of That person who’s buying a stamp Champagne. and who you haven’t smiled at could When we were looking be the one who was going to buy a at the shop we bottle of Champagne! had to keep on French crêpes. They just didn’t sell reminding ourselves that we’re not and we had feedback saying don’t just a deli. We naturally wanted to do it again, it lowers the tone. get in lots of really nice food, but had We’ve learned to be quite strict to restrain ourselves. about getting rid of lines if they We fit into lots of different are not selling. We’ll move them at categories. We’re part convenience cost or below cost so we can get store, part deli, part off-licence, part

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Interview by PATRICK McGUIGAN

@ffdonline

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Vol.14 Issue 8 路 September 2013

fine food news new openings

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

Wholesaler to showcase range in own Italian deli By PATRICK McGUIGAN

Leicestershire wholesaler Just So Italian has moved into retail with a new deli in Market Harborough, which will act as a showroom for its range of over 500 products. Danilo and Alison Trozzi, who set up the company four years ago, hope their trade customers – mainly delis, farm shops and food halls – will visit the new 40 sq m shop so they can see and taste the products for themselves. “It’s difficult to get a proper idea of what we do from a catalogue,” said Alison Trozzi. “We’ll be inviting our wholesale customers to come along and have a look at the shop because it showcases our entire product range in one place.” The shop includes two large chillers for charcuterie and cheese, plus a takeaway food counter serving pizza al taglio (by the slice), focaccias and a large ‘pasticceria’ section selling sweet pastry treats such as cannoli and aragostine. “We decided against a café because there are already so many coffee shops in the town and we didn’t want to step on people’s toes.” said Trozzi. “It’s the same with wine. We don’t stock a huge range, just some Prosecco and liqueurs like limoncello and nocino, because there is already a very good wine merchant in the town.” Hampers are already an important part of the business, but the Trozzis

At a glance l Market Harborough is home to a large number of commuters who work in London. “People like to treat themselves at the weekend, but are also looking for convenience during the week, so we plan to launch a range of ready-meals, such as lasagne, sourced from Italy,” said Trozzi.

l The town already has two Tescos, a Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Lidl and Aldi, but the area where the deli is based has a strong independent food retail scene. Four shops – Bates Butchers, Martin Hobbs Fishmongers, Simply Simon’s Café and Duncan Murray Wines – have joined forces to promote the area as the Food Quarter. The Trozzis are keen to support and be included in the scheme.

l Products on sale in the shop include cheese, such as Gorgonzola and Taleggio from supplier Ciresa, charcuterie, including finocchiona, coppa and salami Milano from Golfera, and pasta from Pastificio Masciarelli.

l Harborough District Council has

Just So Italian’s deli is the newest addition to Market Harborough’s Food Quarter

hopes to increase sales with an area dedicated to packing and wrapping in the shop. “People still love Italian food. You only need to look at the big

chains – Pizza Express, Zizzis, Ask – to see that,” said Trozzi. “But they use the lower end of production, which is what we steer away from. People haven’t had the good stuff a lot of the

launched a £410,000 project to revamp the town’s indoor Market Hall with a new food hall and remodelled layout. Work is due to start in 2014.

time, but being in a deli you can slice a piece of meat or cheese and get them to try for themselves. They can tell the difference.” www.justsoitalian.co.uk

Muddy Boots Farm Shop Balmalcolm, Fife

The Cotswold Cheese Company

The Wood Street Foodhall Swindon, Wilts

The farm shop has opened a newly expanded adventure play area, over three times the size of the previous one. It includes a jumping pillow (pictured), sand pits, hand-operated diggers and ride-on trucks and bikes. It features recycled elements, such as obstacles made from tyres, climbing towers made from telegraph poles and tunnels made from irrigation tanks. The shop and café, which started as roadside raspberry stall, also offers activities such as zorbing, quad-bike trains, pig racing and pottery painting.

The Cotswold Cheese Company, which has a standalone shop in Moreton-inMarsh, has opened a new shop inside wine merchant Bennett’s Fine Wines on Chipping Campden High Street. “We have already worked successfully with our shop in Moreton-in-Marsh selling Bennett’s Fine Wines, and, partly due to demand, we decided to do the reverse, and offer our cheeses in the wine shop in Chipping Campden,” said Jon Goodchild, who runs The Cotswold Cheese Company with wife Lisa. The Goodchilds will offer advice on wine and cheese matching and are planning a free local delivery service.

Simon Rhodes, who runs the Lobster Pot fishmongers at Cobbs Farm Shop in Hungerford, launched Wood Street Food Hall last month. The new shop contains a fresh fish counter, meat counter run by butcher Graham Burroughs (who also operates at Cobbs) and a wide range of fruit and veg. “People’s shopping habits have changed after the horsemeat scandal. They’re fed up of being deceived by the supermarkets and want to buy fresh local food from retailers they can trust,” said Rhodes.

Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire

www.cotswoldcheese.com

www.muddybootsfife.com

Vol.14 Issue 8 · September 2013

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September 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 8

Warm summer rescues trade after poor kick-off to 2013 By PATRICK McGUIGAN

Sunny weather in June, July and August helped delis and farm shops bounce back after tough trading conditions last summer and a poor start to this year, when rain and cold temperatures severely dented sales. Paul Hargreaves, owner of wholesaler Cotswold Fayre, said sales were up 46% in July compared to the same month in 2012 with soft drinks and crisps performing particularly well as people had barbecues and picnics. “There’s definitely more buoyancy in the market after the hot weather,” he said. “There’s a

Great Taste winners vote for Shop of the Year

Year of the Shop

After years of seeing their products chewed over by fine food retailers on Great Taste judging panels, award-winning producers turned the tables last month to vote for the best delis, farm shops and food halls in Britain. More than 1,600 specialist food and drink suppliers were invited to nominate shops for the inaugural Great Taste Shop of the Year. Each award-winner was asked to nominate three stores they consider the best in their sector. The 10 outlets that garnered the most votes were then visited by expert mystery shoppers last month to select 2013’s top fine food shop. The winner will be announced at the Great Taste Dinner in London on September 9. Great Taste organiser and FFD associate publisher John Farrand said: “No-one gets closer to the best fine food stores than the producers who supply them. “Asking for nominations from Great Taste award winners gives us a huge pool of ‘judges’, so no single producer can have an undue influence.” Mystery shoppers assessed the 10 finalists against criteria including the balance and quality of local, national and Continental food ranges, as well as merchandising, product knowledge and “good oldfashioned sales skills”. @guildoffinefood #greattasteawards

Katie Taylor: ‘Great summer for courtyard dining’

psychological effect when the sun shines that makes people feel more positive and confident, so we’ve

seen Christmas orders increase 50% compared to last year.” At wholesaler A Pride of Place, Simon Hurley said the company had seen double digit growth this summer compared to last, with Mediterranean foods such as olives, soft drinks and ice creams all performing well. Katie Taylor, owner of Drewton’s Farm Shop in Yorkshire, estimated her sales were up by around 20% compared to last year. “It has been great this summer with our courtyard and dining areas full and plenty of table bookings for dining. Also, the farm shop, and especially

London deli teams up with new online shop Chiswick deli Mortimer & Bennett has teamed up with a new home delivery company specialising in artisan foods. Shop owner Dan Mortimer already had his own online mail-order business, but decided to also list his fresh products, such as cheese and charcuterie, with start-up delivery firm Tilia. “I mainly sell dry goods through my website because it’s complicated to send fresh products via courier,” he said. “You need specialist packaging and the products are often quite fragile. “Working with Tilia is an easy way to distribute cheese and charcuterie. They email me the

order, I put it together and then they collect. It also allows me to sell small amounts – just 50-100g of cheese, say – which wouldn’t be worth doing myself via courier.” Set up by former city worker Rob Ford, Tilia sells products from retailers, food producers and street food operators in and around London, including butchers Allens of Mayfair, chocolatier Cocomaya and kosher deli Adafina. Customers order online and delivery is free for orders over £50. The service is currently only available in the Capital, although there are plans to roll out nationally. www.tilia.co.uk

Online shop Tilia plans to roll out nationally @ffdonline

the butchers, has seen sales increase with barbecues,” she said. Ice cream maker Marshfield Farm said farm shops with outside attractions such as children’s play areas had been the big winners of the summer. “This is my 25th year of making ice cream and it has been, without doubt, our busiest summer,” said co-owner Will Hawking. “Sales to farm shops have increased by around 25% while delis were up 10-20%. “Retailers with scoop and cone operations did particularly well – sales to those businesses doubled on average.”

Scottish sea salt picks up the pace Competition is set to heat up in the rapidly growing sea salt market after Scottish start-up Hebridean Sea Salt moved to larger production premises and revealed plans to build sales across the UK. Maldon, Cornish Sea Salt and Anglesey’s Halen Môn currently dominate sales of sea salt in speciality stores, but Hebridean’s founder Natalie Crayton said she was confident there was room for a new national player. “The market for sea salt is growing at 10% a year and we have a different story and provenance,” she said. “We’re also launching some unique products, such as peat-smoked and seaweed-infused sea salt.” The company, based on Loch Erisort on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, has been testing the market for the past year, supplying Scottish retailers and chefs with salt from a small research and development unit. The new facility will increase production capacity from around 60 boxes a day to 700, enabling the company to sell to retailers south of the border by courier and through wholesalers for the first time. Exports are also a key focus with Crayton targeting Asian and North American markets. Secretary of State for Scotland Michael Moore helped open the business last month. www.hebrideanseasalt.co.uk

Vol.14 Issue 8 · September 2013

fine food news

Maid in Piccadilly Interview Fortnum’s buyer Sam Rosen Nash tells MICK WHITWORTH that ‘all ideas are welcome to the table’ under the store’s new leadership – including a range of seasonal preserves made in-house by Rosen Nash herself

f the 120-odd suppliers on grocery buyer Sam Rosen Nash’s roster at Fortnum & Mason, most are British, many are artisan in nature and some are producing only tiny volumes on a ‘when it’s gone, it’s gone’ basis. But few of Fortnum’s products are made on a more cottageindustry scale than one of this summer’s more intriguing additions: a strawberry jam, handmade in the store’s own in-house production kitchens by Sam Rosen Nash herself. Labelled ‘Made in Piccadilly’, it was the first of what she hopes will be an ongoing series of small-batch, relatively short shelf-life products, produced with fresh, seasonal ingredients and strengthening the store’s credibility with serious foodies. “Made in Piccadilly was born of wanting a huge, sumptuous display of strawberries in our fresh food department for Wimbledon, yet not wanting to have any waste,” she says. “I said, ‘That’s alright, I’ll make jam with them!’. “I already had a basic recipe, because I make a lot of jam at home, and our head of technical was able to advise me on what I needed in terms of temperatures and pH. So there I was, in the kitchen, sugaring tonnes of strawberries – and beginning to rue the day as it got hotter and hotter...” When Rosen Nash spoke to FFD in early August, the summer 2013 batch of jam had long sold out and its maker was already thinking about the next glut of produce: tomatoes, probably, to be followed by plums. Made in Piccadilly is not just a neat idea but also a sign of a new freedom Rosen Nash has been enjoying as a buyer since the arrival of Ewan Venters as CEO from Selfridges a year ago. “When it comes to new product development, the world is very much my oyster,” she says, “and I’m encouraged to let my imagination fly – as long as it will sell. “It’s like good parenting: the more you are encouraged, the more you grow as a person and step out. All ideas are welcome to the table, and that’s what Made in Piccadilly was about: it was allowing me to be me.” Venters’ first year has seen a significant shake-up in Fortnum’s senior management team, with the departure of retail director Tim Fisher and trading director Simon

September 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 8

ambient foods with the exception of tea, coffee and confectionery. She handles around 1,700 SKUs, or individual lines, including preserves, puddings, spices, oils and pantry ingredients. So she has been wellplaced to spot this new interest from serious cooks. “I see it mainly among my savoury ingredients,” she says. “English Saffron is doing really well. Forage Fine Foods [a herbs and natural flavourings supplier] is doing well. Who would have thought that lemon myrtle would be in my Top 10 ingredients each week?” Between a fifth and a quarter of her supplier list changes each year, and she says most of the churn happens on the shop’s lower ground floor – the “kitchen cupboard” section – rather than jams or biscuits, where the emphasis is very much on Fortnum’s own-label. For most delis and farm shops, “own-label” means having their logo plonked on a standard, offthe-peg product, but every Fortnum & Mason-branded line is made to its There’s a real own recipe, and their vibe about the exclusivity is seen as customers coming an important draw. A few lines push through the door – luxury to its limits, we’re seeing like an “upstart” far more of the Christmas pudding foodie crowd for 2013 produced for Fortnum’s in Kendal by new supplier The Ultimate Pudding smiles about the building.” Co. Rosen Nash says: “We’ve taken One new initiative since Venters out the cognac and rum, and put succeeded Beverley Aspinall as chief in Julian Temperley’s Somerset cider executive last summer has been the brandy, damson gin and ginger launch of monthly ‘food markets’, wine, with Cumbrian damsons with around 20 producers coming running through it. And to crown into the store, usually on a Friday and it we’ve used English cobnuts from Saturday, to give tastings and chat Kent, which have all been cracked with customers. Businesses slated by hand.” At the heart of the to take part last month included pudding is a Somerset cider brandy Ireland’s Burren Smokehouse, butter, threaded with gold leaf. Denmark’s Lakrids Liquorice and two And one lucky customer will get an small British brands championed added surprise at Christmas, as a by Rosen Nash: Indian-style snack gold sovereign has been secreted maker Duke of Delhi and Essex-based inside one of the thousands of English Saffron. puddings on sale. As the profile of the markets “Ultimate Puddings are a grows, so does footfall, says Rosen magnificent, artisan company,” says Nash. “Whether those are new Rosen Nash, “and they’ve gone with shoppers I don’t know, but ever every harebrained idea I’ve had.” since Ewan arrived, awareness Around 800 of her 1,700 SKUs has been growing. It feels we’re are under the store’s label, and seeing far more of the ‘foodie’ most are made by suppliers with crowd. There’s a real vibe about the which Fortnum’s has had a long customers coming through the door, relationship. “We do find new ones, and we’re being asked about those but we’re very loyal to our ownharder-to-find ingredients.” label suppliers,” she says, “and in Rosen Nash’s remit as grocery turn we get the flexibility to develop buyer covers all of Fortnum’s Burdess, both of whom were exMarks & Spencer. The executive board – including buying director Tim French, a former wine buyer who, like Rosen Nash, has worked his way up through the Fortnum’s ranks – are said to be working on a new strategy for the store, to be unveiled in November. To say they are remaining “tightlipped” until then would be an understatement, and FFD’s questions about whether Fortnums will reposition itself against food hall competitors like Harrods and Whole Foods are swiftly brushed off by its newly appointed PR consultancy. But Rosen Nash says there is already a palpable change of mood about the place, both in the public spaces and in the management offices, partly from the energy generated by the ambitious Venters and his new team. “You can feel it in the atmosphere. The guys on the shop floor are a lot more open in their approach. There are lots of

❛

❜

any recipe we want.” The bulk of own-label business is conducted on a open-book basis, requiring suppliers to disclose their costings. Open-book is often seen as a stick to beat suppliers with, but Rosen Nash says it makes price conversations more straightforward. “If you set all the parameters in place, it’s a lot easier: you know what the lead times are, what the sugar cost is, what the manpower cost is. If I know the cost of freerange eggs is going up, there’s not much point in saying I won’t pay it.” And it looks as though an even bigger slice of Fortnum’s range will be going into own-label over the next couple of years. The shop’s name is seen as a quality guarantee, says Rosen Nash, and exclusive recipes give shoppers a reason to trek across London rather than popping into Waitrose. So there is currently “a lot of investment in NPD”, with the idea of replacing more branded products with own-label alternatives. “We’re looking at our best-selling proprietary categories and either working with the producer to create a Fortnum’s version or looking at how we can get them made ourselves.” Categories under the spotlight include tea and bakery. “We’re seeing a huge focus on tea, and to reflect that we’ve recently launched a range of tea-infused preserves and tea-leaf biscuits. We’re using Fortnum & Mason teas, and a simple butter biscuit with no oils or flavours. “Lapsang Souchong is one of my current favourites and we’re doing Lapsang Souchong biscuits and a Lapsang Souchong & blackberry preserve. “Not everyone likes Lapsang – it’s challenging – but it’s a very evocative flavour and in the preserves it absolutely works.” A new range of gluten-free and sugar-free products is due for launch in November, covering puddings, biscuits and jams. The hardest category to crack in own-label is snacks, says Rosen Nash, because the cost of production quickly drives most producers to pursue scale, rather than artisan quality. “I love the new Mr Trotter’s jalapeno chilli scratchings – that’s really taking the [posh pork scratchings] idea forward – but I don’t have the volume to be able to do something like that under own-label. And because snacks are

Sam Rosen Nash: ‘When it comes to new product development, the world is very much my oyster’

linked to the impulse, on-the-go market they’re generally at a lower price point. “Having said that, there are new people coming through, like Cambrook’s nuts, which are fantastic, and Duke of Delhi. But it’s hard to find that ‘new and exclusive’ taste sensation.” Aside from working in France for a few years, Rosen Nash has been a Fortnum & Mason lifer, starting on the shop floor and progressing through its management trainee scheme, working in warehousing, customer service, hampers and even as secretary to the directors. “Fortnum’s has really supported me, from shop assistant to buyer, and not many businesses do that,” she says. In her first year she caught the eye of fresh food buyer Simon Vernon, who later became her husband. Five years ago the couple took on the tenancy of his family’s farm near Rugby, and Vernon is now a full-time dairy farmer, while his wife catches the milk train to London each day, reaching her office at 7.30am. She describes herself as “a bit of nurturer”, a trait that comes through both at home, growing her vegetables and helping with the animals, and at work, where she displays a markedly less hardbitten approach than many of her supermarket equivalents. “One thing I find hard is reining myself back sometimes,” she says. “I want to stock everything.” She also finds it tough “saying no to cold-calling suppliers, or letting them down”.“As a business, we make it part of our role to taste every producer that comes through the door, and to give constructive feedback. And that can be quite hard when the product is sitting in front of you.” De-listing products is hard too, she says. “But we do want to be listing the best of everything, and when a really good product comes along, sometimes you have to drop something else. There are so many artisan producers in the UK now that you can cherry-pick in all sorts of areas. It’s very different from even 10 years ago.” And, much as Rosen Nash is bombarded by emails from budding suppliers, she insists she always wants more to get in touch. “It keeps my product categories alive,” she says. www.fortnumandmason.com

Vol.14 Issue 8 · September 2013

Kent’s Kitchen gravies and stockpots make winter cooking easier and tastier. The gravies include beef, chicken and onion and create a thick, glossy gravy to enhance your meal. Easy to make and stored in the cupboard before and after opening.

Visit www.kentskitchen.co.uk, email emma@kentskitchen.co.uk or call 07966 888240

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

September 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 8

C Sa ots w Ke mw old nt ays Fa ’s ra Kit sto yre ng ch ck & es en al . ’s l

The stockpots include beef, chicken and vegetable and add a great taste to home made dishes. Just pop into soups, stews and casseroles to add real flavour.

Pizza Perfection ❝For years Britain’s supermarkets have been getting pizzas wrong— so we thought it was time the public deserved the real deal. With Dough It Yourself’s plain or wholemeal bases and a choice of ❝What can I say?! The best pizza I have had in years❜❜ David, Manchester

three gorgeous sauces, you can create a stunning, thin-crust homemade pizza in minutes.❜❜ Mark McGuinness, owner of Don Marco Food Company Ltd, makers of Dough It Yourself

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E info@don-marco.com W www.doughityourself.org T 07597-688078 www.facebook.com/doughityourself @donmarcofoodco

great taste 2013

Simply the best After a record number of entries this year, Great Taste’s judges have again chosen the 50 best products from a starting pool of over 9,500

t was another record-breaking year for Great Taste with the number of entries in 2013 cruising past 2012’s 8,807 and breaking the 9,000 barrier. In fact, there were nearly 1,000 more products to assess this year and it took 405 judges more than 50 days to get through it all. While the bulk of judging was carried out at the Guild of Fine Food’s new HQ in Dorset, there was also a week of judging in Ireland and three days at the Royal Garden Hotel in London as well as sessions at specialist test centres for tea, filter coffee, espresso and olive oil. Between May and July, the 9,738 food and drink products entered were whittled down to 2,524 one-stars, 645 two-stars, and 125 three-stars. These three-star products were all assessed for a second time by 41 expert palates

Edinburgh Gin infused with elderflower

to determine the list of Top 50 products that follows over the next five pages. Many readers will already be familiar with some of the producers on the list as the line-up has been steadily unveiled by the Guild on Twitter and www.greattasteawards. co.uk over the last month. Those that want to know more about the Top 50 can also view 60-second reviews of each product, carried out by a number of experts, on the Great Taste website. Reviewers include Glynn Christian, Xanthe Clay, Woman & Home food editor Jane Curran and Harrods’ director of food Bruce Langlands. “In the same way as Jilly Goolden brings wine alive for those who want to understand more about it, our 60-second reviews will be telling you

Monday September 9 will see the annual Great Taste Dinner take place as well as the crowning of regional winners and the 2013 Supreme Champion. To find every product that has achieved one-, two-, and three-star accreditation visit www.greattasteawards.co.uk

Stornoway water biscuit with Hebridean seaweed STAG BAKERIES

SPENCERFIELD SPIRIT CO

www.stagbakeries.co.uk

www.spencerfieldspirit.com

Baked on the Isle of Lewis, these traditional Stornoway water biscuits are flavoured with Hebridean seaweed harvested from local sea lochs. The biscuits have been developed to evoke a taste of the sea and the judges thought this was delivered in both aroma and flavour with just the right amount of salt. They also thought the biscuits would be a good carrier for cheese or paté.

Spencerfield has taken its Edinburgh Gin and infused it with fresh elderflower. The drink’s fresh, citrusy taste impressed the judges, who labelled it “a joy to drink”. The producer says the gin can be served on its own over ice, added to soda or used in a variety of cocktails.

Green pepper venison salami

Scotland

how to taste the food, how to use it and bring you closer to the producer who makes it,” said Guild managing director John Farrand. “Expert judges will help find those flavours and help you understand what makes this food better than the mass-produced things you can buy.”

GREAT GLEN GAME

www.greatglengame.co.uk

This salami is made with sustainably sourced wild Venison from the Scottish Highlands and flavoured with green peppercorns. “Very appetising aroma and a fine, soft, moist texture,” said the judges. “The balance of pepper is just right. It is powerful but not over-powering.”

Smoked salmon over oak UIG LODGE

www.uiglodge.co.uk

When it comes to its curing and smoking process, the smokehouse at Uig Lodge on the Isle of Lewis says it treats each fish independently, even taking the weather into account. Judges praised the colour and buttery texture of the fish but were also wowed by its balanced oaky flavour and the touch of sweetness in the finish. Vol.14 Issue 8 · September 2013

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September 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 8

100x287-1_GB-Fine Food Digest.indd 1

24.07.13 09:56

great taste 2013 National Trust blackcurrant curd THURSDAY COTTAGE

www.thursday-cottage.com

Pure UBU ale

PURITY BREWING COMPANY

Prepared by hand at Thursday Cottage’s Essex HQ, the main ingredients in this curd are free range eggs, free range butter, blackcurrant juice and cane sugar. Great Taste judges praised the product’s smoothness, colour and buttery texture as well as the balance between sharp blackcurrant and sweetness.

www.puritybrewing. com

East Anglia & the Midlands

At 4.5% ABV, this amber ale is Purity’s strongest and darkest beer. Pure UBU is brewed with English Maris Otter, Crystal, Black and Wheat malts and Hallertau Northern Brewer and Cascade hops. Judges enjoyed the precision with which this beer delivers its malt, toffee and orange flavours.

QUALITY AND EXCELLENCE

www.qualityandexcellence. co.uk

Described by judges as “very handsome”, this shortcrust pastry pie is made by hand at Theydon Boisbased butcher shop Quality and Excellence. The judges also commended the texture of the pastry, generous amount of meat in the filling and the judicious use of Stilton to complement, rather than overpower, the other ingredients.

Marybelle Greek-style yoghurt

Colston Bassett Shropshire Blue

MARYBELLE DAIRY

COLSTON BASSETT DAIRY

www.marybelle.co.uk

This smooth Greek-style yoghurt is made using a blend of local milk sourced from Norfolk and Suffolk. “Beautiful colour and creamy consistency and a lovely acidic aroma that makes you want to dive in,” said the judges. “Full, rich and deeply creamy flavour with a refreshing tang.”

www.colstonbassettdairy.com

This traditional creamy blue is made from pasteurised cows’ milk and has a distinctive orange body and a milder flavour than the Stilton for which Colston Bassett is best known. Each cheese is matured for 6-8 weeks to make a product that judges thought was “divine”.

Dutch Mistress

Damson cream ice

BROCK HALL FARM DAIRY

Stonewell dry cider STONEWELL CIDER

Ireland

Steak & Stilton pie

www.brockhallfarm.com

ALDER TREE

After last year’s Top 50 triumph with her Capra Nouveau, goats’ cheese specialist Sarah Hampton has made the list this year with her semi-hard rind-washed Dutch Mistress. As with all of her cheese, it is made with milk from Brock Hall’s own herd of pedigree, free-range Pure Saanen goats. Judges said: “Nice creamy texture with great grassy notes and a pleasing acidic tang with a long lingering finish.”

www.alder-tree.co.uk

Suffolk-based Alder Tree’s ice cream-style dessert is made with just three ingredients: damsons (36%), British cream and sugar. Judges raved about the texture of the product (“light and creamy at the same time”) and the sharpness of the fruit coming through.

Stonewell medium dry cider

www.stonewellcider. com

STONEWELL CIDER

Made by the small team at County Cork-based Stonewell, this dry cider is made with Dabinett and Michelin apples, which are sorted manually, milled, pressed and fermented separately. The judges said it was “impressive and sophisticated with a Prosecco-like effervescence”.

www.stonewellcider. com

This is the second of two ciders in the Top 50 from County Cork’s Stonewell. It is produced using a blend of Dabinett, Michelin, Elstar, Jonagored and Falstaff apples, which are all sorted manually, milled, pressed and fermented separately. Judges called it “light, refreshing, well balanced and delicious”.

Burren smoked Irish organic salmon with seaweed marinade

BURREN SMOKEHOUSE www.burrensmokehouse.ie

Port jelly

CORLEGGY CHEESES www.corleggycheeses.com

Having won two stars for three of its raw milk cheeses last year, Corleggy Cheese has produced a cheeseboard accompaniment that is “delicious and crystal clear with a good depth of flavour”, according to judges, who also praised the balance of sweetness with alcohol.

Burren has taken its traditionally oak-smoked salmon and marinated it in a mixture of green, red and brown seaweed, including nori, dillisk and kombu varieties. Judges hailed the addition of seaweed as a “stroke of genius” which marries well with the smoke. Vol.14 Issue 8 · September 2013

AOC, the sign of special products... A traditional cheese

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 AOC 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 AOC 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 AOC.

From this time on, the name ‘Gruyère AOC’ and the code of the production facility appears on the heel of each wheel of Gruyère AOC 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 AOC 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. 16 September 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 8

www.switzerland-cheese.com

great taste 2013 teapigs liquorice & peppermint tea

Harrods saffron cream chocolates MARASU’S

Acacia honey, rosemary & orange zest gelato

TEAPIGS

www.marasu.co.uk

LA GELATIERA

www.teapigs.co.uk

London-based chocolatier and petit fours specialist Marasu’s produces these for Harrods. Each milk chocolate-decorated teardrop is filled with white chocolate ganache infused with Spanish saffron. “They have a delightfully creamy texture,” said judges.

www.lagelatiera.co.uk

This tea, made from pure liquorice root and whole peppermint leaves, is in the Great Taste Top 50 for a second year running. Described by teapigs as a naturally sweet and refreshing drink, this year’s judges concurred.

“We could hear the cows mooing in the far distance, such was the artisan character and freshness,” read the judges comments on this gelato. It is made with organic Jersey milk and organic Jersey pouring cream using a traditional bain marie method.

Turner’s steak & Stilton pie TURNER’S PIES www.turnerspies.co.uk

London & South East

Mövenpick pear sorbet

Duck leg confit MR DUCKS DELICACIES

MÖVENPICK ICE CREAM

www.mrducksdelicacies.co.uk

www.moevenpick-icecream.co.uk

Following up on last year’s gizzards confit (Great Taste’s Best Speciality from the South East 2012), Mr Duck aka chef Tom Maieli continues to live up to his moniker with this duck leg confit. They are cooked to a traditional French recipe, which has previously gained them two stars in both 2011 and 2010.

This is made using purée and whole pieces of tender Williams pears to create “a refreshing and creamy sorbet”, with a fruit content of 43%. Judges liked every aspect of the product, from the colour and varied texture through to the clean pear flavour.

Malvern basil and wild marjoram pesto WELL SEASONED www.wellseasoned.co.uk

Described by one judge as “the BMW of pesto”, this product is part of Well Seasoned’s summer pesto range. It is made with British basil and wild marjoram as well as cold pressed extra virgin rapeseed oil, hard cheese and roasted hazelnuts. It is ready to eat, hot or cold.

Lakeland treacle bread with walnuts & raisins

Banana habanero chutney

Cumberland mutton pie

MORE? THE ARTISAN BAKERY

www.mrvikkis.co.uk

www.moreartisan.co.uk

Hot condiment specialist Mr Vikki’s makes this sweet, sour, hot and tangy chutney with fresh bananas, ginger and habanero chillies. Judges said they enjoyed the layers of flavour coming through from the individual ingredients as the chilli heat grows.

www.themanchestertartcompany. co.uk

This moist, slowly fermented 100% wholemeal loaf, from Cumbriabased artisan baker and serial Great Taste award winner Patrick Moore, has been enhanced with treacle and walnuts to boost its texture. Judges certainly agreed and they also applauded the loaf’s “deep, complex flavours”.

North

Made in Bognor Regis, this creation from Turner’s won favour with the judges for the texture of its handmade shortcrust pastry, the tenderness of the Highland top rump steak and the subtle addition of blue cheese.

MR. VIKKI’S

Marc de Champagne chocolate LAUDEN CHOCOLATE www.laudenchocolate.com

Lauden Chocolate uses Valrhona chocolate for the shell and combines real Marc de Champagne with Valrhona chocolate to make the ganache for this product, which had the judges requesting more on their comment sheets.

THE MANCHESTER TART CO The “superb” all-butter shortcrust pastry for this pie was a revelation to all of the judges while the filling proved equally popular. “Mutton flavour sings along with the mushroom,” said one judge.

Vol.14 Issue 8 · September 2013

great taste 2013 EN PLACE FOODS UK

EN PLACE FOODS UK

Mushroom, leek & smoked garlic tart

www.en-placefoods.com

McCARTNEY’S OF MOIRA

Sea salted caramel with fennel pollen

Sea buckthorn berry & lime jam Co Tyrone’s En Place Foods makes this vivid orange seedless sea buckthorn berry jam in small open pan batches. Judges were blown away by its colour, the texture and especially the “wonderful freshness and good balance of sweetness and sharpness”.

The second of En Place Foods’ Top 50 products. It was the balance of flavours, particularly the subtle fennel, that convinced judges to award three stars to this caramel sauce with added Irish sea salt and handpicked fennel pollen. “A riot of flavours in remarkable balance,” said judges. “Unctuous and unbelievably moreish.“

Salt-aged rack of Glenarm Shorthorn beef

Salt-aged Euro Angus sirloin HANNAN MEATS

HANNAN MEATS

www.hannanmeats.com

This sirloin, dry-aged on the bone, had judges begging to know who made it. “A good layer of fat and lovely colour, really appealing,” they said. “Superb, full flavour that keeps going in the mouth. Succulent, moist and outstanding.”

Having revolutionised the pig’s cheek with last year’s Supreme Champion guanciale, Hannan Meats has turned its attention to beef. This rack is prepared in Hannan’s recently constructed dry-aging chamber using a 12ft high solid wall of handcut Himalayan rock salt bricks. Judges said it was “very tender and soft, a lovely texture and deep mature flavour”.

Salt-aged Euro Angus Fiorentina T-bone

Northern Ireland

HANNAN MEATS

www.hannanmeats.com

Hannan’s investment in its salt-aging chamber certainly paid dividends. This cut was said to be“tasty with exceptional fat: nutty almost like marrow”. One judge went even further, exclaiming: “It’s difficult to imagine how a steak could get any better than this.”

www.mccartneysofmoira.com

Having taken the UK by storm with its 2011 Supreme Champion corned beef, McCartney’s of Moira has proven to be equally adept in the meat-free category. This tart is made with breakfast mushrooms, leeks, smoked garlic, shallots and fresh thyme. The Great Taste panel described it as “very attractive” and they liked every mouthful from the crunchy topping and short pastry to the plentiful filling.

Ewing’s traditionally pale smoked cod

Seasoned Fiorentina T-bone

EWING SEAFOODS

HANNAN MEATS

www.ewingseafoods.com

www.hannanmeats.com

These cod loins are prepared and smoked to a 100-yearold family recipe by Belfast fishmonger Ewing‘s. “The texture is perfectly flaky, almost gelatinous,” said judges. “The wood smokiness is well balanced with salt and fish flavour. A stunning piece of smoked cod.”

“A monster of a steak,” said the judges of Hannan’s T-bone. “The steak delivers a very good beefy aroma and judges love the subtle, lingering flavours.”

Salt-aged Euro Angus cote de boeuf HANNAN MEATS www.hannanmeats.com

Another salt-aged triumph from Peter Hannan and his team. This cote de boeuf spends at least 28 days in the Himalayan salt chamber and Great Taste experts branded it “exceptional”.

Ginger & fennel truffle

Lemon curd

Halen Môn umami sea salt

WELSH LADY PRESERVES

THE ANGLESEY SEA SALT CO

www.welshladypreserves.com

www.halenmon.com

According to Welsh Lady Preserves, there is little to its lemon curd: lemon, eggs and butter. But there’s clearly a secret as it’s won three stars for a second year in a row. Every judging table that tried this product was unanimous about the quality of its lemon flavour and its excellent consistency.

FREDERICKS CHOCOLATERIE

Wales

www.frederickschocolaterie.com

The Grenadian 60% truffle filling for these chocolates is infused with Chinese stem ginger while the 40% Javan shell includes organic fennel seeds. Judges noted that all of these flavours were well-balanced but the appearance also grabbed them. “A fine product in a very crowded market,” they said. “The beauty of these chocolates makes them stand out above many others.”

September 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 8

This blend of pure sea salt harvested on Anglesey, seaweed and shitake mushroom powder is an ingredient designed to enhance meat and fish. The Great Taste experts saw its cooking potential, especially in Japanese dishes, and commended the quality of the individual components in the mix.

When it comes to exceptional cheddar, the old ways are still the best. Our award-winning, traditional truckles are wrapped in muslin and allowed to breathe as they slowly mature, resulting in a creamy complex flavour with a long finish.

Stuff of legend

Gold winners at

B 20

Home Farm . Newton St Cyres . Devon . www.quickes.co.uk .quickes.co.uk

B ES

British Cheese Awards (Best Cheddar, Best Goats Cheese, Best Export Cheese & Best Traditional Cheese) World Cheese Awards, Great Taste Awards, Nantwich, Royal Bath & West EES ISH CH E AWARD Great Yorkshire, Devon County Show, Taste of the West and Frome RIT 12

T OF CATEGORY

’s i nd on Fa e a nd d m Lo Foo Co s at ine 509 . e u y F no se alit nd ci Sta

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salami - chorizo - pepperoni - smoked venison - bresaola winning Charcuterie made made with pure wildwild venison AwardAward winning Charcuterie with pure venison sustainably sourced from the Scottish Highlands. sustainably sourced from the Scottish Highlands. Contact Anja – Tel: 01397 712121 · Email: info@greatglengame.co.uk www.greatglengame.co.uk

salami - chorizo - pepperoni - smoked venison - bresaola Vol.14 Issue 8 · September 2013

great taste 2013 Ashridge organic Devon Blush cider

Marmalade & whiskey bread pudding @11s KINGSBRIDGE

ASHRIDGE CIDER

www.dartfinefood.co.uk

www.ashridgecider.co.uk

Described by judges as “an honest, homely product made very special indeed”, this bread pudding is soaked in whiskey and topped with orange marmalade. Those that tasted the product loved every aspect, whether it was the citrus on the tongue, the succulent fruit, the level of spice or the final hit of whiskey.

This fruity, lightly carbonated mediumsweet cider is made with a blend of organic cider apples from old Devon orchards but Ashridge has also added blackberries to the recipe. The resulting blush has “a great dark, golden brown colour and a wonderful deep flavour with a traditional cider finish,” according to judges.

Blood orange marmalade CRANFIELDS FOODS

Traditional vintage cheddar

Cold pressed rapeseed oil

www.teastudio.co.uk

QUICKES TRADITIONAL

BELL AND LOXTON

Tea Studio’s camomile tea contains only dried flower blossoms grown in Croatia. The producer says this caffeine-free tea has an intense aroma and a soothing honey flavour. The judges certainly enjoyed it: “Delivers its promise on the palate, with powerful, buttery chamomile notes. Delicate, yet long. A quality blossom yielding a delightful tea.”

www.quickes.co.uk

www.bellandloxton.co.uk

Mary Quicke’s vintage cheddar is matured for over two years to develop its full-bodied taste and a crumbly texture that Great Taste’s panel of experts really enjoyed. “Its flavour is superb, beautiful and savoury with a long finish in the mouth,” they said.

The rapeseed is grown on a family farm in South Devon and pressed at low temperatures to extract the oil naturally before it is filtered and bottled. “Fresh shelled peas on the nose and peanuts in the mouth,” said tasters. “Clean, fresh and rounded with a delicious buttery finish.”

Camomile tea TEA STUDIO

28-day dry aged Longhorn cote de boeuf

www.cranfieldsfoods.com

Exmoor-based Cranfields is well-known for impressing judges with preserves and this year it was its marmalade, made with hand cut fresh blood oranges, that wowed Great Taste’s experts most of all. Comments included: “Great balance of sweet and bitter notes, intense orange flavour and deep, rich colour. A good set and dense texture, but a very pleasant mouthfeel.”

Fig & sherry frozen yoghurt

MARTINS MEATS

www.martinsmeats.com

South West

This rare breed Longhorn cote de boeuf is aged for 28 days by Cotswold business Martin’s Meats, a retail and catering butcher set up by farmer Martin Gilder 10 years ago. The first-time entrant’s beef impressed judges with its attractive marbling and, above all, its flavour. “Juicy and well flavoured with a long finish,” they said. “The fat has a wonderful sweetness.”

SALCOMBE DAIRY

www.denhay.co.uk

This cloth-bound West Country Farmhouse Cheddar from Denhay is made with vegetarian rennet, hit the mark with judges for its “appealing, musky” aroma, “sweet, buttery” flavour and a creamy finish.

WAN LING TEA HOUSE

www.wanlingteahouse.com

Imported

Each individual “pearl” is blended by hand from fine loose leaf green tea and top quality jasmine flowers. “Well made,” said expert tasters. “Delicate, sweet, light flavour with excellent length.”

September 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 8

It’s the second year in a row that a Salcombe Dairy frozen yoghurt has made the Top 50. This combination of frozen yoghurt, sherry and chewy figs found favour with food experts for its smoothness, balance of acidity and sweetness and the large pieces of fig.

DENHAY FARMS

Jasmine green tea pearls (Grade A)

www.salcombedairy.co.uk

Traditional West Country Farmhouse Cheddar

Kilcree Gold organic honey

Virgin pistachio oil

ALDI STORES IRELAND

AZADA

www.aldi.ie

www.azadaorganic.com

This certified 100% organic honey impressed judges with its “gorgeous amber colour and lovely caramel aroma”. It also delivered on taste with a complex natural sweetness and “a lovely length of flavour that sings in the mouth”.

Last year, it was Azada’s hazelnut oil that made the Top 50. This year, it’s the pistachio oil’s turn. Made entirely from lightly roasted and cold-pressed pistachios, the oil has a vibrant green colour which caught the judges’ eyes. They also rated it highly on smell and taste: “Great aroma, excellent fresh pistachio flavour, rich but not greasy. A great product.”

We have racked up 45 awards in two years... 7 x 3 star awards in 2013 for Salt Aged Beef

www.hannanmeats.com Vol.14 Issue 8 路 September 2013

The taste of pure English mint revived for the 21st century

For more about our award-winning Black Mitcham peppermint chocolates and tea: visit www.summerdownmint.com

A class of its own. The award winning Gruyère Premier Cru and Emmental Premier Cru

There’s is no need to settle for second best when you can stock the eight times World Champion cave aged Premier Cru Gruyère and Emmental from von Mühlenen von Mühlenen UK • c/o Paul Clarke • Badgers Barn St Mary’s Barns • Weeford • Staffordshire WS14 OPW T +44 (0)1543 480 484 • M +44 (0)7771 931 246 pclarke@vonmuhlenen.ch 24

September 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 8

cheesewire Unsung heroes Hidden gems from British producers

news & views from the cheese counter

Jowett relocates production after closing own operation By PATRICK McGUIGAN

Burwash Rose In a nutshell: The Traditional Cheese Dairy in Stonegate, East Sussex, is best known for its hard sheep’s milk cheese Lord of the Hundreds, but its most recent creation – washed rind cheese Burwash Rose – is rapidly gaining an excellent reputation. A semi-soft cheese made with raw cows’ milk, it is washed in rose water to develop a pretty orangey-pink rind. Flavour and texture: The texture is supple when the cheese is young, but breaks down as it matures into a silky brie-like goo. Burwash Rose has a surprisingly delicate aroma for a washed rind cheese, with a rich creamy flavour and gentle floral notes. History: Cliff and Julie Dyball gave up corporate careers to make cheese in 2002 and have since been joined by their daughter Rebecca. The company only uses raw milk sourced from local herds. Cheese care: Avoid cling film. The cheese needs to breathe as it matures, so use waxed paper instead. Best stored away from cheddars so they are not contaminated by mould. Retailers can bring the cheese on by washing in 3% brine solution. Why should I stock it? It's a great entry-level washed rind cheese. Washing cheese in rose water is unusual, but roses are synonymous with England.

A young cheese-maker who was forced to close his business just a few months after starting production is now making his Alpine-style hard cheese for Gorsehill Abbey Farm. David Jowett, a 21-year-old graduate of the School of Artisan Food, set up Jowett Cheese last year by converting a 1,400 sq ft barn on the Alscot Estate in Warwickshire. He started making a large mountainstyle cheese called Jowett and a soft lactic cheese called Alscot in April 2013, but closed the business and ceased production in July after running into cashflow problems. “The building project spiralled way over budget, working capital dwindled, and I made soft cheese to try and cover costs and allow the business to stay afloat by treading water for a while,” said Jowett in a heartfelt post on his website. “In reality, this action was pressing the emergency button, something which cheese-makers on the outside looking in at the project could see, and [the] journey towards breaking point was accelerated.” He added that the business had not gone bust but he had decided not to attempt raising more capital from outside investors.

Instead, Jowett will now make cheese for Gorsehill Abbey Farm near the village of Broadway, which previously supplied him with milk from its herd of Montbeliarde cows. The company, run by Michael and Diane Stacey, produces cheeses called St Eadburgha (brie-style), St Oswald (washed rind) and St Wulfstan (creamy semi hard cheese), and will also make Jowett's Alpine-

Harvey Nicks is first to stock Quickes’ elderflower cheddar By PATRICK McGUIGAN

Harvey Nichols is the first retailer to stock a new elderflower cheddar developed by Quickes in collaboration with wholesaler Cheese Cellar. The new product is Quickes’ first flavoured cheese and took 18 months of trials to perfect.

Perfect partners: Lovely on toasted sourdough with chilli jam. Matches well with dessert wines. Where to get it: Contact wholesalers The Cheese Man or The Fine Cheese Co or the dairy directly: info@traditionalcheesedairy.co.uk FFD will feature a different ‘unsung hero’ from Specialist Cheesemakers’ Association members each month. To get involved, contact: patrick.mcguigan@finefoodworld.co.uk

Cashflow problems forced David Jowett to close his own Warwickshire premises but he will now make cheese at Gorsehill Abbey Farm

The new creation is a combination of Quickes Buttery and elderflower flakes

style cheese. “I went into running a business single-handedly, too young and too naïvely,” said Jowett. “I underestimated what it meant to run a business and quite how solitary making cheese on this small a scale is. Standing alone in a small, white room, even if it is doing something you love, is very lonely.” blog.jowettcheese.co.uk

Cabrales on Brindisa’s list

Elderflower flakes are added to young cheddar, known as Quickes Buttery, which is aged for just three to four months, to give a delicate floral note. “There is a long-lasting flavour of the buttery cheddar and a gentle hint of the elderflower complementing this – sweet and savoury working together,” said the company. Quickes Elderflower launches this month in Harvey Nichols and will be available nationally from October. A proportion of sales from the cheese will be donated to the Action Against Hunger charity. "We spent a great deal of time in the development process, to ensure that we were all completely happy with the flavour delivery and now we are looking forward to seeing the reaction of our customers,” said Quickes MD Mary Quicke. The product will be distributed exclusively by the Cheese Cellar for seven months.

Spanish importer and distributor Brindisa is now carrying the mixed milk PDO blue Cabrales from Northern Spain.The company has sourced the cheese from an artisanal Asturian dairy within the Picos de Europa national park, which has 80 cows and a 40-strong herd of goats and ewes. The cheese, which is described as pungent with a creamy texture and complex taste, is produced in limited numbers and aged for four months in natural limestone caves. Brindisa recommends pairing its with aged whisky, cider, port, sweet sherry or a robust Rioja. It is available to the trade for £21.95/kg.

www.quickes.co.uk

www.brindisa.com

Vol.14 Issue 8 · September 2013

cheesewire

Billy Kevan, who joined in 2000, is just the fourth head cheese-maker in the dairy’s 100-year history

A century of the blues

Interview This year, Colston Bassett celebrates a centenary of Stilton production in its rural Nottinghamshire dairy. PATRICK McGUIGAN finds out how making the famous blue has changed over the years.

he residents of sleepy Nottinghamshire village Colston Bassett have been partying hard (by sleepy village standards) this year to mark the 100th anniversary of the famous Stilton producer in their midst. So far, there’s been a thanksgiving church service, a village fun day and a visit from Princess Anne to mark a century of cheese-making at Colston Bassett Dairy, with a fireworks display yet to come. It’s fitting that the company has been so keen to involve the village in the celebrations when you consider its history. The Stilton-maker was set up by the the local community as a farmers’ co-operative in 1912 (production started the year after), after the village doctor managed to persuade 40 of his patients to invest a combined total of £1,000 in a new dairy, which would support local farms. It remains a co-operative today and has only had four head cheesemakers throughout its history: Tom Coy, Ernie Wagstaff, Richard Rowlett and the incumbent Billy Kevan – a straight talking Scot who took over the production hot seat in 2000. He could have been forgiven for feeling the weight of history on his shoulders, but Kevan oversaw

September 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 8

some major changes after taking over, installing air conditioning and extending the packing room, dairy and cold storage. “When I started they were making 94 cheeses a day on average,” he tells FFD. “Although they made good cheese through the year, they weren’t making good cheese every day. It was my job to improve consistency.” Today, the dairy produces an average of 177 cheeses each day, but has not sacrificed traditions such as hand-ladling the curds, which gives its Stilton and Shropshire Blue a velvety texture and rounded flavour. Standard Colston Basset Stilton is made with vegetarian rennet, although the company does make special batches with animal rennet and longer maturation times for Neal’s Yard. A raw milk Stilton is not an option for the London cheesemonger because under the terms of the cheese’s Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) it can only be made with pasteurised milk. Colston Bassett was actually the last Stilton maker to use raw milk, but switched after a food safety scare in 1988, which also prompted the Stilton Cheese Makers Association (SCMA) to enshrine the principle of pasteurisation in law. That didn’t stop Randolph

Hodgson of Neal’s Yard, however, who teamed up with Joe Schenider to open a dairy on the Welbeck Estate making a blue cheese to a Stilton recipe with raw milk, which they called Stichelton. Earlier this year Schneider applied to Defra to have the Stilton PDO changed to allow the use of unpasteurised milk, so that Stichelton could be classed as a Stilton. Kevan is fighting the proposal in his role as the chairman of the SCMA. “You’ve got lots of pathogenic bacteria in milk that will potentially survive the cheese-making process. People can be caught out,” he says. “With pasteurisation you know you have a clean starting point and then you can make the cheese equally as well as anyone who is making cheese with unpasteurised milk.” He argues that the benefits of using raw milk to make cheese have been overplayed. “People see the past through rose-coloured glasses. They think if they follow exactly how it was done 100 years ago, it’s going to taste better than it does now. Well, we make improvements in scientific developments and technology has moved on.” Defra is also currently considering a separate amendment to the PDO, which proposes to

expand the area in which the cheese can be made to include the village of Stilton in Cambridgeshire. A local historian and pub owner are trying to get the rules changed because they say records show Stilton was once made in the village. The SCMA says that although a cheese called Stilton might have been made there at one time, it was nothing like the soft blue of today. “I think they are trying to regenerate interest in the village of Stilton. I don’t think they are interested in the product Stilton,” Kevan says. “We are trying to protect what we feel has a certain provenance.” Away from PDO controversy, other pressing issues for Kevan include soaring milk prices, which are being driven by demand from abroad, a shrinking supply base and rising farm input costs. A hike in the price of Stilton is likely in October, he says. There are also plans to extend the dairy’s maturation rooms next year. “We’re trying to make what we have better,” he says. “We’ll reach a point where we don’t want to get any bigger. We’re nearly there now. We don’t want to be making 10 times what we do now and selling it to the supermarkets.” www.colstonbassettdairy.co.uk

50 • LA’AL JARS •

Over 25 individual preserves in 100g jars Savouring a solution for seasonal hampers

La’al = Cumbrian dialect for small.

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X-CLASS Functionality: Open PC-based scale with high-speed Intel Dual Core processor for optimum performance and smooth graphics Use of a quick, reliable and energy-saving mass storage device (SSD) Based on the latest operating systems: Windows 7 or Linux Easy-load “all-in-one” printer (for tickets, labels and linerless operation with paper roll widths of up to 80mm for easy roll replacement) Easy-clean housing surface for ease of cleaning and problem-free removal of stray labels Frameless displays for maximum cleaning efficiency Tilt compensation *(accurate weighing results even when the scale is not levelled)

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Bizerba UK Limited, 2-4 Erica Road, Stacey Bushes, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, MK12 6HS

info@bizerba.co.uk Vol.14 Issue 8 · September 2013

S Orefrigerant R B A - F R Epads EZE

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Sorba-Freeze Ltd, Unit 5, Girdleness Trading Estate, Girdleness Road, Aberdeen AB1 8DG, Scotland Tel 01224 894417 Email info@sorbafreeze.com www.sorbafreeze.com

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September 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 8

Our fresh garden vegetables are harvested from local farmers and smuggled inside the vegetarian casing where they are introduced to some fabulous natural flavours and spices. Available in 6 delicious flavours. Secret Sausages have 90% less fat, 50% fewer calories & 35% less salt than normal sausages. The unique casing makes them cook like a traditional sausage.

quoting FFD13

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A promotional feature on behalf of Le Gruyère AOC

Me and my cheese counter This month, we talk to Paxton & Whitfield’s MD Ros Windsor about three quite different cheese counters.

lthough it was Hero Hirsh, manager of Paxton & Whitfield’s Jermyn Street store who performed with such style, competence and elegance during the final judging stages of last year’s Le Gruyère AOC’s Cheesemonger of the Year, it falls to Ros Windsor, managing director of the 200-year-old store group, to ensure consistency of performance in three retail shops alongside a thriving wholesale business. In any one year, the group lists over 300 different cheeses in the counters. “We’ve never actually had that many in store at any one time,” says Ros, “as we depend on the seasons to give us the right level of theatre in store to create impact for our customers.” In spring and early summer the focus is on fresher, younger cheeses, particularly those made using goats’ milk, to complement Paxton’s core range. With three stores – Central London, Bath and Stratford-uponAvon – there are also ‘local’ needs to be taken into account. ”In Bath, we need to focus on cheeses from the South West – lots of cheddars and cheeses named after local beauty spots work well such as Pennard Ridge, or anything from

Bath Soft Cheese,” she says. “It’s pretty much the same in Stratford, where Berkswell and Sparkenhoe Red Leicester are good sellers.” Given the locations of the three shops, it’s hardly surprising that tourists form an important part of the customer mix. “They tend to look for local cheeses so each store needs around half a dozen good examples at all times,”says Ros. A common factor across all three stores is a two-thirds, one-third split in favour of British cheese. “Our

What Ros merchandises close to her cheese counter: • Paxton & Whitfield’s range of artisan crackers, cheese bites and straws • Paxton & Whitfield’s range of artisan savoury chutneys and preserves • Camembert bakers, cheese knife sets and other foodie gifts

customers tend to be well-travelled but when they shop at home the balance has remained constant for a decade.” Almost all of Paxton & Whitfield’s British cheeses are sourced direct from the producers. “We work very closely with them,” she says. “It means we have rather too many different suppliers but it enables us to select age profiles we know our customers like. ”It also allows us to control wastage and deliver better margins. Buying sensibly gives you really close management of stock quantities. But you still need to be careful.” The other advantage the company has is its wholesale division, which generates greater economy of scale through volumes of cheese bought. Unsurprisingly, Montgomery Cheddar is a top seller in all three stores. “I go down to Jamie’s place regularly to select the right cheeses for us with him. It gives us better control over age profiles as, generally speaking, his 18-month-old works best for our customers.” Other leading sellers include Stilton from Cropwell

Bishop and Brie de Meaux from Dongé while it sells stacks of Vacherin Mont d’Or during the winter. In the main, French products are sourced through affineur and wholesaler Pierre Androuet. “We work in partnership with them,” she says. ”We take their cheese via Rungis Market and they wholesale a number of British cheeses supplied by us.” Ros is also particular about the quality of the two Gruyères she stocks. “Currently we are stocking a Reserve Gruyère Alpage – it’s the last batch from early summer 2011. We change according to seasonality and by late September we’ll have moved on to 2012 cheeses.” As every retailer knows, a store’s success rests heavily on good staff. With three shops, does that mean Ros has three times as many headaches when recruiting? “The key is selecting well in the first place,” she says. “Staff need to enjoy cheese, to have an interest in good artisan food and care about it.” The company operates a training programme that everyone completes during their first three months of employment, including on-going visits to cheese makers to gain more knowledge. “We also invite cheese makers to run in-store tastings with us,” she says. “It all adds to our staff’s knowledge base and customers enjoy meeting the producers too.” When you cross the threshold of a cheese shop boasting two centuries of trading, you expect to be greeted by someone who knows an awful lot about cheese and can give you an enjoyable shopping experience.

Vol.14 Issue 8 · September 2013

White Lake Cheese make a range of artisan cheese by hand on the farm. Our range includes Super Gold winning Rachel, Katherine, Driftwood (pictured), Tor and many others.

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The LymeContact Bay Winery, Axminster, Devon EX13 7PW us: Shute, info@whitelake.co.uk WRC-FFDad-Amberwood-3a.pdf 1 14/08/2013 13:12 Tel 01297 551 355 · sales@lymebaywinery.co.uk

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HANDMADE WITH LOVE

info@windyridgecheese.co.uk 30

September 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 8

01963 220474 Windyridge Cheese Ltd, Manor Farm Buildings, Poyntington, Dorset, DT9 4LF

cheesewire

A whey in a manger

Low Sizergh Barn Farm Shop Kendal, Cumbria

Most delis and farm shops’ Christmas planning is in full swing by now. MICHAEL LANE finds out how three retailers kit out their counters in December. The Cheeseboard

Harrogate, North Yorkshire Every one of Gemma Aykroyd’s 12 Christmases at The Cheeseboard have been busy. “Almost as soon as it's December 1 we’re taking lots of orders,” she tells FFD, adding that she estimates 25% of annual sales are done in December alone. The two weeks in the run-up to Christmas are even more hectic. She opens on Sundays and needs six staff with her, compared to the usual one or two Saturday staff. “Every year our delivery man says, ‘I don’t know where you’re going to put all this cheese.’ Every year I panic that I’ve over ordered,” she says. In her first year, she actually under ordered and the next year she over-compensated. Nowadays, after much note- and stock-taking, Aykroyd has a fairly settled line-up. Her top sellers include traditional Wensleydale from Hawes, Montgomery’s cheddar, Hennart Brie de Meaux and Stilton. She carries Cropwell Bishop and Long Clawson

Provender Brown Perth, Perthshire

The surprising thing about owner Diane Brown’s big festive sellers is that there’s only one Scottish cheese in the top five. Deli counter Christmas ever-presents Donge Brie de Meaux, Colston Bassett Stilton and Vacherin Mont D’Or are joined by Dolcificanto Gorgonzola from Mario Costa and

in a variety of little French washed rind delicacies like goats’ milk Chabichou, St Marcellin, Petit Munster and the mini Epoisses Trou du Cru. Among the other Christmas wildcards are the decadent torta di dolcelatte (layers of mascarpone and dolcelatte) and Torta de Canarjal, a creamy ewes’ milk cheese from the Spanish region of Extremadura, supplied by Brindisa. Now approaching her ninth Christmas in business, Brown admits that she only starts her festive cheese orders when distributors like Rowcliffe and Edinburgh-based Clarks start chasing her. But even after initial orders in late October and early November, she normally has to place a few more in the thick of Christmas trading. “It always amazes me how much we sell in the last few days,” she says. “Every year we think we’ve done our final order and then we have to phone Clarks in a panic on the 22nd.” Last year, Provender Brown sold 44kg of cheese on December 23 and 24 alone.

There aren’t too many changes made to the 70-strong cheese counter at Low Sizergh Barn, mainly because the top sellers don’t change at Christmas – the volume just goes up. “I don’t want tot be gimmicky,” MD Alison Park tells FFD. “We don’t actually change the range for Christmas. My impression is that people are coming because they want quality.” Parks adds that lots of customers are looking for local varieties. Low Sizergh Barn can certainly meet this demand. In fact, a number of its top sellers are made using the farm’s own milk by cheese-maker Chris Sandham at Rostock Dairy, half an hour down the road. Sandham is already planning how much milk he’ll need to make the Christmas run of Low Sizergh Barn’s exclusive trio of Lancashires (pictured above): Kendal Creamy, Kendal Crumbly and Kendal Crumbly with red onion. Sandham also makes a Red Leicester and a Cheshire using the farm’s milk. Aside from its own produce, fellow Cumbrian business Appleby Creamery’s Eden Valley organic brie (below) is a big hit with customers. As is the case for many retailers in December, Colston Bassett Stilton is bought in great volume every year. “It doesn’t sound very exciting but that’s the reality,” says Park. “A lot of people like to stick to what they know.” Park adds that baby Stiltons are in demand around Christmas and makes sure she orders them well in advance. Another individual cheese, Snowdonia’s waxed Black Bomber, is a front runner for best-selling cheddar but Park also sells lots of Wookey Hole and Cheddar Gorge cave-aged cheeses. The only product that is added specifically at Christmas is Stinking Bishop, if Park can get hold of it. “When one of the Wallace & Gromit films came out and it was mentioned we couldn’t get our hands on it,” she recalls, adding: “It’s got some resonance with people and it’s a talking point.”

www.provenderbrown.co.uk

www.lowsizerghbarn.co.uk

Gemma Aykroyd’s line-up includes Vacherin Mont D’Or, individual cheeses from Alex James and Colston Bassett Stilton

but finds that Colston Bassett shifts best of the three. “For some reason, at this time of the year it’s always got more of a strong, full flavour,” she says. “It’s also not available in the supermarkets.” But Aykroyd is also a firm believer in giving punters something a little different at Christmas, such as Vacherin Mont D’or (“It’s a nice centrepiece and sells well at New Year.”) or smaller cheeses like the Alex James Presents range made by Isle of Mull cheddar. “We sell more Scottish cheese at Christmas time but we find that what flies out is Stilton, Isle of Mull, Brie and Gorgonzola,” says Brown. “So long as we have those four cheeses it’s not so important if we run out of the other things” That said, don’t just expect to see a predictable selection on Provender Brown’s extensive counter during December. Brown says that individual cheeses go very well and she gets

Among Diane Brown’s top sellers are (clockwise from left) Isle of Mull cheddar, Brie de Meaux and Chabichou

White Lake Cheeses, including the goats’ milk Little Wallop and Guernsey cows’ milk Goddess. She also brings in cheese from the classier end of the flavour-added spectrum like Hennart Brie de Meaux with truffles and Tomme aux marc de raisin. “It’s covered in grape pressings, which have been used for making wine. It’s got that wine-y flavour and it’s sweet but it’s also got quite an earthy and spicy flavour.” www.thecheeseboard.net

Vol.14 Issue 8 · September 2013

Speciality & ethnic breads from around the globe

We only use the highest quality, traditional ingredients and we ensure all our products are made the way they should be, thus maintaining the true authenticity of the product Please contact us on 01482 638535 or email | info@kompleatsolutions.co.uk | www.kompleatsolutions.co.uk 32

September 2013 路 Vol.14 Issue 8

show preview Get in the know about grab-and-go Now in its sixth year, the food-to-go trade show returns to London’s Business Design Centre with three floors of new products and equipment

New lines at the show Vegan friendly snack bar company 9bar has launched a gluten- and wheat-free Fruity variety as part of its seven-strong range. This latest addition combines 9bar’s signature blend of seeds with succulent dried apricots and dates. www.9bar.com Fairfields Farm Crisps will be showcasing its new vegetable crisps at this year’s show. Sweet potato, chilli & lime and parsnip are both produced in this producer’s purpose-built crisp factory using locally-sourced vegetables. www.fairfieldsfarmcrisps.co.uk

Tideford Organics has a new range of gluten-free soups including pea & mint, farmhouse chicken with lemon & thyme and spicy butternut squash. www.tidefordorganics.com

Yum Yum Bros will be showing off its Ndulge-branded wrapped fruit cake slices and two- and four-pack cookies. It also has the Oh My Goodness brand of cereal bars and bites. www.yumyumbros.com Tom’s Pies will be sampling its new range of tray bake desserts: lemon polenta, classic Bakewell tart, carrot cake and chocolate brownies. www.toms-pies.co.uk

One-pot meal producer Easy Bean has branched out with its gluten-free chickpea crispbreads, which are available in café and retail pack formats. www.easybean.co.uk

hether you’re in a deli, café, sandwich bar, contract caterer, wholesaler or work as a buyer in a larger organisation, lunch! has something for everyone offering food-to-go. The number of exhibitors at the show, which takes place at the Business Design Centre in Islington on September 26 and 27, is set to top 280 for the first time. There will be a broad range of food and drink producers on display, from large manufacturers to small start-ups, as well as packaging and equipment suppliers. As FFD went to press, all of the stands on the ground and middle floors of the centre had sold out, as had the show’s Innovation Zone, which will house nearly 40 small and emerging suppliers on the upper floor. Among the newcomers to the zone this year are Pots & Co, Just Crackers, The Gourmet Hotdog Company, packaging firm Eller, Paul’s Pies and Clearly Scrumptious fruit crisps. Other first time exhibitors include Popcorn Kitchen, Hanleys Confectionery, frozen yogurt brand Lick, Kandula Tea Company, glutenfree specialist Glamour Puds and

Victor Manufacturing is featuring the first British manufactured refrigerated display cabinet – Optimax SQ – to be featured on the ECA Energy Technology List. All energy saving products on the list can qualify for a reduction on business tax bills. www.victoronline.co.uk

Irish bakery The Foods of Athenry. Beyond the Innovation Zone there will be a number of new product launches including a range of milk alternatives (brown rice, oat and almond) from Rude Health, Be Fast’s banana breakfast shake and a range of gluten-free soups from Tideford Organics. There will also be a range of new non-food items on show such as a cloud-based catering management software application from Spoonfed, 100% compostable catering disposables from packaging developer Biopac and the Britishmade Optimax SQ refrigerated display cabinet from Victor Manufacturing. Visitors looking for business advice can also pay a visit to the Working lunch! Theatre (sponsored by Magrini), which will open with a session titled ‘Maximising your lunchtime opportunity’ from former Pret a Manger MD Andrew Walker. The second day’s keynote presentation will be a buying masterclass from former senior M&S Foods buyer Andrew Sherick. Check the show’s website for a full Working lunch! Theatre programme.

Biopac will be showcasing a range of sustainable products including cups, cutlery and soup containers that are 100% compostable. www.biopac.co.uk

Rude Health has launched a range of milk alternatives made from brown rice (the first and only brown rice drink on the market), oats and almond. www.rudehealth.com

Planglow will have a host of brand new items on display including Breakseal stickers, Highlight stickers and labels. It will also be demonstrating its LabelLogic and NutriLogic software. www.planglow.com

NEED TO KNOW Venue Business Design Centre, 52 Upper Street, Islington, London N1 0QH When? Thursday September 26, 10am-5.30pm & Friday September 27, 10am-5pm How do I get there? The Business Design Centre is within walking distance of Angel tube station and a few minutes by road from Kings Cross and Euston railway stations. It is serviced by numerous bus routes and is outside the city’s congestion charge zone. On-site parking can be pre-booked. How do I register? Tickets for this trade-only show are free. Visitors should register in advance online at www.lunchshow.co.uk. Use priority code LUNFFD when prompted.

www.lunchshow.co.uk

Vol.14 Issue 8 · September 2013

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September 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 8

cut & dried

making more of british & continental charcuterie

Suffolk Salami upgrades to MAP as part of packaging revamp By MICK WHITWORTH

East Anglian pig farmers Ian and Sue Whitehead hope to secure more farm shop clients for their Suffolk Salami brand after switching to card-sleeved modified atmosphere packs (MAPs) for pre-sliced lines. MAP is an expensive option compared with traditional vacuum packs but is preferred by consumers and chefs as it means thin slices of meat are easier to peel apart. The Whiteheads’ semi-automatic MAP machine, which seals three trays at a time while flushing them with an inert gas, cost “in excess of £20,000”. Ian Whitehead said the move was only viable because the firm, based at Lane Farm in Brundish, had also switched to MAP for its Lane Farm-branded range of hams and bacon.

sleeve, replacing a previous stick-on label, to make room for more product information. BRITISH CHARCUTERIE Each pack also features a new British Charcuterie logo – a Union Jack in the shape of a pig – which the Whiteheads have trademarked. The original Suffolk Salami logo, designed by daughter Sarah when she was 14, has been retained. The Whiteheads’ other daughter, Rebecca, a Harper Adams graduate, has recently joined the business and is now running day-toThe Whiteheads have trademarked their new British Charcuterie logo day production. “The tooling is expensive,” he Other new developments got the hams too.” told FFD, “and we’re not using an include a branded shelf-ready The 85-90g Suffolk Salami sliced off-the-shelf tray so we have to buy display box holding 12 x 220g packs, including rosemary salami, 200,000 at a time to make it work. whole salamis. fennel salami and Suffolk chorizo, We can only do that because we’ve have also been given a new card www.suffolksalami.co.uk

Cornish Charcuterie takes first steps beyond rillettes

Alderton ham holds up well after change of ownership

A traditional beef sausage for deli salami and two styles counters, all priced of chorizo are the at £17.00/kg to the first three fermented trade. Sliced packs and air-dried products are currently being from Cornish finalised. Charcuterie, which Products under launched in 2011 with development include a small range of jarred a snacking salami and patés and rillettes. a variety of air-dried Owners Richard whole-muscle lines. and Fionagh Harding All will be produced have invested “a using meat produced little over £50,000” on the Hardings’ farm in reconditioned at Norton Barton near The cured sausage range equipment from Bude, including British includes a beef salami and Germany to develop Lop pork and North two chorizos the new lines. Devon beef. “It will give us a consistent The British Lop pigs have a product without taking us away from supplementary diet of whey, a byartisan production,” said Richard product of cheese production by Harding, who has already collected a Whalesborough Cheese, which is Great Taste star for the salami. “Our also based at Norton Barton. capacity is 200kg a week and we are Cornish Charcuterie is selling currently making and selling 60kg direct to West Country delis, farm per week.” shops and other specialist stores, The cured sausages are also but Harding said the company lightly smoked for a distinctive was in talks with “a London-based flavour. wholesaler” and would consider Sizes range from a 32mm others that could give it access to diameter 100g sausage in natural new markets. casings to a 500g–1kg cutting www.cornishcharcuterie.co.uk

By MICK WHITWORTH

The Country Victualler says sales of its marmalade-glazed Alderton ham have held up strongly in top London food halls despite initial concerns about its change of ownership. The 40-year-old Nottinghamshire business was sold by founders Richard and Jane Craven-Smith-Milnes to local firm Mike Maloney Country Butchers & Bakers when they retired in January. Maloney is a new name to the speciality market and some buyers feared that the move might see Alderton ham – stocked by stores including Harrods, Fortnum & Mason and Partridges of Sloane Square – lose its artisan edge. But Julie Crooks of The Country Victualler told FFD the firm’s entire staff had moved over to Maloney’s small unit at Tuxford, near Newark, and were maintaining separate production of its hams, patés and smoked meats alongside Maloney’s award-winning sausages and pies. “Customers were a bit apprehensive,” she said, “but they’re finding the product is just the same as before. Alderton ham has a big following, and we’ve managed to stay in Harrods despite their shake-up of

the charcuterie counter.” One-time Fortnum & Mason MD Stuart Gates visited Mike Maloney last month as a consultant for Partridges and told FFD the news was “all good”. “They are still integrating the Country Victualler business, but I think it will make a good marriage.” Alison Maloney has recently taken over the running of her father Mike’s business and is keen to expand The Country Victualler’s premium operation, Julie Crooks said. The Country Victualler has already begun expanding its range, including the launch of an Alderton pie with ham and smoked chicken. www.alderton.co.uk

A new Alderton ham & smoked chicken pie is one of the first fruits of the Mike Maloney takeover

Vol.14 Issue 8 · September 2013

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September 2013 路 Vol.14 Issue 8

product update

savoury snacks

It’s in the bag Whether you’re looking for crisps, nuts, popcorn or posh pork crackling, they’re all here in ANNE BRUCE’s round-up of the latest bagged snacks Brown Bag Crisps has relaunched its range with new packaging and pack sizes, and with crisps now fried in sunflower oil rather than the olive oil used previously. The rising cost of olive oil led to the decision to change to sunflower oil, according to founder Vivien Lambe. The family-run company has also added smoked bacon to its line-up and changed its cheddar & onion seasoning by introducing traditionally made Somerset cheddar to it. The crisps are now sold in small (40g) and sharing (150g) bags with the following seasonings: lightly salted; oak smoked chilli; West Country farmhouse cheddar and onion; sea salt & malt vinegar; and smoked bacon. Bags of 40g (in boxes of 20) are 41.5p per bag, RRP 70p, and 150g bags (in boxes of 10) are £1.10 per bag with an RRP of £1.90.

l Nuts and snacks brand Dormen Food Company launched nine products from its existing range in a new counter display unit format. Each unit holds 12 x 50g snack size packs (or 40g in the case of the wasabi peanuts and Bombay mix). www.thedormenfoodcompany.com

Chorizo is the first new flavour to be added for several years to Pipers Crisps’ range. The chorizo is sourced from Kirkby Malham, Yorkshire, where specialist farmer and butcher Chris Wildman rears rare-breed Oxford Sandy and Black pigs and produces chorizo in the on-site charcuterie unit. It comes in 40g bags (retailing at around 90p) or sharing bags of 150g (£1.90). www.piperscrisps.com

East Anglia’s Fairfields Farm Crisps has launched the first products in a new deli crisps range, to which it will add more lines later this year. Its lightly salted parsnip crisps and sweet potato crisps with chilli & lime are made using chunky pieces of locally sourced and hand-cooked vegetables. They are packaged in clear 40g bags (RRP £1.29) with cardboard sleeves. The familyrun company grows all its own potatoes and makes all its own crisps.

year, Howdah is a range of six gourmet Indian snacks: peanut pakoras, onion bhaji, Bakarwadi bites, Bombay puri, peppered banana chips and masala banana chips. The vegetarian snacks are made in India and come in 100g (RRP £1.99 to £2.25) and 40g (RRP 90p to 95p).

Plymouth-based crisp brand Burts Chips launched two spicy new flavours in May: spicy chorizo and red pepper & jalapeño. The company relauched its full range in January, including sea salt, vintage cheddar & spring onion, sea salt & malted vinegar, sea salt & crushed peppercorns, pesto, firecracker lobster and Thai sweet chilli. Each 40g packet has an RRP of 69p and 150g packet have an RRP of £1.89.

www.howdah.co.uk

www.burtschips.com

flavours – Honey Seeds and Chilli Bites (with apricot kernels) –were launched by Munchy Seeds in May as part of a wider relaunch. RRP is 55p-65p (25g packs).

www.fairfieldsfarmcrisps.co.uk

l Olives Et Al will this month be relaunching its range of bagged snacks. The range includes chilli puffs (rice crackers), habas fritas (roasted broad beans), habas mojadas (broad beans in batter), sesame nuts and sesame seed reganas. www.olivesetal.co.uk

l Two new

www.munchyseeds.co.uk

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Top sellers…

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maple syrup ispy bacon & cr y ba le rt Po popcorn e tortillas chilli and lim Manomasa s getable crisp Scrubbys ve salt crisps Corkers sea chilli puffs Olives Et Al

l Launched earlier this

A South Indian and Sri Lankan regional alternative to Bombay mix, Rani’s Quality Mixture is a mix of spicy savoury noodles with peanuts, cashew nuts, cassava and fried curry leaves, handcooked in sunflower oil. It is made without preservatives and colourings. Sri Lankans and South Indians eat a blend, known simply as “mixture” rather than Bombay Mix, explained Gajan Umapathy, director of the London-based family business. It comes in 60g, 180g and 300g bags. Cases of 18 x 60g cost £10 (RRP 70p-£1 each). Ten 180g packets cost £15 (RRP £1.99-£2.29 each) and 12 x 300g packets cost £27 (RRP £2.99-£3.29 each). The delivery charge for up to 20kg is £12. www. ranismixture.com

Wonderful Pistachios claims to be the only flavoured pistachio brand in the UK. There are four flavours: sweet chilli, salted, salt & pepper and roasted unsalted. The nuts are sun-ripened, naturally opened and roasted without oil using a rotary roasting technique. Pack size is 250g (£3.59). www.wonderfulpistachios.co.uk

l Traidcraft’s new Autumn/Winter range, launched last month, includes large Fairtrade Zaytoun almonds, sourced from Palestine, which have an RRP of £3.75 for 150g. www.traidcraftshop.co.uk

l Boulevard Savoury Snacks, a Foster Foods brand, recently released a new mini oatcake range which consists of cheese and mini seaweed & black pepper flavours, alongside plain mini oatcakes. All three retail at £1.99 (150g). There is also a new Savoury Snack Collection, consisting of an assortment of cheese biscuits (RRP £8.99). www.fosters-foods.co.uk

Vol.14 Issue 8 · September 2013

product update

New Bloom’s Popcorn is made by hand in Essex using jumbo mushroom kernels from the American Mid-West. These giant kernels, cooked in traditional pans, make crunchier and more satisfying popcorn pieces than standard gourmet popcorn, according to the company. There are four flavours available: Sweet & Salty (with Maldon sea salt), Hot & Smokey (with chipotle and bird’s eye chillies), Sesame & Salt (sprinkled with whole sweet sesame seeds) and Nutty & Sweet (with roasted monkey nuts). RRPs are 99p for 40g bags and £2.19 for 140g.

savoury snacks

Tyrrells has launched two flavours, which it says are exclusive to independent retailers. Lobster, garlic & chilli and bacon & brie are available in 150g or 40g packs with RRPs of £1.99-£2.19 and 89-99p respectively. This range will be supported by an on-pack campaign in early autumn, where purchasers will be encouraged to nominate a food champion of their choice via social media. Meanwhile, the firm’s AristoCrackling hit shelves in May this year as it broadened its premium snacks range. The hand-cooked pork crackling, which comes in 50g and 30g bags (RRP £1.19 and 99p respectively) launched in two flavours: traditional and English mustard. The crackling is double-cooked to give a lighter, crunchier texture and made using pork from British-reared pigs such as Hampshire, Duroc and Large White.

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Start-up Popcorn Kitchen’s mission is to create “the best popcorn you’ll ever taste” using traditional methods. It makes its product in a giant kettle and hand-sifts it to remove unpopped kernels before every batch is tasted. The company launched with sweet & salt flavour and expanded its range to include sweet chilli, sea salt & olive oil and Simply Sweet in March. Wholesale prices are £1.10 for a 100g bag (RRP £2.50) and 75p for a 50g bag (RRP £1.50). www.popcornkitchen.co.uk

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“Sustainable snacking” is on offer from 100% Fairtrade nut company Liberation Foods, which has re-launched with two new products. Its ovenbaked chilli & lime cashews with peanuts and its roasted corn and oven baked salted cashews & peanuts are packaged in bright, bold colours celebrating Fairtrade credentials. All nuts are sourced from co-operatives of small-scale growers and farmers, who own a 44% share of the company. Peanuts come from Nicaragua and Malawi while cashews are farmed in India. All of the range comes in 100g bags with an RRP of £1.49. www.chooseliberation.com

Mr Trotter’s has launched a jalapeño chilli version of its Great British pork crackling to join its original variety. Both products are made from prime British pork, triple-cooked and seasoned with natural yeast and sea salt with no added MSG. Mr Trotter’s was founded by food writer Tom Parker-Bowles, BBC2’s Great British Menu judge Matthew Fort and Cotswold farmer and PR man Rupert Ponsonby last year. All of its products are made with 100% British pork. The new variety has an RRP of £1.90-£2.20 (60g). Distributors include Fosters Traditional Foods. www.mrtrotter.com

New Mini Nibs from Nib Nibs are bite-size all-butter cheese straws made with British cheddar, in a re-sealable snack tub. New flavours cheddar & Cheeky onion and cheddar & spicy chilli join the range this month. The producer suggests stacking the 65g tubs (trade £1.20, RRP £1.85) into distinctive displays to drive ‘snack to go’ sales. www.nibnibs.com

September 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 8

Fiddler’s Lancashire Crisps has added two flavours to its line-up of crisps, made from potatoes grown on its own farm at Rufford in West Lancashire and cooked by hand in sunflower oil. Simply Spuds – just potatoes and the sunflower oil they are cooked in – and Lancashire black pudding & English mustard come in both 40g and 150g packs (RRP 80p and £1.70 respectively). www.fiddlerslancashirecrisps.co.uk

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September 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 8

product focus

chocolate

You should cocoa MICHAEL LANE unwraps the latest gift boxes, bars and truffles Bean-to-bar specialist iQ Chocolate launched a range of organically certified chocolate bars this month. The seven bars in the Scottish producer’s range are Original bean-to-bar, Plush peppermint, Cocoa-nib Crunch, Lusciously Lovely lime, orange with wild raspberry, Espresso-kick coffee and Cranachan Symphony. Each variety comes in retail-ready cases of 4 x 35g with a trade price of £1.66 per bar.

Holdsworth Chocolates’ newest creation is its Champagne Cocktail collection, which features flavours such as Bucks Fizz, Kir Royal and Strawberries & Champagne. Each 180g box has a trade price of £6.95. Other recent launches include The Renaissance Collection, featuring clotted cream truffles and salted caramel cups, and The Sensational Collection, which features flavours such as apple & chilli creams and peppermint cups. Both come in 220g boxes with a trade price of £7.50.

Helen and Simon Pattinson, the founders and owners of Montezuma’s, have developed a new brand that has launched with six 100g bars featuring soft ganache centres. All of the cocoa used in Kingdom chocolates is ethically sourced from Uganda through the country’s Cocoa Development Project. Milk chocolate with peanut butter, dark chocolate with lemon & lime, milk chocolate with cappuccino, milk chocolate with rhubarb & vanilla, double choc dark chocolate mousse and dark chocolate with orange marmalade come in cases of 15 x 100g (trade £16.73).

www.holdsworthchocolates.co.uk

www.kingdomchocolate.co.uk

www.iqingredients.com

Belgian chocolate brand Barú is available to the UK trade from this month. Its chocolate-coated marshmallows come in a variety of flavours, including salted caramel, red berries, maple cashew and ginger & lime, and are available in two pack sizes. Smaller 54g/60g boxes (RRP £3.69 each) come in cases of 12 while larger 120g boxes (RRP £5.99) come in cases of 9 units. Barú’s newest products, chocolate hippos, come in 45g and 120g packs (RRP £3 and £5.99 respectively) in four flavours: fleur de sel caramel, forest berry caramel, almond & pecan praliné and honey almond. The producer also makes coated marshmallow pops (20 x 20g per case) and a range of hot drink powder mixes (6 x 250g per case). www.baru.be

Ethical chocolate producer Organic Seed & Bean unveiled two new bars – milk chocolate with tropical lime & Cornish sea salt and white raspberry & vanilla – at this year’s Glastonbury Festival. Together with its existing Sicilian hazelnut bar, the firm launched these bars as the official chocolate of the event. All three 85g bars are now available for wider retail at RRP £2.29. www.seedandbean.co.uk

Hans Sloane Chocolates has added four new products to its line-up of shiny drinking chocolate beads. Joining the milk and dark varieties are three drinking chocolates made with Grenada 60%, Madagascan 67% and an Ecuadorian 70% cocoa chocolates. The company has also launched a variety flavoured with natural honey. All of these new lines, which can be mixed with hot milk or water to make a drink, have an RRP of £5.99. www.sirhanssloane.com

l Raw chocolate company Ombar’s latest bar is the 100% vegan Coco Mylk. Made with raw organic cacao and sweetened with organic coconut sugar, the 35g bars come in cases of 24 for £24.80. www.ombar.co.uk

l Italian firm Sabadi has added a new bar to its La Qualita’ Della Vita range of 50g antioxidant chocolate bars. Youth (Giovinezza) features açaí berries, rosehip, red orange zest, grape seed extract and green tea extract. www.sabadi.it

l Shrewsbury chocolatier Toot Sweets has created a milk chocolate bar (RRP £6/100g) using Original Beans’ Esmeraldas milk chocolate. It is topped with cocoa nibs from Vietnamese chocolate producer Marou, chopped pistachios and Halen Môn sea salt. www.tootsweetschocolates.co.uk

l The Grenada Delicioso is now carrying a range of chocolates in tins from Barcelona-based master chocolatier Vira. Its 180g tins contain assorted chocolate pralines (almond, hazelnut, pistachio), orange ganache and strawberry truffles, as well as chocolate chip cookies. Retailers can buy a case of 10 tins for £66.00. Vira also produces smaller 40g tins (£68 for case of 36) of caramel chocolate buttons. www.delicioso.co.uk

Belgian chocolate firm Zokola is seeking a distributor to help it sell its beer chocolates into the UK. The chocolates, which come in the shape of a hopcone, are all made using Watou Tripel, which is produced by brewery Bernadus, and hops from the town of Poperinge. Each box contains 32 chocolates in milk and dark chocolate. The company also produces Royal British Legion approved chocolate poppies. All of Zokola’s products are made with Callebaut chocolate. www.zokola.be

Chocolate Company has said it will not cease production despite the tragic death of founder Mott Green in June. Importer and distributor HB Ingredients will continue to supply the organic, bean-to-bar range to the UK trade. www.grenadachocolate.com www.hbingredients.co.uk

l Original Beans’ chef’s chocolate buttons are now available in 200g retail bags. The Piura Porcelana 75% buttons have an RRP of £6.39 while the Cru Virunga 70% has an RRP of £5.99 per 200g. The company has also launched boxed collections of its four rare, bio-diverse chocolates. www.originalbeans.com

l Organic brand Roots & Wings offers strips of orange and ginger coated in dark chocolate. Both come in 125g tubes with an RRP of £6.99. www.rootsandwingsorganic. com

Vol.14 Issue 8 · September 2013

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September 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 8

BRODIE MELROSE DRYSDALE & COMPANY LTD. Newhailes Industrial Estate, Newhailes Road, Musselburgh EH21 6SY, Scotland Tel: +44 (0) 131 653 4010 • Fax: +44 (0) 131 653 4020 enquiries@brodies1867.co.uk • www.brodies1867.co.uk

product focus Prestat hopes to transport consumers back to the vibrant jazz age with its new Art Deco collection of chocolate bars. The five-strong range includes Pink Everest, which is made with dark chocolate and pink Himalayan salt, Earl Grey & lemon infused Tea Time Frolics and Prestat’s take on a Knickerbocker Glory. The other varieties are white chocolate with toasted pistachios and Pecan & Maple Dream. Each 85g bar retails for £3.50. www.prestat.co.uk

ChoconChoc is targeting adults with its new range of ice-cream shaped truffles Each box contains edible cones with three flavours: triple chocolate, strawberry Champagne and salted caramel. The 12-cone 380g box costs £19.99. The Bath-based producer also has a number of new Christmas lines including large white chocolate igloos (140g, £7.99) and Champagne & strawberry truffles (180g, £12). www.chocolateonchocolate.co.uk

Somerset’s James Chocolates has penguins galore in its winter range. Its milk chocolate Sea Salty Caramel Penguins, made with Cornish sea salt, and dark chocolate Cool Minty Penguins both come in 60g boxes (RRP £4.50). This year’s celebration cracker treats also have chocolate penguins inside (6 per 120g box, RRP £10). It has also developed three 180g tasting boxes (RRP £10) of its chilli chocolate, salted caramel and luxury truffle creations. For those looking to cater for all the family with one item, the producer has come up with its Fun of the Fair chocolate tasting experience gift bag (290g, RRP £15), which features six different surprises inspired by the flavours, colours and confectionery of traditional fun fairs. www.jameschocolates.co.uk

chocolate Madagascan bean-to-bar brand Menakao now offers smaller 25g bars of six of its flavours, including 44% milk chocolate with Madagascan vanilla, pure cocoa 100% and 63% dark chocolate with combava & pink pepper. Meanwhile, it has added to its 75g bar range with a 70% dark chocolate bar with bird chili. www.menakao.com

Rumsey’s Chocolates, which has shops in Wendover, Bucks, and in Thame, Oxon, has recently undergone a rebranding exercise to boost the packaging for its retail range. Dark, milk and white chocolate honeycomb (125g, RRP £5.95), dark, milk and white chocolate buttons (100g, RRP £3.95), roasted and caramelized chocolate coated Macadamia nuts (100g, RRP £7.25) and chocolate orange strips (85g, RRP £7.25) can be bought in mixed cartons of between eight and 15 units. These products are available regionally through wholesaler Blackwoods Foods.

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Bespoke Foods is now distributing Madagascan chocolate brand Madécasse in the UK. The ethically produced bean-to-bar range consists of four flavours: Arabica coffee, sea salt & nibs and pink pepper & citrus and cinnamon & Sakay (a local chilli blend). All of these varieties come in both 25g and 75g bars with RRPs of £1.49 and £3.29 respectively. www.bespoke-foods.co.uk From the makers of Indian-inspired chocolate brand Devnaa comes The London Chocolate Company. The new brand is pitched at both the luxury and the souvenir markets with “British” flavours including Strawberries & Cream, Afternoon Tea and Salt & Vinegar truffles. A new flavour will be released every month until December when a collection box will be launched. Until then, 135g cartons are available for £3.95 each (RRP £7.95). www.devnaa.com

Dairy-free specialist Booja-Booja has four new “extra special” collection of truffles in hinged fit boxes. Truffle Selection No1 (141g) features newly created cherry Cognac truffles and Kalamon olive truffles as well as the Norfolk producer’s Fine de Champagne and Around Midnight espresso varieties. Selection No2 (138g) includes new almond caramel and rhubarb & vanilla fool truffles and besteselling hazelnut and banoffee toffee truffles. The other two boxes contain single varieties: hazelnut (138g) and Fine de Champagne (150g) truffles respectively. All four boxes feature 12 truffles and have an RRP of £12.95 each. www.boojabooja.com House of Dorchester, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, has a raft of new releases for winter and Christmas. Its Tasty chocolate gifting box (cases of 12 cost £52.68) contains four slabs of chocolate with a variety of toppings, including dark 70% chocolate topped with brownie pieces & freeze-dried raspberries. It also has gold dusted honeycomb, Tasty mint chocolate stars and Shimmer snowballs. All come in cases of 12 for £29.40, £21, and £39 respectively. www.hodchoc.com

New start-up Ooh! Chocolata launched its first bars at the beginning of 2013. The 10-strong range, which include gingery dark, honeycomb milk and cranberry white chocolates, comes in 100g (£1 excl VAT, RRP £1.69-£1.99) and an impulse buy size of 50g (55p excl VAT, RRP 95p). www.loveooh.co.uk

Chococo’s newest lines are all focused on festive gifting. Its angels (trade £1.46 each, cases of 12 x 50g) are made from 43% Venezuelan milk chocolate and dusted with edible shimmers. The Dorset-based chocolatier has also boosted its Chocolate Christmas Tree (trade £3.73 each, six per case) to 125g from 100g and it now comes in four flavours including dark chocolate with crystallised ginger. It also has a number of themed 125g selection boxes in cases of six. Fizzy Puddings have a trade price of £4.98 each while Glorious Gingers, Heavenly Honeycombes, Turkish Delight and Potty for Pralines all cost £4.23. www.chococo.co.uk Vol.14 Issue 8 · September 2013

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September 2013 Âˇ Vol.14 Issue 8

Join the Guild of Fine Food for a night when the stars are out… The Great Taste Golden Fork Awards The most delicious night on the calendar, the most anticipated results in fine food, climaxing in the crowning of the Great Taste Supreme Champion 2013 Monday September 9 2013 at The Royal Garden Hotel, Kensington, London. Drinks Reception, followed by Dinner and Presentations.

Join us in the company of leading chefs, food writers, top retailers and the very best food & drink producers for the biggest night of the year. With drinks – mingle with awardwinning producers and retailers and chat with like-minded food industry folk as you enjoy a Great Taste cocktail. With dinner – Four superb courses, beginning at 7.30pm, created by Royal Garden Hotel chef, Steve Munkley using some of the 2013 Great Taste award-winning foods to

create a magnificent menu of mouthwatering morsels. With wine – fine wines, chosen by The Guild of Fine Food and served with each course along with the story of the 2013 Great Taste journey. BBC Radio’s favourite foodie, Nigel Barden will host the announcement of this year’s Golden Fork trophy winners. With coffee – Tension will mount as the evening comes to a close and the moment when the supreme jury of judges reveals its choice for the

Great Taste Supreme Champion 2013. “Winning Great Taste 2012 changed my life. And it all started at the Great Taste dinner – it was a magical evening and one I will never forget” Peter Hannan, Hannan Meats. Lives will change after the evening’s announcements… come and enjoy being part of this celebration. Reserve your seat today, and hurry as places are in demand and strictly limited. Guild members: £114 (inc VAT), non-Guild members: £126 (inc VAT)

To avoid any disappointment, please contact charlie.westcar@finefoodworld.co.uk or call the Guild of Fine Food on 01747 825200.

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Badu’s Masala kits, created and inspired by a deep passion for cooking, are all-in-one packs, containing fresh herbs, roasted dry spices and tomato paste topped with onions and whole Garam Masala, including fragrant bay and curry leaves. This is a chilled, preservative-free product, containing little oil, and in today’s busy world is ideal for making authentic curry for friends and family when there’s little time for preparing specialist ingredients. A pack of Badu’s Authentic curry Masala, together with 900 grams of meat, fish or vegetables of your choice, will make a delicious curry for four people.

WHAT THE JUDGES HAD TO SAY... Authentic Curry Masala Looks fresh and generous…the taste is good, and goes on and on…with a powerful kick…the individual spices have retained their character…Very authentic flavours… you could certainly get away with calling it home made. Masala with Coconut and Almond “Good colour and consistency; fresh herbs apparent. The richness from the coconut is good, and the spices are a good balance. We like the pieces of almond and think the appearance overall is excellent”

Tel 07824345521 | Email badus@live.co.uk

www.badusindianfeast.com 46

September 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 8

Contact details: European Union: London: +44 207 096 1591 Africa, Middle East and Asia Pacific: Cape Town: +27 (0) 87 9433 3088

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show preview

Home and away The sector’s biggest annual trade fair is back to its pre-recession peak this year, with a surge of interest from overseas exhibitors and small British firms getting over the loss of regional group funding, as show director Soraya Gadelrab tells MICK WHITWORTH

n Le Vieux Comptoir, a new French deli-bistro close to the London HQ of exhibition organiser Fresh Montgomery, Soraya Gadelrab is pouring over stats from the past three years‘ Speciality & Fine Food Fairs. Gadelrab, the SFFF event director, is looking for any trends or major new features we can highlight in FFD as the industry prepares to descend on Olympia once again next month. The annual London show is such a successful fixture, she confesses, that you’re unlikely to see dramatic changes of direction. It’s five years since the Speciality Chocolate Fair was added as a show-within-a-show (see p71). Last year the biennial UK Chocolate Masters competition was added. But if it ain’t broke… One eye-grabbing piece of news for 2013, however, is that exhibitor numbers are back to their pre-recession peak, when nearly 600 exhibitors took part. Growth stalled in 2011 – a “difficult year for everyone”, says Gadelrab – but last year was better and she is confident that by the time you read this she’ll have booked more floorspace in Olympia’s Grand Hall than ever before. “The largest show to date, in terms of footprint, was 2010. We’re only 50 metres behind that at the moment and I’ve no doubt we’ll end up bigger than 2010, certainly in terms of floorspace and possibly in exhibitor numbers too.” If numbers are back up this year it’s partly down to more UK market confidence and partly to an influx of overseas companies, both on group stands and under their own steam. “The big trend is more and more towards international exhibitors. This year we have stands from 26 countries, representing 150 companies,

What’s the news for 2013? • Exhibitor numbers are back to their pre-recession peak, with around 600 companies represented at what should be the biggest SFFF to date. • Over 200 exhibitors will be first-timers, ranging from boutique gin maker Warner Edwards to East Lothian-based Duke Street, a new producer of Lebanese-style labneh (cream cheese). • More than a quarter of companies represented are from outside the UK. • The Speciality Chocolate Fair, the SFFF’s show-within-a-show, will host around 60 artisan chocolatiers. It also features Speciality Chocolate Live, where producers and pastry chefs demonstrate new trends and techniques in luxury chocolate. • The Top 50 Foods from Great Taste 2013 will be unveiled on Sunday September 8 at a new Great Taste Deli run by the Guild of Fine Food. www.specialityandfinefoodfairs.co.uk

@speciality_food

Where and when Grand Hall Olympia Exhibition Centre Hammersmith Road  London W14 8UX Sunday September 8 – 10am to 5.30pm  Monday September 9 – 9.30am to 5pm Tuesday September 10 – 9.30am to 5.pm Vol.14 Issue 8 · September 2013

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show preview and 27% of exhibitors overall are international. “We have independent companies from Macedonia, Lithuania and Ukraine. Hungary will be here in greater numbers than before. Portugal is sending two regional groups, each representing several companies, and we even have a new regional consortium from Italy: Parma Alimentare.” This surge in overseas interest is partly driven by economic necessity in cash-strapped nations, Gadelrab suggests, while some countries are returning to the show after honing or re-thinking their offer for the UK speciality sector. “Spain and Ireland have both taken more space than in previous years. Argentina have been with us on a small stand before, but this year they’re taking three times as much space. I think they’ve been watching the UK market and have seen that they need to do more here. “Japan came with a group stand there or four years ago, but didn’t feel their products were necessarily packaged properly for the UK – a lot of Japanese products are unfamiliar here. This year they’re coming back, but concentrating on Japanese tea and how to market it more effectively for the UK.” With its roots firmly in the British artisan food sector, Gadelrab and her colleagues have long resisted letting the SFFF become too international in flavour. But there’s no escaping the changing shape of British regional food promotion since direct government support dried up. Few regional food groups (RFGs) if they survive at all, can afford to buy chunks of space for their members, leaving show organisers like Fresh Montgomery to sell stands direct to individual small firms rather than to membership organisations. According to Gadelrab it makes less sense now to create the familiar “village” of RFGs at the centre of a show when some regions can muster only a couple of paid exhibitors. So the remaining regional and county groups like Select Lincolnshire are very much doing their own thing. “There’s no way we can rely on RFGs to promote their producers at our show or any other,” says Gadelrab. “The only one that is really functioning proactively is Taste of the West, who work hard – and negotiate hard with us – to make sure they are delivering on behalf of their members. “We did try to keep a regional food area going but it ends up very bitty if you only have a couple of companies from some regions. If there’s not the critical mass for each area it becomes a bit futile. “And that means we have had to change our business model, because we’re no longer dealing with one group representing 20 companies. We’re

Learn to sell more effectively Retailers and small suppliers are being offered a series of teach-ins throughout this year’s SFFF in the Cotswold Fayre-sponsored Small Business Forum, with advice on how to sell more using both conventional and online channels. The three-day programme has been pulled together by food business consultant Jane Milton, who kicks off proceedings at 10.45am on Sunday September 8 with a session on finding new routes to market. “Identifying buyers for your product is probably the most important thing you will ever do for your business,” says Milton, “and all too often people don’t spend long enough considering this. “Often people will say ‘my product appeals to everyone’, or I meet people who have created a product and are now trying to work out who wants it. What if nobody does?” The clearer you are about who to sell your product to, the more cost effective, targeted and efficient your whole sales and marketing process will be, Milton says. “You should be able to describe that customer and their likes and dislikes, how they live their life, what they do in their spare time, what their priorities are financially, every detail of that person as if you had actually met them. “Small businesses in particular don’t have time to waste, nor money, so you need to be very targeted and clear.” Two sessions in the Small Business Forum will look at role of the internet in fine food retailing. Andrew Webb at Love Food Love Drink will share advice on tapping into Twitter and blogs to reach a wider audience, while Emma Dandy at La Cremerie looks at setting up a fine food business online and creating brand awareness without a bricks-and-morter shop. Other speakers include Marcus Carter of Food Ventures, John Graham of Adcreative, Diana Spellman from Partners in Purchasing, Nick Beare at Exodus Ventures and Paul Jenkins at The Pack Hub. For personalised advice visitors can also book free appointments in the Business Mentoring Centre. The half-hour sessions will offer troubleshooting on subjects such as marketing, finance and HR, as well as social media, logistics and exporting. • A full seminar timetable is available on the ‘Visiting’ section of the SFFF website. Seminar leader Jane Milton: ‘Identify your buyers’

Vol.14 Issue 8 · September 2013

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ACCESSORIES Visit us at the Speciality Fine Food Fair 8-10 September 2013. Olympia, London

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September 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 8

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show preview

Event director Soraya Gadelrab says smaller producers are finally shrugging off the loss of government subsidy for regional foods

still getting the majority of those companies, but we have to deal with them individually.” If the regions are struggling to maintain a presence, Scotland and Wales will both still be at the show in force. Enterprise body Scotland Food & Drink is facing its own funding challenges, but while exhibitors are not benefiting from subsidised space, Gadelrab says individual firms have opted to continue exhibiting under the Scotland banner, despite paying their own way. “It will still look like a Scottish pavilion – they just haven’t bought space as a block.” And the Welsh Government is taking more space this year than in 2013, despite pulling the plug on its True Taste awards scheme last autumn. “The Welsh section has always been well subscribed,” says Gadelrab. “They have developed a ‘small producer deli’ area recently, and it’s good to see them supporting the little guys.” On the whole, she says, regional and artisan producers seem to have come to terms with the loss of heavily subsidised group stands. “A couple of years ago we felt producers weren’t ready to go it alone. But they have now realised that if they want to promote, they’re going to have to do it themselves.”

The SFFF’s own reduced-cost ‘new producer’ section, designed to help first-time exhibitors, is over-subscribed, and Gadelrab says: “We may look at how we can support more small producers next year. We know cost is an issue for some exhibitors, and while we can’t make space cheaper overall, we can come up with packages that make the show more accessible.” There’s a hint of other changes on the way for next year with the creation of an industry steering group – the Speciality Select Committee – to “help guide where the show should go”. Its members include Stefano Cuomo of retailer and importer Macknade Fine Foods, Ben O’Brien of Sourced Market (see Deli of the Month, page 80), wine & spirit buyer Francois Ginther of Partridges of Sloane Square, two top executive chefs – Martin Chivers and Steve Walpole – and Guild of Fine Food MD John Farrand. They met first in midsummer, and have already suggested changing the show’s seminar and tutorial programme to focus more on how visitors can use new products on display at SFFF in their own businesses. “You won’t see a lot of changes this year,” says Gadelrab, “but the Select guys will inform what we do next year, to ensure the show is delivering what the industry needs.”

Sample Britain’s best foods at new Great Taste Deli The close ties between Britain’s biggest fine food show and its biggest fine food award scheme continue with the creation of a new Great Taste Deli, supported by WBC, alongside the Guild of Fine Food stand at Olympia. Here, visitors can sample a selection of the Top 50 Foods and other three-star winners from Great Taste 2013 (featured on pages 15-22) as well as meeting some of the

country’s top artisan producers. Once again this year, the top ‘golden fork’ winners and Great Taste Supreme Champion will be revealed at a trade dinner at the Royal Garden hotel on Monday night, at the mid-point of the SFFF. For tickets, call Charlie Westcar at the Guild of Fine Food on 01747 825200 or email charlie. westcar@finefoodworld.co.uk Vol.14 Issue 8 · September 2013

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Just a few of our best-selling brands... 52

September 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 8

show preview

Who’s at Olympia this year? Guild of Fine Food members in bold 1 saffron – Exquisite Range 959 3V Natural Foods........................................839 A L Simpkin & Co.....................................1037 A&F Gelati Italiani.......................................214 Adelphi Coldstream & Adelphi Manufacturing..770 Afinia..........................................................801 African Volcano..........................................054 Agenzia Di Promozione Economica Della Toscana.......................................................620 Agricola San Massimo...............................1164 Agroalimenta..............................................942 Al Vedel......................................................630 Alara Wholefoods.......................................337 Alivini Company.........................................679 Almuegaarden Sweets and Confectionery...253 Amanida UK...............................................359 Amari Italy..................................................620 Ancient Recipes................................. 425 Andresy Confitures...................................1048 Antonio Russo............................................082 Apulia Blend t/a as the Olive Oil Co....224 Aquitaine Specialites...................................707 Arganic.......................................................056 Argentine Embassy.....................................759 Arkino........................................................859 Armagh Cider Company.............................733 Art Of Mallow..........................................1159 Atkins and Potts................... 1108, 1110 Authentic American Food Company.........1070

Avlaki Superb Organic Olive Oils.... 245 Awfully Posh...............................................430 Az. Agr. Leonardi Giovanni.........................437 Azienda Agrimontana.................................480 Ballancourt........................................ 547 Bear Nibbles...............................................210 Beeston Belting (London)............................011 Belvoir Fruit Farms........................... 645 Berry Good........................................ 141 Bespoke Foods.................................. 637 Bev’s Cookies Desserts................................881 Biddenden Vineyards..................................543 Bio-tiful Dairy..............................................073 Birchall Tea...................................... 1014 Bis-Bas......................................................1153 Biscottea Boscoffee.....................................530 Biscotti di Debora.......................................002 Blanxart......................................................859 Bobo..........................................................021 Bonnie Yau’s Food Products............. 452 Bord Bia (Irish Food Board)..................613, 615 Boxerchips Co.............................................468 Bramley and Gage............................ 748 Bread Du Jour.............................................449 Bread Tree..................................................076 Breckland Orchard......................................439 Brew Tea Company.....................................006 Brewhaha Tea.............................................526 British Cassis..................................... 441 Brockleby’s .................................................032 Brown Bag Crisps.......................................232 Burren Smokehouse......................... 613

New to the show in...

…beers, wines & spirits Sheppy‘s Cider Sheppy’s Cider recently took on its first dedicated saleswoman – a milestone for the relatively small firm which supplies topend cider produced on its own Three Bridges Farm in Taunton, Somerset. The third-generation family company – a well-known name in the cider-loving West Country – is growing fast. Director Louisa Sheppy says it’s coming to the Speciality & Fine Food Fair to explore export opportunities and also build distribution further around the UK. She comments: “These are big expensive shows to attend but we want to tap into new markets, to put the word around. ”Sheppy’s will also be taking its new raspberry cider to the SFFF. www.sheppyscider.com

Miller Park, Station Road, Wigton, Cumbria CA7 9BA Tel/Fax: 016973 45974 Email: claire@claireshandmade.co.uk Web: www.claireshandmade.co.uk

Handmade sweet and savoury preserves and condiments Multi-award winning recipes made with all-natural ingredients A colourful array of products from traditional favourites to innovative specialities Powerful branding and packaging with comprehensive retailer support Call Claire Kent for wholesale information…

Please add come and visit stand 245 at the Speciality and Fine Food Fair Vol.14 Issue 8 · September 2013

Delicious Christmas

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September 2013 路 Vol.14 Issue 8

8th - 10th September, London Olympia, Stand 875

We look forward to seeing you there! E: sales@thebaytree.co.uk

www.thebaytree.co.uk

show preview New to the show in... …dressings, sauces & marinades Bonnie Yau's Food Products It’s a couple of years since Philip and Bonnie Yau, who run the successful Janson Hong oriental supermarket in Peterborough, decided to launch their own range of MSG-, gluten- and wheat-free Oriental sauces. A local manufacturer was recruited to produce recipes including sweet & sour and Vietnamese Zum dipping sauce. After dealing with so many exporters for their supermarket range, says Philip Yau: “We wanted to keep this a local business.” Now the company has repackaging its range of six sauces for launch to the independent retail trade at the SFFF, and Yau says he would like to meet distributors to mainstream fine food retailers at the Fair, rather than limiting distribution to Asian food shops. www.bonnieyau.co.uk

Buttermilk Confections...............................743 Bysel...........................................................876 Cafes Toscaf...............................................859 Caffè Chelotti.............................................620 Cake.........................................................1068 Cambrook Foods............................... 083 Canicas Serrano........................................1048 Capital Coffee Roasters..............................984 Capital Health.............................................117 Capsicana Chilli Co.....................................129 Carnevale......................................... 1059 Carr & Sons........................................ 615 Carrigbyrne Farmhouse Cheese..................615 Casa Agricola Rui Batel...............................247 Casa Anadia...............................................063 Casa de L'oli...............................................070 Caseificio Sociale Manciano Soc. AGR. Coop... 620 Caspian Caviar............................................348 Caviar Bank................................................926 Cawston Press............................................239 Cedar Bay Grilling Company.......................229 Chase Distillery...........................................738 Cheese Cellar..................................... 671 Chef Media..............................................1004 Chegworth Valley Juices...........................1146 CherryCoast..............................................1075 Chi Drinks.................................................1074 Chia Bia......................................................613 Choi Time Teas................................ 1156 Cibosano....................................................406 Cocoa Loco................................................430 Cocofina...................................................1085 Cole’s Pudding............................................969 Compass Spirits..........................................230 Cook Trading..................................... 709 Cookie Crumbles........................................010 Cool Chile Co.............................................937

Coppini Arte Olearia Aziende Agricole .......630 Cortijo de Suerte Alta.................................859 Cotswold Fayre................. 530, 430, 420 Cottage Delight................................ 549 Cradocs Savoury Biscuits.............................723 CRDOP Pimenton de la Vera.......................855 Crediton Confectionery..............................355 Crocedelizia................................................630 Crosta & Mollica.........................................430 CSY Retail Systems.....................................871 Curry Dave.................................................415 D.O.P. Dehesa de Extremadura....................855 Delcof.........................................................677 Delicioso UK...................................... 466 Deli-cious OnTap Oils & Vinegars.... 909 Deliwraps.......................................... 697 Design Council.........................................1080

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01933 622809

www.justcrisps.co.uk feedback@justcrisps.co.uk 01543 493081

Vol.14 Issue 8 · September 2013

FFWad1July13-topress.pdf

18/07/2013

14:16

The first

COFFEE WITH ITS OWN

CARBON CREDIT

NUMBER

Organic Mexico “La Sierra Cloud Forest” This organic product is 100% traceable to the forest community conservation project, and is brought to you in collaboration with Grumpy Mule.

www.grumpymule.co.uk Tel: 01484 852601

The Roastery, Holmfirth, HD9 4EP email: damian@grumpymule.co.uk

September 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 8

show preview New to the show in... …savoury snacks Boxer Chips On an aeroplane, space efficiency is of the essence. Some 45% of a standard pillow pack of crisps is air and then there is 25% dead space between packs, explains Steve Bush, one of the founders or Boxer Chips. When the crisp company was set up four years ago its mission was to supply airlines with a high quality crisp in a spacesaving, recycled-card box format. Boxer Chips are now available on airlines including Virgin and easyJet, and the company has been turning its attentions down to earth, gaining listings in the high-end contract catering sector. Boxer Chips is heading for the SFFF to look for distributors to the UK fine food trade. Bush explains: “We are expanding our range to include 100g and 200g sharing boxes as well as our 40g boxes, and developing new flavours. The UK market is flooded with premium crisps, and you might think, ‘Not another one’. But this is all about the box. It’s is a quirky, green, high quality brand that will never be sold cheap. We never want to sell in the supermarkets.” www.boxerchips.com

Devilishly Delicious......................................430 Dibal UK...................................................1011 Dillitos Food Manufacturing........................003 Dina Foods.................................................313 Dinton Farm ..............................................005 Districts of Italy...........................................933 Diverse Fine Food........................................456 Divine Deli Supplies...................................1186 Divino.........................................................014 Dolcemente................................................158 Dr. Oats......................................................013 Duchess Oil........................................ 001 Duke Street................................................511 Easy Bean.......................................... 034 Edenco.......................................................356 EDM France................................................898 El Caballo de Oros......................................855 Elena’s Gluten Free Way..............................825 Eleon Fine Foods.........................................018 Elixia...........................................................430 Elsinore Foods...........................................1039 EMIUU........................................................249 Empire Foodbrokers....................................570 EqualiTea....................................................155 Essential Cuisine............................. 1068 eteaket Tea.................................................610 Euler Hermes UK.......................................1081 Faccsa-Prolongo..................................855, 859 Fairfields Farm Crisps....................... 552 Faroliva S.L. Aceitunas y Encurtidos.............859 Farrington Oils................................ 1135 Fenton Farm Eggs............................. 071 FIAB - Spanish Food and Drink Industry Federation..........................................855, 859 Filbert’s Fine Foods......................................334 Filippetto’s Specialist Italian Food Importer.......638 Finca La Pontezuela....................................859

Simple Simon’s Perfect Pies

d 21 an 4 e e nd in n m sta & F ndo Co at lity Lo us ia in e ec ir se t Sp Fa a od Fo

perfect stocking fillers

Flora Tea Company UK..................... 145 Food & Drink Federation.............................450 Food & Drink Wales....................625, 713, 723 Forno Steno................................................620 Foster’s Traditional Food.................. 883 Frandi Italia.................................................211 Friary Liqueurs ...........................................755 Fromagerie Rouzaire...................................707 Fruidoraix....................................................707 Fruit Gourmet.............................................707 FruitBroo............................................ 701 Fudgalicious................................................154

A simple solution to serving top quality British produce.

60 varieties of Perfect Pies A complete meal for one, wrapped in light crisp puff pastry. Quick, convenient and easy to use. Heat and serve perfectly with a mixed salad.

try our warming winter flavours To get ready for Christmas contact us on 0208 847 3980 or email trade@teapigs.co.uk

www.simplesimonspies.co.uksales@simplesimonspies.co.uk tel 01899 220118 Vol.14 Issue 8 · September 2013

Our Royal ham is pickled in Landlord’s Ale, molasses and spices then naturally air dried for at least 6 months for a unique, richly sweet flavour. The product is created from an original Woodall’s family recipe first documented in 1843.

BRIT

THE ISH

HOM E O F CHA RCU TERY

Cumberland Salami FROM THE ORIGINAL CUMBERLAND RECIPE, CURED FOR 3 WEEKS FOR A DEEP, RICH AND FAMILIAR FLAVOUR.

BRIT

THE ISH

HOM E O F CHA RCU TERY

Cumberland Chorizo FROM THE ORIGINAL CUMBERLAND RECIPE SPICED WITH PAPRIKA AND CURED FOR 3 WEEKS FOR A SUBTLY SPICY TASTE.

CRANSWICK WOODALLS © Pearlfisher 2012

STAND

548

The Speciality Fine Food Show, London Olympia, 8-10 September

WWW.WOODALLSCHARCUTERIE.CO.UK 58

September 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 8

CWK_CONT_4069 Speciality Fine Food Ad_v6.indd 1

05/08/2013 11:20

show preview New to the show in...

…Continental importers Gourmandisse by Cherry-Coast Importer Cherry-Coast is bringing gift boxes containing premium Portuguese delicacies to the Speciality & Fine Food Fair. Options in its Gourmandisse range include a “cod box” – two tins of cod in olive oil, extra virgin olive oil, onion and pepper pickles and organic olives – plus various other seafood-based gifts. There is also a fig nougat gift box, with fig nougat, plum jam and Port, and further boxes are being developed. Founder Sonia Morais says: “Gourmandisse is an innovative concept where we assemble in a gift box the gourmet products necessary to prepare a traditional Portuguese recipe. “Our goal was to promote a bit of our culinary culture with a contemporary touch and make it available to gourmands all over the world.” The small company is hoping to make direct contact with fine food retailers at the Fair.

Fudge Kitchen................................... 159 Fukugao Brewery Co..................................153 Furniss Foods..............................................748 Gadsby............................................... 669 Gal Capo di Leuca Gruppo di Azione Locale del Capo di S. Maria di Leuca.....................216 Garden Of England.....................................939 Gelato Rialto...............................................333 Gelli Salumi................................................620 Gemignani..................................................620 Geneco Food Industry.................................545 Gigi il Salumificio......................................1120 Gillie Food..................................................040

Gino Gelato................................................642 Glamour Puds.................................... 017 Globely.....................................................1176 Godminster ...................................... 743 Goken Honey Farm UK & Eilles Tee UK.......039 Goldcraft....................................................316 Good heavens!...........................................531 Gourmandise Piquante...............................077

www.gourmandisse.com

& nge n! e l l o ha r C o be w u o t v Fla rizes p

420 C Introducing our limited edition winter blend - exclusive tasting launch for Speciality & Fine Food Fair 2013.

Great tasting speciality coffee available as Wholebean, Filter Ground & Espresso Ground.

Union Direct Trade

Artisan Roasted

Exquisite Coffee

www.unionroasted.com Vol.14 Issue 8 · September 2013

Lo St Visi & nd and t us Fi on 7 on ne S 37 Fo pec at o d ial Fa ity ir

n at y s o 3 lit e u 03 i a ir Se d 1 pec Fa an S od St on Fo nd ne Lo Fi &

...more a way of life, naturally produced, the summer’s fruits and vegetables captured and preserved for you using age-old traditional methods from Serbia. Now available for the first time in the UK, will you discover Granny’s Secret? Juices, jams and preserves with nothing added and nothing taken away... snezana@grannyssecret.co.uk www.grannyssecret.co.uk

GIN,,

Herefordshire

distilled from cider?

No NGS

Come and join us for an apple Gin and Tonic at Speciality and Fine Food Fair London chasedistillery.co.uk 60

September 2013 CHASE_SFF.indd 1

· Vol.14 Issue 8

14/8/13 13:22:58

show preview New to the show in... …speciality oils Honest Toil Brothers Tom and Jordan Woodgate, aged 26 and 24, have a small family olive grove in the Western Peloponnese region of Greece. The village only makes one sort of olive oil, with a “full-on flavour”, from Koroneiki olives harvested by hand. Last year, after working the harvest, the Oxfordshire-based brothers decided to start selling their first cold pressed extra virgin oil in the UK. They now supply local farm shops, delis and restaurants and hope to increase distribution by meeting new distributors at Olympia. www.honest-toil.co.uk

Gourmet Du Village....................................430 Gourmet Olive Oil UK.................................009 Gran Luchito...............................................060 Gran Stead’s Ginger Co.................... 109 Granny’s Secret................................. 737 Grapa Interfood..........................................979 Great Glen Game.............................. 509 Great Taste Deli................................. 908 Green Saffron Spices...................................615 Greenfield Bio Plantations Pvt...................1180 Grumpies of Cornwall................................755 Grumpy Mule.................................... 760 Guidetti Fine Food & Wine............... 634 Guild of Fine Food............................ 910 HACCP UK.................................................111 Hasslacher's (Ozindas).................................065 Haven Bay Care Food.................................139 Heart Distribution............................. 225 Hebridean Sea Salt......................................419 Hello Good Sip...........................................127 Hft Sussex Orchard.....................................648 Hider Food Imports........................... 930 Honest Toil Olive Oil........................................3 Honey Brisi...............................................1119 Honeybuns.................................................448 Hungarian Investment And Trade Agency...470 Hydropac....................................................412 I Love Italia...............................................1042 Ibericos Revisan..........................................859 Iconiq Drinks/Drinkpaq................................723 InkREADible Labels......................... 1148 INOVCluster - Associação do Cluster AgroIndustrial do Centro....................................817 Inverawe Smokehouses................... 413 Invereach....................................................423 IQ Ingredients................................... 514 Irish Atlantic Salt.........................................613

Island Bakery Organics................................518 Italian Beverage Company........................1133 Italian Business Center................................503 Italifood Italiana alimentare.........................529 J. Friend & Co, New Zealand Artisan Honey....207 James White Drinks.......................... 554 Jetro London..............................................609 JimJams......................................................143 Joe & Seph’s Gourmet Popcorn....... 931 Joe’s Tea Company....................................1045 Jumi Cheese...............................................022 Kankun Mexican sauces................. 1129 Karimix UK...................................... 1033 Kent’s Kitchen................................... 530 Keogh’s Crisps............................................615 Kestrel Food...............................................335 Kezie..........................................................633 Kingdom Chocolate....................................541 Kitchen Garden Foods...................... 771 Knockdrinna Farmhouse Cheese.................615 Konza Kiffi Azienda Agricola di Chiaiesi Rosalba.......................................................899 Koppert Cress ............................................301 La Chispa....................................................402 La Panzanella Artisanal Foods Co................913 La Tua Pasta................................................833 Labeyrie Fine Foods International................707 L'ailOlive.....................................................259 Lakeland Computers......................... 841 Landaluz, Andalusian Fine Foods................859 Laverstoke Park Farm....................... 779 Le Mesurier’s...............................................530

Showcasing new products at The Speciality Fine Food Show - stand 314

The Lyme Bay Winery & Highl and Wineries A brand new range of Meads with two new flavours – Garden Mead and Tournament Mead and New Pear and Peach Annings Fruit Cider. Come to the stand for a sample, view our range and meet our sales team who can advise on best-selling products for your individual outlet.

Tournament

Mead

d...!

Just add foo

Delicious, sweet honey wine with the added warmth of ginger Produced & bottled by The Lyme Bay Winery, Shute, Axminster, Devon Bottle No. CW0000000

11% Vol.

The Lyme Bay Winery, Shute, Axminster, Devon EX13 7PW Tel 01297 551 355 · sales@lymebaywinery.co.uk

75cl

Come and see us at Speciality Fine Food Fair

Stand No 081

Vol.14 Issue 8 · September 2013 Per 125ml serving

lymebaywinery.co.uk

...British product made easy

One Order, One Invoice, One Delivery

Liven up lunch,

with a little crunch.

We are a family business supporting British fine food and drink producers in getting product to market. Chilled, ambient & frozen on one minimum order.

Come and see us at Speciality on Stand 225!

Nothing sets off your lunch like the crunch of our thick cut, delicious, traditional British crisps. That’s why at Corkers we’ve grown our own variety of luscious potatoes in rich Fenland soil. Expertly sliced and sprinkled with a taste of England, they’re sure to add a kick & a crunch to any lunch. Call us today on 01353 699 000 or email: info@corkerscrisps.co.uk

New Producers New Catalogue Christmas Product

01902 308996

www.corkerscrisps.co.uk /officialcorkers

heartdistribution@afblakemore.com www.afblakemore.com/heart

/corkerscrisps

Buckets& Buckets& Tubs& Tubs& Jars& Jars& Bottles Bottles

WHEN ONLY THE BEST IS GOOD ENOUGH us See 906 n ta d on s London ine at ty & F i ir cial p S e ood Fa F

COURDE FILLET OF SALMON

DOUBLE FILLET OF SMOKED SALMON

RI F O O D S I N D N TA IN & IRELA

Visit us on Stand 819 at the Speciality Fine Food Visit us on&Stand 819 atFair theat Olympia September Speciality8th-10th & Fine Food Fair at

DOUBLE FILLET OF SMOKED SALMON

Olympia 8th-10th September

www.taylor-davis.co.uk 01373 864324 www.taylor-davis.co.uk 01373 864324 62

September 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 8

t. 0046 41858371 e. stefanpalssonab@telia.com www.stefanpalssonab.se

show preview New to the show in... …jams & preserves JimJams Essex-based healthy spreads company JimJams was founded late last year by ex-Royal Navy communications engineer Kevin Bath with a bit of help from his wife. The company is just getting off the ground, but the concept is clear: “If you pick up a JimJams product it’s going to be a healthy spread,” Bath explains. The initial range consists of a no-addedsugar peanut butter, strawberry jam and a dairy-free chocolate spread, sourced from three different specialist manufacturers. Bath says he tasted many samples before choosing his suppliers. Packaging design has been key, with a stripy effect and a button to suggest pyjamas. Bath explains: “We were thinking of making this a children’s brand, but we decided that everyone wants to eat more healthily these days.” With trademarks now in place, Bath is keen to gain listings through the Speciality & Fine Food Fair and actually start selling the products.

Leporati Prosciutti Langhirano.....................630 Link Print & Packaging................................879 Linkshelving.................................... 1047 Little Turban..............................................1069 LittlePod.....................................................430 Little’s.........................................................544 LivingSocial...............................................1046 Lodge Farm Kitchen.......................... 540 L'Orchidee Specials.....................................238 Lucys Dressings...........................................052 Luscombe Organic Drinks................ 121 Lustucru....................................................1048 Lyme Bay Winery.............................. 314

Mad About Pies..........................................755 Maha Partnership.......................................053 Mainland Distribution.................................940 Manfood....................................................027 Marketing Solutions ...................................000 Markets Division, Colorado Department of Agriculture..................................................340 Martins Craft Bakery...................................339

Sp S V ec tan isi ial d t u ity 46 s Fi 6 a on ne t Fo the od Fa ir

kbath@lseg.com

For a gourmet Spanish Christmas

Christmas catalogue out now!

telephone 01865 340055 / 341564 | info@delicioso.co.uk | www.delicioso.co.uk Vol.14 Issue 8 · September 2013

House of Dorchester chocolates are made from the world’s finest ingredients by the world’s finest chocolatiers right here in Britain

e of H o us

Year Ann iversary

Dor ches te r

Hou

f se o

Year An niversary

Dor

che s t e

e of H o us

Year Ann iversary

Dor ches te r

Dip in…

to award winning chocolates and receive

% off

Stem ginger chocolate

your first order with House of Dorchester *Quote: PROMO19

Applicable to all opening orders of £350+ delivered between 1st September and 30th November 2013

Someone once said that it’s the little things in life that make a big difference, and we couldn’t agree more. We know that it’s our attention to detail that makes our dressings stand out from the rest of the pack – originating from a secret family recipe, our awardwinning dressings have been tweaked and tested over the years to produce the perfect taste. For full details of our dressings please contact us email sales@fdc-online.com or telephone 020 87474089

Violet fondant cremes

TO PLACE YOUR ORDER:

Telephone: 01420 84181 Email: sales@hodchoc.com • www.hodchoc.com

Tel: 0208 900 1000 Fax: 0871 918 9809 Email: info@steinsfoods.com Web: www.steinsfoods.com 64

September 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 8

Vi si at t us th a Fin e S t st a e 8- Fo pec nd 10 o ia 1 th d F lity 01 Se ai & 0 pt r

Steins foods are passionate about bringing you some of the best tasting foods from around the world. Some of our brands include Cretors gourmet popcorn, Lucy’s gluten free cookies, Riceworks gluten free brown rice crisps, Go Organic hard candies and La Panzanella award winning Italian style cheese crackers.

show preview Mash Direct................................................830 Maxim’s de Paris...................................... 430H McLarens Pure & Natural......................... 447A Meah’s Flavours of India.............................538 Medimar...................................................1143 Melia Fresh Line by ECOGREEN.................1008 Mercury Design & Marketing......................646 Metro Drinks..................................... 434 Mileeven Fine Foods...................................530 Mira Sud.....................................................985 Molini Del Ponte.........................................061 Montesano Extremadura.............................855 Mövenpick Ice Cream....................... 675 Mr Fitzpatrick’s Vintage Cordials.................444 Mummy’s Yummies...................................1137 Münz Red Se7en........................................058 My Cup of Tea............................................213 My Olive Branch................................ 133 Natasha’s Living Food..................................613 National Association For The Speciality Food Trade..........................................................246 Naturally Med.............................................033 Neptune Tea...............................................152 New English Teas......................................1016 New York Delhi...........................................240 Newgrange Gold........................................615 Nicola Adamo...........................................1145 Nielsen-Massey Fine Vanillas and Flavours...403 Nizami Foods..............................................047 Nono Sentido - Alimentacao e Bem Estar....028 Odysea............................................... 917 Ogilvy’s............................................ 1013 Olives Et Al........................................ 649 One Drinks...............................................1055 Onizz, Truede..............................................921 Origin Coffee..............................................783 Pages Vedrenne..........................................707 Parkers Packaging............................. 934 Parma Alimentare.......................................630 Pasta & Pasta............................................1059 Pasta & Truffles...........................................502 Patatas Torres.............................................859 Pathos Continental Foods...........................932 Paxton & Whitfield........................... 755

New to the show in... …pickles & chutneys Purely Pickled Eggs Pickled eggs are like Marmite with a twist: you love them, you hate them – or you’ve never tried them, says Sue Tyley, who founded Purely Pickled Eggs in March. The reaction to her free-range eggs, pickled with flavours including chilli, horseradish and spicy cider, has been positive so far and Tyley is pleased with the number of converts she has made among pickled egg virgins. She recently left her full-time job to devote more hours to the start-up business and hopes to gain further distribution by attending the SFFF, both with retailers and with deli-café operators who could serve the eggs with salads. She is also working on new flavours to join the range. www.purelypickledeggs.co.uk

New to the show in... …seafood

RR Spink & Sons A couple of years short of its 300th anniversary, Scottish seafood business RR Spink is taking its first stand at a London trade show. The Arbroath company, founded in 1715, recently launched new-look packaging for its own RR Spink brand. Four types of premium, sustainable, smoked Scottish salmon and Loch Etive trout are currently on offer in the range, with more lines set to be added. The Speciality & Fine Food Fair will be the first major trade show that the Arbroathbased company has attended. It now wants to build export markets for its brand and expand distribution across the UK. www.rrspink.co.uk

PCS (Pain Concept Services)......................1048 Pelagonia.................................................. 420E Pentic Price Ticketing..................... 1144 Peppersmith..............................................1041 Peregrine Trading............................. 980 Perkier Foods..............................................036 Perry Court Farm......................................1134 Pie Pie.........................................................072 Pilton Cider.................................................055 Pink Eskimos...............................................534 Pipers Crisps...................................... 347 Pistachio Rose Bakery..................................008 Poe-tree Premium Organic EVOO................965 Popcorn Kitchen.........................................051 Portlebay Popcorn.......................................530 POSlavu UK................................................967 Pots&Co.....................................................546 Potted Game Company..............................234 Primera Europe...........................................217 Products from Spain.................................1017 Propercorn - Catapult Enterprises................443 Pudding Lane............................................1030 Purely Pickled Eggs.....................................698 Queen of Truffles........................................012 Quercus Selección Ibérica............................043 Queso Manchego Navaloshaces..................859 Quinola.......................................................044 Radnor Hills Mineral Water.........................723 RayGray Snacks / Mr Trotter........................823 Redemption..............................................1068 Retail Computer Solutions............. 1029 Retaste Spain..............................................797 Ringden Farm.............................................442 Roar Muesli................................................030 Rod & Bens........................................ 445 Roots n Shoots by Taravale Foods...............615 Rostal UK....................................................401 RR Spink & Sons (Arbroath)............. 608 Rude Health................................................332 Saladworx.................................................1127 Salaisons-Salamone...................................1101 Salcombe Dairy ................................ 743 Salento Fine Italian Foods.........................1189 Salinity UK..................................................835

Samways Fine Foods........................ 772 Sandro Desii...............................................237 Scarlett & Mustard............................ 081 Seasoned Pioneers............................ 997 Select Lincolnshire......................................650 Selektia Italia..............................................620 Selsley Foods............................................1172 Senco Group..............................................769 Serious Pig................................................430B Sharpham Park ..........................................748 Sheep Print.................................................338 Shellfish De La Mer.....................................613 Shepcote....................................................010 Sheppy’s Cider............................................446 Shortbread House Of Edinburgh..... 512 Shropshire Granola.....................................082 Shropshire Purveyors...................................042 SICILyAvemu.............................................1168 Silagum......................................................156 Silver Lantern Tea........................................064 Simón Martín Guijuelo................................859 Simple Simon’s Perfect Pies.........................421 Simply Ice Cream............................ 1152 Simply Rose....................................... 025 Smiths Coffee Company...........................1071 Snacktree....................................................241 Snowdonia Cheese........................... 723 Solleys Farms Ice Cream............................1076 Sopexa........................................................707 Soralina....................................................1140 Spanish Ham Master.................................1166 Speciality Food Traders................................600 Spicentice........................................ 1040 Sri Tea.........................................................020 St Georges Epicurean Products...................350 Stag Bakeries.................................... 606 Stefan Palsson............................................906 Steins Foods.................................... 1010 Sticky Fingers..............................................975

New to the show in... …tea

EqualiTea Most weekends, Marion Lehnert, co-owner of EqualiTea, can be found attending events to promote her tea range, so it‘s fitting the company will be celebrating its first year in business with a trip to Olympia. EqualiTea is the exclusive UK distributor of French tea brand Les Jardins de Gaia. Based in Berkshire, it has a catalogue of 90 boutique teas on offer, all organic and Fairtrade where possible. Lehnert hopes to build the customer base in the UK through meeting fine food retailers at the show. At the moment owners Marion and Oliver sell mainly online via their website and through Amazon. www.equalitea.co.uk

Vol.14 Issue 8 · September 2013

Lo St Visi & nd and t us Fi on 0 on ne S 10 Fo pec at o d ial Fa ity ir

Making home baking foolproof Capture the true taste of home-baking with Cookie Crumbles Baking Mix range. Each mix is made from the finest ingredients with no artificial colours, preservatives or hydrogenated fat. All our products are hand blended and packed in Yorkshire and also make perfect gifts.

From our Fields to Your Fork A choice of over 30 vegetables accompaniments. Grown, steam cooked, gently prepared and packed on the family farm for the delicious taste and texture of homemade food, free from artificial additives, preservatives and colourings. Available for retail, food service and food manufacture. Mash Direct will be exhibiting at the Speciality Fine Food Fair. Visit our stand 830 to sample our product range.

T 020 8876 9912 E info@cookiecrumbles.co.uk The Lyme Bay Winery, Shute, Axminster, Devon EX13 7PW www.cookiecrumbles.co.uk Tel 01297 551 355 · sales@lymebaywinery.co.uk

Fresh. Convenient. Delicious. Nutritious.

www.mashdirect.com GB-008

DINAMITE HOT BRUSCHETTA SPREAD

Spoilt for choi ce mas his Christ t The

Original Candy Co Ltd

Confectionery Corner, 4 Wessex Road Bourne End, Bucks. SL8 5DT

01628 520927

enquiries@originalcandyco.com

www.chocca-mocca.com www.originalcandyco.com 66

September 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 8

London based Bread Tree is the UK Specialist in Italian Chilli and Bruschetta. Our best selling product is Dinamite, a blend of Italian chilli peppers, vegetables, wild herbs and mushrooms packed with an explosive taste. It only takes a small amount of this ludicrously tasty condiment to flavour and spice up all kinds of dishes such as bruschetta, pizza, and pasta. Bread Tree is the one stop shop for Bruschetta in UK. With our products and directions you can make an authentic Italian Bruschetta. Our Southern Italian farms produce: Sicilian Bruschetta bread, bruschetta seasonings, Organic Olive Oil, Italian Peperoncino chilli, and more than 10 different bruschetta toppings from Nduja (fiery spreadable salami) to Spicy Sun Dried Tomato paste, winner of a Great Taste 2013 1-star award. Bread Tree colourful pasta is also a best seller among specialist food shops.

Special offer for Fine Food Digest readers: For more information email us quoting this code BTSFFF13 and T: 0845 47 47 142, we will send you our wholesale catalogue/ E: Devon info@breadtree.co.uk price list and free Bay UK (mainland) delivery Axminster, The Lyme Winery, Shute, EX13 7PW or www.breadtree.co.uk for 12 months any size Telon 01297 551orders. 355 · sales@lymebaywinery.co.uk

show preview New to the show in... …bakery

Your Piece Baking Co Scottish oatcakes and shortbread company Your Piece Baking Co was facing a problem: how best to distribute to England and build a customer base there. So three years ago founder Dan Connolly set up his own wholesale operation, allowing Your Piece to deliver its own and other small producers’ products overnight across the UK. Now, 30% of its business is in England, 60% in Scotland and 10% export. Coming to the SFFF for the first time will be a chance to meet with customers in the south of England “and hopefully gain some new ones”, says Connolly. The company supplies independent retailers, farm shops and foodhalls with its handmade biscuits, made without artificial colours, preservatives or additives. www.yourpiecebakingcompany.com

Stoats.........................................................520 Subhi Jabri & Sons......................................506 Sugar & Spice Food....................................834 Sundowner Foods............................. 024 Supernature Oils.........................................513 Sweet Karma..............................................062 Swift Fine Foods.........................................615 Tahi Honey..................................................904 Tamar Labels ..............................................755 Tanara Giancarlo.........................................933 Taste of the West................643, 743, 748, 755 Tastes Of Anglia..........................................447 Taylor Davis.................................................819 Tea Nation..................................................346 Teapigs............................................... 542 Tentazioni Uk..............................................955 Terra Rossa...................................... 1117 Tetra-Partners/JunMaiAn Co (Japan)............... 153 Tetriberica.................................................1025 Thank Goodness.........................................004 The Anglesey Sea Salt Co................. 723 The Artisan Bakery....................................1160 The Awfully Posh Snack Co......................1140 The Bay Tree Food Co....................... 875 The Beer Boutique......................................310 The Coffee Fairy.......................................1141 The Curry Sauce Co....................................430 The Dip Society...........................................041 The Distribution Consultant........................776 The Dorset Food Co....................................755 The Extremaduran Warehouse....................269 The Fine Cheese Co....................................560 The French Dressing Co.................... 137 The Fresh Pasta Co.......................... 1032 The Frozen Fruit Co..................................1170 The Garlic Farm................................. 530 The Gourmet Candy Co..............................151

Try our new Organic Brazilian Plateau, cold pressed, rich in minerals and enzymes, reputed blood cleaning qualities, perfect for having with yoghurt Balkan Acacia, cold pressed, low in GI To order call 01780 450 377 or email at info@ogilvys.com

The Gourmet Hotdog Co............................644 The Holywell Water Co...............................109 The Jelly Bean Factory.................................615 The Jerky Shack..........................................080 The Little Mill Co........................................615 The Metropolitan Tea Co............................260 The Original Drinks & Food Co...................451 The Original Egg Co...................................353 The Patchwork Traditional Food Co.723 The Potted Fish Co.....................................743 The Real Basmati Rice Co............................430 The Tracklement Co ......................... 748 The Village Workshop...............................1138 The Walnut Tree.........................................147 Thomas Export............................................707 Thursday Cottage.............................. 969 TIANA Fair Trade Organics..........................320 Tom’s Pies.......................................... 748 Torrebreva...................................................048 Tortapistocchi-Firenze..................................933 Treflach Farm............................................1155 Tregothnan.................................................971 Tregroes Waffles.........................................530 Trentin Soc. Agr..........................................119 Tretters Chips..............................................075 Trotters Independent Condiments...............026 Truffle Hunter.................................. 1038 Truly Simple Foods......................................019 Two Much Italia.com di Mauro Pettinati....1079 Uncle Roy’s Comestible Concoctions...507 Une Normande a Londres...........................925 Union Hand-Roasted Coffee............. 430

items, come to our stand and watch Arona’s LIVE masterclass on Sunday.

Vol.14 Issue 8 · September 2013

Our search is over. When we set out to add to our range, we insist on finding ingredients that are truly special. We searched the world before finding Italian carrots with just the right sweetness to perfectly balance the acidity of our Sicilian oranges. For our pure Orange Juice we scoured organic orange groves with just the right terroir to find a single estate orange from Mexico that would deliver a full flavoured, perfectly balanced juice that needed absolutely nothing added. With both, the result is a taste that’s classic Luscombe. Call us today for a sample pack on 01364 64 30 36.

Only the best goes in a Luscombe bottle

September 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 8

www.luscombe.co.uk

show preview New to the show in... …soft drinks

Hasslacher's (Ozindas Ltd) Entrepreneur Jim Campbell was having breakfast in a café in Colombia 18 months ago when he was offered a cup of hot drinking chocolate, the most popular national drink. It was made by breaking a square off a solid bar and melting it in milk, and having tasted it Campbell immediately decided it was a product that should be brought to international attention.The result was Ozindas Ltd, co-founded by Campbell to market bars of solid cocoa, ethically produced in Colombia, under the Hasslacher’s brand. The brand also appears on 500g blocks of panela, a traditional sweetener made from unrefined caned sugar, and there are plans to extend the Hasslacher’s range in future Campbell says: “We think our products stand out in the hot chocolate fixture. Making hot chocolate this way is a ritual in the same way that making real coffee is.” www.hasslachers.co.uk

New to the show in... …chocolate & confectionery The Cocoa Mistress The Cocoa Mistress was established last year and produces handmade, speciality chocolate and confectionery from chocolate frogs to birthday truffle towers. It operates from a purpose-built kitchen in an outbuilding of the family property in Kent. Now, says founder Claire Izzard: “We want to meet as many people as possible and get as much feedback as we can. “At the moment we supply independents and we need more breadand-butter business like that. Making contact with a foodhall would be great too. We think we are a bit different – we go a bit further.” Everything is handmade, in small batches, using fairly traded chocolate produced from superior grade cocoa beans and, where possible, organic ingredients. www.thecocoamistress.com

Vallebona....................................................601 Valor Chocolates.........................................855 Valsana.......................................................537 Vanillabazaar.com.......................................069 Vecchio Pastificio Toscano...........................620 Ventas Brand Management.........................897 Vincente Delicacies.....................................212 Vita Coco...................................................903 W4 Foods.................................................1114 Walkers Shortbread.......................... 612 Warner Edwards Distillery...........................640 WBC (aka Winebox).................. 408, 410 We Love Jelly..............................................029 Well Seasoned............................................057 Whittard of Chelsea....................................233 Wild Appetite.............................................420 Wild At Heart........................................... 530F Wild Blueberry Association of North America.. 945 Wild Irish Sea Veg.......................................613 Wine Counseling - Pure Italian Tradition.....798 Womersley Foods.............................. 530 Woodalls....................................................548 Yarde Farm Icecream...................................755 Yorvale.......................................................775 Your Piece Baking Company (Edinburgh)....................................... 308 Yunay Trade & Exports................................982 Zemaitijos Pienas......................................1082 Zest Specialties.........................................1112 Exhibitor listings supplied by Fresh Montgomery and correct at time of going to press

VISIT US STAND 637

Visit us on Stand 637 at the Speciality & Fine Food Fair! For more information, get in touch: Phone: 020 7091 3200 Fax: 020 7091 3300

Email: sales@bespoke-foods.co.uk

Web: www.bespoke-foods.co.uk Vol.14 Issue 8 · September 2013

BE6560_Winter Trade Ad_PR01.pdf

09/08/2013

10:48

Hot toddy? Don’t mind if we do… Our winter-warmers are perfect for keeping out the chill in the colder months. Try Honey, Lemon & Ginger and Apple, Plum & Cinnamon with hot water, or with an added dash of whisky. To ﬁnd out more, pop along to www.belvoirfruitfarms.co.uk Visit us at Speciality Fine Food Fair, stand no. 645.

September 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 8

Patriana

High quality speciality food from France and Spain

Serrano Bodega Ham

Bayonne Ham

Basque Kintoa Ham

We offer award-winning high quality, traditional speciality food directly from artisan and farm producers representing the very best of South West France (the Basque region) and Spain – including air cured hams, chorizos, saucissons, patés, cheeses and much more. Please visit www.patriana.com, or contact us for more information: E mail: info@patriana.com Tel: 07734114295 Patriana Ltd. The Goods Shed, Station Road West, Canterbury, Kent CT2 8AN

show preview

A luxury assortment Launched in 2008, the Speciality Chocolate Fair reflects the UK’s growing appetite for artisan chocolates, as one of this year’s featured experts, Barry Johnson, tells FFD The artisan chocolate industry is going “from strength to strength”, according to Barry Johnson of Rococo, one of the top chocolatiers appearing on the Speciality Chocolate Live stage at this year’s Speciality Chocolate Fair. This show-within-a-show, added to the SFFF in 2008, will this year feature around 60 producers and suppliers, ranging from British artisan producer Amelia Rope to upmarket Italian brand Domori. “The biggest trend is definitely about the bean-to-bar makers and origin chocolates,” says Johnson, Rococo’s principal chocolatier. “Just like wine, the flavour of dark chocolate can vary hugely depending on where the beans are grown, the climate, fermentation, roasting and conching of the chocolate. “Retailers have responded to this by not only listing which country the beans come from but also the specific plantation, roast type and conching times.” Rococo, for example, has a close relationship with West Indian co-operative The Grenada Chocolate Company, which grows the beans itself and makes the chocolate on the island, giving it full control of every step from “tree to bar”. Salted caramel and caramels in general seem to be as popular as ever this year, says Johnson, with many versions including liquid truffles, caramel ganache, chewy toffees, filled bars and even lollypops. “Pastry chefs and chocolatiers

September 8. He says “weird and wonderful” flavours that would once have been confined to the artisan sector are now trickling down to the mainstream. “While Paul A Young is renowned for his Marmite chocolates, flavours such as yuzu (Japanese lime), wasabi and even haggis flavoured bars and chocolates are now all available on the high street.” Another trend over the last few years has been to marry chocolate

‘Weird and wonderful’ flavours are trickling down to the mainstream, says Rococo’s Barry Johnson are even using different types of salt to flavour the caramel or using fruits, herbs and spices to make their offering something a little different from the competition.” Johnson will be giving a live demonstration and tasting of his passion fruit & rosemary caramels at Speciality Chocolate Live on Sunday

and cocktails together in what have been dubbed ‘choctails’, with one company, Choctails Ltd, taking this trend and building their business around it. “Look out for new such flavours as Slamsey’s sloe gin and classics like the Mojito and Singapore Sling,” says Johnson. Other producers and chocolatiers offering demos and tastings as part of Speciality Chocolate Live are Alistair Birt, head chocolatier at William Curley, and award-winning pastry chef Will Torrent. www.rococochocolates.com

Who’s at the Speciality Chocolate Fair? Guild of Fine Food members in bold Amelia Rope Chocolate..............................374 Baru............................................................574 Bon Bons (wholesale)..................................370 Brocks Chocs..............................................371 Choc Affair.................................................175 Choc Chick Raw Chocolates.......................594 Chocmotif..................................................185 ChoCo’a.....................................................583 Chocolate Fusion.............................. 395 chocoMe - Rosehill Marketing ...................386 Choctails.....................................................192 Classic Fine Foods UK.................................676 Creme D’Or................................................479 Davenport’s Chocolates..............................396 Devnaa............................................... 472 Divine Chocolate............................... 474 Domori.......................................................480 Ecos Beverages...........................................169

Felicity’s Chocolate......................................495 For A Taste Of.............................................188 Galeta.........................................................475 HF Chocolates............................................686 Hope and Greenwood................................372 House of Dorchester......................... 587 House Of Sarunds............................. 670 Immergruen ...............................................167 James Chocolates.............................. 580 JustAromaticCocoaproject..........................179 Lauden Chocolate.......................................572 Lets Chocolaat............................................360 Lick The Spoon...........................................190 Madame Oiseau Fine Chocolates................165 Madecasse..................................................573 Malaysian Chef Norman Musa....................163 Melt Chocolates.........................................584 Menakao....................................................183 Middletown Hill / Marou Chocolate...176 Moo Free Chocolate...................................498 Naajoboat Ventures....................................284

Ooh! Chocolata..........................................496 Pandora Bell...............................................280 Patchi.........................................................473 Peano.........................................................174 Pimlico Confectioners.................................286 Prestat........................................................380 Rita Farhi / Mallow Tree..............................382 Rococo Chocolates.....................................375 Rozsavolgyi Csokolade................................586 Sabadi - slow living.....................................181 Simply Cocoa..............................................188 Sir Hans Sloane Chocolate..........................575 The Best Chocolate Cake in the World.......486 The Booja Booja Co....................................680 The Cocoa Mistress.....................................282 The Fine Confectionery Co............... 379 The Fine Truffle...........................................275 The Gourmet Chocolate Pizza Co.... 296 The Solid Chocolate Co..............................397 Unique Chocolate.......................................180 Wellness Cacao..........................................279 Vol.14 Issue 8 · September 2013

at fo BB ur Ou N gi E C th r ng C, G y da Bir oo ea y: mi d F r N ngh oo ov a d, em m be r2 7 Ju d

Be a world CHAMPION The World Cheese Awards sees more entries, from more cheesemakers, from more countries, judged by more international experts than any other cheese competition. OPEN FOR ENTRY SEPTEMBER 5

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Guild of Fine Food · Guild House · 23b Kingsmead Business Park · Shaftesbury Road · Gillingham · Dorset SP8 5FB · UK · +44 (0)1747 825200

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Fosters creates cakes and sauces as overhaul rolls on By MICHAEL LANE EDITE CR

Fosters Traditional Foods is introducing a host of new S U P LI E P lines including baked goods and a cooking sauce range as its extensive re-brand continues. The firm, which supplies a wide variety of ambient goods to farm shops and garden centres, has created the new lines under the second phase of its 12-month overhaul. The latest batch of products (see box for full list) includes ginger & wildflower honey flapjacks, jam roly poly muffins and Millionaire’s Shortbread cake slices. All of Fosters’ new cakes slices, muffins, and flapjacks have RRPs of under £1 and are pitched as grab-and-go items. This phase of Fosters’ plan also sees the introduction of cooking sauces that can be used for pastas, meats and pies. Tomato & basil, tomato & grilled vegetable, red wine & beef, ale & porcini mushroom, creamy white wine & herb and wild mushroom & thyme all come in cases of 6 x 540g jars. Each jar has an RRP of £3.99, which the company hopes will help it compete with other brands in the speciality market. Other new additions include four

www.fosters-foods.co.uk

Fosters’ baked bonanza Flapjacks: all-butter, raisin & brazil nut, ginger & wildflower honey, Jumbleberry, chocolate-topped, toffee, cherry bakewell, chocolate & caramel, chocolate chip and yoghurt-topped cherry all come in cases of 24 x 100g. Muffins: The Belgian chocolate muffin with an oozing chocolate centre, cranberry & blueberry and strawberry-jam filled roly poly varieties all available in cases of 12. Cake Slices: The new lines are Millionaire’s Shortbread (cases of 12 x 68g), Rocky Road (15 x 50g) and coconut (15 x 55g).

New supplier hopes to break into bake-off market

www.breaddujour.co.uk

More NPD from field fare EDITE CR

Frozen food specialist field fare has continued to expand S U P LI E P its broad product offer with new ready-meals, bakery lines and a range of ready-to-use ingredients. The Kent-based company’s eaZy range has been launched with three chopped herbs – coriander, parsley and basil – and diced garlic, all of which are frozen immediately after harvesting to preserve flavour and freshness. All four come in 75g resealable foil pouches (wholesale 93p each, 12 units per case), which have flat bottoms so they can be merchandised both in upright and chest freezers. Field fare has also boosted its ready meal line-up with chicken goujons and a chicken & mushroom plait, while it has added Belgian waffles, Danish pastry raspberry crowns (pictured) and savoury crowns, filled with tomatoes and herbs, to its bakery range.

www.luscombe.co.uk

www.field-fare.com

EDITE CR

What’s Broon? Brodies has launched a limited S U P LI E P edition Maw Broonbranded Afternoon Tea caddy (125g, RRP £4.99 each), containing 50 specially blended teabags. It comes in cases of 12 units for £30.72. D

and £3.95 per loaf, most of which weigh 800g or 1kg. All of the breads are prepared in the company’s bakehouse using a mature sourdough. Dough is cut by hand and left to rest in traditional banneton baskets before baking. Bread Du Jour’s director Kevin Bennett said that the range had received an “encouraging” initial reaction from visitors at Cheltenham’s Food & Drink Trade Show and Farm Shop & Deli Show earlier in 2013. “Bread is always a challenge,” he said. “It is essential but can be costly i n waste and also take up valuable freezer space. We hope that we have met these challenges for the independent specialist retail and foodservice operators with ease of purchasing and longer ambient life.” Bread Du Jour, which will be launched on stand 449 at the Speciality & Fine Food Fair, is currently looking for sales agents.

After six months of trialling, a new start-up is set to launch a range of artisan-style bake-off bread that does not require freezing and can be ordered online. Telford-based Bread Du Jour will offer more than a dozen different styles of loaf, all of which can be stored in a cool dry place for up to 14 days and baked-off in minutes. The firm’s online ordering system means retailers and cafés can order any combination of products from two to 200 loaves. Among the breads on offer are a sourdough country loaf, rustic brown loaf, stonebaked Danish round, sourdough Danish loaf, stonebaked crusty boule, sourdough dark bread, 100% rye loaf (wheat free), rye & sunflower loaf, stonebaked garlic loaf, stonebaked white loaf and oat & honey bread. RRPs range from £2.69

By MICHAEL LANE

EDITE CR

Devon-based Luscombe has developed two more S U P LI E P fruit juice drinks after an “extensive” search for oranges. The producer’s carrot & orange juice is a blend of organic oranges sourced from the volcanic slopes of Mount Etna in Sicily and organic carrot juice from Italy’s mainland. It has also created a pure organic orange juice produced with fruit sourced from groves in Mexico. Both juices are available in cases of 24 x 24cl glass bottles for £22.56 and £20.64 (excl. VAT) respectively. Managing director Gabriel David said that many of his customers had asked him to produce a pure orange juice but it had taken some time to develop these products. "A single ingredient drink wants the minimum of handling. We have to provide a shelf stable bottle, but we weren't willing to compromise on the balance of sweetness to acidity. I don’t want to add to our range unless we are able to craft a taste that adds something extra and is balanced and full flavoured,” he said. “It’s what our clients have come to expect over the years.”

Fosters said the first phase of its rebranding and new launches – including chutneys, preserves and confectionery – had seen sales increase 158% on the same period in the previous year. The firm is planning a third tranche of rebrands and new releases later this year.

flavoured oatcakes (cases of 12 x 100g), three varieties of Oval Alberts (18 x 150g) and crackers in poppy & sesame seed, sun-dried tomato & olive and charcoal & rosemary flavours (12 x 150g). There are also three 180g French-made patés available under the Fosters’ brand: farmhouse, pheasant and chicken with Port.

Luscombe launches two orange drinks

www.brodies1867.co.uk

Vol.14 Issue 8 · September 2013

S U P LI E P

Gadsby gears up for festive gifting By MICHAEL LANE

Gift packaging and basket ware supplier Gadsby has developed a new range of cardboard gift packaging for the forthcoming Christmas season. The new range, which includes trays, gift boxes and bottle boxes, is made from fully recycled cardboard and comes in three colours: red, black and natural. Marketing manager Will Gadsby said the range had been designed to help retailers during the hectic festive period. “We decided early in the design process to ensure that it arrives fully assembled, reducing the time it EDITE CR

S U P LI E P

CHEF’S SELECTION

EDITE CR

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takes for our customers to create their hampers and maximising the time they can spend selling,” he said. “We also wanted to help customers create a ‘range’ in-store using different sizes and styles but with continuity of colour. This allows different price points to be reached while keeping a uniform, professional look.” Prices for the small cardboard trays begin at £0.88 + VAT. Stock will be arriving this month while retailers can view the whole range on Gadsby’s stand (669) at the Speciality & Fine Food Fair. www.gadsby.co.uk

Top chefs tell CLARE HARGREAVES their deli essentials

Tom Lewis Chef-owner of Monachyle Mhor and Mhor84, Balquhidder, Perthshire www.mhor.net

Crème fraiche from Katy Rogers Artisan Dairy www.knockraich.com/creamery

Made on a family farm in Fintry in central Scotland, this tastes the way crème fraiche used to taste: fullflavour in the mouth, good texture, and acidity at the end. It’s nice and thick so goes further too. We use it all the time in soups, on its own, in cake toppings (instead of cream) and in sauces. We often serve it on fish too, mixed with shallots, tarragon and lemon zest. I buy it in 1-litre tubs through Ochil Foods.

Cuddybridge apple & sea buckthorn juice www.cuddybridgeapplejuice.com

Graham Stoddart presses his own apples, then adds sea buckthorn berries which are foraged on the Scottish shoreline between September and March (which means it’s a seasonal drink). The buckthorn provides an orange colour and tartness, which balances the sweetness of the apples. I make a jelly from the juice and serve it as part of an apple dessert. The berries give the apple a lift and provides a more rounded flavour. Packed with vitamins C and D, sea buckthorn is a superfood too.

Great Glen Game venison bresaola www.greatglengame.co.uk

Olives Et Al launches new lines EDITE CR

Following its recent rebrand Olives Et Al has developed a number of new products including Middle Eastern ingredients and items made with British tomatoes. The brand will now be selling the spice sumac in 65g jars (RRP £3.99) and the herb za’atar in 55g jars (RRP £3.25) as well as 100% grape molasses in 250ml bottles. “Consumer appetite for Middle Eastern products is S U P LI E P

on the rise, so we hope that these products will excite buyers,” said the Dorset-based producer’s founder Giles Henschel. Olives Et Al has also teamed up with Isle of Wight grower The Tomato Stall to develop two new summer products. Island tomato & red pepper pesto and Island tomato & chilli dressing and marinade come in 135g glass jars and 250ml bottles respectively. All of these new lines will be on display at the Speciality & Fine Food Fair on the producer’s stand, 649. www.olivesetal.co.uk

EDITE CR

LOTS OF LITRES: On-tap oil and vinegar specialist Deli-cious will be debuting several new dispensers this month. It will now offer Italian steel “fusti” dispensers in 5- and 10-litre sizes (pictured) as well as a 5-litre premium non-drip glass amphora, which requires no drip tray. The company, which is exhibiting at the Speciality & Fine Food Fair on stand 909, has also launched a range of extra fruit balsam cream vinegars made in the German wine-growing region of Mosel. Flavours include mango, apricot, paprika and tomato. S U P LI E P

www.deliciousontap.co.uk

This bresaola from wild venison from estates in the Great Glen is lovely and makes a light but satisfying starter or lunch. We slice it thinly as a little goes a long way. We serve it in our motel, Mhor84, as part of a spring vegetable salad – we combine it with picked eggs, radish, cooked carrot and broad beans. You get a hint of the cure, and also taste the sweetness of the venison. I buy it a kilo at a time and slice it myself as I’m not keen on pre-sliced stuff.

Dalchonzie Fruit Farm raspberry vinegar www.dalchonzie.co.uk

This sweet, sticky vinegar is made in Perthshire by David Burberry from Scottish raspberries. I use it a lot. I love its sweet acidity. I add it to beetroot when I cook it. I also put it in my meringues as it gives them a special taste. I use it in dressings for game salads too. If I’m serving a pigeon salad, for example, I put in a tiny bit and it provides a unique je ne sais quoi. You get a flavour of Scottish summer, and it’s aromatic rather than sweet. I buy it in 1l catering bottles through Ochil.

Arran Blue cheese by Bellevue Creamery www.taste-of-arran.co.uk

This gorgeously soft, creamy blue, crafted in the village of Blackwaterfoot on Arran’s west coast, is in the style of Roquefort rather than Stilton. Not too big. It’s a bit like a whisky. You get a lovely warmth from it, real depth. It’s a great all-rounder. It’s brilliant in a burger, in a salad, on a steak, or in soups. I also use it in my leek starter: I mix some cheese with potato, pane and deep fry it, then serve with a leek purée. I buy the cheese through Braehead Foods in 2kg truckles. Sponsored by

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September 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 8

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Award Winning Smoked Salmon Rocks Organic Cordials are as they should be made, naturally without any artificial sweeteners, colours, flavours or additives

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come and see us on Stand 839 at the Speciality & Fine Food Fair www.rocksdrinks.com

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September 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 8

what's new

S U P LI E P

Childrens’ baking kits COOKIE CRUMBLES

www.cookiecrumbles.co.uk

Childrens’ cookery school Cookie Crumbles has launched a baking mix range designed to introduce kids to home cooking. Sunny oat & raisin cookie mix, Awesome wholesome brownie mix, granola energy bar mix, and blueberry & vanilla muffin mix are all handblended and packed in Britain. Cookie Crumbles founder Carola Weymouth founder says: “There is no need to buy ten different ingredients or follow complex recipes. There won’t be any mad dash to the supermarket to source missing ingredients. It’s all in the bag.” Each mix has an RRP of £3.99.

The organic specialist has launched two varieties of mulling pouchettes in silver tins (RRP £3.75). Each wine mulling pouchette contains a blend of cinnamon, orange peel, ginger, allspice and cloves. The cider pouchettes feature a mix of cinnamon, star anise, allspice, cloves and orange peel. Both pouches can be boiled with water and sugar then topped up with the alcohol of choice. The producer says the pouches can also be used to create non-alcoholic festive punches using fruit juice and has a number of recipe ideas on its website. Each 55g tin contains seven hand-tied muslin pouchettes.

distributor Cotswold Fayre in cases of six units for £17.40. The producer recommends it as an accompaniment to fish as well as cheddar.

Fruit syrups

AGNES ROSE www.agnesrose.co.uk

WILD AT HEART

www.wildatheartfoods.co.uk

Summer soft drinks CORNISH ORCHARDS

www.cornishorchards.co.uk

Cider-maker Cornish Orchards has launched three sparkling soft drinks to join its existing range of Cornish

apple juice, elderflower presse and traditional lemonade. Rhubarb & vanilla sparkle, cranberry & raspberry sparkle and orange & lemon sparkle are all available in cases of 24 x 240ml glass bottles (RRP £1.70 each). The company developed the new drinks after demand from customers for an alternative to mass-produced fizzy drinks.

walnuts and beetroot as well as gooseberry compote, horseradish sauce, red onion marmalade and rhubarb chutney.

Portuguese salt

ST LORENZO SALT www.stlorenzosalt.com

St Lorenzo offers organic sea salt under the Diamante Do Mar (Diamonds of the sea) brand. Its salt petals (250g, RRP £7.95) and salt crystals (300g, RRP £2.80) are harvested by hand on the Algarve coast using traditional methods. The brand also features peppercorns (250g, RRP £9.95) and salt seasonings (58g, RRP £12.95) – including chilli, garlic, and herbes de Provence – to mix with the salt. These four lines are available in a gift pack with an RRP of £39.95.

Preserves and condiments

GARDEN OF ENGLAND www.gardenofenglandfoods.co.uk

Launched this month, this entirely new range of preserves, condiments, compotes, pickles and chutneys is made using seasonal fruit and vegetables from English farmers and growers. Lines include pickled English onions, shallots,

Freekeh and Baharat TERRA ROSSA

www.terra-rossa.com

The Middle Eastern food specialist is now selling the region’s in-vogue grain, Freekeh, in 200g tubs and 1kg sacks (RRP £2.95 and £12.95 respectively). The grain, a popular ingredient with chefs, can be used in a similar way to quinoa, barley or bulgar and is at home both in salads and in stews. Freekeh, which comes in wholegrain and cracked varieties, can also be eaten risotto-style while Terra Rossa recommends seasoning it with its new Baharat spice mix. The mix features coriander, dill, galangal, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, cardamom, bay leaves and karawya seeds. It can also be used to season soups, sauces and curries as well as for marinating meat. Baharat comes in 50g and 90g tins with RRPs of £2.95 and £4.50 respectively. EDITE CR

Kendal’s Naomi Darbishire has added six handmade syrups to her Agnes Rose brand, which also features infused oils and vinegars. Ginger, lemon, lime, orange, raspberry summer and damson winter syrup are all made in small batches using locally sourced fruits. All of these lines come in 150ml bottles with a trade price of £2.60, except the raspberry and damson flavours, which cost £2.80. Darbishire recommends using the raspberry syrup in cocktails, on ice cream and even as a marinade for chicken. The damson winter syrup can be used in mulled wine or as an ingredient in duck and game dishes.

Pickled samphire After a longer wait than expected, the preserve specialist has added pickled samphire to its range. The product was originally scheduled for launch in June but the British harvest of the sea vegetable was delayed due to cold weather earlier in the year. The samphire, which is blanched before being pickled in a specially developed vinegar, comes in 220g jars (RRP £4.10) and is available exclusively from

www.steenbergs.co.uk

The jam and chutney maker has created a tangy, spicy, gluten-free sauce that can be used as a dressing and marinade or to liven up a Bloody Mary or cottage pie. Karl Regler, who runs the company with wife Chrissy, created the sauce because he didn’t want to use the “market leading brand” as an ingredient in his other sauces. Unlike similar products, Dorsetshire Sauce is not made with fermented anchovies so it is suitable for vegetarians and vegans. Cases of 6 x 250ml bottles cost £25.20. EDITE CR

STEENBERGS

www.fromdorsetwithlove.co.uk

S U P LI E P

Mulling kits

Dorsetshire Sauce

From Dorset With Love

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Vol.14 Issue 8 September 2013

Bringing together the speciality food and drink market • New product innovations to touch and taste • Great New Idea Award • Live event programme • Dragons’ Pantry

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For more information visit: farmshopanddelishow.co.uk

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September 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 8

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Vol.14 Issue 8 · September 2013

shelftalk Deli of the Month

With 45 million people crossing its concourse annually, St Pancras INTERVIEW BY station gave Sourced mick whitworth Market the perfect launch platform. As founder Ben O’Brien starts a £700k crowdfunding campaign, could London Bridge be his next station stop?

en O’Brien, founder of Sourced Market, is sipping coffee outside the company’s groundbreaking first outlet in London’s St Pancras station, and contemplating the prospects for a second, a third and perhaps many more. “It’s often the simplest businesses that manage to expand most quickly,” muses O’Brien, who opened the shop and eatery in 2009, opposite the ticket office in the newly redeveloped St Pancras, as a kind of farmers’ market for the masses. After two or three years honing the concept – part convenience store, part farm shop, part deli-café – he now has a blueprint he’s happy with. Latterly, he has focused on putting in management processes to help simplify a not-so-simple concept and make it replicable

September 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 8

across the UK. “Any business with multiple sites will tell you it’s all about systems,” he tells me. A Lakeland EPOS package has just gone in that will manage ordering and goods-in as well as logging sales. Data has been gathered on seasonal sales patterns to help with staff planning. Targets have been set for sales per head of staff. And O’Brien – after “trying to do everything myself” – has taken a step back from the nitty gritty to focus more on strategic management. Sourced Market is, at the moment, genuinely unique. Okay, its convenience section looks superficially similar to a typical station shop, with a few major brands like Coke and Innocent on the chiller shelves. But closer inspection shows a impulse range dominated

Station

by premium and speciality labels: Chegworth Valley fruit juices, locally made Dalston cola, Adams & Harlow pork pies, Montezuma chocolates, Pipers crisps. Shoppers wanting to buy more than just a superior snack will find everything from Innes Log goats’ cheese and Brindisa chorizo to French single estate wines, all drawn from around 100 individual suppliers. There’s also a terrific selection of speciality ales and beers, built on the best of London’s craft breweries, like London Fields in Hackney and Kernel Brewery in Bermondsey. Around 12,000 customers now use Sourced Market each week, with up to 2,500 transactions going through the tills on a busy Friday, and this month O’Brien expects to push the button on a crowdfunding

appeal, via CrowdBnk, that he hopes will raise £700,000 from small private investors to open a second Sourced Market site. It will certainly be at another London transport hub, and very likely at London Bridge, which is currently undergoing a major redevelopment. After that, the chain could eventually go national, but O’Brien is wary of over-extending himself. “Inevitably there will be lessons learned from site number two,” he says. “But by the time we open a third site, we’ll have a sturdy business model.” According to a pre-launch teaser on CrowdBnk’s website, Sourced Market “delivers the quality, variety atmosphere and shopping experience found at farmers’ markets and combines it with the operational efficiency and

products, promotions & people

to station

Ben O’Brien: ‘The original vision was more geared to retail but we’ve found casual dining very popular’

convenience of a Tesco Express.” I beg to differ about the market atmosphere – Sourced Market is definitely a shop-café, not a set of stalls, despite its 1,500 sq ft of floorspace being spread in distinct sections along a sprawling 40m frontage. But a market is certainly where the concept began. O’Brien spent his early career in the music business, living and working in a flat alongside the foodie glories of London’s Borough Market. But he spent much of the year on the road, where the best he could get to eat was a dodgy burger. “People were paying good money for quality entertainment in a great environment, but you could never get anything good to eat.” So, starting at the Innocent Village Fete in Regents Park in 2007, O’Brien and Tim Harvey, one his

faced a pretty limited choice of music industry colleagues, began food. pulling together groups of what “I felt there had to be more would now be called “street food” people like me that wanted the operators to provide a better class of quality of produce you find at a grub at music festivals. really good farmers’ market, but It was “a phenomenal success”, O’Brien says, and, though he and Inevitably there will be lessons Harvey have since learned from site number two. By parted company, the time we open a third site, we’ll he continues to operate as a have a sturdy business model. consultant on seven days a week and on their way festival food, including this year’s to and from work. So I decided I Rolling Stones gig in Hyde Park. “It’s wanted to make the best of British more like ‘curating’,” he says. “It’s artisan produce available more making sure that you’ve got the easily, and in more of a convenience right calibre of food businesses in.” store format – combining the best When O’Brien eventually left of both worlds.” his Borough Market pad to move in In 2008 he got talking to HS1 with his future wife in east London’s (High Speed 1), which owns the Victoria Park, he realised it wasn’t English stations on the fast Channel just at food festivals that people

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Tunnel rail link with Paris and was responsible for the redevelopment of St Pancras. At first there was enthusiasm on all sides for a full-on farmers’ market, with produce coming in fresh from the fields every day, but practicalities got in the way. “We did toy with the idea. But everyone [on a market] has such different requirements – a baker’s opening hours are different from a butcher; the butcher needs refrigeration – that you couldn’t accommodate them all and deliver the revenue.” When Sourced Market opened in 2009 it included both fresh meat and fresh fish counters, but it was soon obvious that the 45 million people passing through St Pancras each year were not looking to take a fresh haddock home on the train or back to the office. “People were buying at the ‘speciality’ end of the spectrum, and they were buying convenience food,” says O’Brien. “Even M&S aren’t selling fresh meat here unless it’s in an oven-ready meal.” But the biggest obstacle to operating traditional fresh food sections was economic. “You do have to pay a lot of rent,” says O’Brien, “so you need to keep costs down.” That rent is a “substantial six-figure sum” – probably more than many small delis are turning over in a year – so it’s just as well that Sourced Market’s turnover has swiftly moved into seven figures. “My target this year is £2.5m, and we’ll probably go to £2.6m. In the first quarter of 2013 [from April] we were up 20% year on year.” O’Brien and his backers can hardly have known what to expect when they opened, since this is hardly a standard railway station c-store, and 2009 was probably the worst year since the 1980s to open an untried format. “It was a bit scary, to be honest,” says O’Brien. “We had an investor on board in 2008. Then, when the economy tanked he needed the money to shore up his own business.” Not wanting to lose a unique site, O’Brien winged it, at one stage putting his house down as a guarantee. “Perhaps naively, I just believed it would work, and I was blind to the risks, partly because I didn’t have a retail background.” He continues: “When we started, I tried to find comparisons on which to base the numbers. There are businesses with similarities, but nothing directly comparable. Some people have said we’re like Whole Foods, or at least like the old Fresh & Wild stores, only more British. But we’re not really. There’s nobody doing a convenience format. There are coffee shops, but they don’t have the retail range.” Over the first three years or so, Sourced Market’s emphasis has Vol.14 Issue 8 · September 2013

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ST-STOCKS ARKET’S MU M ale D E C R U SO A and pale l Brewery IP

certainly shifted further towards café and takeaway, despite huge competition in St Pancras station from the likes of Starbucks, Benugo and Pret a Manger. “The original vision was more geared to retail, but we’ve found the casual dining offer very popular.” Popular ready-to-eat foods include salads from Ginger’s Kitchen in Sussex and Scotch eggs from The Handmade Scotch Egg Co (“If we ran out of those, customers would be genuinely unhappy”), while a serveover contains dishes such as macaroni cheese, Spanish chicken and tabouleh salad, some produced in the small on-site prep area. Coffee is a surprise best-seller, given its blanket availability in St Pancras, but then it’s quality stuff from Borough Market’s Monmouth Coffee Co. “It probably took us

a year to get our coffee to where we wanted it, but Monmouth is definitely a cut above, and they’ve been in and trained our baristas. He adds: “Coffee is actually one area where we can compete and still get a good margin. We’re actually less per cup than some of our competitors here.” The balance of sales may have changed, but the choice of retail products – heavily influenced by speciality manager Anna Leroide, who has been with the business since 2009 – remains strong. In fact, Sourced Market has become a prestigious launch platform for new speciality brands, providing almost unbeatable exposure and, potentially, big volumes. In return, says O’Brien, most of his suppliers have been “incredibly supportive”. “One way they have

The Kerne GrolschProsecco (in Villa Teresa ) top bottle style swingCo classic Scotch Egg Handmade pudding) ck la (b atch and Black W Scotch eggs s and espresso bean Monmouth eee ground coff es pi low pork Adam & Har t cookies Tweet Twee ee Bakery’s Tr on am Cinn mi snacking sala ) Serious Pig Londonshire’ se No 4 (‘The ee Ch es ild W rye loaf City Hoxton Flour Power o crown loaf ation Tortan The Flour St Dalston Cola salamis (on mixed British on nn Ca & Cannon deal) 3-for-£10 chen salads Ginger’s Kit eese hel goats’ ch Cheese’s Rac White Lake e ney rang eese Co chut The Fine Ch

helped is through good credit terms,” he says, adding: “Obviously we spend a lot of money with some of them, which always helps.” If the Sourced Market format rolls out as planned, things could get even more interesting for speciality suppliers. O’Brien says he has received numerous proposals from property developers, but – assuming his crowdfunding campaign is successful – he wants to start with a site “as similar to [St Pancras] as possible”. That certainly points to London Bridge, the capital’s oldest station, which is currently undergoing a massive redevelopment. In an email exchange after our interview,

O’Brien tells me: “The new London Bridge station will obviously benefit from being designed with 21st century retail needs in mind and has both high footfall and the right demographic, so this is a location that is likely to be a good fit for us.” It sounds like a statement carefully prepared for potential investors, who will be waiting with more than the usual interest for the next station announcement. www.sourcedmarket.com www.crowdbnk.com

Vol.14 Issue 8 · September 2013

A promotional feature for the Guild of Fine Food

SEPTEMBER’S MONEY MAKING PROMOTIONS DEVON COTTAGE ORGANIC FUDGE The organic fudge maker has added a seventh flavour to its range. The new product is a traditional crumbly butter fudge lightly dusted with sea salt. Devon Cottage makes all of its fudges using local butter and cream from Riverford Organic Dairy. Every variety comes with a shelf-life of at least 9 months and is certified both Organic and Fairtrade. It is available in either 150g bags or 300g biodegradable card pails at £1.55 and £2.65 respectively. Typical retail prices are £2.99 and £4.99. THE DEAL: 20% off all 150g bags of Devon Cottage Organic Fudge (minimum order £50) AVAILABILITY: Nationwide. Free delivery fon orders over £125. CONTACT: Andrew Gray or Caroline Royston on 01647 24635 or info@devoncottagefudge.co.uk

THE GORGEOUS FOOD CO The distributor carries the full range of fudge, toffee and nut brittles from Harrogate-based producer The Ultimate English. The North Yorkshire company makes all of its products by hand in small batches and sources its ingredients “with great care and passion”. All of its products come in 150g and 300g boxes while its Luxury Butter Fudge is also available in 250g presentation tins. THE DEAL: 20% off The Ultimate English range of fudge, toffee and brittle. AVAILABILITY: Nationwide. Free delivery on orders over £150. CONTACT: Richard Fennell on 0845 4633356 or hello@gorgeousfoodcompany.co.uk

MORGAN HOUSE

KANKUN MEXICAN SAUCES

Yemi Raiwe makes all of her Morgan House organic condiments, sauces and preserves by hand in small batches. Named after her childhood home, the range includes Lemon Curd, Orange Marmalade, Pink Grapefruit and Lime Marmalade, Extra Hot Pepper Sauce, Sweet Pepper Sauce, Garlic Dressing, Honey Mustard Dressing and three cordials: Lemon, Ginger and Peppermint & Lime. All of the products in the range are additive- and preservative-free. THE DEAL: 20% off orders (minimum order 8 cases) AVAILABILITY: Nationwide. Delivery costs £20. CONTACT: Yemi Raiwe on 07984 452705 or yemi@morganhousefoods.com

Kankun produces a range of authentic Mexican sauces including a hot and a mild version of an “earthy, smokey” chipotle sauce and a habanero sauce that delivers “an extreme Mexican heat that mellows down fast”. It has also developed a marinade that can be used to add Mexican flavour to a range of dishes. All of these sauces are available in cases of 24 x 150ml bottles (cases can be mixed). Each bottle has an RRP of 2.99 - £3.50. THE DEAL: 20% off all orders on your order. (Minimum order 1 box, excl. delivery) AVAILABILITY: UK mainland CONTACT: Astrid Duque on 0208 1335578 or sales@kankunsauce.com

UNCLE ROY’S Uncle Roy’s range of natural flavour extracts and essences can be used for cake-making but can also be added to a number of recipes – including desserts, soups, meat dishes and home-made sorbets. The range features 90 varieties of herb, fruit, seed, vegetable, nut, flower, spirit and ‘brown note’ flavours like caramel and coffee. There are also several natural colourings too. The producer also makes 8in x 8in display stands with 12 shelves for displaying these products. THE DEAL: Buy 15 cases of natural flavour extracts and essences (£10.95 each) and get one free stand, buy 30 cases and get two stands AVAILABILITY: Nationwide CONTACT: Uncle Roy on 01683 221076 or uncleroy@uncleroys.co.uk

THE KITCHENS FINE FOOD CO

Based in the Heart of England, The Kitchens Fine Food Co produces a range of chutneys and jams “with a twist”. The range, which contains no artificial ingredients, includes products such as Green Tomato Chutney with the fiery heat of scotch bonnet chillies and Apricot Jam with a splash of Amaretto. All of its lines are made in small batches and come in cases of 12 units. Many are available both in mini and large sized jars. THE DEAL: 5 cases for the price of 4 (large) for any orders placed before September 30th 2013. AVAILABILITY: UK mainland CONTACT: Neil Whitehead on 07967 019535 or info@thekitchensfinefoods.co.uk

SIMPLY LAKELAND After two years of development, Simply Lakeland has launched its very own Lonza Pancetta. Salt is rubbed into the meat, which is stored at a low temperature to allow the salt to penetrate through all of the flesh. Over the course of this 21-day process the meat is dried naturally by the cure. The loin is then washed and tied to maintain its shape and is hung until the master butcher judges that it has achieved its optimum characteristics. The Lonza is then smoked in a traditional timber smoker. THE DEAL: 20% off orders of 200g packs of Smoked Lonza Pancetta AVAILABILITY: Nationwide CONTACT: Elaine Macdonald on 07964 464213 or elaine@simply-lakeland.co.uk

THE GORGEOUS FOOD CO The wholesaler carries Taylerson’s Malmesbury Syrups, which can be used to flavour all manner of things from coffee to cocktails. The syrups, which are made in the Cotswolds, can also be used as a cooking ingredient or in salad dressings. The range includes the Great Taste awardwinning mulling syrup, which can be added to warmed red wine or cider. All of the syrups come in both 250ml bottles for retail and 1 litre bottles for cafés. THE DEAL: Free case of Taylerson’s Malmesbury Syrups with every purchase of 4 cases (Lowest priced case is free. Cases of 1 litre bottles can be mixed if required). AVAILABILITY: Nationwide. Orders over £150, free delivery. CONTACT: Richard Fennell on 0845 4633356 or hello@gorgeousfoodcompany.co.uk

GUILD RETAIL PROMOTION SUMMARY (Available to Guild members only) COMPANY

DEVON COTTAGE ORGANIC FUDGE KANKUN MORGAN HOUSE SIMPLY LAKELAND THE GORGEOUS FOOD CO THE GORGEOUS FOOD CO THE KITCHENS FINE FOOD CO UNCLE ROY’S

DEAL

TEL

20% off all 150g bags of Devon Cottage Organic Fudge 01647 24635 20% off all orders on your order 20% off orders (minimum order 8 cases) 20% off orders of 200g packs of Smoked Lonza Pancetta Free case of Taylerson’s Malmesbury Syrups with every purchase of 4 cases 20% off The Ultimate English range of fudge, toffee and brittle 5 cases for the price of 4 (large) Buy 15 cases of natural flavour extracts and essences and get one free stand

September 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 8

info@devoncottagefudge.co.uk

0208 1335578 sales@kankunsauce.com 07984 452705 yemi@morganhousefoods.com 07964 464213 elaine@simply-lakeland.co.uk 0845 4633356 hello@gorgeousfoodcompany.co.uk 0845 4633356 hello@gorgeousfoodcompany.co.uk 07967 019535 info@thekitchensfinefoods.co.uk 01683 221076 uncleroy@uncleroys.co.uk

RETAIL MEMBERS – To sign up to the retail promotion scheme contact: tortie.farrand@finefoodworld.co.uk or ring her on 01747 825200 to ensure you receive your shelf-barkers to help promote these discounts instore. SUPPLIER MEMBERS – want to take part? Contact sally.coley@finefoodworld.co.uk for more information.

Training from the Guild of Fine Food What will you learn?

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Course costs Members of The Guild of Fine Food just £70, plus VAT (@ 20%). Non-members £95 plus VAT (@ 20%).

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September 2013 · Vol.14 Issue 8

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Matthew Drennan, former editor of delicious. and aspiring deli owner Vol.14 Issue 8 · September 2013

September 2013 路 Vol.14 Issue 8