SHOP TALK

IF I’D KNOWN THEN WHAT I KNOW NOW...

EMMA SCHWARZ, founder, The Barn Little London, Chichester

In my kitchen there hangs a poster with the slogan: ‘You never think it will take as long as it will’. I try to live by that. I never thought it would take as long as it did to obtain the planning permissions for the two buildings that are now our premises. My husband Mark and I discovered the properties in 2017. The barn had a 3000 sq ft courtyard and adjoining that was a building with frontage. It was ideal for the hybrid retail-restaurant I had in mind. Unfortunately they were owned by two different landlords, which meant two sets of negotiations. e wanted permissions for office, storage and residential use, which added to the complexity.

Three years later in February 2020, just as we were ready to sign the lease, the pandemic arrived. Our initial reaction was to pull out, but, after some re ection, we decided the timing might be good for starting a business grounded in the principles of slow food, eating local and wasting less.

I went to the landlords with a proposal to trial an online delivery service, using one of the sites as a collection point. I got a website built within a week, populated it with local organic products and used the database from my existing pop-up retail business, The Rare Brand Market, to quickly build up a customer base. fter three months, I had the confidence to sign the leases. The Barn opened in September 2020 and en oyed a glorious first month. Two lockdowns then taught me the importance of being able to pivot between different revenue streams - at one point we even became a sourdough toastie takeout place. My career with M&S Food and The Rare Brand Market gave me the experience to do this.

Last April, when hospitality reopened, we became a popular option for breakfast, brunch and lunch. People loved our wooden dining chalets, and we were handling 900 covers a week. We traded phenomenally last year - and raised over £40,000 for UKHarvest by encouraging diners to donate 10% of their bill to the charity.

Then in January 2022 things started to decline. But I realised that the previous year we had been overtrading post-covid and the resurgence of footfall to high streets. 2021 hadn’t been a ‘real’ year - 2022 is a more ‘real’ year one. So we had to think quick on our feet again.

We have reduced our range, being careful about stocking perishables and getting rid of fridges and freezers to cut energy costs. I am on a mission to make local food more accessible on the high street and fill the vast gap between farm shops and supermarkets, but it is a slow journey, and my mode of travel needs to be robust enough to get me there. Wish me luck!

Interview Lynda Searby Photography Dan Stevens

THERE IS NOT a person reading this who hasn’t, at some point, wanted to throw their over-complicated EPOS system to the vultures, get a pencil and pad and go old fashioned. I didn’t used to have an EPOS, we had an old fashioned till, electric but no computer attached. Back then I knew the price of every single product and each sale laid down an invisible imprint in my brain of what customers bought.

A small number of you never went to EPOS. You are probably small post o ces in villages or small cheesemongers. The dress shop opposite me writes down every sale, reminding me of the way my dad used to record the mileage every time he lled up with petrol. Likewise, for a good number, EPOS is the path to e ciency and productivity. Worth investing in. But that’s not me. I have given up on 90% of my EPOS.

Pop quiz: do you know what a purchase order is, and do you raise them? Are your stock records accurate? Do you receive goods into your EPOS every order? Does your EPOS give your monthly GM by department? Do you enter your stock losses or your stock take into your EPOS? Do you have a barcode scanner for stock takes?

MODEL RETAILING

I’m taking a more sustainable approach to the shop.

I’m not sure what you mean but I don’t care – unless you get preachy and more expensive.

I’m taking a more sustainable approach to the shop.

I’m not sure what you mean, but it sounds good –and will make me feel better about shopping here.

I’m taking a more sustainable approach to the shop.

That sounds good, but I’m not sure you know what you mean. Explain yourself.

CONFESSIONS OF A DELI OWNER

ANONYMOUS TALES FROM BEHIND THE COUNTER

Do you still use paper, and pencil to list what you need to order? I do.

Do you confuse your ROQs with your MOQs? Does anybody but you even know the passcode?

A better question is – do you still use paper, and pencil to list what you need to order? I do.

I was watching a friend make his orders the other day. His deli is in a touristy area, with second homes, caravan parks and lots of beach goers. I know his EPOS is superpowered, yet there he was on his hands and knees counting jars of Golden Shred. When I asked him why, surely his stock system gave him at least a starting point, he demurred. In his spot, every week had its own pattern, depending on weather, term and half term times, local events, weather, waves for sur ng, bank holidays, had he mentioned weather? His home is over the shop, and they look out onto one of the campsites –that tells them a lot right then. There is no way the EPOS system is going to get close.

I wish I had that many excuses. I don’t raise EPOS purchase orders because I don’t have the time, and my stock records aren’t that reliable anyway. I enter new stock not on receipt but when the invoices come in. Even then it’s only once or twice a week and that’s just to make sure my margins are right, not to keep my stock accurate. My small team is too full of undertrained sta to delegate EPOS based solutions to, but a printout of a Holleys stock list they can write numbers on, yes they can. My loyalty system? Handwritten cards which I enter periodically into an online email platform.

My EPOS counts the money. And I use it to predict, if that is the right word, future sales based on what we did last year. That is pretty much all I ask it to do. The rest of its intellect lies crippled like a Lamborghini in a 20mph zone. And (don’t tell anyone) I’ve given up even pretending I’m ever going to do it di erently.

SOLVING EVERYDAY SHOPKEEPING DILEMMAS. IN MINIATURE.

FFD says: Sustainability is important and almost becoming a prerequisite for your customers. But you need to remember that it comes in many guises (Net-zero waste. Donating to food banks. Being nice to your staff), as do your customers. Make sure you have an explanation that can be made clear to all of your demographics. It’s not really a topic you can bluff your way through anymore.

CODE OF PRACTICE

Technical and regulatory advice from the Guild of Fine Food’s Assured Code of Practice for Deli Retailing

This month we take a look at...

...deliveries

• Ingredients and food products intended for sale to the customer should be obtained from a reputable supplier. Foods of an animal origin must be approved or exempt from approval under regulation (EC)

• Complaints and issues should be documented. Emerging trends should be raised as an issue with the supplier and the use of the supplier may be reviewed.

• If there are serious complaints, use of the supplier must be discontinued pending investigation.

• All deliveries should be checked upon arrival by employees trained to carry out this duty.

• Deliveries should not be accepted if the goods are known to have been transported in inappropriate conditions, if they show signs of possible contamination or mishandling. • Use-by and best before dates should be checked to ensure they have not expired and that there is adequate shelf life left on the products in line with the retailer’s standards.

• The retailer should have a procedure for returning goods to a supplier.

• Each chilled delivery must be monitored to ensure the correct temperature. A probe or infra-red thermometer should be used to take a ‘between pack’ temperature for chilled and frozen foods. Some foods will display a maximum storage temperature on their packaging. They should arrive at or below the stated maximum temperature.

• Best practice guidelines for receiving goods: hilled deli eries et een and ffal a i o ltr a i

l More information can be found at:

ood.gov.uk sites de ault files media document/vacpacguide.pdf

The guide is available in PDF format and is free for Guild members. For non-members, it costs £250+VAT. To request a copy of the Code of Practice, or for further information, email support@gff.co.uk

Industry View

TASH GORSHT OF

GATHER IN PECKHAM

SAYS DON’T LET RISING COSTS GET IN THE WAY OF SUSTAINABILITY

For Tash Gorsht at Gather in Peckham, seeing your costs rise doesn’t mean you have to set aside your sustainable aspirations.

In fact, she says, “one of the big things about reducing your impact as a business is that there’s a lot you can do that doesn’t cost money.”

Reusing or repurposing items in your shop, or investing in second-hand kit is an easy way of keeping your own outgoings low.

“It’s both cheaper and better for the planet,” she says.

Turn off your electrical equipment at night, and if you have a display in the window, consider switching it off.

“You could have a sign saying, ‘the reason we don’t have our lights on overnight is because of what we’re trying to achieve for the planet – and it’s saving us money.’”

Where you need to increase your prices for sustainable items, or if you are buying items that are expensive because they are environmentally sound, just be clear in communicating this with your customer base.

“Then you offer a variety, so if they can’t afford for things to cost a little bit more, then there’s something else that’s a bit more affordable so that they’re not priced out of shopping with you, but they can make that choice themselves,” she says.

“Then it’s about having a range. If you want to take steps to be more sustainable in the types of products you offer, having options to begin with and seeing how your customers respond to that, then you can decide if there’s something in the range that you want to grow.”

If you’re worried about your messaging, don’t be: a lot of customers want to do their bit for the environment, and if you can make it easy for them, they’re more likely to.

“Don’t make assumptions, because you don’t know what your customers prioritise and what they might want you to do if you don’t talk to them. Talk to them, maybe trial it, see if you can do that and then see where that takes you.”

The most important thing is that you have ongoing exchanges with your customers.

“If you tell your customers that the reasons you’re making changes, they’re much more brought into the journey that you’re also taking, and they also are likely to want to contribute if they can.”

WHAT’S TRENDING

NICK BAINES KEEPS YOU UP TO DATE WITH THE NEWEST DISHES, FLAVOURS AND INNOVATIONS IN FOOD & DRINK

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1 Short wine lists Rather than going for an extensive wine list, many of the UK’s most popular restaurants are offering far fewer wines. Leaning on this authoritative approach, stalwarts like Towpath Cafe, Rita’s and Kiln have all turned to short wine lists. It’s telling that The Star Wine List now has a ‘Best Short List’ category. Down in Poole, Scott Parsons has just opened The Four, where the limitations of the number strengthen the experience with a rotation of just four reds, four whites, four sparkling, and four oranges.

2 Pastis This aniseed-based apéritif is France’s answer to sherry. As well as the romanticism of something forgotten and overlooked, one of the big draws is that pastis can be made into a longer drink with water (without a frown from your moustachioed barman). Cornwall’s Tarquin’s Gin Distillery produce a British variant with the aptly named Cornish Pastis, while some striking offerings are coming out of Italy too, from the likes of Argala.

3 Straight on the table A couple of years ago, American celebrity chef Christian Petroni gained a lot of social media hype for the way he served a traditional Italian meal by pouring polenta directly onto the table for diners to feast from – an experience that’s still going strong today. In a similar, albeit more formal, vein, Grant Achatz, of the three Michelin-starred Alinea in Chicago, serves p the final dish of his co rse tasting menu by creating an art piece directly onto the table using sweet sauces, spreads, ganaches and creams. Here in Blighty, we’ve got Decatur, a restaurant and pop-up that specialises in traditional cra fish oils here everything is served straight on the table.

THE

GUIDE TO BELGIAN BAKERIES

NEWS

Biscoff owner Lotus buys up Peter’s Yard

After initially taking a 20% stake in sourdough crispbread producer Peter’s Yard in 2019, Lotus Bakeries has now acquired the entire business, with its founders set to step down. A staple brand in the UK independent market, Peter’s Yard will now become part of its new Belgian owner’s Natural Foods division. The Peter’s Yard founders said, “Our focus was always on finding a long-term partner for the brand…[it] has now found an excellent home within the Lotus Bakeries Group brand portfolio.”

About Lotus Bakeries

Lotus Bakeries is an internationally-oriented company with factories and production facilities in Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Sweden, South Africa and the US. Over six billion Biscoff biscuits are produced a year, and other brands offered by Lotus Bakeries include: Nākd, TREK, BEAR and Kiddylicious, as well as a number of cake specialities, gingerbreads and waffles. The company has around 2,400 employees, a turnover of €750 million and a market cap of €4.7 billion. One of the company’s stated aims is the globalisation of Lotus products; making its snacks available to every consumer worldwide in order to attain omnipresence in the market.

The Miller’s ranges are only made at the Artisan Biscuits bakery, a mainstay of the Derbyshire Peak District for more than 100 years. Our bakers still work the old-fashioned way, blending traditional knowhow, fine ingredients and creative flair in biscuits, toasts and crackers that will be checked by 15 different bakery staff before being approved. Look for the Miller’s brand anywhere that caters to the discerning.