Fine Food Digest Oct-Nov 2016

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FOOD REGS 4 A ‘one-size-fitsall’ approach to inspection doesn’t work, says FSA’s Heather Hancock

October-November 2016 · Vol 17 Issue 9

TALKING TURKEY 39 Don’t over-cook your margins this December – a customer is for life, not just for Christmas

DELI OF THE MONTH 56 Ex-Hider man Rupert Titchmarsh on his new role at Cowdray Farm Shop

SAUCES & INGREDIENTS SOUPS, PIES & READY-MEALS ERRINGTON CHEESE CRISIS GRANT FUNDING

MAKING A MEAL OF IT Tasty ways with charcuterie for chefs – and your shoppers

TWO-TIME CHAMPION: HANNAN MEATS TOPS 2016 ‘GOLDEN FORKS’ – p14

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October-November 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 9

contents news analysis: grants great taste winners

p4 p13 p14

opinion THE ONGOING ERRINGTON CHEESE SAGA (see p5 and p26) is an all-round tragedy.

Food Standards Scotland slapped a ban on the raw milk cheesemaker’s products after connecting them with an outbreak of E.coli 0157. When Errington’s own testing showed no evidence of the bug, this looked at first like a bit of payback by the Scottish authorities, who famously lost a long battle to have some of the same producer’s cheese destroyed on health grounds 21 years ago.

But the death of a young child in this latest E.coli outbreak changed everything.

Whatever the true source of the bacterium, health officials could hardly be expected to soften their position.

As Errington teeters on the edge of oblivion, one question is how both public and public health officials UK-wide will react.

Jane Clayton of trade body Fine Cheesemakers of Scotland told us she has seen no immediate negativity to raw cheese from her own shoppers. But it’s the longer-term response of EHOs that worries me.

For a decade, relations between speciality businesses and EHOs have been on the up. While scares and scandals continue – horsemeat in ready-meals, dodgy hygiene in poultry factories – they have been focused on mass-market, lowestcost producers. Small, quality-led firms have got the message it’s better to make friends with food inspectors early on and to take their advice.

EHOs, in turn, have been gradually been getting a better feel for how artisan firms tick.

Lately, however, we’ve seen inspectors becoming risk averse. “If in doubt, don’t allow it,” seems to be the mantra for those with less experience of niche foods.

For nervous EHOs, a case like Errington’s turns a “what if” into something concrete.

If it steps up anxiety about non-mainstream products it could not only put the raw milk cheese sector on the back foot again but infect attitudes to other less-understood lines like Continental-style charcuterie too. How will EHOs will feel now about hams and salamis hanging at room temperature in-store?

Given the Food Standards Agency’s current review of food regulation (p4) we could be in for a deeply uncertain time.

FSA chair Heather Hancock suggests the era of monitoring by “inspectors bearing clipboards” is over. There are hints at more use of third-party (and therefore paid-for) accreditation, greater use of technology and data-sharing, playing into the hands of systems-driven supermarkets and bulk manufacturers. This can only mean less time for EHOs – however willing – to get their heads round foods that don’t fit neatly into to the dull supermarket lowest-risk, lowest-taste model.

When it comes to relations between food regulators and the speciality sector, the past decade could soon look like a golden age.

For nervous EHOs, a case such as Errington’s turns a ‘what if’ into something concrete

cheesewire cut & dried cooking sauces & ingredients christmas dinner soups, pies & ready-meals

p25 p29 p33 p39 p41

preview: food matters live shelf talk deli of the month

p43 p45 p56

MICK WHITWORTH, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

editors’ choice MICHAEL LANE, DEPUTY EDITOR

The Bay Tree Marmajam www.thebaytree.co.uk

p51

During my recent meeting with The Bay Tree’s co-founder Emma Macdonald, we spent more time discussing the context you place a product in – branding, strap lines, alternative uses and recipe suggestions – than the contents of the jar itself.

While marketing is vital in a world where consumers are eating less jam, Macdonald is determined that NPD and the pans in her kitchen won’t languish either.

I’m always slightly dubious of fusions but Marmajam is a concept that works. The sweet hit of soft fruit is tempered by the zesty clout of citrus fruit and, although they arrive in succession, both linger in a satisfying, rather than gimmicky, way.

The strawberry & orange variety is bold and will be a crowd-pleaser among the sweet-toothed but the blueberry & lemon offers something a little more subtle and complex.

Even if you’re joining the increasing number of retailers reducing the shelf inches devoted to preserves, it might be worth clearing a little space between your jams and marmalades for these two jars.

Vol.17 Issue 9 | October-November 2016

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finefoodnews Inspection fees mooted in food regs shake-up EDITORIAL editorial@gff.co.uk

Editor & editorial director: Mick Whitworth Deputy editor: Michael Lane Reporter: Andrew Don Art director: Mark Windsor Editorial production: Richard Charnley Contributors: Nick Baines, Clare Hargreaves, Patrick McGuigan, Lynda Searby ADVERTISING advertise@gff.co.uk Sales director: Sally Coley Sales manager: Ruth Debnam Sales executive: Becky Stacey Published by the Guild of Fine Food Ltd Printed by: Blackmore, Dorset Fine Food Digest is published 11 times a year and is available on subscription for £45pa inclusive of post and packing.

© The Guild of Fine Food Ltd 2016. 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.

GENERAL ENQUIRIES Tel: +44 (0) 01747 825200 Fax: +44 (0) 1747 824065 info@gff.co.uk www.gff.co.uk Guild of Fine Food, Guild House, 23b Kingsmead Business Park, Shaftesbury Road, Gillingham, Dorset SP8 5FB United Kingdom

Managing director: John Farrand Marketing director: Tortie Farrand Operations manager: Karen Price Operations assistant: Claire Powell Project manager: Christabel Cairns Training co-ordinator: Jilly Sitch Circulation manager: Nick Crosley Financial controller: Stephen Guppy Accounts manager: Denise Ballance Accounts assistant: Julie Coates Chairman: Bob Farrand Director: Linda Farrand

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BY ANDREW DON & MICK WHITWORTH

A major Food Standards Agency (FSA) overhaul of food safety and monitoring could see the end of free inspections of shops, restaurants and production sites by local authority Environmental Health Officers.

The ‘Regulating Our Future’ review, begun earlier this year, looks set to propose charging for at least some elements of the food inspection regime.

Speaking to MPs and stakeholders in Westminster on October 11, FSA chair Heather Hancock said “telltale cracks” were appearing in a regulatory system that had not kept pace with changes in the industry, technology, the economics of food businesses or the shift towards eating out and food-on-the-go.

Food authorities have a “one-size-fits-all approach to 600,000 food businesses” she said. “It’s designed around visits from inspectors

Heather Hancock: A system designed around ‘inspectors bearing clipboards’ was okay 30 years ago, but not today

bearing clipboards, which might be enough 20-30 years ago but isn’t now. “ We’re relying too much on visual inspection, when many critical food risks can’t be seen by the naked eye. It’s resource-intensive, and it will be unsustainable before too long.”

The FSA is also gathering evidence on whether to make the display of Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS) scores in shops and eateries mandatory in

Waitrose axes seven new store openings Waitrose has shelved plans to open seven new stores after a slump in profits at parent company John Lewis Partnership during the first half of 2016.

Its interim results statement, covering the year up to July 30, included an exceptional charge of £25m for the write-down of property assets it will no longer develop, and related costs, after a strategic review.

In the first half of 2016, Waitrose saw like-for-like sales fall by 1.1% but turnover climbed 2.2% to £3.06bn. Pre-exceptional operating profit at the supermarket chain fell 10.5%.

John Lewis Partnership chairman Sir Charlie

October-November 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 9

Mayfield said the group would focus investment on existing stores instead of new openings and promised to continue to innovate with “high-quality, highprovenance” products.

Commenting on the launch of the Waitrose 1 premium range, Mayfield said a 19.4% uplift in sales of these products in the last year was “encouraging”.

The cancellation has cost the chain £25m

England. The display of “scores on the doors” has been required in Wales for three years and, as of this month, is compulsory in Northern Ireland too. A rise in five-star ratings in Wales from 45% to 63% since 2013 is seen as evidence the system drives up standards.

Hancock told MPs the move added nothing to the regulatory burden on small businesses “save for popping the sticker in the window”.

But a report of the FSA’s

September 21 board meeting said its review of the FHRS would include “details on how we will use third-party providers and introduce paidfor elements in the system”.

The FSA recently set up a new industry advisory group to help with the review. But it is dominated by big business, with the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) the only major umbrella body representing small shops Consultancy Food Solutions, which is also on the advisory group, told FFD it was concerned charges would discourage small firms from seeking advice from EHOs. “It’s the perception a charging regime creates,” said director Bob Salmon.

Tony Lewis, head of policy at the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, told FFD the scale and manner of imposing charges would need to be clearly thought through and businesses would want “the best possible advice available for the best value”.

Selfridges tries produce with Natoora concession

BY ANDREW DON

Selfridges has signed a rolling contract with Natoora, which has opened a fruit and veg “shop-inshop” in the food hall of its flagship London store.

The 100 sq ft concession’s autumn range includes seasonal apples from Ringden Farm in East Sussex, slow-cured Delica pumpkins from Mantua in Italy and Black Sollies figs, grown in the mineral-rich soil of France’s Gapeau River Valley.

It will also offer fresh fruit salads, side salads, prepped vegetables and fruit hampers priced from £50.

Tim Ballard, Natoora brand director, said Selfridges was the ideal site for Natoora.

“It is an immersive, theatrical environment and our goal is to encourage shoppers to experience our produce first-hand.”

Natoora works with more than 400 professional kitchens and currently has a shop in Chiswick, with plans to open a second later this year. Its other customers include Ocado and Whole Foods Market.

Survey finds consumers demanding more speciality food retailers

BY ANDREW DON

Speciality food shops appear to be increasing in popularity, according to research from the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS).

The ACS’s 2016 Community Barometer – which draws on the repsonses of retailers, consumers, councillors and MPs – found 49% of those surveyed want to see more specialist food shops, up from 30% in 2015.

This is also the second year in a row that speciality food shops came top of the most wanted retailers list.

However, restaurants overtook food stores (now 6th) in this year’s rankings of services deemed to have the most positive impact on a local area. Post offices,

In brief The new plastic £5 note, featuring Sir Winston Churchill, is now in circulation.

The polymer money is waterproof and expected to last much longer than the paper notes, which will be withdrawn next May.

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Ian Macleod Distillers has acquired Spencerfield Spirit Company, and its flagship brand Edinburgh Gin, for an undisclosed sum.

Production will remain at Spencerfield’s two distilleries, in Edinburgh and Leith, while all jobs have been secured. The new owner has pledged to invest in all of Spencerfield’s brands.

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More than 100 residents in East Chiltington, Lewes, are objecting to a planning application for a sturgeon farm and caviar processing plant on a greenfield site in the rural hamlet.

The Campaign for the Protection of Rural England is backing their opposition to London Fine Foods Group’s plan.

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James Lowman: specialist food shops are popular

convenience stores and pharmacies were viewed the most favourably.

Local authority councillors were particularly positive about the impact of speciality food retailers, although less so this year compared with 2015 – down to 38% from 45% last year.

The ACS used information from this year’s Community Barometer for the fifth edition of its annual Local Shop Report, providing detailed information about small stores, the people they employ and the communities that they serve.

James Lowman, ACS chief executive, said: “This research confirms that specialist food shops are popular parts of local communities and high streets, and customers want to see more of them.

“Local shopping areas do best when there is a diverse mix of services complementing one another, and specialist food shops play an important part in that mix.” www.acs.org.uk

Supreme Champion at the double Hannan Meats became the first ever producer to be named Great Taste Supreme Champion for a second time, after its rib of Glenarm Shorthorn beef took the top honour at September’s Great Taste dinner in London.

Founder Peter Hannan (right) is pictured here with last year’s Supreme Champion winner Pat Whelan.

Turn to page 14 for an interview with Hannan and a full run-down of the evening’s winners.

Errington scare puts raw milk under microscope

BY PATRICK McGUIGAN

Raw milk cheesemakers are coming under increased scrutiny from food safety authorities after an E.coli outbreak in Scotland linked to unpasteurised cheese made headlines across the UK. Food Standards Scotland (FSS) banned Lanarkshirebased Errington Cheese’s products last month after linking them to an E.coli 0157 outbreak that caused the death of a young girl (see p25).

The case has rocked the UK’s raw milk cheese sector with producers reporting a big surge in contact from Environmental Health Officers, who want to check food safety practices.

At the beginning of October, Connage Highland Dairy also recalled some of its raw milk Dunlop cheese after E.coli 0157 was detected in a batch, although not the same strain as in the main outbreak.

Owner Callum Clark told The Herald newspaper

EHOs are keeping a close eye on raw milk cheesemakers

that the company had asked for assistance from local authorities as they looked into its own testing regime.

Jane Stewart, who is chair of the Fine Cheesemakers of Scotland group, told FFD that Scottish cheesemakers have always had very close contact with their EHOs. “We observe very high standards,” she

said. “Many of us have SALSA or SALSA Plus Cheese accreditation, and this further demonstrates our commitment to food safety.”

She added: “We are all devastated by what has happened, and we sincerely hope that it does not damage public perceptions of raw milk cheese.

It certainly has not had

any noticeable impact at the farmers’ markets we attend, or at our own shop on the farm. Very few customers have mentioned what has happened, or questioned the use of raw milk in cheesemaking.”

The way cheese is analysed for E.coli has changed in recent years with food authorities now using more sensitive gene testing.

The discovery of shiga toxin (stx) genes in a cheese does not necessarily mean it is harmful, but is classed as a “presumptive positive”. If it can then be isolated (ie. cultured in the lab), then E.coli is confirmed.

“The problem at the moment is that the most sensitive tests are largely unavailable to food business operators,” said dairy consultant Paul Thomas.

“There are few options for cheesemakers to access these tests. There are labs that can detect virulence genes, but they are not able to carry out the isolation which requires a higher level of biosecurity."

Vol.17 Issue 9 | October-November 2016

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finefoodnews

Consumer power to fuel traceability

BY ANDREW DON

A Gloucestershire farmer who launched a food provenance scheme earlier this year is counting on consumer power to shame the food industry into operating with more integrity.

Matthew Rymer, cofounder of the Happerley passport scheme to improve traceability throughout the food chain, slammed those in the industry who “misinterpret” and “play around” with the truth.

He criticised Tesco’s popular own-label “Farm” products – a company he accused of dreaming up “imaginary farms…in the corridors of Soho that is prohibiting the UK producer on a commercial level to extract value from the many different variations, styles and possibilities of food production”.

Rymer’s attack came as Happerley was scheduled to launch a consumer campaign with Sunday newspaper The Observer on October 2, #namethatfarm, backed by a cohort of celebrities and chefs.

Rymer said the consumer campaign would

Matthew Rymer is the co-founder of Happerly, a passport scheme that improves the traceability of food

accelerate the Happerley scheme because farmers and producers were recognising the importance of an honest and transparent food chain.

“The whole point,” he said, “is that until the consumer is empowered and realises the importance of challenging restaurants and retailers to #namethefarm, we will have intermediaries and processors and retailers and restaurants riding on the back of disingenuous labelling that extracts value from the word ‘farm’ and what it conjures up without any of that premium returning to the producer.”

He said farmers were obliged to put meat into the

food chain that was, at best, labelled Red Tractor which paid no homage to how the meat had been produced.

The “truth” of any foodstuff began at producer level, he said. “Beyond that the truth can be misinterpreted, it can be played around with and that is effectively what is happening.”

Rymer revealed that Happerley had just agreed a scheme with hotel restaurant chain The Lucky Onion group. As a result, any ingredient will be traceable with a code at the point of sale within the group’s bars, hotels and restaurants – “a world first,” he said.

NFU lodges official Tesco fake farm gripe

London deli trials breakfast box scheme

Trading Standards officials are reviewing a National Farmers’ Union complaint about Tesco’s “fake” farm brands.

The trade union believes the labels are “completely unacceptable and are misleading consumers”.

National Trading Standards confirmed it had received the complaint and said it would advise where to refer the concern, as it didn’t deal with “criminal offences under food safety legislation” A Tesco spokesperson said, some of the farm names, such as Nightingale and Rosedene, had historically been operating farms.

BY ANDREW DON

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North London delicatessen and café Flesh & Flour is trialling a Saturday morning breakfast box delivery service.

As FFD went to press, the shop-to-home delivery service was beginning in Muswell Hill and neighbouring Crouch End before branching out further if it proves viable.

Lewis Slayden, the business’s owner, has created a standardised box for £20 (including delivery), comprising two packs of Maynard’s Farm bacon, half a dozen Haresfield Farm organic free range eggs, a

October-November 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 9

pack of six Maynard’s Farm sausages, Rachel’s organic milk, sourdough bread from The Celtic Bakers and Perry Court Farm apple juice (750ml).

Customers can also order à la carte but anything less than £20 will incur a £2 delivery charge. Monmouth coffee (250g seasonal ground or whole bean) is an optional extra as is Brew Tea Co teabags.

Slayden, formerly a currency trader with Deutsche Bank, hopes customers will subscribe for weekly deliveries of the standardised box. www.fleshandflour.com

“If I’d known then what I know now” MARK HOPWOOD ALL THE GOODNESS, KYLE, ROSS-SHIRE IN 2008, my wife, Lorraine, and I bought a mobile catering unit, with a view to finding a roadside pitch in the Scottish Highlands. We started trading at weekend events in Manchester while keeping our day jobs so we could pay the lease on our coffee machine. The following year we were offered a contract in a country park in Cheshire and loved it so much we stayed for six years.

When we started out in 2008 we had romantic notions. It took us around a year to become less sentimental – everything you sell has to earn its place.

In 2014, we finally found the perfect premises in the Highlands – a neglected outdoor equipment shop overlooking Eilean Donan Castle, on the road to the Isle of Skye. We spent six months transforming it into a fresh retail space with its own bakeshop kitchen.

Our vision was to create a hybrid of a food shop, bakery and coffee bar with the three elements working in synergy. We wanted to redefine people’s expectations of what a roadside stop-off could be.

On our original floor plans, the retail space was vast but once we incorporated an office it was more of a boutique experience. It is surprising how much stock is required to make it look full, enticing and varied.

Over 70% of what we stock is Scottish and this means dealing directly with producers rather than using large wholesalers. It’s a lot of admin and some items we would love to stock haven’t worked out because of unviable delivery costs.

Deliveries are normally a two- or three-stage process and can take over a week to arrive. At the beginning, we had a lot of damaged stock and had to ask suppliers to cover everything in ‘Fragile’ tape because our delicate biscuits and oatcakes were possibly travelling in the same van as a stack of loose tyres or a precariously balanced wheelbarrow.

We realise now that underlying influences make people’s shopping patterns extremely unpredictable. At the beginning, if something was flying off the shelves we would panic order large amounts and then it would inevitably stop selling. Now we know our core products and accept the random ebb and flow in the popularity of other items.

Sea salt, chocolate, honey and, of course, shortbread are some of the most consistent sellers. Our own products, made in our bakeshop kitchen, are the most popular and give the best margins. We’ve also started making items like tablet last year and would like to develop a range of own label items too.

Oils and dressings have been very poor sellers, even though we tried a few different kinds.

Our first year of trading was in line with what we had forecast and profitable. This year has seen a 25% increase in turnover.

We are working towards growing our own fresh produce to use in our baked goods. Further down the line we hope to offer demonstrations of contemporary Scottish baking, and show people new ways of using local and Scottish produce.

We had to ask suppliers to cover everything in ‘Fragile’ tape because our delicate biscuits were travelling in the same van as a stack of loose tyres

INTERVIEW BY LYNDA SEARBY

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October-November 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 9

finefoodnews

Scotland to beat Japan in race for first UK sake A Scottish company looks set to beat the Japanese at their own game by becoming the first UK company to produce sake on home turf and export it to Japan.

Arran Brewery’s longmooted sake operation is set to begin production this October, several months before Dojima – which has been widely reported to be on course to become the first company to produce sake in the UK. Dojima, owned by the Hashimoto family, does not expect to start brewing in the UK until autumn 2017.

Arran Brewery managing director Gerald Michaluk scotched speculation that it was pulling out of its plans to brew sake despite vandals repeatedly targeting its proposed production site Dreghorn.

“The notification of our demise is somewhat exaggerated,” he said.

“We have simply relocated production to Arran’s Loch Earn Brewery and

Richard Wilding, Yoshitake & Associates

BY ANDREW DON

Sake will soon be brewed at two sites in the UK

production will start very soon.”

Michaluk said production would start this October, with initial capacity for 1,000 litres a day.

The first release would be a Junmai Ginjo grade sake and Michaluk hopes to release a higher grade

when the company perfects production methods.

“We want to export to Japan,” he said but added that there was also “incredible interest all over Europe”.

In Japanese sake circles, all the talk had been about Dojima being the UK’S

first after the Hashimotos bought the Fordham Abbey Estate last year and won planning permission from East Cambridgeshire District Council this August for a sake brewery.

But Noriko Tomioka, project manager, at Dojima, told FFD that building works would start on October 3. It would take nine months to build and a further 40 days to produce the first batch.

The quality of the sake would be “far superior” than imported products, she said, because it should be drunk fresh.

Tomioka said the facility would be able to produce 60,000 720ml bottles a year.

Rie Yoshitake, Sake Samurai Association, and Japan Sake & Shochu Makers Association representative in the UK, told FFD that about 200 Japanese brands were currently available in the UK, with stockists including Selfridges, Harrods and Fortnum & Mason.

Libs lobby for 5p cup charge The Liberal Democrats are pushing for a 5p charge on disposable coffee cups to be introduced to reduce usage.

The party believes more than 2 billion fewer cups would be used in the UK every year if a charge were implemented.

It claims that some 2.5 billion disposable cups are chucked every year – about 7 million each day – and fewer than 1 in 400 are recycled.

Party leader Tim Farron said coffee cups were the next logical step after the successful plastic bag charge.

“I want to see a culture shift towards bringing your own cup for a refill, rather than buying cups which are often non-recyclable and then throwing them away,” he added.

www.arranbrewery.co.uk www.dojimabrewery.com

Lick The Spoon named Taste of the West supreme champion

Social media snares Gonalston BBQ thief

BY NICK BAINES

BY ANDREW DON

The winners of 2016’s Taste of The West awards were announced this week with Lick The Spoon winning the Supreme Champion trophy for its “The Bish” chocolates.

Among the other winners – recogised at a ceremony staged in Exeter Cathedral in October – were Devon’s Lifton Farm (Best Farm Shop) and cheesemaker Quickes Traditional, which took the Carol Trewin Producer of The Year title.

This year, a new award for No.1 Place To Go was introduced and the inaugural winner was Clavelshay Barn Restaurant in North Petherton, Somerset.

Taste of the West award winners at Exeter Cathedral

The award for the region’s Best Farmers’ Market went to Taunton, while The Cornish Fishmonger won the Online Retailer category.

Taste of the West is now in its 23rd year and celebrates the best food and drink across Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire.

John Sheaves, Taste of

the West chief executive, said: “We are absolutely delighted with the response by industry to our awards programme this year “With over 1,200 products entered, and over 60% of these receiving an award, we are justly proud of our record for driving excellence based on our core values of quality, integrity and provenance.” www.tasteofthewest.co.uk

Gonalston Farm Shop has attributed the successful prosecution of a man who stole a £1,200 ceramic barbecue from the Lowdham, Nottinghamshire, business to its social media campaign.

FFD reported that the shop’s owners, Ross and Georgie Mason, had offered a reward on social media for help tracing the Big Green Egg earlier this summer.

“The campaign was huge,” said Gonalston’s company secretary Louise

Lee. “It was a result of people seeing the vehicle and mugshots that caught them.

“Social media made people from a wider area aware.”

Lee Ronald Walters from Kirkby pleaded guilty to nine charges relating to a series of thefts on his stag night at Mansfield Magistrates Court on August 17.

As part of his sentence he was ordered to pay the farm shop £1,200 compensation.

The barbecue has not been recovered. www.gonalstonfarmshop.co.uk

Vol.17 Issue 9 | October-November 2016

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finefoodnews

Martell looks for licensing tie-ups

BY ANDREW DON

Charles Martell, the man behind “Britain’s smelliest cheese”, Stinking Bishop, has signed a licensing deal that could see the artisan brand appear in crisps, biscuits, sachet soups and other products.

The cheesemaker has linked up with with brand extension consultancy The Point 1888 to exploit the name of the handmade, 50-tonnes-a-year cheese that found fame in Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.

“Being so wellknown, we thought it was something worth looking at, so we are” said Martell, who has also recently launched a new cheese called Slack-ma-Girdle (see p 37).

Martell said it was his personal opinion that Stinking Bishop-flavoured crisps would work well, as would savoury biscuits – areas that Will Stewart, The Point’s managing director, confirmed he was looking at.

new openings Bodega, a new delicatessen, offlicence and 28-cover delicatessen, has opened in Christchurch, Dorset.

Features include a “wall of wine”, cheeses from France and Spain, local fine foods, charcuterie and “big legs of ham” from Spain.

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Fauvette, a cheese and wine shop that helps customers avoid hangovers, has opened in Penarth, in the Vale of Glamorgan. The 452 sq ft shop sells 80 different cheeses, nearly two-thirds of which are sourced from Wales and the UK, as well as natural, unfiltered wines from Les Caves de Pyrene.

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Creator Charles Martell is exploring ways to expand the Stinking Bishop brand through tie-ups with other producers

“It’s an incredible product that has high brand awareness,” Stewart said of the cheese, which was once described as smelling like “a rugby club changing room”. He added that the story behind it also made it appealing for tie-ups.

Stewart said he looked forward to finding “likeminded manufacturers to expand the reach of the Stinking Bishop brand”.

He said there was massive growth in the cracker and crisp crossover market and Stinking Bishop

would work well as a flavouring or as a specific partner to a new cracker variety.

He also suggested Stinking Bishop seasoning for adding to other dishes such as pasta. “Croutons would be really interesting, too,” he added.

Both Stewart and Martell said they could see the cheese, which has been made for more than 40 years at Martell’s family farm in Gloucestershire, working in a tie-up with real ale. www.charlesmartell.com

Cockfosters Deli loses veg display battle

BY ANDREW DON

Cockfosters Delicatessen has been forced to admit defeat in its battle to display fruit and veg on the pavement in front of its shop.

The north London deli was inundated with support for a petition it started but it has thrown in the towel after the council issued it with a fixed penalty notice.

The fine was issued despite the fact that the council decided to review its policy of banning street displays, as FFD reported in September.

Cllr Daniel Anderson, Cabinet member for environment Southgate Green Ward (Labour),

confirmed in an email to deli co-owner George Spyrou the earliest a decision would be made would be early next year and possibly later.

Spyrou said the review would be too late for his business in light of the fine so “we have decided we can no longer keep up our fight against Enfield Council.”

The deli’s front-of-shop produce display is no more

producer’s eye JANET SIMPSON MD, GOUPIE WHEN YOU SET UP an artisanal food business you have to comply with a lot of regulatory obligations.

Designing packaging and developing health and safety policies to meet current legislation may all seem timeconsuming and unnecessarily bureaucratic, but you’ve got to take dietary intolerances and food poisoning seriously. After all, they can be a matter of life and death.

This makes it all the more frustrating that many ingredient suppliers just don’t seem to get it. As a manufacturer, we are constantly refining and improving our recipes to offer the flavour we seek while eliminating unnecessary additives, colouring agents and preservatives. Although the holy grail is a production process using only clean, locally-sourced, organic, fair trade ingredients, we sometimes have to use commercial compound ingredients for the sake of consistency and price.

We always carefully research these items prior to purchase, insist on seeing detailed nutritional and manufacturing specifications and then, and only then, incorporate the purest into our recipes.

So you can imagine the frustration when we find that a supplier has substituted a product or changed the recipe without prior warning – and when we call to complain, they always seem surprised.

Typical reactions include “it has improved the shelf life” or “we are no longer manufacturing that ingredient and this is the nearest alternative”.

A good example is crisp rice. We use a very clean variety in some of our recipes, and now have a very reliable supplier but, in the past, we have experienced distributors trying to substitute a "crisped rice" that included wheat flour (gluten), whey powder (milk), plus various vitamins and emulsifiers.

What they don’t seem to be able to grasp is that if we were to use such an ingredient, we would have to change all our packaging and resubmit our products for gluten testing, and nutritional and shelf-life analysis. That’s before we assess the impact of this ‘new’ ingredient on the taste and appearance of the final product.

My hunch is that a lot of ingredient manufacturers and wholesalers are more used to dealing with the foodservice sector. I wonder how easy it will be to provide consumers with enhanced nutrition and allergen information in canteens, restaurants and fast food outlets, as the government intends. Bear in mind that these outfits are already under significant pressure, so will they have time to accurately calculate and label their dishes?

Ingredient manufacturers need to understand the legislative environment in which we all operate, and consistently offer an information-transparent supply service. If they can do this is I can guarantee at least one very satisfied customer.

• Kent-based Goupie makes all of its, often gluten-free and vegan friendly, confectionery by hand. www.goupie.co.uk

You can imagine the frustration when we find that an ingredient supplier has substituted a product or changed the recipe without prior warning

Vol.17 Issue 9 | October-November 2016

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October-November 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 9

finefoodnews

Up for grabs, but for how much longer? “what they're saying about...”

news analysis

BY ANDREW DON

...grant schemes A vital stream of European cash that has delivered millions of pounds in grants to the speciality food sector could be under threat

If no replacement for EU money is found, expansion projects like those at Pearce’s Farmshop & Café could prove more difficult to execute

Rural Affairs insists that all Rural myriad of grants is available to Development Programme projects, small speciality retailers willing including LEADER signed or to jump through hoops and agreed before this year’s Autumn navigate the bureaucratic processes Statement, will be fully funded, even required for access. when these continue beyond the But few others can match UK’s departure from the European the, sometimes six-figure, sums Union. dished out by the many LEADER “The Treasury will confirm future programmes running across the funding arrangements ahead of the country.

Autumn Statement,” a spokesman These grants are delivered tells FFD. through the Rural Payments Agency, in partnership with Local Action Groups, using cash from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development.

MICHAEL MACK, FARMA Rural retail trade body FARMA points However, FARMA says what out that there are 80 different happens after this is anyone’s guess.

LEADER programmes, each with up “People should still be able to apply to £1.5m-£1.8m of grant money, for the grants afterwards but the across England alone. likelihood is the budgets will be cut But the clock is ticking for the and we expect the targeting of that government to devise a replacement funding will also be narrowed,” says with Brexit on the horizon. the trade body’s managing agent The Department of Food and

A

Michael Mack.

Mack refuses to speculate further but Brexit, assuming it goes ahead, will undoubtedly affect the current LEADER grants period covering 2015 to 2020, leaving the government, if it wishes, to pick up the slack.

Mack says most of the grants farm shops and other rural speciality food stores get are through the LEADER process.

John Sheaves, chief executive of Taste of the West, says: “The government itself hasn’t really sat down after the summer holidays yet to decide what they will do and what the timetable is. That will really dictate the type of grant available and who from.”

While he was able to secure a £200,000 LEADER grant for an expansion, Pearce’s Farmshop & Café owner David Pearce has “huge concerns” for anyone else hoping to get funding now.

“I don’t think there will be the same projects available,” says Pearce, whose grant accounted for some 40% of the costs to build a new café and kitchen facilities.

Calcott Hall Farm Shop in Brentwood, Essex, secured £80,000 funding towards a café just before the Brexit vote. Peter McTurk, managing director, says: “If I was starting my application now, I would be cautious before I committed too much time and money to the application process only to be refused. We are fortunate we got ours in and approved before the vote in June.”

The likelihood is budgets will be cut and we expect the targeting of that funding will also be narrowed

Are you eligible for a grant?

The UK has 137 schemes for wholesale or retail businesses with up to nine employees wanting to “grow and sustain”.

They include: • Access to Work – gives disabled employees and their employers eligibility to apply for grants to overcome any practical problems • Empty Shop Refit Scheme – grants to help shops with refit costs if they move into empty units in Middlesbrough town centre • Let’s Grow (North and East Yorkshire) – business grant scheme for capital investment and research and development projects • Small Business Assistance Grant – for capital expenditure projects

that will stimulate business growth in Inverclyde.

For more information, go to www.gov.uk/business-finance-supportfinder/search and tick the “grant” box down the side of the page.

We are [in] a Business Improvement District. I’ve had two grants from my council. The first one was for a new shop frontage and the most recent one for CCTV. The grants were easy to apply for. I had a lot of help through Business Wales. Grants are there for the taking. You would be daft not to approach your local council. I’ve applied to get £800 back towards the cost of staff uniform.

Lisa Jones, owner, Croswoods Delicatessen, Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan I put an awful lot of time into it – lots of form filling.

We’ve had the first of three payments. It is the first and only grant we’ve ever received.

We’re grateful that we’ve received this one. We started the process in November last year and our application went in during January.

Peter McTurk, MD, Calcott Hall Farm Shop, Brentwood, Essex Getting LEADER funding was a complicated procedure to go through. We had to get experts in to get us through the whole system.

The paperwork is phenomenal.

You should go through the hoops to get that amount of money. I will definitely apply for grants again – whatever is available, I would have a go to see if we fit the criteria. I don’t think the industry knows where to look, probably. There’s a certain amount of ignorance.

David Pearce, Pearce’s Farmshop & Café, Buntingford, Herts

Vol.17 Issue 9 | October-November 2016

13

the big winners

Lightning strikes twice Having become the first ever double Supreme Champion, Hannan Meats and its beef joint have redefined what can be achieved at Great Taste and in butchery. PATRICK McGUIGAN kicks off our round-up of this year’s major trophy-winners by speaking to founder Peter Hannan about what makes his meat so brilliant.

Peter Hannan’s champion Glenarm Shorthorn rib roast was aged in his Himalayan salt chamber for 42 days

W

hen Peter Hannan’s guanciale – a cured pig cheek bacon – was named Great Taste Supreme Champion in 2012, host Nigel Barden described the win as a “once in a lifetime” experience. Fast forward four years and BBC Radio 2’s eloquent food man had to reassess his fortunetelling abilities as Hannan was once again called to the stage to collect the top prize at this year’s awards.

The victory for its four-rib roast of Shorthorn beef from the Glenarm Estate, which is dry aged in a Himalayan salt chamber, meant Northern Ireland-based Hannan Meats was the first company to

14

have ever won the title twice.

“It never crossed my mind for a moment that it would happen again,” says the charismatic 56-year-old Hannan, who food critic Fay Maschler once described as having the “copyright in the charm of the Irish”.

“To come out as Supreme Champion once is like winning the lotto, although you’ve picked your own numbers, so to do it twice was never anticipated.”

One of 10,000 products to be entered into the awards, the beef was assured victory after receiving an almost perfect score from an expert team of food writers, chefs

October-November 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 9

and retailers in the final round of blind tastings, which earned it a remarkable 79 points out of a possible 80.

The fact that he won with a classic beef joint was particularly satisfying for Hannan, who has beef marrow in his bones. Born into a cattle and sheep farming family in Kildare, he first started slaughtering and selling his own meat aged 11, before running abattoirs in the US in his 20s and setting up wholesale butchery business Hannan Meats in Moira, Co Down, in 1991. The business sells a range of products, from lamb and poultry to burgers and bacon, but for many the

jewel in Hannan’s meat crown is his dry-aged Shorthorn beef from the nearby Glenarm Estate, which graces the tables of Mark Hix’s restaurants and the butchery counter at Fortnum & Mason.

“I always maintained that the hardest product to win the awards with would be a piece of raw beef,” says Hannan. “To get that consistency in a natural product is always going to be difficult because you never age the same rib twice.”

Much has already been written about Hannan’s maturing chambers, which are made from Himalayan salt bricks shipped in from Pakistan.

The purity of the salt keeps bacteria

GREAT TASTE SUPREME CHAMPION Glenarm Shorthorn Four Rib Roast Hannan Meats

L-R: Guild of Fine Food MD John Farrand, Peter Hannan and Harrods’ food & drink director Alex Dower

Sponsored by:

at bay and enables meat to be kept for amazingly long times. The champion rib roast was aged for 42 days, but Hannan has taken beef to well over a year old until it is almost black in colour, but still perfectly good to eat.

“The salt chamber is not just about the salt, it’s also about controlling light, temperature, humidity, and air flow,” he explains.

“Once you’ve gone to 28 days, you’re not going to get the beef any more tender. After that, you are basically concentrating the flavour as the meat loses moisture, just like a jus or a reduction.”

While the romance of ageing

beef in a chamber made from 250-million-year-old salt has understandably captured the headlines, it’s the Shorthorn beef that is arguably the real secret behind Hannan’s success.

Most native beef cattle breeds in the UK have been cross-bred with larger Continental animals down the years to create beasts with lean muscle and large rumps and loins that appeal to the supermarkets and European markets. But the Glenarm Estate made a decision 10 years ago to develop a much purer herd by investing in Shorthorn bulls and by retaining only the very best heifers.

Hannan came in as a partner not long after.

“It was our breed of choice for a number of reasons, not least because it was the one that had been the least bastardised by the

so we said ‘Let’s make that ours’.

Fifty years ago it was a hugely popular breed because it requires a lot lower input to finish off, but there was very little Shorthorn in the national herd when Glenarm started.”

Glenarm’s Shorthorn cattle, which are reared at both the estate itself and more than 120 partner farms in Northern Ireland, are much smaller than their Continentalcrossed counterparts – typically 340kg at slaughter compared to 420kg – which means smaller but tastier cuts with excellent marbling and fat coverage.

“We want smaller, sweeter, more compact animals that are beautifully fattened and well-marbled and they tend to be native breeds,” says Hannan. “We visit every farm and every animal is inspected pre-

Once you’ve gone to 28 days, you’re not going to get the beef any more tender. After that, you are basically concentrating the flavour. supermarkets,” says Hannan. “They had taken lots of shortcuts with Angus and to a lesser extent Hereford and these schemes never had integrity. The Shorthorn hadn’t been mucked around with,

slaughter so if it needs more fat we can say we’ll be back in three weeks’ time.

“Most farmers have been educated by the multiples to

produce lean beef.

On a score of 1-5 on fat, supermarkets like a 2 or 3.

We like a 4 or 5. All the things that are wonderful about eating beef are reliant on having fat there. You must have the fat for the flavour, succulence and moisture during the cooking.”

Participating farms are paid a 10% premium and have been since day one, well before Hannan was supplying Fortnums and Hix. He estimates that in the first few years, the premium cost the company around £25-35k a year, but the scheme is now on “dry ground” thanks to an understanding among customers that it is worth paying extra.

The success of the Glenarm project is also having a knock-on effect with farms rearing Angus and Hereford cattle in Northern Ireland.

As well as buying whole carcases from Shorthorn producers, Hannan also buys Angus and Hereford beef from local abattoirs, which are aged and branded simply as Himalayan Salt Aged Beef. As with the Shorthorn, the company looks for smaller, sweeter cuts that have a good fat covering and marbling, and is willing to pay more for them, which is motivating farmers to change the way they work.

“We’re saying to them, ‘make them fatter’. You’re not doing it for Tesco now. We want marbling and if you can do it we’ll pay more. The message is starting to get through,” he says.

Two new salt chambers are due to come on stream in the coming weeks to help meet demand for beef but also to give the company more space to develop new products. One of the chambers will be dedicated to cured products after earlier trials salt ageing bacon, pancetta and guanciale showed encouraging results.

The move is also timely because Hannan now has sole ownership of Cookstown-based En Place Foods, which is best known for speciality preserves and oils, but also makes all the spice mixes that go into the meat company’s sausages, burgers and cures.

“We do our own spice grinding and toasting, so we’ll be able to come up with new products that nobody has ever made before with the integrity of ingredients we want – not just the meat, but the spices and cures as well.”

So what are the odds a salt aged bacon or pancetta from Northern Ireland winning next year’s Great Taste and giving Hannan a hat-trick of Supreme Champion titles?

“Wouldn’t it be lovely?” he says with a chuckle. “It has to be the ambition for us now.” www.hannanmeats.com

Vol.17 Issue 9 | October-November 2016

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the big winners GOLDEN FORK FROM LONDON & THE SOUTH EAST Seeded Cracker The Bread Factory

L-R: John Farrand (Guild of Fine Food), Saskia Porretta, Catriona Watt-Smith and Romy Miller of The Bread Factory, Jason Fisher (Rowcliffe) and Tristan Kaye of The Bread Factory

Organic Double Cream Jess’s Ladies Organic Farm Milk

Sponsored by:

L-R: John Farrand (Guild of Fine Food) and Nikki Castley (Cress Co) with Tom Wilkinson, Paul Meikle-Janney and Damian Blackburn of Dark Woods Coffee

GOLDEN FORK FROM WALES Dabinett Medium Cider Apple County Cider Co

October-November 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 9

L-R: John Farrand (Guild of Fine Food), Chris Howard and Anne Parker of Monsoon Estates Coffee Company and Kathryn Lowe (Aga Rangemaster)

GOLDEN FORK FROM THE SOUTH WEST

Under Milk Wood Dark Woods Coffee

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Monsoon Espresso Monsoon Estates Coffee Company

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GOLDEN FORK FROM THE NORTH OF ENGLAND

L-R: John Farrand (Guild of Fine Food), Ben and Stephanie Culpin of Apple County Cider Co and Dave Morris of Food and Drink Wales

GOLDEN FORK FROM EAST ANGLIA & THE MIDLANDS

L-R: John Farrand (Guild of Fine Food), Mike Vaughan (Jess’s Ladies) and Jonathan Tull (InkREADible Labels) with Jess Vaughan and Sophie Vaughan of Jess’s Ladies

Sponsored by:

GOLDEN FORK FROM SCOTLAND Jaffy’s Kippers J Lawrie & Sons

Sponsored by:

L-R: John Farrand (Guild of Fine Food), Stephanie Pritchard of Scotland Food & Drink and Jeff Lawrie of J Lawrie & Sons

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www.jaffys.co.uk October-November 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 9

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the big winners GUILD OF FINE FOOD LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD David Hider, Hider Foods

L-R: Hider Foods chairman David Hider collects his award from Guild of Fine Food chairman Bob Farrand

WOMAN & HOME GREAT TASTE VIP AWARD The M’Hencha Company

This year, the Guild of Fine Food presented a lifetime achievement award to David Hider for his pioneering work, ushering a plethora of ambient fine foods into the UK. He took the reins of his father’s dried fruit and nut business in 1979 and steered the company into fine foods. Eager to embrace emerging new technologies, Hider introduced the company’s first computerised stocking system back in 1984 removing the need to manually log stock and hand-write orders and customer history cards.

On the sales and marketing front, Hider canvassed the independent retail market to find out what they needed to combat the growth of supermarkets.

The conclusion was that consumers were becoming more adventurous, so he began widening the range of foods Hider offered and went in search of foods that were innovative, unusual and, occasionally, ahead of their time.

Among the items David Hider added to the British shopping list are authentic Turkish Delight, organic coffee, sundried tomatoes and dried cherries.

BEST SPECIALITY FROM NORTHERN IRELAND Glenarm Shorthorn 4 Rib Roast Hannan Meats

Sponsored by:

L-R: John Farrand, Sophie Browne of The M’Hencha Company, Jane Curran (food & drink director, woman&home) and BBC Radio 2’s Nigel Barden

L-R: John Farrand, Hannan Meats’ owner Peter Hannan and Invest NI food & tourism director John Hood

Sponsored by:

Feel Good Food

BEST IRISH SPECIALITY Simply Better Irish Handmade All Butter Sticky Toffee Pudding Dunnes Stores

L-R: Guild of Fine Food MD John Farrand and Una Donohoe of Bord Bia with Diarmuid Murphy, Catrina Flaherty, Susan O’Shaughnessy and Rory Flaherty of Dunnes Stores

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BEST IMPORTED FOOD Huitres Amelie Huitres Amelie

L-R: John Farrand, Joan Carles Pineiro and Ramon Pineiro of Huitres Amelie, and Soraya Gadelrab of Speciality & Fine Food Fair

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Vol.17 Issue 9 | October-November 2016

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the big winners CHARCUTERIE PRODUCT OF THE YEAR

Venison salami Jaquest

GREAT TASTE PRODUCER OF THE YEAR La Tua Pasta

Sponsored by:

L-R: John Farrand, Rachel Lancaster and Jason Williams of Jaquest and Mick Whitworth, Fine Food Digest editorial director

L-R: John Farrand, Ian Willard of Partridges and La Tua Pasta’s Caroline and Francesco Boggian

NIGEL BARDEN HERITAGE AWARD Raw thyme honey Hilltop Honey

Sponsored by:

AMBIENT PRODUCT OF THE YEAR Organic lemon verbena Anassa Organics

Sponsored by:

Sponsored by: L-R: John Farrand, Scott Davies (Hilltop Honey), Nicki Stewart of Diverse Fine Food and Nigel Barden

L-R: John Farrand, Gareth Zundel (Libra Group), Labros Belesakos of Anassa Organics and Giles Reynolds of Petty Wood & Co

SMALL ARTISAN PRODUCER OF THE YEAR Bermondsey Street Honey Bermondsey Street Bees

L-R: John Farrand, Dale Gibson (Bermondsey Street Bees), Scott Winston (Selfridges), Sarah Gibson (Bermondsey Street Bees) and BBC Radio 2’s Nigel Barden

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October-November 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 9

Sponsored by:

GREAT TASTE SHOP OF THE YEAR Blacker Hall Farm Shop

L-R: John Farrand, Ruth Clark and Ruth Elliott of Blacker Hall Farm Shop and Simon Burdess of Hotel Indigo

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Vol.17 Issue 9 | October-November 2016

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Honey in the raw: Specialists in exceptional, small batch, English artisan honeys WINNER 2016 ‘SMALL ARTISAN PRODUCER OF THE YEAR’

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October-November 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 9

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October-November 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 9

news & views from the cheese counter

cheesewire

Health scare puts Errington on the brink

BY PATRICK MCGUIGAN

The future of Lanarkshire’s Errington Cheese is in the balance after all its cheeses were banned by Food Standards Scotland (FSS), which has linked them to an E.coli outbreak involving the death of a child.

As reported in last month’s FFD, two batches of Errington’s raw milk Dunsyre Blue were recalled after being named as the possible source of an E.coli 0157 outbreak, which has affected 22 people. This was despite the company’s own tests showing no sign of the bacteria in the cheese or at the dairy.

The situation escalated last month when it was revealed that a three-yearold girl had died during the outbreak, while the FSS also announced that tests carried out on Errington’s cheeses had found concrete evidence of E.coli 0157.

This led to a nationwide recall and a total ban on the company’s cheese.

Errington is holding around £250,000 of cheese and is not allowed to sell it, due to alleged E.Coli contamination

In what has become an increasingly acrimonious and public disagreement, Errington’s founder Humphrey Errington has spoken out in the media, disputing the FSS’s methodology and its findings, as well as the way it has conducted the investigation.

Prof Hugh Pennington, a leading authority on

food safety, also supported the cheesemaker in press interviews, saying that he had substantial doubts about the FSS’s decision to ban Errington’s cheeses.

The FSS hit back with a detailed statement, which said: “Potentially harmful strains of E.coli and the shiga toxin (stx) genes that can cause illness in humans have been found in a

number of different batches of different cheeses.”

Humphrey Errington told FFD that the company had carried out further testing using an independent consultant and a lab that specialises in dairy analysis, but had still found no evidence of the E.coli strain.

“The FSS has not shown us any test certificates or testing methodology,” he said. “We’ve said to them that we are not prepared to accept your results, until you can show us how you achieved them because our own results show a completely different story.”

He added that the company had not been able to make cheese for two months and had around £250k worth of stock still in storage. “We’re tottering on the brink because we still have our staff to pay,” he said. “A lot depends on our insurance arrangement – if they’re able to support us, that will help us a lot.” www.erringtoncheese.co.uk

Rebranded Fivemiletown is thriving

Leeds chef Olianas launches range of ‘young’ pecorinos

Northern Irish cheesemaker Fivemiletown Creamery has seen an upswing in sales after a rebrand and £1m investment in new production lines by its owner Dale Farm.

The company had been dogged by difficulties due to tough trading conditions and the loss of a major contract, which led to its sale to Glanbia Foods and then to dairy co-op Dale Farm.

The new owner said the business has been stabilised and sales are growing in Britain, the US and Hong Kong.

New packaging was also introduced earlier this year across the company’s range, which includes Ballyblue, Ballybrie and Boilie goats’ cheese.

BY PATRICK MCGUIGAN

www.fivemiletowncheese.com

An Italian chef who lives in Leeds is changing British perceptions of pecorino cheese. Mario Olianas, who trades as Olianas Gusto Italiano, has started making a range of young, semi-soft ‘pecorino frescos’ that are very different to the hard versions of the Italian cheese normally found in the UK. Yorkshire Pecorino, which is made with pasteurised ewes’ milk and weighs around 2kg, is aged for just 20-30 days so has a supple, almost squidgy texture and sweet milky flavour. It won gold at this year’s Artisan Cheese Awards and has been shortlisted in the new Great British Cheese Awards.

He also produces ‘semi-

stagionato’ and ‘stagionato’ versions of the cheese, which are aged for longer, plus Leeds Blue pecorino.

These are sold at farmers’ markets and by Fodder and George & Joseph.

Unsung

heroes HIDDEN GEMS FROM BRITISH PRODUCERS

SLACK-MAGIRDLE In a nutshell: Slack-maGirdle is made by Charles Martell & Son in a similar way to its Stinking Bishop but is not washed. Each 700g cheese is made with pasteurised cows’ milk and aged for around four weeks.

Flavour and texture: It has a thick grey natural skin. Underneath is a custard-like paste, which bulges but doesn’t run.

The flavour is initially nutty before big brothy and beefy notes take over.

History: Charles Martell has long made a soft nettle-topped cheese for the US called Slack-maGirdle (after an old cider apple variety), which is sold in the UK as May Hill Green. He felt the name was too good not to use in Britain so christened his new cheese with it.

Cheese care: It should be kept with other soft cheeses. Shelf-life is four weeks.

www.olianas.co.uk

Why stock it? Stinking Bishop is one of our most popular cheeses and this “unwashed” version will pique customers’ interests.

Perfect partners: A glass of cider or perry is recommended.

Where to buy: Harvey & Brockless or contact direct. www.charlesmartell. com.

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

Vol.17 Issue 9 | October-November 2016

25

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cheesewire

Belfast’s got the blues Most producers’ back-stories don’t begin with an existential crisis in the back of a beat-up Hyundai but Michael Thomson’s path to becoming Northern Ireland’s first raw milk cheesemaker was far from conventional. PATRICK McGUIGAN meets the man behind the Stilton-style Young Buck.

Michael Thomson’s operation, Mike’s Fancy Cheese, produces 12 tonnes of the blue Young Buck every year

T

hink of Irish cheese and it’s the pungent washed rinds of Cork and the spicy blues made by the Grubb family in Tipperary that inevitably spring to mind. These heavyweights of the dairy world were at the forefront of a cheesemaking renaissance in the Republic of Ireland that started more than 30 years ago.

It’s been a different tale north of the border, however, where a handful of large industrial manufacturers have long dominated the market, churning out milk powder, block cheddar and mozzarella for big pizza chains.

Artisan cheese-making remains in its infancy – you can literally count the number of small producers on one hand. There’s Kearney Cheese Co, whose blue recently won threestar award in this year’s Great Taste, and Dart Mountain, which has also won awards, but it’s Mike’s Fancy Cheese in County Down that has attracted most of the headlines.

Set up by Belfast boy Michael Thomson in 2013 after a crowdfunding campaign, the company produces just one cheese – a creamy, spicy, Stilton-style blue called Young Buck – and it’s Northern Ireland’s only raw milk cheese.

“It’s similar to Stilton but has its own Northern Irish attitude,” explains the 30-year-old. “There were a few eyebrows raised when I started with raw milk, but people forget that, 30 or 40 years ago, Belfast was much more rural than it is now.

There were lots of farms around the city and people used to drink raw

milk. There is still that knowledge and memory.”

Thomson’s journey to becoming a flag bearer for Northern Irish cheese is an interesting one. He originally studied social work at university, before dropping out after six months to travel around England and Wales in his granddad’s old car – a clapped out Hyundai Accent, which also doubled as his bed for large parts of the trip. “I was reading a lot of Jean-Paul Sartre and questioning why I needed possessions,” he says, ruefully. “I had a lot of fun, met some great people and spent my entire university bursary. When I came home I had to pay it all back.”

That led to a job working at the well-known Arcadia Deli on the Lisburn Road, which is where he swapped existentialist doubt for a love of cheese. One thing led to another and Thomson ended up with a place on the advanced dairy diploma at the School of Artisan

theaward-winning Rollright washed rind cheese.

Work experience spells with some of Britain’s best cheesemakers were an important part of the year-long course. Thomson spent time at Somerset cheddar-maker Montgomery’s and Caws Cenarth in West Wales. His stint making Red Leicester at Sparkenhoe Farm was so successful that they made him head cheesemaker as soon as he had graduated – a position Thomson held for a year before returning to Belfast.

“No one was making a raw milk cheese in Northern Ireland, so I knew I had to come back and get in there before someone else did,” he says.

“The problem was that nobody was willing to invest.”

While crowdfunding is commonplace now, it was just gathering pace back in 2013, but with the help of a slick video and business plan he managed to raise £80k from 98 investors, in return for

No one was making a raw milk cheese in Northern Ireland, so I knew I had to come back and get in there before someone else did. The problem was that nobody was willing to invest.

Food in Nottinghamshire alongside other bright young things, including Andy Swinscoe, who now runs The Courtyard Dairy in North Yorkshire, and David Jowett, who makes

40% of the business. A second round of funding in 2014 raised £26k for a 5% stake with investors due to get a dividend after five years.

“I didn’t have any real security or

cash to invest, so it was a great way to get the business going,” he says.

“It also made me think about things from an investor’s point of view and how I was going to make it work long term.”

The decision to make a Stiltonstyle cheese was part of this longterm strategy, he adds. “When we first started I knew that we would have to sell to the mainland so we couldn’t do a fresh cheese. Ireland was already famous for washed rind cheese and cheddar took too long to mature, so a blue seemed the obvious choice.”

Today, the company makes around 12 tonnes of Young Buck a year, producing around 35 of the 7kg hand-ladled cheeses a week.

These are matured for 12-15 weeks, before being delivered to indie retailers and restaurants in Northern Ireland, plus Sheridans in Dublin, The Courtyard Dairy and Cheese+ in Cambridgeshire.

Larger premises will soon be needed to keep up with demand and Thomson is keen to relocate to a farm one day. “We’re trying to find a progressive next generation farmer, who is willing to work with us,” he says. “A lot of the dairy farms around here had quite a good run with milk prices for a while, but they have dropped massively in the past couple of years so we’re hoping more will be looking to add value to their milk.”

What’s bad news for dairy farmers could be good news for Northern Irish cheese. www.mfcheese.com

Vol.17 Issue 9 | October-November 2016

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October-November 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 9

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making more of british & continental charcuterie

cut&dried

Find inspiration on a plate How can you enthuse shoppers to make more of charcuterie? A new booklet for chefs from producer Moons Green holds some answers, says MICK WHITWORTH.

Even a plate of scrambled egg can be livened up by the addition of chorizo

Here’s a colour combo that will get customers peering across at their neighbours’ plates: pea soup, garnished with crispy pancetta

All images: Bill Mason

Five years ago, on-trade magazine Morning Advertiser featured a rising trend in pub catering: using British charcuterie in bar snacks and tasting platters.

These informal nibbles were ideal for creating a new sales opportunity between lunch and dinner, it reported – and paired perfectly with beer.

Since then, the charcuterie platter has become ubiquitous, popping up everywhere from the Salumi Bar & Eatery in Plymouth, Devon, to Helgi’s pub on Orkney.

But while some can make even a simple platter look a real picture, many chefs are not getting much further than extracting a few slices of ham, salami and coppa from a portioned prepack and arranging them on a board.

Whether deli-cafés or their customers are being much more adventurous is a moot point. But with many food trends emerging first in foodservice, it should be a priority for producers to get restaurant chefs using cured meats in more adventurous ways.

That’s why Portuguese chef Jose Azevedo and his business partner John Doig at Moons Green Charcuterie in East Sussex have come up with an inspirational 16-page booklet offering several dozen appetizing ideas for making better use of charcuterie on the plate.

They range from simple ideas on presentation – like offering casual diners and bar-goers a woodenhandled Opinel knife to cut their own slices of snacking charcuterie on the serving board – to reminders that chorizo, salami and ’nduja make fabulous ingredients in

At Cobbs Farm Shop, September’s Deli of the Month, chief executive Tom Newey told FFD that patatas bravas, the spicy sautéed potato dish, has proved a popular addition to the café’s morning menu, appealing to a younger, more adventurous clientele. Add the “melting magic” of chorizo, says Moons Green, and you turn this Spanish classic into “one of the world’s great breakfasts”.

Pancetta adds value as well as quality to the traditional bacon butty, and lets your customers feel a tad more sophisticated too!

Moons Green has been encouraging bars to present its free-range pork saucisson on a wooden board, complete with a knife, to add to the eating experience

A few slices of rustic bread and some fiery ’nduja are natural pairings for a boldly flavoured bruschetta – and easy to sample at the deli serveover

Herbs wrapped in airdried ham not only make a pungent and salty complement to a starter such as baked camembert with sourdough toast, but give the dish a visual lift

Cheese is an obvious product to cross-sell with savoury preserves, and so is charcuterie. Prove how well they work by providing a jar of pickle with your meat platters.

dishes ranging from pizzas and bruschetta to soups and stews.

It’s described by Doig as “an easy-to-follow guide to putting charcuterie on British menus”, and he told

FFD: “I think retailers are handicapped too by a lack of knowledge of the best ways to advise customers on using charcuterie.

“They sell this popular new product called ‘nduja

but do they really know what you can do with it?

If they could get excited by the opportunities that charcuterie presents then they could sell a lot more.

The book might just

stimulate their interest.”

We’ve featured some of Moons Green’s ideas here.

For a copy of the booklet, contact the small-batch producer via its website. www.moonsgreen.co.uk

Vol.17 Issue 9 | October-November 2016

29

HELPING YOU SELL MORE CHARCUTERIE Thank you to The Bath Pig, Cornish Charcuterie, Deli Farm Charcuterie, Harvey & Brockless/Dell’ami, Great Glen Charcuterie, Negroni, Patchwork Paté, Suffolk Salami, Three Little Pigs and Woodall’s Supporting Fine Food Digest’s Sell More Charcuterie campaign in 2016-17 www.gff.co.uk |

@guildoffinefood

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product update

sauces & ingredients

Let’s get cooking LYNDA SEARBY’s round-up features some inventive introductions, from liquid spices to Mexican mole sauces and Sri Lankan curry kits Following success in the US and Europe, fusion and Asian food specialist WorldFoods is bringing its authentically Asian pastes and sauces to the UK. Produced in Thailand, the range takes in green, yellow and red curry pastes, Malaysian rendang

O

Holy Lama Spice Drops provide a novel way for home cooks to add herbs and spices to recipes.

Just one or two drops of these highly concentrated natural extracts is equivalent to a much larger measure of herbs or spices in a conventional format, and the drops retain their intensity for up to three years – longer than dried herbs and spices. There are 30 extracts in the range, including cardamom, turmeric and other popular spices, as well as orange and lemon extracts – the two latest additions. RRP £3.50 for 5ml (around 150 drops).

paste and Thai sweet chilli with kaffir lime sauce, to name a few. The pastes and marinades retail from £1.89£2.29 while the noodle and dipping sauces retail from £1.49-£1.69.

O The London-based Cool Chile Co has conceived a trio of ‘semi-scratch’ sauce pots to enable people to create Mexican dishes at home. Adobo marinade is

www.holylamaspicedrops.com

a tangy accompaniment for lamb, Mojo de Ajo is a garlic and chilli oil that doubles up as sauce or marinade, and Mexican Buffalo is a spicy sauce for chicken and vegetarian dishes. Retail prices start from £2.85 for 70g.

O Melefsis has infused its pine honey with spices from around the world to create four fragrant honey sauces,

spice, curry & saffron, rose & pepper and smoked chili ‘Infusions’ can be used as a glaze, marinade or dressing.

They are available via Taste Distribution, and deliver a 35% margin for the retailer, when priced at £10.95 per 260g bottle.

themed on the cuisines of four countries. The five

www.worldfoods.com.my www.coolchile.co.uk www.melefsis.com

New kits on the block Rekha and Chandra Parmar, the creators of Kitchen Guru, have embarked on a new venture, launching a brand of Indian spice kits.

Bombay Street is pitched as a “current, trendy, vibrant brand designed to appeal to savvy consumers demanding healthier, convenient, authentic and cost effective solutions”.

Packed in pods, the ‘just 3-step’ kits

contain all the spices needed to make six popular curries: tikka masala, korma, madras, rogan josh, jalfrezi and masala fish. RRP £1.99.

Another newcomer to the spice kits scene is Sri Spice, the brainchild of Sri Lankan food lover Thea Samuel.

Since May 2015, this Scottish start-up has been producing kits for making Sri Lankan coconut based curries such as butternut & pea red curry, tamarind curry

and galle curry as well as side dishes like coconut greens and ala thel dala (crispy spiced potatoes).

The ingredients are all hand-prepped – Samuel says she dries her own curry and

pandanus leaves, bashes the cardamom and slow-roasts the curry powders by hand.

So far, Sri Spice kits are stocked by farm shops, delis and indies in Fife and Perthshire, but the company is looking to cast the net wider. Last month also saw the introduction of gift bags – printed jute bags containing four kits (trade price £10.97; RRP £14.81).

Trade price for the kits is £2.63 for a main dish and £1.88 for a side, with respective RRPs of £3.50-£4 and £2.50-£3. www.bombaystreetuk.com www.srispice.co.uk

products in brief Sourced from smallholder farmers in Sri Lanka and available from Just Trading Scotland, Ma’s Happy Life coconut milk is the UK’s first organic and Fairtrade certified coconut milk.

RRP £1.99.

O

www.jts.co.uk

Launched last month, A Little Bit’s new spicy tomato & sage pasta sauce combines fresh sage with a gentle chilli kick. RRP £3.95 for 250ml.

O

www.alittlebit.co.uk

The Bay Tree’s latest release – a mascarpone & marsala cooking sauce – is a “rich and creamy Italian -inspired sauce that is brilliant with pork or chicken”. RRP £3.15 for 300g.

O

www.thebaytree.co.uk

Retailers looking for luxury cooking sauces with a higher price point should check out Forman & Field, whose freshly-made sauces are presented in reusable kilner jars and include creamy lobster sauce, miso marinade glaze and Champagne cream sauce. RRP £5.95.

O

www.formanandfield.com

Carib Ting, Sweet Burn and Sweet Jerk are three new salt-free dried seasoning blends from vegan cookbook author and chef Janice Weir-Germia. Sold under her Turnapot brand, they have a trade price of £3.50 and an RRP of £6.99.

O

www.turnahpot. com

Vol.17 Issue 9 | October-November 2016

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sauces & ingredients

product update

How we stock it…

ELAINE HOUSTON, CO-OWNER, THE POT & PANTRY, MEIGLE, PERTHSHIRE

The biggest differentiating factor between a sauce that sells and one that doesn’t is where it comes from.

When it comes to cooking sauces, customers seem interested in traceability and provenance above all else, including flavour, so we try to source as locally as possible. We start by looking at ranges that are specific to Perthshire and then branch out from there to Fife and further north.

Finished sauces rather

products in brief Listed with delis and fishmongers around Suffolk, London, Dorset and Brighton, Red Chilli Kitchen’s Vietnamese ginger & honey marinade is designed for use with meats, seafood and tofu.

Trade price £2.95; RRP £4.25.

O

than cooking ingredients sell best. At the moment we have three main brands: Allan’s Chilli Products from Atherney does some lovely chilli sauces, the Whisky Sauce Co’s sauces with a hint of whisky are very popular, and people come for miles to pick up Sri Spice’s Sri Lankan sauces.

Finished sauces work far better for us than cooking ingredients, perhaps because people want convenience but not from economy or mainstream brands.

We’ve tried pasta sauces in the past, but they don’t

tend to sell. I think that is because it can be difficult to tell the difference in quality between tomatobased sauces, plus the supermarkets stock a wide array.

We try to target a range of price points to suit varying budgets. Our most expensive sauce is around the £4 mark – we try not to

O Eco-perfumist Kirsty Morrison, founder of Zing Organics, has applied her skills to seasonings, creating a collection of gourmet infused sea salts that are fragranced

with essential oils. There are four Aromachefery sea salts – black pepper, lemon, bay laurel and rosemary – all made in her workshop in Tarbert, Loch Fyne. There is also a ‘fish lover’s seasoning hamper’ for the gifting market.

push it too much. At the lower end of the spectrum we offer spice kits from Gorden Rhodes and Kent’s Kitchen. These start at £1.99, so there is something for everyone.

O 18 months after launch, The Art of Curry has secured distribution through

To make its Bio Cooking Blend with oregano, fleur de sel and chilli, Greek herb producer Tzekos combines ingredients from its farm in Chalkidiki with sea salt collected off the rocks in Messologhi.

The spice blend is soon to be stocked in Fenwick in Newcastle, with an RRP of £5.10 for 70g.

O

O

www.thornleysnaturalfoods. co.uk

Last month’s Speciality & Fine Food Fair saw the launch of Halen Môn’s new Magic Dust.

This seasoning is so called because it enhances practically any food it is sprinkled on, but is especially suited to popcorn, crisps, chips and roasties. The red miniature ceramic clamp-top jar and affordable price point of £5.95 (trade price £3.85) make it particularly attractive for gifting. www.halenmon.com

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The Garlic Farm’s ‘elephant garlic’ is now being used in the kitchen of the Isle of Wight’s only Michelin starred restaurant, Thompson’s.

Described as “an overextended leek with garlic tendencies”, the giant bulb has a mild nutty flavour. It is available to retailers as netted cloves, at a trade price of £2.10 (RRP £4.50).

O

O Shemin’s says its new collection of spice blends “outdoes any competition” in its use

www.redchillikitchen.co.uk

Unlike many powdered sauce mixes, Thornley’s new cheddar cheese sauce uses 100% natural ingredients, contains no additives or preservatives and is Coeliac Association certified. RRP £2.20.

Cotswold Fayre for its chilled Indian curry sauces. Founder Sameena Thompson says that her company is now poised to roll out nationally following an inital sales push throughout London and the South East. The company has also launched two new pack sizes – a 250g ‘couples’ size (RRP £3.49) and a 125g ‘solo’ size pouch (RRP £1.99), available alongside its 350g family pack (RRP £4.99).

King Korma, Raging Raja, Queen Bhuna and Royal Dopiaza are the first four sauces to come out of the Surrey kitchen.

October-November 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 9

of unusual ingredients, like ancho powder and rose petals, and taste combinations, for example, the addition of cocoa powder to its cajun rub.

There are eight natural spice mixes in the range: cajun, ras el hanout, peri peri, garam masala, BBQ, tandoori, harissa and jerk. www.zingorganics.co.uk www.theartofcurry.co.uk www.thegarlicfarm.co.uk www.shemins.co.uk

Bold new look. Dazzling new flavours

New Labe Autu l s m 2016 n

Make the ordinary extraordinary

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hello@thebaytree.co.uk Vol.17 Issue 9 | October-November 2016

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Award-Winning Free-Range Eggs From the Lakelands of County Fermanagh The Halls are dedicated to providing a caring and nurturing environment for their hens and are focused on producing the best quality eggs in the industry. Cavanagh Eggs have won numerous awards for their eggs and most recently they achieved a 2-Star award at Great Taste 2016 and the Blas na hEireann Chef’s Choice Award 2016. To top it all off, they won Best Artisan Producer in the inaugural Grow Make Eat Drink Awards.

Eileen Hall: 07857964468 | John Hall: 07857964436 Email: info@cavanaghfreerangeeggs.co.uk

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October-November 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 9

Irresistible gift packs available now for Christmas.

Give us a call or drop us a line for pack sizes and prices.

Just add Christmas! www.scarlettandmustard.co.uk 01728 685210

sauces & ingredients

product update

£2.10; RRP £3.99 for 170g), while capia pepper pesto uses the Turkish pepper variety to make a sweet and smoky red pepper pesto.

Trade price £12.45; RRP £15 for 900g.

O A new Sri Lankan food label made its first UK foray at the Food and Drink Expo

products in brief Potts has added bechamel sauce to its range of classic cooking sauces and launched three new pour-over sauces: Provençale sauce, mornay cheese sauce and mushroom, garlic & white wine sauce. All are available exclusively from Cotswold Fayre.

O

www.cotswold-fayre.co.uk

A “scarily hot” ghost sauce and a “stingingly hot” scorpion sauce are the two latest chilli-based introductions from the South Devon Chilli Farm. The sauces come in pocket sized 40ml bottles, with respective RRPs of £3.60 and £3.90.

O

Just a squeeze or two of Clearspring’s new Japanese organic umami paste promises to transform and elevate stews, stir-fries, soups and marinades.

The paste is traditionally made by adding a koji culture to rice and leaving it to naturally ferment, then mixing it with soya sauce and fresh ginger. There are two variants – with chilli and with ginger – both with an RRP of £4.49. www.clearspring.co.uk

for consumers. These tomato-based sauces are more robust than traditional ragus, with added protein from soya, tofu and seitan.

RRP £2.99 for 350g.

Capitalising on the superfoods trend, Belazu

O

Mr Organic has been busy on the new product development front this year, introducing a trio of ‘add-in’ sauces, a new pesto and a revamped vegetarian ragu range.

Based on Italian ingredients, the multipurpose add-in sauces can be served with pasta, on bruschetta, as a dip or used as an ingredient in soups and stews. Three varieties – grilled pepper, grilled aubergine and tomato & olive – have an RRP starting from £3.39 for 190g.

In further developments, the organic food brand has introduced a new chilli & garlic pesto (RRP £2.99) and relaunched its Veg A’more range as Vegetarian Ragus to make the product clearer

O

has created a Supergreen pesto, in which broccoli, kale, basil, broad bean, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds join forces to offer a vegan alternative to conventional pestos.

Launching this month, the nut-free pesto has a trade price of £12.45; RRP £15 for a 900g squeezy bottle.

Also new from the Mediterranean ingredient specialist are two Middle-Eastern inspired sauces.

Zhoug paste is a coriander hot sauce popular in Israel (trade price

Holy mole KanKun, with the help of Cotswold Fayre, is bringing the first Mexican mole sauces to the UK market.

These new sauces provide a ready-to-use version of this Mexican staple, which is said to be feared by home cooks because of its complexity.

There are three varieties: green mole is based on green chillies, tomatoes and pumpkin

seeds and is suited to chicken and pork dishes; poblano mole combines chillies, nuts and chocolate in a red meat and poultry accompaniment; and pipian mole is the spiciest in the range, featuring both guajillo and ancho chillies. Trade price £2.19 for 230g. www.kankunsauce.com

in April this year. Hand-made in Sri Lanka from natural ingredients, RUCI’s line-up of spiced chutneys, sambols and pastes includes chicken and lamb curry pastes, rasam mix, green coconut sambol and buriyani paste. RRP is £4.99 for a 250g jar. www.mr-organic.com www.belazu.com www.rucifoods.com

www.sdcf.co.uk

FireFly Barbecue’s new ghost chilli cajun rub is said to add real cajun flavours and punchy heat to jambalaya, gumbo, etouffée, shrimp and crawfish. RRP £3.99 for 100g.

O

www.fireflybbq. eu

Oriel’s new Teeling Irish whiskey smoked sea salt brings together “three stonking great flavours: whiskey, smoke and salt”.

The kiln-dried sea salt has a naturally lower sodium content, higher mineral content and more powerful taste than conventional salts. RRP £4.75 for 250g.

O

www.orielseasalt.com

Quay Ingredients has relaunched its herbs, spices and seasoning blends in resealable matt black windowed pouches.

O

www.quayingredients.co.uk

Vol.17 Issue 9 | October-November 2016

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Guaranteed, award-winning quality Farm Fresh Free Range Bronze Turkeys Available to retailers NOW

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October-November 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 9

christmas dinner

focus on

Talking turkey It may be the season for retailers to make some money but the festive period is also a time for fair pricing and building relationships with customers, especially when it comes to meat and poultry. LYNDA SEARBY reports.

Dreamstime

A

lthough Christmas is by far the most lucrative trading period for independent retailers, that doesn’t mean that maximising margins is always the way to go.

Indeed, Robert Jones, director of butchery chain Walter Smith, believes that a fair approach to pricing of Christmas meat and poultry has helped it to flourish at a time when many butchers are going out of business.

“A lot of butchers take too much out of Christmas,” he says. “They do a wonderful trade and then in January, February and March, customers don’t return because they think that although the meat was fantastic, they can’t afford it 52 weeks of the year.”

He says that instead, Walter Smith’s strategy is to “delight” customers and “establish relationships for the next 52 weeks”.

One example of how the butcher does this is through fair pricing of the free-range bronze turkeys it sources from Judy Goodman.

“I know other butchers who would sell them for a lot more than we do,” says Jones, adding that Walter Smith treats customers through little extra touches.

“If customers buy a turkey, we’ll give them a free hessian bag, a ‘how to cook’ guide and a timer, to help make Christmas as easy as possible.”

Thanks to this customer-centric approach, Walter Smith’s most established shops can expect to sell around 400 turkeys and 800kg of boneless turkey meat. This is in addition to cockerels, geese and increasingly popular joints such as longboat of lamb and ribs of beef.

Similarly, at Manydown Farm Shop and The Good Life in Hampshire (both part of the Cobbs Farm Co group), all Christmas birds are wrapped in wax paper with rosemary and presented in a carry-home box containing cooking instructions.

“It’s an added touch that makes it feel special,” says Cobbs Farm Co area manager Jemma Bentley.

“People are spending a lot of money on their Christmas birds.”

This ‘a customer is for life, not just for Christmas’ ethos is also central to how Delish Farm Shop & Delicatessen in Nottinghamshire operates.

“We are not going to rip customers off who might shop with us year-round by charging them a

Many retailers are re-thinking both how they price and merchandise their Christmas turkeys

premium for a Christmas turkey,” says co-owner Chris Yates. “We are in it for the long haul.”

Delish’s model for Christmas meat and poultry is slightly different to most farm shops and food halls – its focus is on hampers rather than individual birds or joints, and most of its orders are taken online and are delivered to customers’ doors.

A typical Christmas meat hamper might contain a turkey or a gammon joint, sausagemeat for stuffing, streaky bacon and chipolata sausages for pigs in blankets, some breakfast meat, such as sausages and bacon, and a leg of lamb or beef joint.

“Many people prefer to buy their meat this way,” says Yates. “It’s convenient and helps with meal planning, plus some people find butchers’ counters intimidating.

Everything is vac-packed and

delivered via temperature controlled vans.”

It’s a relatively new venture – the business is only a year old – but Yates is confident that customers who regularly order between £20 and £40 of meat the rest of the year will come to Delish for their Christmas meat orders.

While one of Delish’s points of difference is door-to-door delivery, Knitsley Farm Shop in County Durham uses the collection of Christmas orders as an opportunity to treat customers.

“In the three days before Christmas we close the café for general service and serve customers with complementary mulled wine and mince pies whilst they are waiting to pick up their orders,” says co-owner Rachel Jewson.

Of course, this is only probably

only viable and necessary because Knitsley does such a roaring trade in Christmas meat – not every farm shop needs to allocate collection time slots and manage waiting times.

But it wasn’t always this busy.

Jewson recalls the shop’s first Christmas when it took less than 100 orders.

“Eight years on, we do in the region of 650 Christmas orders, and these can be anything from one turkey to 15 items.”

In the eight years since the shop opened, Jewson has also noticed changes in customer buying habits.

“People don’t want huge 16-17lb turkeys anymore; they want 12-13lb birds and boneless turkey breasts for ease of cooking and carving. Plus, more people are eschewing poultry altogether and going for a prime cut of beef,” she says.

A lot of butchers take too much out of Christmas. They do a wonderful trade and then in January, customers don’t return because they think they can’t afford it 52 weeks of the year.

Robert Jones, director, Walter Smith

Vol.17 Issue 9 | October-November 2016

39

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www.folkingtons.com 40

October-November 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 9

We take pride in all of our products that are handmade on our premises.

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product update

soups, pies, ready-meals

Good to go ANDREW DON checks out the latest convenience meals available to indie retailers Kauri Fine Foods has launched a fourth flavour in its gluten-free range of gourmet soups – leek & chickpea.

The new flavour joins smokey lentil & chorizo, lentil & kumara (sweet potato)

O

and spicy butternut, which launched in February and are available for both retail and wholesale stockists.

The additive-free range comes in a 500g tamperevident pot, suitable for reheating in the microwave.

The soups can also be frozen.

The trade price is £2.60 (RRP £3.50).

O Wild boar & cider pie is the newest offering from Fuud, which produces a comprehensive range of pies and gourmet ready-meals.

The company has relaunched

its website and online shop, ahead of a marketing campaign to bring new and specialist recipes to a wider market.

Products include chicken & ale, chicken & chestnut, and pork, plum & celery pies as well as Thai green chicken curry. The 370g pies and 300g meals are £4.75 RRP. O The Topping Pie Company launched a deli-to-go range for speciality retailers earlier this year under its new Maggie’s sub brand.

The products include a 190g Traditional, Family and chilli pork pies (RRP £2.10), while 210g half pork pies (Hunstman and Yorkshire Farmers varieties) have RRPs of £2.60. There are also two varieties of quiche – cheese & onion and Quiche Lorraine in three sizes.

Sales director Matthew Topping says all of the lines had been developed to offer farm shops and independent

delis “a real point of difference”.

O The Seasonist has added a range of risottos, couscouses and rice puddings to the Cotswold Fayre catalogue – both frozen and chilled.

The risotto ready-meals are UK-made versions of Italian ‘risotto pronto’ to suit

Having updated the livery on its branded freezers for retailers, field fare has now applied the new look to its ready-meal range. Described as “modern & vibrant”, the new branding also helps consumers by differentiating product types with different coloured cardboard sleeves.

The range of meals – all made with Red Tractor meat – includes macaroni cheese, Lancashire hot pot, cottage pie, lasagne verde and steak & kidney suet pudding. www.field-fare.com

British eating preferences for the dish as a main course rather than an Italian-style starter. Trade price is £13.45 per case of six or £2.24 for one. RRP is £3.45.

The couscous range makes a side or salad-base for four people. Trade price is £12.90 per case of six or £2.15 each. RRP is £3.25.

The rice puddings, include a new cardamom marmalade variety as well as apple & cinnamon, lemon & vanilla and the Secret variety.

All come in a mixed case of five of each (case price £41.20, RRP £2.99 per unit).

My Italian Cook launched three products earlier this year: classic beef lasagne, porcini mushroom risotto and homemade tiramisu.

The lasagne (350g, RRP £4.99) takes five minutes to cook in the microwave, or 15 minutes in a conventional oven. The risotto (370g,

O

Bini’s looking beyond the South West Bini Ludlow, who set up five years ago with just £200, is the woman behind the seven-strong Bini range of frozen ready-meals that are sold in 23 outlets throughout the South West.

Now she wants to expand the distribution of her ready-meals to topend delis and farm shops throughout the region and further afield.

Her newest launch is potato & coconut curry (wholesale £4.35 and RRP

£6.50, 375g) – a traditional southern Indian potato curry that is suitable for vegans.

Although it was only launched this year, the curry has already picked up a twostar award in Great Taste.

Ludlow first encountered southern Indian food when she traveled to Kerala during 2008 to teach art and textiles as a volunteer in a school for a month.

Other lines in the Bini’s range include Gujarati Toor Dhal, Moghul Chicken Curry, Delhi Matar Paneer

and Black Chickpea Curry.

Six of her dishes have

won Great Taste awards. www.sweetcumin.co.uk

RRP £4.99) is ready in five minutes in the microwave or on the hob and the Tiramisu (300g, RRP £4.99) includes real espresso, Savoiardi biscuits and a soft Mascarpone cream. www.kaurifinefoods.co.uk www.fuud.co.uk www.toppingspies.co.uk www.myitaliancook.co.uk Vol.17 Issue 9 | October-November 2016

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Amazing MEALS

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October-November 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 9

EMAIL: nick.wild@innavisions.com

show preview

Hot topics and new products Food Matters Live is back at ExCeL London for its third instalment

R

eturning to London’s ExCeL on November 22-24, Food Matters Live will offer visitors an exhibition hall featuring more than 600 suppliers alongside a packed conference and seminar schedule addressing a raft of major topics and industry issues.

Now in its third year, the trade event will host an estimated 15,000 visitors and a variety of exhibitors – from multinational manufacturers through to start-ups – divided into multiple zones for ease of browsing.

FFD readers might be most interested in the Enterprise Zone, showcasing businesses that have been founded in the last two years. The line-up includes Bang Curry, Oomi Noodles, maple water producer DRINKmaple, Argentinian peanut butter company ManíLife and a trio of producers that specialize in snacks made from insects – Cro Bar, Eat Grub and Jimini's.

Other areas include the Development Zone, for companies aged between two and five years old, and the Natural & Organic Zone, which has been added this year due to rising demand for products in the category.

There will also be an area specifically for healthier drink manufacturers (Drink Well Zone) and a Free-from Zone – including stands for The Vegan Society, wholesaler Suma Wholefoods and The Raw Chocolate Co – as well as a variety of international pavilions at the show.

Visitors more interested in the scientific aspects of food production will find an array of research and development organisations in the Research Pavilion.

Meanwhile, the Food Matters Live Innovation Lounge will host a series of networking events for exhibitors and visiting buyers during the show.

Across the three days, a total of 400 speakers will tackle a range of topics in 17 debates on the main conference stage. A combination of major food and drink executives, food scientists, government ministers and health professionals will feature in head-to-head discussions on issues, such as the future of nutrition, mainstreaming healthier eating and ‘better-for-you’ soft drinks, as well as sugar in food and obesity.

Alongside the conference are eight dedicated seminar themes – including packaging, marketing and sustainable food business – which will be explored throughout the event by some 300 industry experts.

Food Matters Live 2016 will also

need to know Where?

ExCeL, London Docklands, E16 1XL When?

November 22-24 How do I get there?

ExCeL London is easily accessible by public transport. It is located within Zone 3 of the London Underground network and the nearest station is Custom House on the DLR. Visitors could also take the Jubilee line to

feature six themed visitor attractions, which will supplement the themes explored in the conference and seminars with a series of installations and live demonstrations on the exhibition floor.

These include the healthy cooking demos at Catering For Health, FEED Sensorium – a showcase of the latest food science – and The Growth Lab, which will allow food entrepreneurs to quiz a range of business advisors on

everything from funding through to NPD. “From retail, marketing and manufacturing to policy, health and nutrition, we’re hosting great minds,” says Briony Mansell-Lewis, Food Matters Live director. “With 15,000 influential visitors expected to attend, this year’s Food Matters Live is becoming the pivotal business and networking event for those working in the food and drink industry.”

Don’t miss…

On the conference stage:

Tomorrow’s foods: what will consumers accept?

Thursday November 24, 14:15-15:00 A panel hosted by Jonathan Dimbleby will discuss the future of food and whether consumers are ready to embrace it.

Panelists: Prof. Bryan Hanley (food specialist, Knowledge Transfer Network), Kaave Pour (creative director, Space 10), Dr Shini Somara (science broadcaster) and Sara Roversi (co-founder, Future Food Institute)

In the exhibition hall: The Enterprise Zone North Greenwich and then travel on the Emirates Air Line cable car to the exhibition centre.

This section of the event will be showcasing suppliers that have been set up in the last two years. The line-up covers everything from curry and noodles through to maple water and edible insects.

There is onsite parking for 3,700 cars and London City Airport is a 5-minute taxi ride from ExCeL.

When the day is done:

Grub Club Cambridge Social Networking Event

How do I register?

Tickets for this trade-only show are free. Visitors should register in advance online at

Wednesday November 23, 17:30-19:00 Making a guest appearance at Food Matters Live 2016, Grub Club networking events are all about discussing the market, sharing advice and building relationships in a fun and relaxed environment over great food and drink. Former Ludlow Food Centre MD Edward Berry will also be giving a talk on the viability of independent retail.

www.foodmatterslive.com

Buy tickets at www.grubclubcambridge.co.uk Vol.17 Issue 9 | October-November 2016

43

The natural choice for cheese

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October-November 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 9

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shelf talk

packs, promotions, people

Taste Distribution has latest stars

BY MICHAEL LANE

Organic bee pollen, premium Canadian maple syrup and coconut jam are among the many Great Taste 2016 award-winning products that are now available to independent retailers via Taste Distribution.

Following the results of this year’s Great Taste, the wholesaler has added to its extensive line-up of threestar winners, with lines like Coconut Merchant’s organic jam (cases of 12x330g, RRP £5.95 per unit) and Melefsis bee pollen (12x200g, RRP £14.95), organically collected in the foothills of the Peloponnese.

It will also be offering Great White North’s three-star Pure Maple Delicate Taste maple syrup (6x330g, RRP £8.45) as well as Moonroast Coffee’s Ethiopian beans (12x225g) from the Kaffa Forest and Åkesson’s Choco Tea (12x30g) – an infusion made from Madagacan

gift sets...

Fruit vinegar producer Womersley has released four themed gift sets (all RRP £20), featuring recipe cards.

Two feature 3x100ml bottles of vinegar: The Great Taste 2016 award winners (golden raspberry & apache chilli, strawberry & mint and orange & mace) and Enduringly Popular (lemon, basil, bay & juniper; lime, black pepper & lavender; and raspberry). There are also two dressing sets featuring a 250ml bottle of Cotswold rapeseed oil alongside a 250ml bottle of vinegar – one with the raspberry vinegar and the other with lime, black pepper & lavender. www.womersleyfoods.com

Grumpy Mule is offering its festive Grumpy Yule coffee blend in a gift set featuring a 227g bag of ground coffee and a pair of branded socks.

The darkly roasted blend of Fairtrade and organic beans – Ethiopia Harar, Peru Sol y Café and Sumatra Koptan Co-Op – is also available in 250g tins. www.grumpymule.co.uk

cacao nibs and cacao bean husks.

Taste Distribution’s catalogue covers a wide range of categories, including charcuterie (Capreolus Fine Foods), soft drinks (Breckland Orchards, Ringden Farm) and cider (Apple County, Sandford Orchards). It also carries

preserves and condiments from Rubies in the Rubble, The Artisan Kitchen and Scarlett & Mustard as well as a host of oils and speciality ingredients, from brands like Global Harvest, Saveur Du Maroc and Ballyhoura Mountain Mushrooms www.tastedistribution.co.uk

Van Strien cookies coming to the UK after Dutch bakery’s initial success

Balinese artisan jam producer Awani has launched a number of gift sets, featuring smaller jars. A Tropical Garden Vignette (trade £4.80), includes 28g of Mango, Pineapple, Pink Guava and Tamarillo james while the Indonesia-based company’s marmalades are showcased in A Trio of Tropical Citrus (trade £3.60, 28g of Lime, Balinese Tangerine, Lime with Ginger). There are also two sets of 2x98g jars (trade £5.40 each): A Breakfast in Paradise (mango and pink guava jam) and Exotic Ginger Fusion (pineapple with ginger and lime with ginger) www.awani.com

BY MICHAEL LANE

Healthier Foods Limited is set to introduce a range of individually wrapped all-butter cookies from Dutch bakery Van Strien to independent retailers across the UK. The importer has gained listings with a number of distributors since bringing in a variety of sweet and savoury lines earlier this year from the Rotterdam-based producer, which makes all of its lines by hand using ‘clean’ ingredients like grass-fed butter.

The Nutty Delight (pecan & caramel), Deliciously Dark (brownie), Appletising (apple pie) and Cherry Blossom (cherry & chocolate) varieties all

Hawkshead introduces Mudd sweet spreads to extensive line-up

come in boxes of 4x35g individually wrapped cookies (RRP £2.49) This sub-range will be available in the New Year, initially from Holleys Fine Foods but also via The Cress Co, Shires of Norfolk, Auguste Noel and Curd & Cure.

Foodservice cases of 24 single cookies will also be available in January. gordon.leatherdale@ healthierfoodslimited.co.uk

The world’s first colourless coffee has arrived in the UK and has already picked up listings with Selfridges and Whole Foods Market.

Invented in Slovakia, Clear Coffee is a ready-to-drink product that offers 100mg of caffeine per bottle – the equivalent of a double espresso. It is available in 200ml bottles (£1.75+VAT) via the Artisan Food Club. www.clrcff.com

Looking for suppliers accredited by the Guild of Fine Food? Follow the logo

BY NICK BAINES

Cumbria’s Hawkshead Relish has revealed a new line-up of spreads, called Mudd, in three flavours: salted chocolate, salted banoffee, and chocolate honey.

Both gluten- and nut-free, the Mudd range has no artificial flavouring, colouring or additives and is suitable for vegetarians.

The range, which was

created by Hawkshead cofounder Mark Whitehead, will join the company’s roster of products that includes jams, chutneys, mustards and mayonnaise.

Although it will not be fully available until 2017, orders for Mudd are being taken now to secure early deliveries. All three are available in cases of 6 units (RRP £4.99 each) for £20. www.hawksheadrelish.com

Vol.17 Issue 9 | October-November 2016

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shelf talk what’s new...

Drinks brand Moju has launched a 60ml cold pressed ginger shot made using high pressure processing (HPP).

The production process deactivates certain bacteria, retains nutrients and delivers a long shelf life to the company’s Ginger Booster (RRP £1.95), which can be drunk straight up or added to sparkling water, hot water or other juices.

packs, promotions, people

chef’s selection FOOD WRITER CLARE HARGREAVES INTERVIEWS TOP BRITISH CHEFS ABOUT THEIR FAVOURITE STORECUPBOARD PRODUCTS

Alistair Fraser Head chef The Springer Spaniel, Treburley, Cornwall South African Alistair Fraser trained as a chef in his home country before coming to work in the UK where he met Anton Piotrowski, 2012 winner of MasterChef: The Professionals.

He went on to work with Anton at The Treby Arms in Devon, where he was sous chef for three years. He was appointed head chef at The Springer Spaniel when Anton took it over two-and-a-half years ago.

www.mojudrinks.com

Twelve Mediterraneaninspired lines from organic baby food company Piccolo are now available to independent retailers across the South West after they were listed with distributor Holleys Fine Foods.

The line-up includes cherry & yoghurt with wholegrain oats, spring greens with a hint of mint, mango apple & kale with a dash of yogurt, and sweet potato, beetroot apple & pear.

www.thespringerspaniel.org.uk

www.mylittlepiccolo.com

The Cress Co has launched a dedicated catalogue for its chilled range, having grown its portfolio to more than 400 lines. Products include Continental charcuterie, seafood and dairy, as well as British brands like Snowdonia Cheese Company and Patchwork Paté.

The minimum order for chilled products is £40 and can be combined with ambient ranges to meet the distributor’s overall minimum order of £125. www.thecressco.co.uk

Dartmoor Brewery’s Jail Ale This full-bodied 4.8% ale is the original beer made at Dartmoor Brewery in Princetown, near here, and it’s all I ever drink. In the restaurant kitchen, I poach carrots in a mix of Jail Ale, brown sugar and star anise before roasting them. I also put it into steamed puddings in the winter to give them depth. The ale is quite floral so it adds an extra dimension and prevents the puddings from being sugary sweet. www.dartmoorbrewery.co.uk

The Chia Company’s white chia seeds I’m a keen runner and came across these in running literature. They’re a great source of protein for vegans and vegetarians. If I’m making fritters or falafels I often use ground chia seeds to tighten and hold them together, as they absorb moisture. I also use them in wholegrain tuiles, to serve with vegetarian dishes and, at home, I put them in smoothies. www.thechiaco.com

More alternative milk and snacks in Rude Health’s latest NPD drive

BY NICK BAINES

Rude Health has added a number of new lines, including granola, crackers and brownies, to its roster of freefrom products.

As well as a cacao & vanilla granola that contains no refined sugars or added salt (RRP £4.99), the Londonbased company has developed crackers made from organic buckwheat and chia seeds (RRP £3.50) and sweet potato & cacao brownie bars (RRP £1.19) that are wheat-free and gluten-free.

It has also

46

boosted its line-up of dairyfree milk alternatives with an organic cashew drink (RRP £3.50), made using only spring water, sea salt and organic cashews. The range also features milks made from brown rice, coconut, oats, hazelnuts and almonds. www.rudehealth.com

October-November 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 9

Miller’s Damsels charcoal wafers We serve these hexagonal wafers, made with stoneground wholemeal flour milled in England, as our cheese crackers. The charcoal in them is from coconut shells that have been rendered. I used to grind them up to coat our goats’ cheese mousse, although now I make my own ash from vegetable peelings. I buy the wafers through Forest Produce in Exeter. www.artisanbiscuits.co.uk

Belazu pitted Harlequin olives (2.5kg in 5l bucket) These are pitted green Chalkidiki and purple Kalamata olives, mixed with red peppers, garlic, chilli and black pepper. Often I find olives too salty, too hard, or lacking in taste, but these taste great. Recently I’ve been baking them in the oven with salt and pepper, then blending the mixture and using it as a ‘salt’ to sprinkle onto our heritage tomato salad. Olives and tomatoes flourish in the same climate, so it’s good to eat them together. www.belazu.com

Cornish Tea Company’s Smugglers Brew Tea This ‘everyday’ black tea is produced by The Cornish Tea Company, started in Looe by Tom Pennington and his uncle Duncan Bond. The tea is imported from Rainforest Alliance-certified tea plantations in Kenya and Malawi, sourced through the Ethical Trade Initiative, and blended in the West Country. We serve it in the restaurant and the bar. It’s good to be able to offer guests something that’s local and ethical, and has a minimal carbon footprint. www.cornish-tea.co.uk

Looking for suppliers accredited by the Guild of Fine Food? Follow the logo

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Vol.17 Issue 9 | October-November 2016

47

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Vol.17 Issue 9 | October-November 2016

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shelf talk

packs, promotions, people

Fine Cheese Co boosts line-ups

BY NICK BAINES

The Fine Cheese Co has added toasts made with Stichelton blue cheese to its cracker range and it has also begun importing Bodrato Chocolates from Italy.

The Bodrato range includes Boero Cherry Shots, known as drunken cherries, made by macerating the Garbana variety of the fruit in Piedmont grappa before dipping in chocolate – available in dark, milk and white varieties.

The Bath-based company is also offering four Bodrato chocolate bars: cranberry, cinnamon & white chocolate, coconut & licorice milk chocolate, coffee & star anise and blackberry & sea salt milk chocolate.

The Fine Cheese Co has recently collaborated with Stichelton cheesemaker Joe Schneider to create a new line for its ever-popular Toasts range.

Stichelton Toast (RRP £3.25-£3.50 per pack) combines the unpasteurised

An Italian olive oil producer in business for nearly a century is making its first forays into the UK market with a trio of extra virgin oils with different uses.

Although the business behind Calabria-based Oro Don Vincenzo has been producing oils in Calabria since 1919, the brand is only five years old and is

Yorkshire-based cold brew coffee specialist Artemis has extended the shelf life of its bottles from 72 to 300 days and can now also supply its Great Taste one-star product to retailers nationwide.

It comes in boxes of 25x250ml bottles (trade price per unit £2.20). www.artemisbrew.co.uk

RH Amar has launched Gaea’s new balsamic & honey creme (RRP £3.39, 200ml) – a combination of barrel aged vinegar and Cretan thyme honey. The product, which had already scooped a three-star award in Great Taste 2016, can be used on salads, raw or cooked vegetables, cheese, strawberries, or Greek yoghurt and ice cream. www.rhamar.com

British blue cheese with buttermilk, sesame seeds, lemon juice and seasoning.

“We have a product that will build on Stichelton’s fame and reputation,” said Ann-Marie Dyas, co-founder of The Fine Cheese Co. “The people at The Fine

Cheese Co are fun to work with and the business is cool, so obviously when we started the collaboration process of developing Stichelton Toast, we were hoping it would make us cooler by association,” said Joe Schneider.

TruffleHunter has launched a black truffle tomato ketchup as it looks to diversify its range and change consumers’ perception of the ingredient as “stuffy and exclusive”. The ketchup comes in 200g (RRP £7.95) and 320g (RRP £9.95) jars, both available to the trade in cases of six units.

www.finecheese.co.uk

www.trufflehunter.co.uk

OrganicOrganic has branched out into a new category with the launch of its olive leaf tea – a caffeine-free alternative to green tea. The tea, which is rich in antioxidants and is said to be anti-ageing and an immunity booster, comes in 60g boxes. The four varieties are plain olive leaf, green honey bush, honey bush and red bush (rooibos).

Calabrian olive oil brand seeks UK stockists for its extra virgin trio

BY MICHAEL LANE

what’s new ...

now seeking stockists in the UK. Oro Don Vincenzo describes its Il Classico oil as gentle and suggests applying it to recipes that would otherwise be overpowered by strong flavours, such as fish dishes, light salads, baking and mayonnaise. It comes in 250 ml (wholesale £5.00), 500 ml (£7.30), 750 ml (£10.80) bottles.

The medium-flavoured Lametia oil is a Protected Designation of Origin product and is suitable for all uses. Prices range from £6.20 for 250ml to £14.40 for 750 ml.

Also available in three bottle sizes, the Bio Organic oil is the most robust of the three oils and works well with steaks and soups but is also good as a dipping oil.

Although traditionally an Italian food specialist, Donatantonio is now importing three raw honeys from Greek brand La Kouzina Verde.

Wild forest flowers, thyme & forest flowers and the dark oak honey all come in cases of 6x250g jars (RRP £5.50-£6.50).

www.orodonvincenzo.com

www.donatantonio.com

www.organicorganic.com

Looking for suppliers accredited by the Guild of Fine Food? Follow the logo

Formerly known as L’ailOlive, the Joli brand was launched in September with a range of four products. Its Smoked Garlic Chilli and the less oily Dry Smoked Garlic Chilli can both be used as condiments and in cooking, as can the Super Hot Garlic Peperoncino, which is made with habanero and scotch bonnet chillies.

Joli also produces a caramelised black garlic glaze. www.livejoli.com

Vol.17 Issue 9 | October-November 2016

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October-November 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 9

Tel: 01282 440040 Email: info@riggsautopack.co.uk www.riggsautopack.co.uk

shelf talk

packs, promotions, people Auberge has cafés in mind

BY NICK BAINES

Buckinghamshire’s Auberge du Chocolat has released a range of Fairtrade chocolate bars designed specifically for cafés, bars and event venues.

Packaged in resealable cellophane, the 45g bars come in 7 flavours: Raspberry Swirl, Strawberry Fizz, milk orange, dark mint, salty, chilli, and dark orange.

Each has an RRP of £1.50£2.00 (cost price 95p +VAT). www.aubergechocolat. co.uk/buy/cafe-bars

Haughton goes for Continental portion

BY NICK BAINES

Haughton Honey has launched a new 900g tub that holds the equivalent of two-and-a-half jars of its raw honey.

Larger containers of honey are popular in mainland Europe, but Haughton Honey believes it is the first British variety to be available in this quantity.

“Initial interest from customers in our new, larger pots at recent food and drink festivals has been exceptional,” said founder Crispin Reeves.

Founded in 2014, Haughton Honey expects to pack and sell more than

16,000kg of raw honey during 2016, as demand increases.

The new 900g tub will be rolled out to independent delis, farm shops and garden centres across the North West and Midlands, as well as Booths stores. www.haughtonhoney.com

Bay Tree unveils two Marmajams

BY MICHAEL LANE

Despite overseeing a complete rebrand of The Bay Tree’s range, founder Emma Macdonald has still found time to develop a number of new lines and a new style of preserve.

The West Country firm has launched its Marmajams – a combination of sweet summer fruit offset by citrus sharpness – in two flavours.

The strawberry & orange variety is pitched as an alternative topping for a cream tea while blueberry & lemon is said to offer a balance of floral flavours and acidity. Both come in 210g jars (RRP £2.55).

The Bay Tree has also created a fig, rum & vanilla jam (210g, RRP £2.55) and a Jumbleberry variety (340g, RRP £3.30), featuring a mix of strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries.

what’s trending NICK BAINES KEEPS YOU UP-TO-DATE WITH THE NEWEST DISHES, FLAVOURS AND INNOVATION IN FOOD AND DRINK Flavouring fizzy water It appears San Pellegrino and its 50 Best Restaurants list was just the beginning of fizzy water’s global takeover. In the US, newspapers have been reporting that naturally flavoured sparkling water has become “the new avocado toast”. Cawston Press has got in on the action here in the UK, as has Ugly Drinks, with two infused sparkling waters: lemon & lime and grapefruit & pineapple.

Got your goat?

The Independent recently ran an article on how goat meat has gone mainstream. The piece highlighted barbecue festival Meatopia where Yotam Ottolenghi served up whole goat shawarma wraps, and Duck & Waffle’s Dan Doherty knocked out pulled goat Cuban sandwiches. Prepare to start seeing recipes for everything from Jamaican curry goat to Spanish cabrito stews.

Limoncello This Italian classic is being pushed by city hipsters and celebrity lawyers alike. London cool-kids Pizza Pilgrims have pivoted from their successful pizza operation to make a traditional limoncello with Chase Distillery. The niche spirit’s revival is also being spearheaded by Nancy Dell’olio who recently launched her sugar-free Limonbello.

BBQ trend keeps on giving Throughout America’s best barbecue joints, cooked meat is sold by weight and the concept is now being put to diners at Temper, a new restaurant from barbecue icon Neil Rankin.

The format will make life easier for restaurants and cafés, helping combat wastage and fluctuations in portion size, but could also be a strong move for take-out and preprepared food operations.

All the company’s extra jams range will now be sold in 200g jars in a bid to reduce consumer wastage and the roll-out will be supported by an online campaign called Seven Day Serve, which suggests ways to use up a jar within a week.

“We want to encourage our customers to share their ideas and we’ll be contributing our own recipes that the team

have developed as well,” Macdonald told FFD. The producer has also bolstered its range of marmalades with three fruit (grapefruit, lemon, Seville orange) and dark vintage thick cut varieties in 340g jars (RRPs £3.30 and £3.40).

On the savoury side it has added Awesome Aubgerine pickle (300g) and red onion marmalade (310g) both with RRPs of £3.35.

Bao Steamed buns can be found accommodating various meat fillings throughout Asia and are gaining traction as a lunch option in the UK. Bao, as they’re known in China and Taiwan, are made from a milk-based dough and can be steamed to order in just a couple of minutes. Peckham’s Mr Bao serves one with slow-cooked lamb, pickled red onion and mint, while Cardiff’s Little Bao Peep fills its buns with shredded satay chicken, craft beer jelly and candied bacon.

www.thebaytree.co.uk

Looking for suppliers accredited by the Guild of Fine Food? Follow the logo

Vol.17 Issue 9 | October-November 2016

51

Monday 26 June 10am-4pm Tuesday 27 June 10am-4pm Halls 1 & 2, Yorkshire Event Centre HG2 8QZ

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Featuring this year: • Feed the Dragon: producers pitch to big-name food buyers • Cracking Christmas: workshop for retailers wanting to maximise sales • Expert advice & support from the Guild of Fine Food • Great Taste: sample awardwinning food & drink • FineFoodLive! Theatre: demos & tutored tastings

Who should attend: Buyers from delis, farm shops, food halls, garden centres Chefs, pubs, restaurant and hotel owners, café and coffee shops Butchers, bakers, grocers and gift shop owners

Harrogate Fine Food Show combines both first-time and established brands. As a visitor you will meet new producers and taste exciting new products that will have never been seen before at a food trade show.

Exhibitors can enjoy meeting new customers from retail and food service sectors, as well as buyers from well-established food halls and farm shops across the UK.

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To exhibit at Harrogate Fine Food Show 2017 contact Sally Coley on 01747 825200 Register for your free visitor ticket at www.gff.co.uk/harrogate Easy access and free parking for both exhibitors and visitors. Under 18s will not be admitted. Students by prior arrangement only.

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shelf talk

Driven by ethos, not EpoS Cowdray Farm Shop reflects the ‘healthy, natural and fair’ ethos of its titled owner as much as the point-of-sale data coming from its tills. Newly installed manager Rupert Titchmarsh tells us how this delicate balance is struck.

I

’ve met Rupert Titchmarsh maybe a dozen times over the last decade, first as owner of Harrogate’s Tartufo deli and more recently as brand manager for distributor Hider Foods. A sensible sort of chap, he’s always chosen his words with care when I’ve had a notebook in my hand. Never more so than today, however, when he’s eight months into perhaps the most prestigious gig of his career.

Since February, Titchmarsh has been farm shop manager at Cowdray Park Estate in West Sussex. Owned

by Michael and Marina Pearson – aka The Viscount and Viscountess Cowdray – this is the largest private

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estate in southern England, with 16,500 acres of prime land in the South Downs National Park.

The farm shop itself, just outside the market town of Midhurst on the busy east-west A272, was set up in 2008 in a converted stable block.

Initially a slow burner, it really took off around 2013 under the management of ex-Whole Foods Market and Wyevale food buyer Katie Cordle – who is Lady Cowdray’s niece – getting into The Times’ Top 20 UK farm shops and the Telegraph’s top five.

Last year, turnover for the store and its 45-cover café (which seats a further 45 outside in summer) was £2.3m and it’s slated to hit

October-November 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 9

£2.5m soon. “We’ve got some fairly ambitious plans to rejig things,” says Titchmarsh, when we settle down to talk at one of the none-too-cheap hardwood café tables in the shop’s courtyard.

These plans include more indoor café space, a bigger, more prominent butcher’s counter and more Cowdray own-brand lines.

This is a fine looking store, helped along by its classic halftimbered exterior and the deep yellow Cowdray Estate paint that’s familiar to anyone in the area. Inside, it’s not over-designed, very definitely still a farm shop and, with the exception of a non-food gifts section, much less “boutique” than you might expect.

Stand-out features include a sizeable cheese counter that features some beyond-the-norm British and Continental varieties, from Somerset’s Wellesley goats’ cheese to Italy’s raw milk Blu di Zibibbo. Most of the Brits come from Neal’s Yard Dairy, which also trains Cowdray’s counter staff.

Deli of the Month INTERVIEW BY MICK WHITWORTH

The butcher’s is core to the business, majoring on lamb and beef from estate farms. Venison, from fallow and roe deer stalked on the estate, is a big seasonal feature, and there’s growing emphasis on addedvalue meats for quick suppers.

The farm shop café, meanwhile, has a breakfast and lunch menu that combines the local (Cowdray rump steak, or Welsh rarebit with Sussex Charmer cheese) with the healthy (like a ‘superfood’ salad including quinoa, sprouting lentil and Hollyhock yeast dressing). Coffee comes from Monmouth in London, which also trains Cowdray’s baristas.

The café kitchen doubles as a

deli of the month vital statistics

Rupert Titchmarsh describes the beautifully situated Cowdray operation as ‘an amalgam of a farm shop and a food hall’

Location: Cowdray Farm Shop & Café, Cowdray Park, Midhurst, West Sussex GU29 0AJ Owners: Michael and Marina Pearson (Viscount and Viscountess Cowdray) Turnover: £2.3m Average gross margin: 40% Key wholesalers: Suma, Infinity, Hider, Diverse Fine Foods Employees: 25-30 Shop opening hours: 9am6pm Mon-Sat; 9am-5pm Sun

must-stocks

l Tunworth l Gospel

cheese Green cyder

l Lizi’s

production kitchen for the shop too, making quiches, pies, soups and salads. Plans are afoot to enlarge this unit and add Cowdray-branded frozen ready-meals to its output.

Katie Cordle, who spent seven years at Whole Foods, undoubtedly put the stamp of a career retailer on Cowdray farm shop before leaving last winter. But it also strongly reflects the ethos of her aunt, who is marketing director for the entire estate.

And that’s one reason Titchmarsh is being careful: there is a clear and quite personal Cowdray “brand” on display here, he says, that needs to be rigorously protected.

“The estate is effectively designed to reflect Lady Cowdray’s ideals and beliefs,” he tells me. That means all things natural, organic, sustainable, healthy and, where possible, local. Google Marina Pearson and you’ll find numerous references to her interests in nutrition, nature, spirituality and meditation. According

to her LinkedIn profile, she is an advisor to the respected Oxford Centre of Mindfulness – part of Oxford University’s department of psychiatry.

If this sounds a bit worthy, that’s not how it translates into the farm shop. In many ways the Lady Cowdray touches are light: posters in the café promoting classes in Qigong, Yantra and Mandala; a preponderance of better-for-you soft drinks in the chiller (Botanics Lab juices, TreeVitalise, SaVse smoothies); an absence of pester-power-inducing sugar confectionery; a strong range of wholefoods from distributors Infinity and Suma; and generous shelf-space

We need to provide a one-stop shop, if we can do it without compromising our principles too much

for organic veg. The result: a shop with its own distinct flavour but still one where the mainstream shopper can put together a full basket.

“There’s an element of the range that is very much led by Lady Cowdray and what she considers to be responsibly sourced, ethical and healthy,” says Titchmarsh.

“It’s not always necessarily what one would sell from a purely commercial point of view but it’s nonetheless successful.”

It’s not organic or local at all costs, he stresses, but all things being equal, if a product exists that ticks the organic, fair trade and sustainable boxes, that’s the one that gets listed.

“We need to provide a onestop shop, if we can do it without compromising our principles too much. [But] I’m trying to strike a balance between providing a service here and the restrictive practices some shops have where they’ll only sell local or sell what’s in season. If people find they have to go elsewhere for

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Vol.17 Issue 9 | October-November 2016

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The perfect finish to winter roasts – rich, glossy gravies from Kent’s Kitchen The chicken, beef, onion, turkey and lamb & mint gravies will enhance any roast, are easy to make and don’t need refrigeration after opening.

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deli of the month

shelf talk

their mangoes, they might also go elsewhere for their beef and lamb.”

One category where a clear line is drawn is confectionery. You won’t find any giant chocolate Santas on sale over the next couple of months because “Lady Cowdray believes we shouldn’t be pumping the youth of today full of refined sugars”. s“Would a huge BonBons stand make money? Undoubtedly, yes, but we have to be true to our roots.”

Having said that, when I ask what lessons Titchmarsh carried forward at Cowdray from his five years trading at Tartufo, he says: “You have to stock what the public wants to buy, not what you want to sell. That’s a lesson every retailer should learn – and learn quickly.”

If Cordle put Cowdray Farm Shop on the national map, Titchmarsh has found plenty of scope to fine-tune the business, some of it informed by his “interesting and enlightening” three years at Hider. He has already lifted the shop’s average gross margin to 40% and hopes to improve it more – and not through higher retail prices.

“The first port of call is price negotiation,” he says. “All wholesalers have a discount strategy, and in my first week in the job I found suppliers that had never given us a discount simply because they had never been asked.”

He has also looked at staff rotas, to keep wages in the right ratio to turnover while ensuring there are enough hands on deck at busy times.

“And there are plenty of other areas where we can look to trim costs, like negotiating with service providers and playing them off against each other. It’s about not necessarily accepting the first price, and questioning every invoice that comes across my desk.”

He adds: “When you take on a new business, these are the first places you go to to keep a lid on expenditure.”

Cowdray Farm Shop is walking distance from the centre of Midhurst, a pretty and hardly impoverished market town with more than its fair From cheese and charcuterie to confectionery and soft drinks, the range is higher-end and distinctive share of listed Tudor, Georgian and disappointing to walk into a new more you have the more confused considerably more cheaply than we Victorian buildings. By providing store and feel you’ve seen it before. people become.”) And rapeseed do.” ample free parking, the farm shop But Titchmarsh reckons most of the oils have also been culled. “From a One of his first tasks on arriving in has made itself a good starting point grand private estate shops have their gastronomic point of view,” he says February was to “tidy up” the roster – and coffee stop – for a stroll into own character, to a large extent emphatically, “you can’t say rapeseed of suppliers, partly because “the more town. reflecting the family behind them and is equivalent to extra virgin olive oil.” you spend with a single supplier, the While a regular cappuccino costs the land on which they are rooted.

Four wholesalers – Diverse, Hider, more purchase you have on pricing”. £3.50, Titchmarsh says prices are not While other farm shops in this Infinity and Suma – provide the bulk intended to exclude patch of southern England tend to of ambient stock, and the shop anyone. “We We don’t have a fixed margin structure, be very much focused on their own deals with 20-30 other suppliers on always benchmark but we can’t be too expensive against produce, he says Cowdray is “more a week-to-week basis. Nonetheless, ourselves against of an amalgam between a farm shop the total supplier list through the other retailers,” he other businesses. And the simplest way and food hall, with a more complete year numbers nearer 200, from the says,“and Waitrose offer”.

UK and further afield. Whether it’s is the obvious one. to ensure that is to look at Waitrose.

“The word I want to use is the artisan Parmesan producer from “We don’t ‘classy’,” he adds, choosing his which Cowdray imports direct or the The pasta selection, for example, have a fixed margin structure, but we language with care once again. “But local guy who rocks up once a year had become unwieldy through can’t be too expensive against other I don’t really want to, because the with an armful of wet garlic, it all trying to be all things to all people. businesses. And the simplest way to last thing we want to seem is aloof helps maintain a point of difference.

Similarly the olive oil and balsamic ensure that is to look at Waitrose, or elitist.”

With so many farm shops drifting selection has been rationalised given that their margin expectations towards the formulaic, it can be (“No-one understands them, so the are healthy and they would be buying www.cowdray.co.uk Vol.17 Issue 9 | October-November 2016

59

If you want, we can tell you about the ancestry of our Welsh Black cattle. Or we can tell you about the fields in which they graze in the rich Aeron Valley in west Wales. All part of the story that makes beef that 2016 Great Taste judges described as:

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No compromise on quality Vol.17 Issue 9 | October-November 2016

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Granny’s Secret food for soul, made to ancient recipes and free from all additives, have just launched at ‘Tree of Life’ and ‘Suma’, the UK’s largest healthy independent wholesalers, as well as Holland & Barratt online from November 2016.

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October-November 2016 | Vol.17 Issue 9

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