GET SET FOR EASTER Sweet ideas for Spring’s seasonal sales booster

PARESH TEJURA“How often do you see a cheeseboard in a good Indian restaurant?”

INSIDE: HAlSEy’S OF HiTcHin BETTER RETAILING dEli REciPES ARTISAN cHEESES GlASGOW 2010

January-February 2010 · Vol 11 issue 1

Mehdi Boukemach brings his Gallic flair to Yorkshire fare

FREncH cOnnEcTiOn

GROUnd FORcEMaking the most of coffee in shops and deli-cafés

WITH THIS ISSUE:yOUR FREE GUidE TO FOOd & dRink

FROm WAlES

January-February 2010 · Vol .11 Issue 12

At 11.59pm on December 31 2009, I poked two fingers at the passing of a dog of a year.

I can live with pain in business as long as it’s my fault. But when the hurt is because a bunch of blinkered, expenses fiddling MPs, who mostly haven’t got the brains to hold down a proper job, and who invest tax-payers’ money in a mob of over-paid city slickers who manufacture nothing but spend their days gambling with yours’ and my pension funds, I get angry.

These same MPs are shortly up for re-election and they seriously believe they’ll keep their jobs and both homes by tossing us a sack-full of promises of a better life after they’re re-elected. How gullible are we?

Cameron’s Conservatives will take a fresh look at the Competition Commission’s findings and appoint a supermarket ombudsman to curb Tesco and Walmart’s march towards world domination. Nick Herbert, Shadow Environment Secretary, promises to “rein in large retailers guilty of squeezing farmers’ and food producers’ profits”. That’s all of them.

Brown’s flagging administration promises another commission to decide how farmers can feed two billion more mouths over the next decade while climate change shuts down planet Earth.

At election time, politicians notice what’s been staring us in the face for over four years, so to help them secure my vote, here are a few clues.

Read Graham Harvey’s recent article in The Times explaining how the quest for cheap meat has moved animals out of fields and into barns where they are fed high-energy, high protein food for faster growth.

To help MPs understand why this is not good, I’ll explain.Seven per cent of our greenhouse gases come from agriculture,

of which one third is methane emissions from grazing animals. Their pastures foster plants, soil-based bacteria and photosynthesis that neutralise up to 40% of these emissions, while grass-fed beef or lamb is higher in omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants and a compound known as CLA, a proven preventative against cancer and heart disease. That’s good.

Crops grown to feed animals reared inside use high levels of chemical fertilisers, pesticides and diesel fuel and reduce photosynthesis. That’s bad.

Farmers in Mississippi have discovered that pastures grazed by herds of bison contain as much as 20% carbon-rich, emission-neutralising residues. They’ve succeeded in cultivating similar characteristics in their own soil by strip, or ‘mob’, grazing their herds. In this country, we average just 2% of these residues but a few enlightened British farmers are adopting similar techniques with encouraging results. That’s very good.

So any MP wanting my vote must promise me a renaissance in traditional husbandry and heavy penalties for supermarkets that force down food prices regardless of the consequences. And this time, the promises must be kept.

Bob Farrand

Bob Farrand is publisher of Fine Food Digest and national director of the Guild of Fine Food

opinion

Vol.11 Issue 1 · January-February 2010 3

fine food news Mounting competition starts to take its toll in the boutique chocolate sector p4

focus on: coffeeA great brew is about ‘obsessive attention to detail’ p25

special report: scotlandWhy retailers like House of Bruar are toning down the tartan and focusing on back-to-basics fresh foods p31

preview: scotland’s speciality food showOur selection of this year’s Glasgow exhibitors p37

regulars:news 4deli of the month 14deli chef 17cheesewire 21shelf talk 43

EDITORIAL Editor: Mick Whitworth News editor: Patrick McGuigan Art director: Mark Windsor Editorial production: Richard Charnley Contributors: Gail Hunt

ADVERTISING Advertisement sales: Becky Stacey, Sally Coley, Julianne Parry Circulation manager: Tortie Farrand Publisher & managing director: Bob Farrand Associate publisher & director: John Farrand

THE GUILD OF FINE FOOD Membership secretary & director: Linda Farrand Administrators: Charlie Westcar, Julie Coates, Jackie Micklewright Accounts: Stephen Guppy, Denise Ballance

t: 01963 824464 Fax: 01963 824651e: firstname.lastname@finefoodworld.co.ukw: www.finefoodworld.co.uk

Published by: Great Taste Publications Ltd and The Guild of Fine Food Ltd. Fine Food Digest is published 10 times a year and is available on subscription for £40pa inclusive of post and packing.

Printed by: Advent Colour, Hants

© Great Taste Publications Ltd and The Guild of Fine Food Ltd 2010. Reproduction of whole or part of this magazine without the publisher’s prior permission is prohibited. The opinions expressed in articles and advertisements are not necessarily those of the editor or publisher. The publisher cannot accept responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts, recipes, photographs or illustrations.

❝At election time, politicians notice what’s been staring us in the face for over four years❞

❝It doesn’t help us if we’re selling chutneys here at £2.95 and people see them in Waitrose at £2.65. I spoke to one rep who said ‘But we’re only selling five lines to Waitrose’. Shoppers don’t notice that – they just notice the price.❞

Damian Caldwell, Deli of the Month – p14

What they’re saying

in this issue

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fine food news

By PATRICK McGUIGAN

Further casualities are expected in the fine chocolates sector as soaring cocoa prices and stiff competition take their toll.

Two premium chocolate producers went into administration before Christmas and more are expected to follow in a sector that has seen rapid growth and spawned its own standalone show alongside the annual Speciality & Fine Food Fair.

London-based The Chocolate Partnership, which owned the Chocolate Society brand and was a distributor for French fine chocolate-maker Valrhona, went into administration at the end of November.

The business failed when its directors withdrew financial support that had been propping up the company, said the administrator.

Award-winning chocolate-maker William Curley bought the Chocolate Partnership in 2007, but ended his involvement with the company in 2008.

Sussex-based The Chocolate Alchemist went into administration in September because of cash-flow problems and a fall in demand for organic products before being snapped

up by House of Sarunds – a Dorset-based distributor that has also bid to buy the Chocolate Partnership from administration.

Despite headlines about buoyant sales in the recession, many industry insiders expect further speciality chocolate firms to tumble this year.

“The very top of the market – boutique chocolate manufacturers – have really suffered because they are simply too expensive with other options out there of a comparable quality at a much lower price,” said Simon Pattinson, owner of Sussex-based producer and retailer Montezuma’s.

“The other part of the market that has suffered are the companies that simply don’t provide any level of innovation and just copy what’s already out there. We think 2010 is going to be a tough year and I wouldn’t be surprised if more companies went under.”

The price of cocoa, which has nearly doubled in the past two years, has also had an impact, Pattinson added.

At House of Sarunds, sales and marketing manager Gary Parkinson said he expected more chocolate companies to “fall by the wayside” this

year. “It’s quite a cut-throat market, with lots of players from small kitchen industries to huge marketing-led brands like Green & Blacks,” he said. “Retailers are looking for products that are different but also cost-effective. If they’re not getting that from a supplier there’s always another waiting in the wings.”

Fine chocolates sector set for shake-out as competition mounts

4 January-February 2010 · Vol .11 Issue 1

LETTERS TO THE EDITORDelI BUyeRs ‘MUsT Be MoRe APPRoAChABle’

Sir, Last month you wrote that small food producers had scaled back investment in new product development (FFD December 09).

I am both a producer and a deli owner. As a producer, I approach many delicatessens to introduce my product as a potential new line, but the negative attitude of most proprietors is, to say the least, embarrassing.

The feedback from lots of deli owners (though not all) is to treat you as if you were just another gas, telecoms or electricity sales person. This is true even of people who profess to be interested, or who claim to sell

either local or unique products. Which makes you wonder, ‘Why did I drive all this way to be turned away without a chance to show my produce? Why did I take the time to send a free sample, price list, spec. sheet, etc?’

I don’t blame small producers who are given the opportunity to supply a supermarket, because I understand the difficulty of getting the independent delis to take an interest in new products.

Speaking as a deli owner too, I think independents are the lifeblood of smaller producers but they should be more approachable and willing to take an interest in new products for the sake of their own future.David EntwistleEntwistle’s of Ramsbottom,www.lancashiresauce.co.uk

Farm shop stages ‘meet the buyer’ eventDorset’s Udder Farm Shop is taking a novel approach to meet-the-buyer events by inviting suppliers to come to its Gillingham store to pitch their wares directly to its buyers.

Rather than trailing round trade shows or travelling to events where rival retailers and supermarket buyers will be present, general manager Maurice McNulty is asking small and local producers to come to him.

At a suppliers evening on January 29, producers will able to present their products and talk to the shop’s buyers about how they can work together.

“We see ourselves as a hub for small, local producers and we want to use the event to build relationships with them,” said McNulty. “We can help suppliers

develop new products and advise them on packaging and labelling so that we end up with some unique products and they have a reliable customer.”

The 5,000 sq ft Gillingham shop turned over £1.2m in 2009, with sales up around by more than 10% year on year. This year the retailer plans to add another 3,000 sq ft of retail space.

Suppliers keen to take part should email Maurice McNulty

m.mcnulty@udderfarmshop.co.uk

‘Diabetic’ foods under threat from EU labelling lawsProducts labelled as ‘diabetic’ or ‘suitable for diabetics’ could be outlawed as part of a European Commission review of legislation. The EC is weighing up the findings of a 2008 report from the Scientific Committee on Food as part of its review of foods for particular nutritional uses. The report concluded there is no scientific basis for foods specifically for people with diabetes, who should manage the condition through a balanced, healthy diet.

At Essex-based Thursday Cottage, which produces a range of ‘diabetic’-labelled jam, managing director Tim Came is “concerned” about legislation. “It would be disappointing, as we’ve been making these products for 20 years and they do contain about half the sugar of standard jams. We also use fructose, which is allegedly a ‘better’ sugar than sucrose or glucose for people who need to watch their blood sugar levels.

Both Diabetes UK and the Food Standards Agency have called for an end to the use of ‘diabetic’ or ‘suitable for diabetics’ on food labels.

Boutique chocolate-makers have suffered at the hands of cheaper, good quality, alternatives

Udder Farm shop is using the meet-the-buyer format to build relationships with local suppliers

Thursday Cottage has made ‘diabetic’ jam for 20 years

cats

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Vol.7 Issue 1 · January 2006 5

shopfitting

london retailers are struggling to source local food because of issues with distribution, according to a new study commissioned by the south east Food Group Partnership. The report found that two in three london consumers currently buys or would like to buy more local food, but there is not enough supply to satisfy demand. Recommendations include setting up a regional food hub and developing 10-20 street markets across the capital. ● Scotland’s farmers’ markets are to receive more than £200,000 funding over three years. The Scottish Government has confirmed the provision of £120,000 to develop and grow markets around the country with an extra £97,000 to help individual sites.

Members of the Real Bread Campaign have slammed recent media reports claiming that hovis is the first bakery to use 100% British flour in its bread. “Bakeries like ours have been using flour from 100% British wheat for years,” said craft baker Tom herbert of hobbs house Bakery in Chipping sodbury.

● Cambridge deli-café Origin8 has won the Local Shop category in the Telegraph Magazine ‘Best for Food and Drink’ Awards.

A new website – www.honestlabelling.com – has been launched to expose food producers that are misleading consumers about the origin and provenance of their products.

● An IGD report into how shopping habits are expected to change by 2012 found that 26% of people thought they would be buying more at farmers’ markets, twice as many people as those thinking they would be shopping more at supermarkets. The survey also predicted a 22% growth in online shopping, and 23% growth in those going to specialist stores like butchers and greengrocers.

heart of england Fine Foods has won the contract to manage a new £7m Food enterprise Centre at Battlefield enterprise Park in shrewsbury, which will be home to up to 12 start-up and growing businesses.

inbrief

By PATRICK McGUIGAN

The National Farmers’ Retail & Markets Association (FARMA) has launched a national certification standard to help draw a distinction between genuine farm shops and those with few or no links to the land.

Rumwell Farm Shop near Taunton in Somerset is the first farm shop to achieve the new Genuine Own and Local (GOAL) certificate, following a strict inspection of the farm and farm shop, and a retail assessment from a secret shopper organisation.

The new standard, which costs retailers £300 a year, is based on a full inspection from an independent auditor at least once every two years, as well as regular spot checks. The audits look at whether the business is genuinely based on farming and how large a percentage of the shop’s sales

come from products produced on-site and from other local producers. The secret shopper reports on customer service standards.

The initiative follows complaints from FARMA members about retailers calling themselves ‘farm shops’ when they have tenuous links to farming. Six FARMA members in the North East banded together in 2008 to promote their businesses to the local community and highlight themselves as ‘real’ farm shops.

Rita Exner, FARMA secretary, said: “There are many studies showing that shoppers want to support local farmers and food producers because they want better food and to reduce their food miles. Through GOAL we hope to make it easier for them to find outlets that meet these objectives.”

A similar scheme for producers

attending farmers’ markets called Genuine Own (GO) has also been set up.

FARMA sends in auditors to certify ‘genuine’ farm shops

Farmers’ City Market closure shows pitfalls of larger sitesFarmers’ City Market in London has closed down, joining the growing list of retailers that have failed with ambitious projects to bring a farmers’ market ethos to supermarket shopping.

The company, which opened a 10,000 sq ft store in Hampton Hill in 2007 followed by a second outlet in Camberley in 2008, closed its shops and went into liquidation before Christmas, blaming the “tough economic climate”.

The stores were meant to kick off a chain of new-concept outlets combining the best parts of farmers’ markets with the convenience of a supermarket.

Farmers’ City Market is not the first to have struggled with this kind of format. Exeter-based Foodeaze closed last year, while the more upmarket London-based Food Inc was put into liquidation in March. Whole Foods Markets’ flagship store in Kensington has also reported huge losses in the past two years.

Malcolm Pinkerton, senior analyst at retail research company Verdict, said retailers had struggled to make the farmers’ market/supermarket model work because of competition from the major multiples. “All the big retailers have been flexing their muscles on both price and locally sourced food, which has made it very difficult for

these kinds of retailers,” he said. “They just don’t have the same economies of scale. Location is also vital.

“With larger size stores it’s difficult for independents to get the best sites because they are competing directly with supermarkets. They also struggle with the overheads associated with a large store.

Pinkerton added: “The format is not dead. It’s just a question of finding smaller sites and not expanding too quickly. Whole Foods’ Kensington store has struggled, but its smaller stores in London are doing really well.”

GoAl AChIeVeD: David and Anne Mitchell of Rumwell received the first GoAl certificate. They are pictured with FARMA’s sue Thomson (left) flanked by David and Anne's sons, Jack and James.

Whole Foods’ smaller stores are performing well

news

Heart of england● From this month, independent retail members of Heart of England Fine Foods can use its Food and Drink Insights service, which provides tailored market intelligence reports covering product category information, retail trends and shopper insights. The service was initially aimed mainly towards small and medium sized producers. “It’s been a tough year and with supermarkets moving more into smaller store

formats, independents are increasingly looking for market information to hone and differentiate their product ranges,” said Louise Pickford (left), business development manager.

● HEFF has also extended its Hygiene and Food Safety Standard to retailers. The retail version is comprised of guidance notes and audit checklists for shop hygiene, housekeeping and food safety requirements. These cover areas such as premises, staff hygiene and food preparation.

● The Savour the Flavour scheme has been extended to pubs and bars. Landlords will receive Savour the Flavour branded glasses, T-shirts and beer mats in return for adding six or more HEFF producers to their supplier list.

Wales● Loraine Makowski-Heaton, founder of goats’ cheese company Kid Me Not, was named joint winner of the Woman Farmer of the Year Award at the Royal Welsh Winter Fair last month. The NFU Cymru and Natwest Wales sponsored award was shared with Daphne Tilley, the driving force behind Elwy Valley Welsh lamb.

soutH-West● Quickes Extra Mature Cheddar was named Champion Product at the Taste of the West Awards 2009 last month. Darts Farm scooped the Local Retail Outlet of the Year award, while Producer of the Year was David Baker of Styles Farmhouse Ice Cream.

● Over 40 local food and drink producers will be showcasing their goods at the free Love the Flavour Festival at Buckland Abbey in Devon (right) on Wednesday February 17. The event is organised by Food & Drink Devon and the National Trust, which owns Buckland Abbey.

● Marshfield Bakery will sponsor the Bath Coffee Festival on May 15-16. Around 100 exhibitors will take stands in the city centre during the event, while other venues around the city will host coffee related activities, such as barista sessions, roasting master classes, latte art demonstrations and educational talks, films and music from coffee growing regions.

east Midlands

● Online sales at Nottingham pie company Lime Tree Pantry have leapt from around £330 per week to more than £2,330 following a redesign of its website funded by a Food and Drink iNet grant from the East Midlands Development Agency.

YorksHire & HuMber● Absolutely Food, a Yorkshire-based food PR and marketing firm, has launched a mystery shopping service for the pub, hotel and restaurant trade. The company will visit outlets anonymously and provide the owner with a written report on customer service and food standards.

regional round-up

6 January-February 2010 · Vol .11 Issue 1

Letter from Morzine

Berits & Brown franchisee JOHN KANE says the deli is gradually finding friends among the local community

Morzine is just coming to life ahead of the winter ski season. By the time you read this we should be in full swing and the tills will be ringing. From now until April is a key time for the business – we need to pull the money in and it will be a case of long 12-hour days.

We’ve learned a lot since our last busy period. Back then, we hadn’t worked out when the shop would be busy, so we ended up with too many staff during quiet periods. Through the winter, we expect a rush between 8-10am when people get up to go to the ski slopes and then from 4-8pm when they come back.

It is all weather dependent. If it’s really bad we will be swamped all day because there’s not much else to do apart from ski. We have taken on four new

staff and have a couple of others who we can call on at short notice. We’re hoping to build up a pool of people we can rely on from season to season.

Last week we held our first wine tasting, which went really well. We had 10 guests paying €30 a head to try eight different wines with food. Joanne, my wife, made finger food and tapas, and the wines were New World, Italian and Spanish. We made around €150, but it’s more about developing community relations and getting exposure for the wines. We’ve already had lots of orders for the Prosecco we tried on the night ahead of Christmas.

We’re also thinking of hosting induction dinners for new residents who have recently moved to the area. We would invite a few people that have lived in the area for a while to make newcomers feel welcome and to help answer questions like where to get your car serviced or how to enrol kids in French schools.

We’re also keen to build a core base of French regulars. We have around two dozen at the moment, but we want to be a shop for everyone. The tourist trade is important, but local French residents will keep us ticking over between seasons.

It’s taken longer to integrate with the local community then we expected, mainly because we’re either at the shop or at home doing work related to the shop. We are making progress though. We’ve been invited to a meeting of local businesses at the maire’s (mayor’s) office about trading during the winter season. We also exhibit work from local artists in the shop and have had a lot of people coming in to see the work who end up stopping for a chat.

interview by PatriCk Mcguigan

“From now until April is a key time and we need to be pulling the money in’’

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● Farm shops in Yorkshire consistently beat local supermarkets on price when it comes to fresh produce such as meat, eggs and vegetables, according to research commissioned by the Regional Food Group (RFG) for Yorkshire and Humber.

The research, conducted over a three month period, compared items from 20 Yorkshire farm shops with supermarkets in the region, including Tesco, Sainsbury’s and online retailer Ocado.

The results found that farm shops were an average of 12% cheaper than supermarkets on meat products, including minced beef (11% cheaper), braising steak (5% cheaper) and bacon (20% cheaper). They were also 16% cheaper on eggs, 24% cheaper on baking potatoes and 18% cheaper on leeks.

Victoria Robertshaw, co-owner of Keelham Hall Farm Shop in Bradford, which took part in the survey, said: “We regularly do our own random basket shop comparisons, where we are consistently over 20% cheaper than supermarkets.”

editorial@finefoodworld.co.uke

Vol.11 Issue 1 · January-February 2010 13

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news

Wakefield Council hopes Trinity Walksite will work at second attemptWork has begun to reopen a £3m market food hall after it closed more than a year ago because of drainage and ventilation problems.

Wakefield Market Food Hall first opened in June 2008 as part of the £200m Trinity Walk city centre development project, but was forced to close after three months for environmental reasons, including the risk of contamination from

poor ventilation, inadequate temperature control and drainage problems.

Wakefield Council is now renovating the site as well as adding a paved area and improving the layout of stalls.

Cllr Denise Jeffery, Wakefield Council’s deputy leader and cabinet member for regeneration, said: “We are taking the lead and this is about getting things right in the long term, working closely with traders and everyone involved, so we can have a market and food hall to be proud of.”

Earlier this year a member of the council’s economy scrutiny committee said the market hall building should be torn down – and should never have been built in the first place.

The 4,000 sq m market houses 49 general indoor units, a food hall with 11 retail areas, as well as nine shops with street frontages and almost 50 outdoor stalls.

Covent Garden store aims to beat Whole Foods in size, location and pricingA newly launched 4,000 sq ft food hall in Covent Garden hopes to succeed where Whole Foods has struggled in combining a market-style shopping experience with gourmet food to eat-in or take-away.

Whole Foods has found it difficult to turn a profit at its Kensington store since it opened two years ago, but Covent Garden Market Place believes it is better placed for success thanks to a good location, smaller footprint and competitive pricing.

“The concept is similar to Whole Foods in that we are like a food market with lots of food-to-go,” said creative consultant Ofer Zilkha, who helped develop the shop. “It’s an ambitious project, but we think we can make it work. We’ve kept prices relatively low, so we are hoping for good volumes. We also have

very little wastage. Any fresh produce that is left over is used in our kitchens.”

He added that the shop’s location close to Covent Garden is also a key strength. “We are busy everyday of the week with local residents, office workers, day-trippers and international tourists.”

Set over two floors, the food hall sells a selection of sushi, soups, salads, sandwiches and hot Thai food to takeaway or eat-in at the 35-cover café.

Retail products include charcuterie from Machiavelli and Brindisa, olives from Fresh Olive Company and smoked salmon from Mike’s Smokehouse in Devon, as well as over 70 cheeses.

The shop is backed by private investors, who invested around £500,000 in refurbishing the site.

Covent Garden Market Place: ‘competitive pricing’

food halls

9Vol.11 Issue 1 · January-February 2010

If I’d known then what I know now…Joanna Anastasiou-Milne The Deli Station, Chingford, London

I set up the business in October 2008 after 10 years working for various fine food companies. The plan was to source artisan foods directly from small producers in Italy to distribute to food halls, restaurants and hotels. I also opened my own deli at the

same time to understand my target customers. Just over a year later and I now know that setting

up two businesses at the same time is tough, especially in the middle of the City commuter belt during the largest recession in living memory! Trying to be at the shop and out seeing customers at the same time was a challenge. I ended up spreading myself too thinly, running out of minutes in the day.

Because I did not have a background in retail, and I was running two businesses, it took longer to properly get to know my retail customers. A lot of product that we bought for the shop went in the bin

in the first three months as we learned stock control the hard way. For example, business dropped off all of a sudden one week and we had to throw away lots of our fresh food. It turns out it was half term and most of my customers had gone away on holiday. I had no idea!

The trade side of my business is going from strength to strength, but in the early days I would be off in Italy sourcing weird and wonderful products and had little idea of what was going on in the shop. It was a rollercoaster ride with staff in the early days. Finding people who were as committed and passionate as me about food was frankly impossible.

My mum has come on board in the past six months and, with my sister, is running the shop, which now has a loyal customer base and is doing well. Having people I can trust has been a real life-saver. The customers love talking with them and because the products I source are so unique, we have generated quite a reputation in the area.

My husband has now also joined the business, looking after warehousing, distribution and helping with sales. This means I can now spend time supporting both businesses.

I’ve learned that managing cash flow and stock levels are a challenge, but the key to retail is to sell up, make connections between products and sell the story of the producer. Above all, get to know your customers.

Interview by PATRICK McGUIGAN

“A lot of product went in the bin in the first three months as we learned stock control the hard way”

Wakefield market will include around 100 stalls

public markets

January-February 2010 · Vol .11 Issue 110

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news

New venue is a gift for Wally’sIconic Cardiff deli Wally’s has taken a new direction at its recently opened second shop in the St David’s shopping centre, switching its focus from Continental cheese and charcuterie to gift items and Welsh food.

Wally’s original store in the nearby Royal Arcade was first opened in the early 1980s and is well known for its range of fresh foods from across Europe. But owner Steve Salamon decided to stock only ambient products in the 800 sq ft store in the newly opened St David’s 2 shopping centre.

“The new shopping centre attracts people from all over Wales and even the South West of England – footfall is fantastic – so we decided to stock gift item, such as chocolates, cakes and sweets,

as well as Welsh products. If people want olives, charcuterie and cheese we can always send them over to the first shop,” he said.

He added that the quality of Welsh food has improved in recent years. “The True Taste Awards have helped raise standards. The Welsh manufacturing base is growing and better products are coming out all the time,” he said.

Wally’s extended its original store last year adding a fresh olive counter and plans to add a

first-floor café later this year. The St David’s 2 project, which

was completed in October, saw £675m invested in extending and refurbishing the existing St David’s shopping centre with John Lewis opening a store in the city for the first time.

delicatessens

The owners of a newly opened organic farm shop, restaurant and gallery in the Scottish Borders say features such as solar panels and a wind turbine will help make the building entirely carbon neutral.

Pete and Heather Ritchie opened Whitmuir the Organic Place near West Linton last month incorporating solar and photovoltaic panels for hot water and heating, as well as a ground source heat pump and devices for reducing power consumption in display fridges by 25%. The building was made using low carbon concrete, local larch and sheep’s wool insulation. A £100,000 wind turbine providing electricity, which has been purchased with the aid of a 50% grant from the government, is due to be installed in the next few months. “It should take around six years to get payback on the turbine, but with interest rates as low as they are it made sense to borrow the money now,” said Pete Ritchie.

The shop’s opening day was marked by around 250 people visiting the farm to take part in a BBC event to plant one million trees around the country in one hour on December 6. Whitmuir managed to plant around 8,000 trees.

The shop sources over 1,600 organic or wild food lines directly from Scottish suppliers and wholesalers such as Green City Wholefoods and Fish Forever.

Whitmuir aims to be carbon neutralfarm shops

January and February can be a bit grim, but if business is quiet these are ideal months to visit other stores and ‘borrow’ some of their best ideas.

Selfridges is a fantastic place to start. Last year, after seeing the Lola’s Cupcakes concession at the Oxford Street store, I put freshly made cupcakes into one of my own farm shops and they were a sell-out. I even had customers grabbing photos of the display on their mobiles, and I know these were sent on to friends and family because we soon had new shoppers coming in and asking where the cupcakes were.

In other words, my customers were doing the marketing for me, which shows how colour, freshness and fun in merchandising can pay off.

You can be part of this exciting new trend by using the easy to follow Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook and making them in-house. Try lemon, vanilla, chocolate and strawberry cupcakes, each with different coloured frosting. We sold them at £1.50 per cake, ingredients cost 16.5p each. Children and ladies loved them, so make sure they are well situated for

both groups to see.Farringdon Farm Shop, near Frome in Somerset,

is one of the great exponents of fun. In the wall above its entrance is a bow-legged replica of a cow. It sets the tone for an informal, fun shopping experience, and I’ve heard that cow talked about as far away as accountant MacIntyre Hudson’s London boardroom.

If you want to get attention like this find something you can make a play on, like your most popular lines or your type of farm. Redundant TV props, available online, or colourfully painted old tractors are worth considering. Straw bales built into shapes like animals, for example, are eye catching and dirt cheap too.

Where did I get this idea? The window displays at Selfridges. They’re quirky, change frequently and get shoppers wondering what the next theme will be.

For February 14, why not take a leaf out of Lola’s book and try packing your shelves with cream cheese-frosted Red Velvet cupcakes. And maybe persuade a willing staff member to dress up in a bunny suit for the two weekends before Easter and hand out free mini chocolate eggs? It doesn’t have to cost you anything. There are suppliers who will help foot the cost – just ask them – and photos of your Easter bunny could soon be doing the rounds courtesy of O2 and Virgin Mobile.• Farm shop consultant Gordon Leatherdale was founder and chief executive of Country Food & Dining, which developed stores near Hungerford, Bath and Telford.

gordon@stcatherinesltd.co.uk

“Try packing your shelves with cream cheese-frosted Red Velvet cupcakes’’

Wally’s: change of direction

Peter and Heather Ritchie (seated) opened the restaurant, shop and gallery last month

An award-winning farm shop business, that was visited by the Queen last year because of its environmental work has gone into liquidation.

The Goldy’s outlet in Wareham, Dorset, has already been sold, while its shop in Lytchett Matravers, which opened in 2007 boasting energy-saving features such as a wind turbine and solar panels, remains closed. The business won a FARMA Environmental Award for work to reduce its carbon footprint and cut food miles.

Owner Jenny Goldsack was unavailable for comment as FFD went to press, but a message on the company’s website said that a fire last May, which badly damaged the roof of the Lytchett Matravers store, had raised “a number of challenges”.

Goldy’s store in Wareham, located at Holme For Gardens, has been taken over by the host garden centre and renamed Holme Farm Shop. Jenny Goldsack was previously married to the brother of Holmes For Gardens’ owner Simon Goldsack, who runs the business with his wife Liz. “Offering a farm shop to customers is a natural progression for our business,” he said.

Goldy’s sold after year of ‘challenges’

Royal visit couldn’t save the Lytchett Matravers store

11

better retailing GORDON LEATHERDALE

interview

By MICK WHITWORTH

Retailers could never complain about lack of choice in pickles & chutneys – there are enough brands out there to fill a small shop. But have buyers grown so familiar with chutneys that they’ve stopped looking for new ways to sell them?

Paresh Tejura, co-founder of Yorkshire-based Curry Cuisine, says changes in Britain’s cultural and ethnic make-up are creating scope for a new approach to the “very traditional” pickles & chutneys market. But while producers like Mr Vikki’s and Hawkshead Relish, both based in Cumbria, are tapping regional Asian cuisines to create new, subtly spiced sauces and pickles, he reckons most delis still think of Indian pickles only as hot accompaniments to firey curries.

This means they’re missing out on sales both to young foodies from ethnic communities, who like adding their own cultural twist to British food, and to other Brits keen explore the subtleties of Asian, Middle Eastern or Afro-Caribbean cuisine.

“Some delis are so focused on traditional recipes they’re not thinking about the way demographics have changed,” he told FFD.

“There are almost two distinct camps: people doing really hot, kick-you-in-the-pants pickles, or people doing traditional British-style chutney. As the market evolves and grows there needs to be a shift towards more fusion-style products. And those could appeal to the younger generation who think pickles & chutneys are for grannies.”

For example, says Tejura, his own Kickin’ Coriander dressing can be mixed with mayonnaise or yoghurt and used in a deli-counter coleslaw, garnished with fresh coriander leaves. And a spicy fruit jam, such as Hawkhead Relish’s strawberry & black pepper, can be paired with strong cheddar or spiced meats such as chorizo to create a sweet/hot flavour combination that straddles more cuisines than the standard cheese & ham sarnie.

Curry Cuisine was set up by Tejura and his wife Prett, who runs ‘curry clubs’ and courses for both amateur and professional cooks at venues ranging from the three-AA-rosette Swinton Park castle hotel near Ripon to Halifax deli-café Deli-cious.

They began producing chutneys and dry spice mixes to sell on the back of their courses, and now make more than two dozen recipes in a 1,200 sq ft food unit in Dewsbury, using largely local ingredients. “I obviously can’t buy mangos and limes locally,” say Paresh Tejura, who previously ran food factories for major manufacturers, “but within two years I expect to be sourcing 80% of my ingredients within 20-30 miles.”

Tejura has been working with Yorkshire speciality cheese distributor Crier & Stott to develop food-matching ideas using Curry Cuisine products. They have found that its spiced strawberry chutney, which has the smoky flavour of black cardomom, can be paired successfully with brie, camembert or white Stilton, while rhubarb & mango pickle works well with strong cheddars or Swaledale Blue.

Tejura even sees potential to persuade more British Asians to eat cheese by creating and marketing the right chutney recipes. “How often do you see a cheeseboard in a good Indian restaurant? If they could order it with a slightly spicier accompaniment then a new market opens up for the cheese guys too.”

The population is changing, he says, but it’s a fact that is sometimes forgotten by busy shop owners. “If small retailers are all vying for the same mainstream market then they’re missing an opportunity.”w º

Why ‘fusion’ could energise the chutneys fixtureA multicultural nation demands a smarter approach to the pickles & chutney’s market, says Curry Cuisine co-founder Paresh Tejura

news

Olives Et Al looks for delis with ‘attitude’Dorset-based Olives Et Al has lauched a Deli of the Year competition alongside its annual Purple Love Week promotion, and says it’s looking for shops that have the right ‘deli attitude’ – whether or not they have the word ‘delicatessen’ above the door.

Managing director Giles Henschel said the winner might be “a farm shop with an amazing deli counter, a village store with a lively deli atmosphere, or a corner shop that prides itself on its deli range”.

Run by Olives Et Al with participation from other fine food suppliers, Purple Love Week is promoted as a national food tasting event, designed to get shoppers supporting their local independents.

A number of producers are running money-off and free product promotions to help delis stage free tastings during the week, which this year runs from February 13-21.

The search for Olives Et Al’s Deli of the Year will continue until June, during which time delis can put themselves forward and encourage customers to nominate them too. A panel of judges will then shortlist and visit the finalists.

There will be regional awards, but the overall winner will be invited to Spain to join the olive harvest, learn more about olives from experts on the ground and bottle their own ‘first pressing’ olive oil.

Henschel said: “This is not about the best looking or the smartest deli or farm shop – it’s about a real sense of pride in giving customers an experience, one which they will want to repeat, and above all a feeling that the food has been chosen by someone who understands food and has a great attitude to it.”w www.olivesetal.co.uk

RCS package helps stores fight credit card fraudEPoS specialist Retail Computer Solutions (RCS) has launched a secure credit card payment package that it says will help larger stores comply with new anti-fraud rules set by the credit and debit card industry.

Retailers have been told by the Payment Card Industry Security Council that they must comply with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) to protect sensitive cardholder data, including card numbers and other personal information. PCI compliance ensures the retailer is taking steps to protect personal data from fraudulent use.

James Gillam of RCS told FFD that while the PCI DSS is not a legal requirement, loss of sensitive data through failing to comply could leave retailers facing “significant penalties” from payment brands such as VISA and MasterCard. The new RCS

package was “one of the UK’s first true secure credit card payment solutions”, he said, removing the need to store a card’s security information on the retailer’s network.

It involves installing a special chip-and-PIN terminal linked to the RCS EPoS & Stock Control system. Costs start at around £19.50 per month per terminal.

The steps retailers must take under PCI DSS depend on the number of card transactions they process annually. Streamline, which provides discounted card handling services for Guild of Fine Food members, said smaller operators should not be affected since data is captured at the bank rather than by the store.

A useful guide to the PCI DSS can be found on Streamline’s website.e jgillam@rcs-uk.comw www.streamline.com

suppliers

12 January-February 2010 · Vol .11 Issue 1

payment card security

Vol.11 Issue 1 · January-February 2010 13

The first Tuesday in January, one degree below freezing, and the BBC is warning of heavy snowfall for the Home Counties. But that hasn’t

stopped shoppers heading into Hitchin, a Hertfordshire town lucky enough to enjoy a near-perfect retail mix of independents, national chains and weekly outdoor market.

At Halsey’s deli – purveyor of “tea and provisions” since 1854 – I struggle to find a space in the 20-seater tearoom as I wait to talk to Damian Caldwell, who took over the store four years ago with wife Kirsty.

The pair were new to food retailing at the time, although both had worked in bars and restaurants – they met at the Home Bar in London’s Shoreditch – and Damian was brought up in the pub trade. In fact, it was only the arrival of their second child that persuaded the Caldwells to open a deli rather than a pub-restaurant of their own.

Despite its long history, including a stint under the ownership of Jacksons of Piccadilly, Halsey’s trade had been stuttering before they arrived. It even closed for a while in 2000, when part of the building was split off to form what is now a greeting card shop. The food store eventually reopened in half-hearted fashion, but it has taken the young couple’s focus to get it firing on all cylinders again.

The shop at 11 Market Place is now listed by UKTV’s food channel as a Local Food Hero, and the pair opened their second store last year, taking on the farm shop at nearby visitor attraction Woodside Animal Farm.

The tearoom at the Hitchin shop has proved one of the Caldwells’ best additions since their arrival in January 2006, although they were made to jump through hoops by the local planners before being allowed to reconfigure the Grade II* listed building.

They have now added a takeaway service too, including hot roast meat baps (£3.00-£3.50) and provide outside catering for 8-10 business lunches weekly. They also run regular themed food evenings, with menus prepared by chef Chloe Perkins, mainly promoting local foods. “If we take all the central displays out we can fit about 45 people in,” says Damian. “We offer a four-course meal for £25-27, bring-your-own-bottle. It’s a fun evening and the response has been amazing.”

This month, it was a Burns Night supper, complete with ex-RAF piper raising money for veterans’ charity Combat Stress – one of a number of initiatives that are gently fixing Halsey’s place in the community. Others range from school fundraisers to a veg ‘barter’ scheme, enabling local allotment holders to trade surplus produce for a shop voucher.

In their first week of trading in 2006 the Caldwells took about £3,500. Sales are now “between three and four times that”, thanks as much to what they’ve taken out as to what they’ve added. “We paid £75,000 for the business, plus £10,000 for stock on valuation, and I reckon we threw £6,000-worth away,” says Damian. “There were so many bits and pieces confusing the message – thousands of mugs, Disney toys with chocolates – people didn’t know what kind of shop it was.”

The couple spent six months decluttering. A fridge-freezer that had been blocking the main bow window was removed, giving shoppers their first chance to see inside. Now, this window is stacked with handmade cupcakes from Hitchin business Crumbly Wumbly and soft meringues from the Fabulous Food Co. Outside a display of fresh produce, much of it from within a few miles of the shop, spills onto the pavement.

Caldwell says he and Kirsty aim to sell “good, honest food of the type we’d give our two kids at home”. A key teashop item is homemade baked beans on toast. “We sauté onions with thyme, add cannellini beans, cherry tomatoes, honey, soya sauce and mustard powder, and serve it on two slices of thick toast for £3.95. It’s a good light lunch that’s low fat and relatively low sugar.”

They want to continue the “good honest food” theme with a standalone restaurant in Hitchin – the search is on for premises – which would have been Halsey’s first brand extension if Woodside Farm had not made the Caldwells an offer they couldn’t refuse. The farm shop’s original concessionares had left, and the site owners didn’t have the necessary experience to run a food store themselves. But they saw the deli as an important visitor draw, so the Caldwells were given an initial rent-free period to take on the shop and are still paying a reduced rent while they fine-tune the offer ahead of the 2010 summer season.

At the Hitchin shop, sales finished just shy of the targeted £600,000 in 2009 – up about 17% on the year. “Each year we’ve had double digit growth, although I’m going to peg that back for 2010, says Damian. “I’d like to see 10%, but prices will have to go up slightly with the VAT rise, and I don’t think the tearoom can get much busier.

“I love this place but we’re going to reach the point where we can’t take it any further. So we’re looking at additions that don’t need more space here, like business lunches. We have about six regular clients but we only serve one company in Stevenage [six miles away], which has a huge business area with people like Glaxo, Unilver and Fujitsu.

“If we win more of that business we can employ someone to come in at 6am to make sandwiches without adding to our overheads.

“And the next thing is to be a bit more creative with our hampers. We’re talking to all the local estate agents about doing ‘new house’ hampers, and to a company that does valet parking for Luton airport about providing pre-ordered hampers for people who’ve just got off plane.

“Another idea is to do a hamper for new mothers, with unpasteurised cheeses, brie de meaux, Champagne, patés – all things things they couldn’t have while they were pregnant.”

He adds: “I’m not saying these are all new ideas, but we don’t have any problem with nicking ideas if they’re ideas that work!”

Creating more sales cha nnels – hampers, a second shop, outside catering, potentially a restaurant too – not only reduces wastage but increases Halsey’s buying power.

“Business lunches generate relatively healthy margins,”says Caldwell, “but our biggest-selling product, which we make a really good margin on now, is Wiltshire ham. We sell 25-30kg of sliced ham a week and that’s giving us 55-60%. In real terms, the purchase price has not moved over the past four years because we’ve increased our usage. That’s one of the advantages of having Woodside too.”

Among retail lines, cheese offers the next highest margins overall – around 45% – and then the Caldwells aim for 40% on the rest of the shop. “But we have to take on board local pricing conditions. We’ve got Sainsbury’s five minutes away, and Waitrose too.

“Unfortunately Waitrose carry a lot of small producers, and it doesn’t help us if we’re selling chutneys here at £2.95 and people see them in Waitrose at £2.65. I spoke to one of the reps who said ‘We’re only selling five lines to Waitrose’. But shoppers don’t notice that – they just notice the price.

“We had the same issue with some lovely little spice kits. They were selling well, and then we walked into Waitrose and saw the top five kits in there at 25% less than we were paying. I rang the guy about it, and in the end he put the phone down on me.”

But he adds, philosophically: “You’re always going to get that. What sets us apart is product knowledge and service. We stopped doing Applewood Smoked cheese when I found out the ‘smoke’ is just an added flavouring. When customers asked why it had gone, we were able to explain and then tell them that we now do Knockanore instead, which really is smoked over oak. So that’s where we’re able to differentiate ourselves.”

www.halseysdeli.co.uk

14 January-February 2010 · Vol .11 Issue 1

deli of the month

Restored to gloryFrom local veg ‘bartering’ to hampers for new mums, a young Hertfordshire couple are bringing fresh thinking to a store with 19th century roots

Vol.11 Issue 1 · January-February 2010 15

Interview by MICK WHITWORTH

“We don’t have any problem with nicking ideas if they’re ideas that work”

Halsey’s MusT-sTOCKs● Wobbly Bottom goats’

cheese with nettles● stichelton blue cheese● Halsey Pasties (essex

larder)● Wiltshire ham● sunnyside free-range eggs● Crumbly Wumbly cupcakes● Fabulous Food Company

meringues● local vegetables● Whole earth organic drinks

(suma Wholefoods)● Fresh salad bar● Taylor’s Original english

mustard● Four seasons Preserves

marmalade (by Maya Pieris in Hitchin)

● Hot roast pork baps● Homemade beans on toast● Toffee shop handmade

fudge (from Penrith)● Fine Cheese Co cheese

biscuits

January-February 2010 · Vol .11 Issue 116

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17Vol.11 Issue 1 · January-February 2010

delichef putting deli ingredients to work

By MICK WHITWORTH

Italian restaurateur and TV chef Aldo Zilli shed two and a half stone when he took part in ITV’s Celebrity Fit Club a few years back, so who better to advise on a bit of post-Christmas weight loss?

More recently, Zilli introduced former England cricketer Darren Gough to the Mediterranean diet at part of ITV1’s World’s Best Diets, and the same cuisine forms the basis of the chef’s latest book – a selection of “zesty and feisty healthy recipes” for the New Year.

It’s not always easy to combine gourmet deli ingredients with a weight-loss plan, and the dishes in

Zilli Light (Simon & Schuster, £20) put the emphasis on fresh produce and seafood – “signature dishes” in the book include ginger baked salmon, traditional Italian fish stew, and pappardelle with tiger prawns and vegetables.

Assuming some of your shoppers will be put off by over-indulgent options for the next couple of months, there are several ideas here that could be highlighted as healthier options on your lunchtime or evening menus. Most of these would make good recipe-card material too, and will help you promote oils, passata, cheeses and wines. You might also shift a few copies of the book.

Aldo Zilli pointed us in the direction of polenta with mixed mushrooms, which gives you the chance to highlight the polenta flour, olive oils and Italian wines on your ambient shelves, along with Parmigiano Reggiano or Grana Padano from the deli counter and, if you can get hold of them, fresh wild mushrooms.

Zilli told FFD: “This is the kind of dish I might put in my own restaurant after Christmas when customers are looking for a healthier option but still want that winter warmth.”

delichefis sponsored by

recognised as the cornerstone of European cuisinewww.gruyere.com

Polenta and mushrooms Serves eight

Ingredients1 ltr water2 tsp salt175g polenta flour50g butter100g Parmesan cheese, freshly gratedFreshly ground black pepper5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil1 small onion, finely chopped1 garlic clove, crushed6 field mushrooms, sliced175g wild mushrooms (porcini), sliced4 tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley125ml dry white wine (eg Verdicchio)8 fresh basil leaves, chopped, plus extra leaves for garnish

MethodPut the water in a large deep pan, add the salt and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and gradually add the polenta flour, stirring constantly with a whisk.

Simmer for 20 minutes until the polenta is very dense and separating from the side of the pan – it may seem it has thickened faster than stated, but it really must cook on to allow the grain to become tender.

Beat the butter and parmesan into

the polenta and season to taste, adding plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Pour the wet polenta into a cake tin to form a layer about 2.5cm thick. Spread out the mixture with a palette knife until even. Allow to set and cool.

Meanwhile, heat 3 tbsp of olive oil in a large frying pan. Add the onion and fry for 5 minutes until soft and just starting to brown. Stir in the garlic, mushrooms and parsley and fry for 5-8 minutes until the mushrooms are golden brown. Season. Pour in the wine and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the chopped basil.

Cut the polenta into eight wedges and brush the tops with oil. Heat a griddle pan until very hot and place the wedges, oiled-side down, on the pan, pressing them down. Cook for 2-3 minutes until golden.

Brush the uncooked side with more oil, then gently turn with a palette knife or fish slice Cook for another 2-3 minutes until toasted. Spoon the mushroom mixture over the polenta wedges and sprinkle with torn basil leaves. Serve immediately.

…but give them some winter comfort tooOkay, so some of us are dieting, but in the cold, wet and gloomy few months of post-Christmas, pre-summer trading, it’s good to offer your shoppers something a little cheering too.

Here’s a nice, simply homely recipe for Rustic Apple Flan, suggested to us as a top winter recipe by Martin Lindsay (left) of Colston Bassett store in Nottingham.

In the run-up to Christmas he would also have added a little mincemeat under the apples, but come January it’s best to keep it simple.

“We sell the portions at £2.75 off the counter on its own, or at £4 as a dessert warmed in the bake-off oven for a few minutes and with ice cream or crème fraîche,” Lindsay tells FFD.

Rustic Apple Flan Makes six slices

Ingredients26cm x 37cm sheet of puff pastry500g Bramley applesGood quality apricot jam

MethodCut the puff pastry to fit a baking tray, allowing a 1cm overlap. Prick all over with a fork. Cover with several tablespoons of good apricot jam, leaving the pastry at the edge.

Core, peel and thickly slice the Bramleys and lay them over the jam in whatever pattern you fancy. Bake for 10-15 mins at 190°C.

Melt a couple of tablespoons of apricot jam in a small pan. Take out the flan, brush liberally all over with the liquid jam and return to the oven for around 5-10 minutes, or until the glaze is starting to burn at the edges and the flan has a rustic look. Allow to cool.

Cut into slices and serve with crème fraîche or ice cream.

Keep them happy in theNew Year diet season…

December 2009 · Vol .10 Issue 918

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Mehdi BoukemachFodder Farm Shop,Harrogate

Opened last year as part of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society’s new £5.1m regional centre on the

outskirts of Harrogate, Fodder is a shiny temple to the county’s food and farmers. Built from a stylish combination of eco-friendly glass, timber and dry-stone walls, the shop and café at the Great Yorkshire Showground sources 85% of its food and drink directly from small producers and farmers in the region.

In fact, pretty much the only thing at Fodder not from Yorkshire is head chef Mehdi Boukemach, who has a distinctly French accent.

Originally from Toulouse in the south of France, Boukemach previously worked for the Devonshire Arms Country House in Skipton, but says Fodder’s strict rules on using Yorkshire ingredients have taken a little getting used to.

“I’ve lived in Yorkshire for five years but I’ve learned a lot more about the food from this region in the past two months since I started at Fodder. There is some amazing produce in Yorkshire that I never knew grew here,” he says. “I’m used to making Continental food, so Fodder was a big change, but I like the fact that I have to work with Yorkshire ingredients, and in season. It’s a good challenge.”

Getting to grips with British dishes such as cottage pie and scampi & chips at the 80-cover café has also been a learning curve, although not as steep as you might think.

“I knew how to cook many of the dishes beforehand, but some were new. I really like the kind of home-cooking at Fodder – it’s not so different to how things are done in France, using good local ingredients, which are cooked simply. In the south of France you get similar dishes such as stews and cassoulet. Food doesn’t have to be complicated as long as it’s well made with good ingredients.”

Fodder’s ‘good ingredients’ include fruit and vegetables from 14 different farms, including mushrooms from Park Lodge Farm in Thirsk, rhubarb from Westwood’s near Wakefield and chillies from York-based Yorkshire Chillies.

The main café menu covers breakfast and lunch, with options such as a full Yorkshire breakfast, trio of sausages with mash, and char-grilled chicken

19Vol.11 Issue 1 · January-February 2010

putting deli ingredients to work

interviewBy PATRICK McGUIGAN

delichef

breast with salad making the most of the shop’s butchery counter.

Yorkshire cheese platters, including Hawes Wensleydale, Yorkshire Blue from Shepherd’s Purse and Ribblesdale goats’ cheese, do a similar job for the deli counter, while daily specials change with the seasons from fish & chips with batter made from Wold Top Ale through to homemade rhubarb tart. Customers can wash it all down with a glass of white wine from Yorkshire vineyard Leventhorpe.

“When it comes to the specials – I can pretty much do what I like as long as it’s with Yorkshire ingredients. There’s good communication between the kitchen, butcher and shop. If there’s something new in the shop, I try to use it and find out what people think,” he

“It’s not so different to how things are done in France – good local ingredients, cooked simply”

says. “It’s also great to be able to go to the butcher and get the piece of meat I want cut exactly how I like. It means I can change the menu when I want.”

Clear communication also helps when it comes to ordering. The kitchen and the shop combine orders to make it more cost effective for the many small suppliers that deliver directly to Fodder. For some of the smallest producers, Fodder actually goes and collects itself, so the larger the order the more these fixed costs are spread.

Homemade cakes and biscuits, including scones served with clotted cream from Stamfrey Farm Organics and Raydale Preserves jam are particularly popular in the café. Boukemach aims to make more products in the kitchen that can be sold through both the café and shop in the coming year, with quiches, pies and cooked meats all in the pipeline.

He also hopes to make more of the centre’s demonstration kitchen, inviting customers to see what can be done with the produce grown on their doorstep. “We’re thinking of a Yorkshire club where we highlight a particular type of product or ingredient each month,” he says.

At this rate, Boukemach’s French accent will soon be replaced by a Yorkshire burr.

Golden Syrup & Rhubarb TartIngredients350g (12oz) short crust pastry350g (12oz) golden syrupGrated rind & juice of a small lemon1 egg6 tablespoons double cream125g (5oz) fresh white breadcrumbs75g (3oz) cooked rhubarb, sweetened with 25g (1oz) sugar & strained

MethodPreheat the oven to 190°C, Gas Mark 5Roll out the pastry and use to line a 25cm (10 inch) fluted flan tin. Chill until required.Combine all the remaining ingredients and pour into the prepared case.Bake in a preheated oven for about 30 minutes until just set.

Variation

Use the pastry trimmings to make a lattice. To do this, re-roll out the pastry off-cuts and cut into eight strips about 1cm wide and the diameter of the flan in length. Brush with a little milk to glaze if required. Arrange the strips in a lattice pattern on the top of the tart and trim ends before baking.

Alek

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January-February 2010 · Vol .11 Issue 120

HAFODWELSH ORGANIC CHEDDAR

Handmade by Rachel and Sam Holden using only the raw milk from our small herd of Ayrshire cows.

“The rich, creamy quality of the milk gives the cheese

a full yet pure taste…” Juliet Harbutt, The Finest

Selection – World Cheese Book

“…just absolutely beautiful.”

Peter Pendrill – Woman’s Hour, Radio 4, December 09

“What a cheese!” Fiona Beckett

– The Cheeselover, September 08

“The hugely impressive thing about the Holdens

is how good their cheese is already.”

Neal’s Yard Dairy Newsletter – Cheese of the

Month, June 09

Double Gold Winners – Hafod won two of the

top prizes at the True Taste awards 09/10.

hafodcheese.co.uk 01570 493 283

Vol.7 Issue 1 · January 2006

EHOs applying wrong rules to cheese safety, says SCABy PATRICK McGUIGAN

The Specialist Cheesemakers Association (SCA) has criticised “unhelpful gold-plating” in recently revised food safety guidelines, which it says could cause conflict between Environmental Health Officers and the specialist cheese sector.

According to the SCA, a number of cheese retailers and producers have been involved in misunderstandings with EHOs caused by revisions to the Health Protection Agency’s Ready to Eat (RTE) Guidelines.

These are used by EHOs to decide on the safety of food that will not undergo further cooking, such as cooked meats and prepared salads.

But the SCA says many inspectors are incorrectly applying these guidelines to specialist cheeses, which are already covered by different microbiological criteria in the EC Dairy Product Hygiene Regulation (DPHR).

“The microbiological standards in the RTE Guidelines are far more stringent than those in the DPHR, [which recognise that] cheese is a fermented food and is expected to contain bacteria,” said SCA chairman and Neal’s Yard Dairy boss Randolph Hodgson. “We now have a situation where cheese-makers and cheesemongers are working to one set of standards (the law) but EHOs are working to another set (the guidelines) with the result that there is confusion and the potential for time wasted on both sides.”

At the end of November the HPA issued amended RTE Guidelines, which reflected some of the SCA’s concerns, but not all. “We still believe that they contain some very unhelpful gold-plating,” said Hodgson. “We will be considering our response in some detail and have raised our concerns with the Food Standards Agency.”

Paul Neaves, a consultant at microbiologists Williams & Neaves, has worked with the SCA’s technical committee to draw up guidelines that will help producers and retailers work out shelf-lives for whole and cut cheeses.

Cheddar, for example is given a counter display life of 21-30 days under the guidelines. A semi-soft washed rind cheese, such as reblochon, gets just 7-10 days.

The full list is available to SCA members. www.specialistcheesemakers.co.uk

Shelf-help guide

Predictably, Stilton regularly featured on Christmas cheese boards. Nothing wrong with that but there was a marked difference in the flavours on offer.

A drinks party at a friends’ house in early December included a whole baby Stilton that sat uncut all morning in their dining room. When asked to slice it, I removed the thin top rind before cutting a 3cm deep complete round which was then portioned. It had been bought in Waitrose and the label revealed it was Long Clawson’s.

A cracking cheese, creamy rather than crumbly, with good balance between the sharp acidity of the blue and the richness of the paste. Baby Stiltons never did it for me, mostly they were over or under matured, but this was a revelation.

The cheese for the Guild’s Christmas lunch at a pub in nearby Bourton was exclusively local with Mike Davies’ Dorset Blue Vinney as the token blue. Mike’s cheese is creamier and better balanced than it used to be – more Stilton than mountain gorgonzola. The mould is conventionally streaked through the paste as opposed to the green/blue freckles that filled the paste in Vinneys I recall 10 years back.

Lunch at my son’s immediately after Christmas included a slice of Colston Bassett from The Cheese Hamlet in Didsbury. This was grown-up Stilton, full

on and deeply blued, and plenty good enough for seconds. Undoubtedly old-style blue, the sort my grandfather enjoyed but still beloved by those who prefer Stilton as it used to be.

Next up was an organic Cropwell Bishop, served during lunch in a local hostelry twixt Christmas and New Year. Good to find a landlord prepared to name the producer alongside the cheese type and, miracle of miracles, it wasn’t served straight from the fridge.

The Cropwell organic was appreciably creamier than its non-organic brother and more approachable for those who balk at aggressive blues. Perfect for serving in a family pub and the two children at our table dug in for thirds and I stuck with them.

New Year’s Eve at my brother’s house included an anonymous Stilton from Waitrose that was too young by a good month. It was chalky-white with little or no blue and too many bitter notes.

Stilton producers mostly deny their cheeses are better at Christmas than other times of the year. These days, they adjust for seasonal changes in milk and weather and modern dairies deliver greater consistency. But maturity is always an issue and selling under-ripe Stiltons at Christmas is suicidal. If you don’t like it then, you’re unlikely to buy it at other times.

Finally, the wedge enjoyed at home after Christmas lunch with a glass of Fonseca Guimaraens 1996 Vintage Port was as good as I tasted all year. It was the Stilton that isn’t a Stilton – from Stichelton.

• FFD publisher Bob Farrand is chairman of the UK Cheese Guild

“Mike Davies’ cheese is creamier and better balanced than it used to be – more Stilton than mountain gorgonzola’’

By PATRICK McGUIGAN

Banbury-based Wykham Park Farm Shop has ramped up its British cheese range and plans to hold regular tastings after meeting farmhouse producers at an event hosted by wholesaler Fromage to Age.

Julia Colegrave, Wykham Park’s owner, held her first British cheese tasting last month, sampling over a dozen products, many of which she had

Wykham Park storeshowcases the Brits

Julie Colegrave has added

British cheeses including

Tunworth after attending

Fromage to Age’s meet-the-

supplier event

21

Some EHOs are incorrectly applying ready-to-eat food guidelines to cheese, says the SCA

tried for the first time at a ‘meet the producer’ event at Fromage to Age’s Gloucestershire premises.

“Our tasting evening was a huge success and we would definitely consider repeating the exercise. Customers really liked the idea of a ‘British theme’ and it could be extended to beer, wines or biscuits,” said Colegrave.

“We’ve also started stocking cheeses such as Innes Buttons, Tunworth and Smart’s Double Gloucester.

Around a dozen producers attended the Fromage to Age event including Ansteys of Worcester, Appleby Cheshire, Wigmore producer Village Maid Cheese and Diana Smart of Smart’s Traditional Gloucester. Others included Sparkenhoe, Gorsehill Abbey Organic and Hampshire Cheese, which makes Tunworth.

“Behind every great cheese is a great cheese-maker and it was good to give chefs and retailers the chance to meet them and learn about how the cheeses are made,” said MD Simeon Hudson-Evans. “When you have an interesting story to tell, it’s so much easier to sell a product in a shop or restaurant.”

cheese wire le grand fromage

BOB FARRAND

January-February 2010 · Vol .11 Issue 122

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What’s 2010 going to hold in store for you?

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Last year we were more active than ever before with helping to review our customers deli range and coming up with new ideas for re merchandising their delicatessen counters and arranging exciting promotions. I must say this resulted in a great deal of success with shops seeing increased sales and profitability. If you would like us to help with your “deli solution” this year with a free consultation I am sure we can together make it a great 2010.

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special report scotland

Scots have never lacked a sense of national identity, but according to one of the country’s leading fine food

retailers, pride in Scottish food is on a particular high right now.

“The quality of speciality food being produced here is exceptional,” says Mary Contini of family-run Valvona & Crolla, which has its own iconic deli in Edinburgh as well as food hall concessions in several House of Fraser outlets.

“Since we’ve had our own Parliament we have more pride and self respect,” she says, “and we’re no longer hesitant in declaring that we respect our food heritage and want to promote it.”

It’s a self-belief that has helped prop up Scotland’s fine food sector in what has clearly been a tough environment for everyone. “Speciality food in Scotland is doing very well,” says Oliver Platt, food buyer for House of Bruar, the country clothing-led department store in Perthshire. “We’ve been lucky – we’ve had a decent year – and that has been driven by very good figures in the food hall. We’ve put on a 3,000 sq ft extension

Small producers walk tall

31Vol.11 Issue 1 · January-February 2010

In the month that Glasgow hosts Scotland’s annual fine food trade show, MICK WHITWORTH finds small producers leading the way as the country looks to add more value to its exceptional raw ingredients

NEWCOMERS: Two new businesses on Royal Deeside show how Scotland’s producers are still playing to their traditional strengths

Adding value to Dinnet Estate game

Serena Humphrey (left) of Aberdeenshire’s Dinnet Estate set up The Deeside Smokehouse last year to maximise returns on wild pheasant and venison produced from the property. By December she was already processing six carcasses of venison a week and as much pheasant as she could lay her hands on. “We moved

3,000 pheasants in three months in our first year of operation, which is three seasons’ worth,” she told FFD. “So the demand is there. In a year’s time, I aim to have three full-time staff on board.”

Humphrey spent two years planning the business and learning the art of meat smoking and charcuterie before opening her purpose-built smokehouse, which cost £20,000 to build and equip. It is now producing three varieties of pheasant – hot smoked pheasant, a Deeside Glider (two breasts stuffed with haggis) and a pheasant salami – while its venison range includes a hot smoked variety, venison chorizo and a spicy salami.

She has joined forces with other local producers to create a smoked haggis (Sheridans of Ballater) and an oak smoked, rare breed pork sausage (Ruth’s Little Farm of Dunecht).

And she has been trialling a smoked cheese for the Cambus O’May Cheese Company (right), which should be launched shortly. www.thedeesidesmokehouse.com

Like mother used to make? New Aberdeenshire cheese-maker Cambus O’May is set to double output of its handmade, unpasteurised cheeses this month and plans to start building a larger production facility in the spring. The company, set up six months ago by farmers’ son Alex Reid to recreate the traditional farmhouse cheeses once made by his mother, Barbara (pictured with him, below), has increased production to 300kg a week and taken on two trainee cheese-makers to cope with demand from local restaurants and retailers.

In March, work begins on a new 400 sq m facility, complete with public viewing gallery, on the Dinnet and Kinord Estate in the Cairngorms National Park. Production is expected to start in September 2010 with milk sourced from 25 cattle reared adjacent to the site.

Lead cheese-maker Scott Sutherland-Thomson and his team produce three hard, cows’ milk cheeses named after Cairngorms landmarks. Their flagship product, Cambus O’May, is a two-day curd cheese, which is matured for three months. Lairig Ghru has a crumbly texture with a tangy flavour, while Lochnagar is a cross between a cheddar and a Dunlop. A smoked cheese, made with the Deeside Smokehouse, will be added to the range later this year, while Old Lochnagar, which is matured for 12 months, should be available in the summer.

“We did a lot of research before we launched the company and identified a gap in the market for traditional Scottish handmade cheeses,” says Reid, who is based in Romania much of the time in a senior role for energy service firm Petrofac. “Many older people have told us that our cheese is exactly how they remember cheese used to taste in the region.”

www.cambusomay.com

● ● ➔

32

special report scotland

January-February 2010 · Vol .11 Issue 1

in 2009, but even on a like-for-like basis food is doing very well.”

Paul McLaughlin is chief executive of Scotland Food & Drink (SF&D), the industry-funded body that has taken over much of Scottish Enterprise’s food promotion work. He acknowledges it has been “a difficult time” thanks to the recession. But he says:

“The food industry in general has faired fairly well, and the data shows that premium is picking up – shoppers are spending the same amount, but buying a bit less, which means they are choosing to buy quality.”

Small to medium sized firms remain at the core of Scottish food production, according to McLaughlin. “We have an ambition to grow the industry from £10bn to £12.5bn by 2017, and to generate a reputation for Scotland as a ‘land of food & drink’.”

Although the headline growth will come from larger companies, the bulk of the industry is made up of smaller operators – there are 2,500 producers in Scotland, and 80% of them employ less than 10 people.”

SF&D is focusing its efforts on three areas: premium, provenance and health. The speciality food sector clearly ticks the first box, and usually the second too, although McLaughlin warns “Provenance isn’t necessarily about putting the saltire [the Scottish flag] on everything and saying, ‘it’s Scottish, so it must be good’.”

He says: “There are some products where ‘Scottish’ is

associated with really good quality: beef, high-end salmon, high-end shortbread and some cheeses as well. But the big thing is that products also have to perform on taste.”

Richard Barclay, MD of premium game supplier Rannoch Smokery, agrees. “Simply saying a product is from Scotland is not enough – it has to be of sufficient quality and appeal to succeed,” he says.

Barclay also says the “regionality” that has become so important further south has less meaning in Scotland. “I don’t believe UK consumers care what part of Scotland a product comes from as long as it delivers

on quality and expectation. In my opinion consumers perceive Scotland to be a region of the UK in the same way that, for example, Yorkshire or Wales is.”

At House of Bruar, Oli Platt steers away from the more clichéd, tartan-clad Scottish products. “We get 1.4m visitors through our doors and a large proportion are from England or the Far East. They’d actually be quite happy to buy Loch Ness monsters and See You Jimmy hats, but we feel if we went down that route the foodhall would lose its integrity. We do have some tartan on display, but we avoid anything too twee.”

While English and Continental suppliers may still provide the best products in some categories – patés and chocolates, for example – Platt increasingly focuses on the best Scottish fresh produce and raw materials. “We feel it’s on the side of fresh, back-to-basics products that Scotland can do really well. Our beef is the best in the business, we have the best fish and shellfish you can buy, and some of the best cheese-makers anywhere.

“Scotland could really be seen as the home of fine food, not just in Britain, but globally.” ● ● ➔

Donald Reid: ‘Reasons to be positive’

A willingness among Scottish shoppers to pay more for ‘real’ food may be reflected in a steady, if not dramatic, growth of interest in the Slow Food movement.

Donald Reid, leader of the Slow Food convivium in Edinburgh, and editor of The Larder, a recently published consumer guide to Scottish food & drink, told FFD: “If you look at the rising number of producers in Scotland, the health of most of those established in the last five to 10 years, and the number of restaurants making efforts to serve genuinely well-sourced food, there are plenty of reasons to be positive.

“It’s not yet a sea-change, but in the Scottish market – where there are only 5 million people,

remember – slow and steady progress is about as good as it gets.”

Slow Food now has an “identifiable presence” right across the country, says Reid. The Edinburgh convivium is the second largest in the UK after London, there’s a revival of activity in Glasgow, a new group in Fife and established groups in Perth, Linlithgow, Ayrshire, Aberdeenshire, the East Highlands and Moray, and the West Highlands & Islands.

“Within the community of good food producers in Scotland there’s a recognition of the Slow Food name and message, and an appreciation that Slow values of heritage, identity and resourcefulness have a strong resonance in Scotland.”

Slow Food gains from shift to quality

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● Findlater’s Fine Foods gourmet pies and patés

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“We do have some tartan on display but we avoid anything too twee. It’s on fresh, back-to-basics products that Scotland can do really well” Oli Platt, House of Bruar

cheesewire

Loughry course could bolsterNorthern Irish artisan sectorA new wave of farmhouse cheeses from Northern Ireland could hit the market after the launch of a new production course at the Loughry Campus of the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE) in Cookstown, Co Tyrone.

The free four-day course, called Farmhouse Dairy Products, will provide an introduction to making products such as cheese, ice cream and yoghurts, covering issues including legislative requirements, processing equipment and setting up premises. A study tour to a local farmhouse cheese producer will also be included.

Starting on February 25, the course is funded by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, following an influx of enquiries

from dairy farmers looking to diversify and other potential start-up producers.

“We’ve had a lot of interest partly because there is a growing market in Northern Ireland, the Republic and mainland Britain for farmhouse cheeses and other dairy products,” said Joy Alexander, senior food technologist at CAFRE. “We hope that the course will encourage more small producers to set up and develop new products.”

While the Republic of Ireland is well known for its artisan cheese-makers, Northern Ireland has only a handful, including Antrim-based Causeway Cheese Co and the much larger Fivemiletown Creamery in Tyrone.

www.cafre.ac.ukThe college hopes February’s course will encourage more artisan cheese start-ups

23

By MICK WHITWORTH

The foodservice arm of the UK’s fourth biggest independent dairy business is to start distributing artisan cheeses from the West Country and the South East to hotels, restaurants, shops, sandwich bars and corporate caterers in London.

Producers benefitting from the tie-up include Quickes in Devon and High Weald Dairy in Kent.

Medina Foodservice (MFS) – part of the £200m Medina processing and distribution group – currently sells £1.4m of cheese a year to clients ranging from top restaurants to the NHS.

But commercial manager Paul Sharman said he noticed 60% were Continental varieties and

thought: “Why are we supporting the French dairy industry when we could do more for English producers?”

The new range was put together with help from consultancy Mad For Food, working on behalf of trade development body South West Food & Drink. It features 40 cheeses from 10 makers, hand-picked by Sharman, who describes himself as “a bit of a cheesehead”.

Most are from the West Country, including Dorset Blue Vinney, Green’s organic cheddar and Cornish Blue, but three are from the South East.

The range is being introduced to buyers this month at an event at London’s Royal Commonwealth Club and could be rolled out nationally. MFS was launched in 2003 as a London-focused distributor but now has a “national footprint”, said Sharman.

MFS is already talking to other small producers, he added, including Isle of Wight Cheese. However, some do not yet have the necessary factory certification to satisfy bigger MFS clients such as Conran Restaurants and Pelican Buying Group, which provides purchasing services for big

restaurants and public sector caterers.It will not be the first time MFS

has stocked regional cheeses. Sharman said the business – which services around 1,000 clients direct, and a further 500 through other, smaller distributors – was already “well covered” with northern cheeses through Bradbury & Son, and had been buying through Longmans too, which will now act as a consolidator for the expanded West Country range to cut

down on food miles. MFS previously sourced some artisan cheeses

through H&B Foods’ subsidiary The Cheese Cellar, but Sharman said H&B had delisted some varieties following a management buy-out last year and prices has risen steeply. He now aims to buy direct and avoid paying the distributor’s margin.

The new range is designed partly to show support for UK dairy producers – Medina’s core supply base – as well as to cut out middlemen such as H&B. But Sharman said there was also demand from MFS customers for more niche British varieties. w www.medinafs.co.uk

Medina takes farmhouse cheeses to the CapitalTen artisan producers are to benefit from a new artisan cheese distribution route

Cornish Blue is among the farmhouse varieties Medina will be offering its London clients

Vol.11 Issue 1 · January-February 2010

January-February 2010 · Vol .11 Issue 124

Can you match it in 2010?To enter the 2010 Great Taste Awards visit www.finefoodworld.co.uk or contact the Guild of Fine Food on 01963 824464. Entry forms available from February.

More? The Artisan Bakery’s Gluten-Free Muddees

Supreme Champion 2009

The greatesttaste of all

focus on coffee

coffee is all about obsessive attention to detail. “Everything matters,” he says. “If the water is too hot it over extracts the coffee and you get a bitter flavour. Too cold and the coffee will be dull and lifeless. The type of grind is vital. With a cafetiere I recommend a coarser texture; with a filter you can go finer.”

Relish sources its coffee from local roaster Origin in Falmouth, with options such as Finca de Lichio from Costa Rica, Sumatran Aceh Takengon and Finca Los Altos from Nicaragua. These are sold in 250g bags of whole beans, which can be ground for customers in-store if they do not have their own grinder. ● ● ➔

When Hugo Hercod, co-owner of deli Relish Food & Drink in Wadebridge, Cornwall,

says he is a “self-confessed coffee geek” he isn’t joking. Pop round to his house for a cup of the black stuff and he will soon bring out his thermometer, scales and stopwatch.

“At home I make filter coffee with 65g of coffee per litre of water, a four minute brewing time and water that is 92°C or 93°C,” he says in a serious tone.

It might sound like a school-boy chemistry experiment, but Hercod, who was crowned UK Barista Champion in 2008, argues that good

“Coffee labelled ‘strong’ has generally just been over-roasted, completely destroying the unique natural flavours of the bean” Hugo Hercod, Relish Food & Drink

The daily grind

25Vol.11 Issue 1 · January-February 2010

To make the most of packaged coffee you need to serve it hot in your own store. And as PATRICK McGUIGAN finds, some retailers are even opting to roast their own.

Pict

ure:

Orig

in C

offe

e

Using the beans as quickly as possible after roasting is important, says Hercod. “In the café, we use our beans within a month of them being roasted. They are their best between 7-12 days.”

The coffees at Relish each have their own distinct flavours, says Hercod. The Finca de Lichio, for example, is citric, light and bright, while the Sumatran is spicy and earthy. “People have been driven by the supermarkets to think of coffee in terms of strength, whether it’s a four or a five. But that doesn’t mean anything. Coffee labelled ‘strong’ has generally just been over-roasted so it has a burnt sugar and roasted

26

focus on coffee

January-February 2010 · Vol .11 Issue 1

flavour, completely destroying the unique natural flavours of the bean.”

Drawing distinctions with the supermarkets is a tactic employed by Mark Spry, farm shop manager at Darts Farm in Devon. “We don’t stock the same brands as supermarkets and our display and information about the product is more in-depth,” he says. “We also offer in-store tastings and the chance to meet the producers of the product.”

The retailer stocks nine varieties of Grumpy Mule coffee, six types of Miles coffee and Ipanema Brazilian coffee, which it grinds and bags itself. Grumpy Mule’s Rwandan, which has a light lemony taste, is the best seller.

“The coffee display is based around a coffee grinder with the coffee packets in our Darts Farm wooden crates and on wooden shelving units,” he says.

While eye-catching displays help boost retail sales, the best advert for coffee is undoubtedly serving it up hot on the premises. Fiona Hamilton-Fox, manager of the Cowdray Estate Farm Shop in Sussex, was adamant when she opened the Priory Café last year that the coffee she served had to surpass what was on offer from the big high street chains.

“Coffee is something that people really judge a place on. You remember if you have a really good cup somewhere. Equally you remember if you have a bad one,” she says.

Cowdray worked closely with Arundel-based supplier Edgcumbe before it opened the café, taking

part in several tastings and training days. The retailer eventually chose a Rainforest Alliance-certified Columbian blend, which has a nutty, fruity flavour with hints of liquorice. It retails for £4.95 for a 250g bag.

It also invested around £3,500 in a La Spaziale coffee machine, which rose to around £5,000 with add-ons such as a water boiler and

HOUSE BLEND: Lewis & Cooper roasts its own coffee twice a week in 12lb batches. It’s hard work but adds value to the business, says director Tony Howard

Like Lewis & Cooper, Ludlow Food Centre roasts and grinds its own beans

coffee grinder. “The grinder is set at 7.5 out of a maximum of 12 – coffee needs to be ground smoothly enough to make good coffee,” says Hamilton-Fox. “Too fine and it will run through the machine too quickly and too coarse and it will not come through quickly enough.”

North Yorkshire-based deli Lewis & Cooper has gone one step further in the quest to offer good coffee, roasting its own beans since the 1970s. The retailer roasts two days a week in 12lb batches.

“Roasting is a big undertaking and you have to be prepared to work hard,” says director Tony Howard, “but it gives you a point of difference. If you sat down and worked out the bottom line, it might not help you financially that much compared to buying from a supplier, but as a marketing tool it’s fantastic to be able to say you produce your own unique coffee. It adds value to the business.”

Ludlow Food Centre has also set up its own roasting operation, investing in an £8,000 Diedrich roaster, imported from the US. The coffee roasting room, which customers can view through a window, operates three days a week, roasting in 7lb batches.

“It was difficult to source locally produced coffee when we opened, so we decided to make it ourselves,” says managing director Sandy Boyd. “It fits in with our ethic of buying direct from farmers.

“The equipment is certainly not cheap and there are a lot of man-hours involved in making the product – from roasting right through to the hand filling ● ● ➔

Vol.11 Issue 1 · January-February 2010 27

No syrups,no coatings...No syrups,no coatings...just finest quality Colombian coffee beans infused with flavours.

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Traditionally hand roasted coffee suppliers to farm shops, delis, cafes

and all independent outletsDorset Coffee Company, Unit C, Duck Farm, Bockhampton,

Dorchester, Dorset DT2 8QLTel: 01305 848414 Email: nigel@dorsetcoffee.co.uk

Importers & Roasters of the World’s Finest Coffees

The Roastery Bent Ley Industrial Estate Meltham Holmfirth HD9 4EP

Tel: 01484 852601www.grumpymule.co.uk

We source & roast the best coffees from around the world

Project2_Layout 1 07/01/2010 15:15 Page 1

28 January-February 2010 · Vol .11 Issue 1

product update: coffee

• Cornwall-based roaster Origin Coffee has launched a single-estate coffee from El Salvador. Finca El Carmen is available in whole beans or ground. A 250g bag retails for £5.

www.origincoffee.co.uk

• Ethical Addictions has recently taken delivery of a shipment of Arabica coffee beans from a small village in Tanzania. The company has bought the entire crop of beans produced by the Orera village on the slopes of Kilimanjaro. It retails under the Mountain Top brand at £4.25 for a 250g bag.

www.eacoffee.co.uk

• Guatemala Pocola is a new coffee from roaster Grumpy Mule. The company will donate 20p from the sale of each pack to raise funds for the school in the village where the coffee is produced.

www.grumpymule.co.uk

• Fair Brands’ instant coffee brand Fair Instant has raised over £350,000 for Save the Children education programmes in Columbia since launching two years ago. The company has also recently launched Fair Ground – 500g foodservice packs of Fairtrade-certified beans.

www.fair-instant.co.uk

• Available until February, Union Hand-Roasted’s new Winter Blend mixes beans from Indonesia, India and East Africa. A 227g bag retails for £4.95.

www.unionroasted.com

• Bewley’s new Fresh Coffee Starter Pack contains a packet of Café Blend coffee, a cafetiere, measuring scoop, reseal clip and a guide to making good coffee.

www.bewleys.com

• Middle Farm in East Sussex has introduced a new Honduras house blend at its shop after working with Edgcumbe Coffee & Tea. The coffee

is lower in price than Colombian blend, but has a very similar taste profile, says Alice Edgcumbe-Rendle, Edgcumbe’s MD. A 250g pack retails for around £4.

www.edgcumbes.co.uk

• Lewis & Cooper has recently rebranded its own-label coffees, which it blends, roasts and grinds in-house at its store in Northallerton,

North Yorkshire. The range is available to wholesale in 250g bags of ready-ground or whole beans, as well as 1kg and 2kg bags.

www.lewisandcooper.co.uk

focus on

of bags – but we make a producer’s rather than a retailer’s margin and more importantly we have a unique product.”

A 250g pack of coffee retails for between £2.95 and £4.50 and is also sold in the café. Beans are sourced from Mercanta – an importer that has built long-term relationships with coffee farms around the world, rather than buying beans on the open market. By working directly with growers, Mercanta is able to have a much better control on quality, says Boyd.

This is also the best way to ensure farmers are paid fairly, he adds, rather than the Fairtrade scheme, which he describes as a “supermarket sub brand”. “Trading fairly is more important than branding,” he says.

Back at Relish, Hugo Hercod is also critical of Fairtrade. “Fairtrade has absolutely no bearing on quality. It’s a clever brand that salves Western consciences,” he says. “If you visit the best coffee shops you will see very few serving Fairtrade coffee because it’s a system

that doesn’t encourage farmers to produce quality beans. Farmers know they won’t get any more payment if they improve quality, so they don’t.

“Companies like Mercanta and DR Wakefield work directly with farms to improve quality and secure consistent traceable supplies of the very best grades of beans. And of course they pay a lot more for them.”

Katherine Hutchinson, manager of newly opened Roots Farm Shop in Northallerton, North Yorkshire, says she was aware of the criticisms of Fairtrade when she was deciding which coffee to stock and serve. “I know that there are faults with Fairtrade, but we felt it was important to have it as part of our ethos. We want British farmers to receive a fair price for their beef and milk, so we should do the same for farmers in other countries. It does make me cross when you see farm shops importing cheap giftware from China or using cage-reared eggs in the kitchen because they don’t think anyone will notice.”

The shop finally settled on a mainly Columbian blend, supplied by Coffee Care in a deal that saw the warranty on its coffee machine extended for two years.

Taking time to search out a good coffee and learning how to make it properly is increasingly important with so many coffee shop chains on the high streets. Hercod says that outdoing the big brands is not that difficult – it just comes back to attention to detail.

“Compare an espresso we make, which is rich, sweet and silky, with a lovely crema and spicy, chocolate notes, to the torture of the thin, sharp, bitter espresso you get in most coffee shops, which has notes of ashtray and strip the enamel from your teeth,” he says. “We had to close the shop the other day because both my wife I were ill. It was one of the best things we could have done because our regular customers were forced to go to the other coffee shops in town. The next day they came back and told us how awful the coffee had been and how good ours is in comparison.”

coffee

Vol.11 Issue 1 · January-February 2010 29

♦ The very best speciality and fine food producers from Scotland and beyond

♦ Dozens of first time exhibitors including: Belhaven Fruit Farm, Buttermilk Confections,

Choc-affair, The Dessert Depot, The chocolate Partnership, L’ailolive, Laura’s Chocolates, Sloe Motion, Summer Harvest, The Garlic Farm & Orkney Ice Cream.

♦ Free entry to Scotland’s Trade Fair A great place to find non-food gifts and

homewares to extend your range

Register now for your free entry badge at: www.scotlandsspecialityfoodshow.com

Scotland’s Speciality Food ShowGlasgow SECCJanuary 24-26 2010

Scotland’s Speciality Food Show is organised by Springboard Events and The Guild of Fine Food.

Springboard Events Ltd, Bigram, Port of Menteith, Stirling FK8 3LFe: info@springboardevents.net t: 01877 385772

The Guild of Fine Food, Guild House, Station Road, Wincanton, Somerset BA9 9FEe: sally.coley@finefoodworld.co.uk t: 01963 824464

January-February 2010 · Vol .11 Issue 130

Gurkha Fine Foods, 15 Alder Road, North Colerne, Chippenham SN14 8PJ info@gurkhafinefoods.co.uk www.gurkhafinefoods.co.uk

Tel: 07949 668 703

GurkhaF I N E F O O D S

A range of AWARD-WINNING authentic Gurkha cooking products.

Triple Gold winner at the Taste of the West Awards 2009

Kukhra Gourmet Curry Sauce was also named Best in Sauces & Accompaniments

To celebrate we are offering 10% off all orders of Kukhra Gourmet Curry Sauce in January 2010.

For further information please contact Emma on 07949 668703 or email info@gurkhafinefoods.co.uk

Winner of ‘Best Dessert’ for our sticky Ginger Pudding at the 2009 Taste of the West Awards

along with 5 golds and one silver!

Deliciously sticky handmade puddings using the finest ingredients sourced from suppliers in

the Cotswolds

Containing absolutely no artificial ingredients we produce six varieties from our dedicated kitchen in Gloucestershire. Ideal to sell at delicatessens,

fine food halls, farm shops, restaurants and pubs.Tel: 01285 711345 www.cotswoldpuddingcompany.co.uk

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

Award-winning bacon

traditonal home produced bacon & sausages from free range pigs

Bringing Home the Bacon, Parshalls Farm, Shave Lane, Donyatt,

Illminster, Somerset TA19 0SA

Telephone 01460 54878 Email baconatparshallsfarm@tiscali.co.uk

www.bringing-home-the-bacon.co.uk

Advertisement feature: TASTE OF THE WEST AWARD WINNERS 2009

Vol.11 Issue 1 · January-February 2010 33

Chapman’s Finest Fishcakes Ltd Seacatch Building Estate Road 7 S H I E Grimsby N E Lincolnshire. DN31 2TP Tel : 01472 269871

Fax : 01472 269893 Email : riversidefs@btconnect.comwww.chapmansfishcakes.co.uk

Chapman’s Finest Fishcakes are available in the following flavours:-

TRADITIONAL WHITEFISH & PARSLEYSMOKED HADDOCK & SMOKED BACON

SALMON WITH LEMON & DILLHADDOCK & LEEK WITH CHEDDAR CHEESE

THAI STYLE SALMONSMOKED SALMON

Please call us if you would like to place an order!

The Chapman Family have been involved in the seafish industry in Grimsby for over fifty years, Over which time they have amassed invaluable knowledge especially with

regards to recognizing and sourcing the best fish available.

Gift Boxes • Bottle Boxes • Hamper Boxes

TM

Wide selection of boxes in stock.View and purchase online at

www.boxmart.co.ukTel: 01543 411574 E-mail: enquiries@boxmart.co.uk

Bespoke projects also undertaken

Boxmart Gift Focus advert.indd 1 21/2/08 16:26:15

Vol.11 Issue 1 · January-February 2010 35

The Gray Family of milTon hauGh Farm Shop have just taken over the distribution of Aberfeldy Oatmeal. The top quality oatmeals and flours have been a best seller in their own farm shop for the last 10 years and they did not want the name to disappear. They added it to the award winning nicoll’s of Strathmore preserves and marmalades that they produce on site.

Why aberFeldy oaTmeal?• 4 grades of oatmeal with a lovely nutty flavour

• 4 sizes of bags to suit every household• 7 kinds of flour, bakers bran and oatflakes available

• Large bags 25kg and 32 kg available for butchers and bakers• All products are milled in Scotland

• Lovely rough oatcakes• Will not be available in the large supermarkets.

• Healthy breakfast with only the sugar or salt that you add

For more information: 01241 860579 aberfeldy@miltonhaugh.com

Gray Retail Ltd., Milton Haugh Farm Shop, Carmyllie, By Arbroath DD11 2QS

ginhoney limealmondschili

baileysmint

what do you like in your fudge?

PublicationNAME/TITLE NO1MAGAZINE

Issue No65

Date:16.11.09Job No: 62819_65LLD

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RETURN BY POSTTO:PRODUCTIONDEPARTMENT, PSP Publishing Ltd,PSP House,50 High Craighall Road,Craighall Business Park GlasgowG4 9UD

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We are a small family business hand-making fudgeand truffles in the remote Shetland Islands in theNorth Atlantic.Finalists in the Scottish Thistle Awards in 2005 and 2006, and winners of theHospitality Assured Award in October this year, means that you can beassured not only of our commitment to Customer Care at every stage of yourorder, but our complete attention to detail throughout our handmade range.

and bears too...

THE SHETLAND FUDGE COMPANY96 Commercial Street, Lerwick, Shetland Islands ZE1 0DLTel: 01595 694324 www.shetlandfudge.co.uk

The Shetland Teddy Bear Company are proud topresent our family of unique traditional jointedheirloom bears, made from 100% pure Shetlandwool from Shetland rare-breed sheep.

❝Retail ready was a brilliant place to start the deli journey. Before the course we knew nothing. We left with a clear idea of what running a deli involves on a practical level and the many things we would need to think about to make it not only a reality, but a success.❞Lucas Hollweg, journalist and aspiring deli owner

RetailReady is a two day course that will steer you through the minefield of opening and running a fine food store.

The course is designed to equip managers of prospective, new or developing delis and farm shops with the business essentials of fine food and drink retailing.

The next course takes place on March 8-9 2010.

Visit www.finefoodworld.co.uk/retailready for more details and an application form.

Call us to find out more on

01963 824464.

RetailReady

January-February 2010 · Vol .11 Issue 136

Gardiners of Scotland Ltd

will be pleased to welcome you at our stand NO: FH4 to see our exciting

new products for 2010

CREATIVE, PRACTICAL PACKAGING

Kingscroft Logistics

www.kingscroftlogistics.co.ukTel: 01294 313348

Ltd

Cartons/Cases

Printed Films

Sleeves/Tubs

Stand up Pouches

Vacuum Bags

POS Packaging

Gift Packaging

Insulated Packaging

Mailing Supplies

Vol.11 Issue 1 · January-February 2010

preview

Anthony Rowcliffe & Son’s Colston Bassett Stilton won best English cheese at the 2008 World Cheese Awards. The company is one of the oldest established cheese and speciality chilled food suppliers in the UK and its range is popular among delicatessens and the catering trade.Stand 36

Atkins & Potts makes a wide range of classic and contemporary condiments, cooking sauces, soups, relishes, table sauces, syrups, glazes, sweet sauces and spreads. They’re all made in its Berkshire kitchens using all-natural textures, colours and flavours.Stand FH84

Fresh food lighting specialist BÄRO says its energy-efficient systems can be used to generate the right ‘buying atmosphere’ in any store. Its wide range of fixtures and colour-constant fluorescent tubes are designed to present fresh food at the correct colour and the right level of illumination. The use of patented reflectors and filters helps protect food against premature bleaching and staling.Stand FH138

Burbush’s family-run bakery was established in 1986, since when it has “taken the lid off” traditional pies by dressing them with fruits including apples, gooseberries, oranges and even rhubarb. The company has also won many Great Taste Awards.Stand FH145

Based in Cornwall, Buttermilk Confections manufactures quality fudges, tablet, Turkish delight and brittles. Products include “cut and serve” fudge in 75 varieties, gift bags and boxes as well as bespoke and own label products. The company has worked with Hotel Chocolat for eight years, developing new ranges from initial product through to consumer-ready packaging.Stand FH96a

Winemaker Cairn O’Mohr produces real fruit wines from berries, flowers and leaves found on the Carse of Gowrie in Perthshire. Its range includes strawberry, raspberry, elderberry, bramble, oak leaf and gooseberry & elderflower as well as sparkling strawberry, oak and elder. Non-alcoholic drinks and seasonal specials are also offered.Stand FH106

A number of traditional Scottish cheese recipes are produced by recently established Cambus O’May Cheese Company including three

varieties of raw milk hard cheese, each with a distinctive flavour and texture. Lochnagar is smooth and creamy with a tangy bite, Lairig Ghru is crumbly in texture with a citrus ‘zing’, while Cambus O’May is an authentic two-day curd farmhouse cheese.Stand FH189

At 180-years-old, Campbell’s Shortbread claims

to be Scotland’s oldest bakery business, and is still in the Campbell family after six generations. The baker believes the quality of its products and their presentation and packaging give the marketplace a real ‘X Factor’.Stand FH68

Chocolate should be an experience, not just a treat, says Choc-affair. Its most recent additions are chocolate letters and numbers, each around 11cm tall. They carry a wholesale price of £2.35 plus VAT and retail at £4.25. Other products in the range are hot chocolate on a stick, children’s lollies, flavoured chunks and greetings bars made from Fairtrade chocolate.Stand FH194

Wheat-free and gluten-free handmade cakes, puddings and savoury products for everyone to enjoy are supplied by cookroom. Established two years ago, the company has already achieved two Great Taste Awards, one in 2008 for its madelines and one last year for its ginger & whisky spiced babas.Stand FH193

Cream o’ Galloway says it aims to produce luxuriously indulgent ice cream with ethics. “Our customers know that when they tuck into one of our flavours, its impact on the environment, the ingredient producers and the consumer themselves is as positive as possible,” says marketing officer Jill Henry. No artificial ingredients are used and, wherever practical, ingredients are Fairtrade or organic, culminating in its Made Fair range.Stand FH154

Our pick of 2010’s exhibitors

Cambus O’May Cheese Company – Stand FH189

Here are two compelling reasons for retailers and deli-restaurateurs to visit the SECC in Glasgow this month. Firstly, Scotland’s Speciality Food Show, taking place from January 24-26, is the

only national food trade show taking place in Scotland during 2010. So it’s the best opportunity this year to meet a great range of suppliers, all of them specifically targeting the fine food sector in Scotland.

Second, the show is once again pairing with Scotland’s Trade Show, the key gift trade fair for this part of the world. Here, around 500 exhibitors will be offering a huge selection of non-food ideas to help delis, food halls, farm shops and deli-restaurants broaden their range – with many products offering margins substantially above the average for food and drink.

Exhibitors in the gift section this year include The Islay Slate Company which produces unique slate coasters, mats and cheeseboards, Scott Inness’ colourful tea towels and aprons and Snapdragon’s Scottish homewares.

This year sees the trade show and speciality food show sharing space in SECC’s Hall 4, making it even easier for visitors to move freely between sections.

More than 80 speciality food companies are taking part in the food show, many of them featured in this preview. Visit the show website today to pre-register for the event, see the full list of exhibitors, and also to check out some of the great special offers available exclusively to Scotland’s Speciality Food Show visitors.• Scotland’s Speciality Food Show is organised jointly by the Guild of Fine Food and Springboard Events on behalf of Clarion Events.

www.scotlandsspecialityfoodshow.com

Information for visitorsVenue: Scottish Exhibition & Conference Centre, Finnieston, Glasgow

Opening timesSunday January 24 – 09.30-17.30; Monday January 25 – 09.30-17.30; Tuesday January 26 – 09.30-16.30How do I get there?Glasgow is served by Prestwick and Glasgow International Airports, with frequent con-nections by train from Prestwick to Glasgow Central Station, or 20 minutes by taxi from Glasgow International Airport. From Glasgow Central rail station, travel west on the low level to the SECC (5 mins journey). For drivers the SECC is well signposted from all directions. Leave the M8 at Junction 19.

How to I register for tickets?Entry is FREE for anyone who registers online before the show. Entry on the day for those who have not pre-registered costs £10. Register now at:

www.scotlandsspecialityfoodshow.com

37

Scotland onSHOW

Vol.11 Issue 1 · January-February 2010

preview

Anthony Rowcliffe & Son’s Colston Bassett Stilton won best English cheese at the 2008 World Cheese Awards. The company is one of the oldest established cheese and speciality chilled food suppliers in the UK and its range is popular among delicatessens and the catering trade.Stand 36

Atkins & Potts makes a wide range of classic and contemporary condiments, cooking sauces, soups, relishes, table sauces, syrups, glazes, sweet sauces and spreads. They’re all made in its Berkshire kitchens using all-natural textures, colours and flavours.Stand FH84

Fresh food lighting specialist BÄRO says its energy-efficient systems can be used to generate the right ‘buying atmosphere’ in any store. Its wide range of fixtures and colour-constant fluorescent tubes are designed to present fresh food at the correct colour and the right level of illumination. The use of patented reflectors and filters helps protect food against premature bleaching and staling.Stand FH138

Burbush’s family-run bakery was established in 1986, since when it has “taken the lid off” traditional pies by dressing them with fruits including apples, gooseberries, oranges and even rhubarb. The company has also won many Great Taste Awards.Stand FH145

Based in Cornwall, Buttermilk Confections manufactures quality fudges, tablet, Turkish delight and brittles. Products include “cut and serve” fudge in 75 varieties, gift bags and boxes as well as bespoke and own label products. The company has worked with Hotel Chocolat for eight years, developing new ranges from initial product through to consumer-ready packaging.Stand FH96a

Winemaker Cairn O’Mohr produces real fruit wines from berries, flowers and leaves found on the Carse of Gowrie in Perthshire. Its range includes strawberry, raspberry, elderberry, bramble, oak leaf and gooseberry & elderflower as well as sparkling strawberry, oak and elder. Non-alcoholic drinks and seasonal specials are also offered.Stand FH106

A number of traditional Scottish cheese recipes are produced by recently established Cambus O’May Cheese Company including three

varieties of raw milk hard cheese, each with a distinctive flavour and texture. Lochnagar is smooth and creamy with a tangy bite, Lairig Ghru is crumbly in texture with a citrus ‘zing’, while Cambus O’May is an authentic two-day curd farmhouse cheese.Stand FH189

At 180-years-old, Campbell’s Shortbread claims

to be Scotland’s oldest bakery business, and is still in the Campbell family after six generations. The baker believes the quality of its products and their presentation and packaging give the marketplace a real ‘X Factor’.Stand FH68

Chocolate should be an experience, not just a treat, says Choc-affair. Its most recent additions are chocolate letters and numbers, each around 11cm tall. They carry a wholesale price of £2.35 plus VAT and retail at £4.25. Other products in the range are hot chocolate on a stick, children’s lollies, flavoured chunks and greetings bars made from Fairtrade chocolate.Stand FH194

Wheat-free and gluten-free handmade cakes, puddings and savoury products for everyone to enjoy are supplied by cookroom. Established two years ago, the company has already achieved two Great Taste Awards, one in 2008 for its madelines and one last year for its ginger & whisky spiced babas.Stand FH193

Cream o’ Galloway says it aims to produce luxuriously indulgent ice cream with ethics. “Our customers know that when they tuck into one of our flavours, its impact on the environment, the ingredient producers and the consumer themselves is as positive as possible,” says marketing officer Jill Henry. No artificial ingredients are used and, wherever practical, ingredients are Fairtrade or organic, culminating in its Made Fair range.Stand FH154

Our pick of 2010’s exhibitors

Cambus O’May Cheese Company – Stand FH189

Here are two compelling reasons for retailers and deli-restaurateurs to visit the SECC in Glasgow this month. Firstly, Scotland’s Speciality Food Show, taking place from January 24-26, is the

only national food trade show taking place in Scotland during 2010. So it’s the best opportunity this year to meet a great range of suppliers, all of them specifically targeting the fine food sector in Scotland.

Second, the show is once again pairing with Scotland’s Trade Show, the key gift trade fair for this part of the world. Here, around 500 exhibitors will be offering a huge selection of non-food ideas to help delis, food halls, farm shops and deli-restaurants broaden their range – with many products offering margins substantially above the average for food and drink.

Exhibitors in the gift section this year include The Islay Slate Company which produces unique slate coasters, mats and cheeseboards, Scott Inness’ colourful tea towels and aprons and Snapdragon’s Scottish homewares.

This year sees the trade show and speciality food show sharing space in SECC’s Hall 4, making it even easier for visitors to move freely between sections.

More than 80 speciality food companies are taking part in the food show, many of them featured in this preview. Visit the show website today to pre-register for the event, see the full list of exhibitors, and also to check out some of the great special offers available exclusively to Scotland’s Speciality Food Show visitors.• Scotland’s Speciality Food Show is organised jointly by the Guild of Fine Food and Springboard Events on behalf of Clarion Events.

www.scotlandsspecialityfoodshow.com

Information for visitorsVenue: Scottish Exhibition & Conference Centre, Finnieston, Glasgow

Opening timesSunday January 24 – 09.30-17.30; Monday January 25 – 09.30-17.30; Tuesday January 26 – 09.30-16.30How do I get there?Glasgow is served by Prestwick and Glasgow International Airports, with frequent con-nections by train from Prestwick to Glasgow Central Station, or 20 minutes by taxi from Glasgow International Airport. From Glasgow Central rail station, travel west on the low level to the SECC (5 mins journey). For drivers the SECC is well signposted from all directions. Leave the M8 at Junction 19.

How to I register for tickets?Entry is FREE for anyone who registers online before the show. Entry on the day for those who have not pre-registered costs £10. Register now at:

www.scotlandsspecialityfoodshow.com

37

Scotland onSHOW

The Deeside Smokehouse produces a range of artisan smoked meats including venison in hot smoked, chorizo, spicy salami and cold smoked parma ham styles. There is also hot smoked pheasant, Deeside Glider stuffed with haggis and smoked, and a salami, as well as bresaola – a Continental-style air-dried salted beef which is hung for two to three months. All the meats are smoked using traditional methods over whisky-soaked oak shavings from the Speyside Cooperage.Stand FH192

Established in 2003, The Dessert Pot is a family-run company producing cheesecakes, tray bakes, tarts and large round cutting cakes. This will be the first year the company has exhibited at Scotland’s Speciality Food Show, and it will introduce several new products including two new cheesecakes.Stand FH80

Ecobags is exhibiting at the Scottish show for the fifth consecutive year and will be showing its new foldaway bags. Like all of its other reusable ecobags, they can be made to suit individual specifications and have been designed to meet the needs of specific client requests. These new logo-printed bags fold neatly into their own integral pouch which in turn fits easily inside a pocket or handbag, helping customers ensure they have a shopping bag with them every time they leave home.Stand FH132

New to the range from Edinburgh Preserves are hot sauces, ketchups, world relishes, dipping crackers and compotes for cheese. The company’s new gift food boxes will also be on show in Glasgow. Latest products in its Langrove range are children’s mugs and bowls and a new range of textiles to go with Honey Bee Ceramics. Stand FH170

Edinburgh-based El Olivo will be showcasing its chorizos Caseros, which are reported to have proven popular since their launch at Olympia last autumn. The company now offers a range of 13 different extra virgin olive oil products, five of which are organic. Roasted red peppers, which have been smoked in a fire, and black olive paté with chocolate will also be available to sample in Glasgow.Stand FH160

Fudge Kitchen is launching two new flavours and a home fudge-making kit. This speciality producer is now supplying its creamy concoctions to delis, food halls, restaurants and independent retailers across the UK and passing on its own retail experience to its trade customers. Its new home fudge-making kit includes a glass board, thermometer and spatulas as well as enough ingredients to make three batches.Stand FH178

Established in 1949, Gardiners of Scotland continues to produce a wide range of confectionery, including flavoured fudges, and will launch several new products at the show. This family company is run by Tom, his wife Maureen and their son Tom to ensure high standards are maintained all the way from production to despatch.Stand FH4

The Garlic Farm, on the Isle of Wight, was established by Colin Boswell 30 years ago. Today it’s a thriving food business providing a range of garlic to eat and grow. New for 2010 is the Heritage range of fermented vegetables, high in lactobacilli, which offers health benefits as well as tasting great.Stand FH150

Showing for the first time in the UK is a range of African speciality foods from Just Trading Scotland. Eswatini’s range of 27 jams, marmalades and sauces is full of the flavours of African fruit and vegetables, while Malawian kilombero rice and macadamia nuts are also being launched. All these products are fairly traded to provide a cash income to small producers and farmers.Stand FH112

Low-cost desktop label printing systems that can be used on PC or Mac are offered by KTEC Group Labels-U-Print. Quality full-colour labels can be printed with no wastage, no print plates and no delays. The systems are designed to suit all budgets, printing tens, hundreds or thousands of labels with expiry dates, prices, barcodes, ingredients and nutrition information. The complete model LX400 colour label printer kit is available at the show for £850 plus VAT.Stand FH16

L’ailolive is showing two products: roasted chopped garlic in extra virgin olive oil and crispy garlic. These products can be used with noodles, spaghetti and pasta, fried rice and as a topping for steamed fish, vegetables and chicken. They are full flavoured and crispy with no overpowering after-taste, and are also said to promote and encourage healthy eating.Stand FH88

A new company, Laura’s Chocolates, will be selling handmade chocolates at the Glasgow show. Laura’s uses Belgian chocolate to create a range of chocolate bars with a variety of fun confectionery toppings suitable for all ages. Its chocolate fudge is also made using Belgium chocolate and is said to melt in the mouth, leaving a “beautifully chocolaty” aftertaste.Stand FH6

Little Doone Foods is a small specialist producer of sweet balsamic dressings, which it supplies to the retail trade in glass bottles with a distinctive red wax seal. Each variety is handmade in small batches to produce pure, vibrant flavours with depth and character. The range includes chilli, orange zest, ginger, garlic, strawberry, minted strawberry and raspberry varieties. The products are also used in five-star restaurants and by Michelin-starred chefs. Stand FH195

Indulgent treats from Mackie’s of Scotland include luxury dairy ice cream made entirely with natural ingredients. The rural company has a ‘sky to scoop’ production chain for its smooth textured ice cream, with wind turbines providing power on the farm, and its own dairy herd. It

preview

now also offers six flavours of thick-cut premium potato crisps.Stand FH50

Ola Oils was launched last year by husband and wife team John and Connie Sorrie, who say they were inspired to launch Ola extra virgin cold pressed rapeseed oil to give Scotland a healthier, locally produced alternative to olive oil. They grow the rape on their farm near Inverurie and cold press and bottle the seed oil themselves. The countryside and climate of Aberdeenshire provide the terroir that gives Ola its light, nutty flavour.Stand FH63

The many award-winning patés from Patchwork Foods include chicken, game and fish variants as well as vegetarian, cheese and vegan options. The North Wales company’s range also includes tarts, pies and pastry cases, chocolate dessert fondues and terrines. Recently launched lines include the first ambient, Italian recipe paté, as well as organic spelt blinis and finger biscuits with paté relishes.Stand FH25

Pentic Price Ticketing supplies personalised ticketing systems to butchers, delis, cheese-makers, fishmongers, bakers, cafés and specialist stores. Its rigid PVC tickets come in a wide range of shapes and sizes to give flexibility in corporate branding, logos and product descriptions. The company also stocks a range of stands, spikes and tray clips.Stand FH202

Rick Stein Food hero Ramsay’s has been producing traditional Ayrshire bacon for over 150 years. Using outdoor pigs, Ramsay’s creates old-fashioned, full-flavour bacon as well as a range of black pudding, white pudding, fruit pudding, sausages, cooked meats and champion haggis. According to chef Nick Nairn, Ramsay’s black pudding is the best in Scotland.Stand FH126

Reids of Caithness launched a range of five biscuits and five cakes last year that were specifically aimed at fine food shops and delicatessens. Each of these products is based on traditional family recipes, but with a modern twist. The addition of toffee pieces to the treacle biscuit also gave Reids a Great Taste Awards winner.Stand FH28

Quality sugar confectionery for the specialist gift trade is offered by Ross’s of Edinburgh. Its best known product is Edinburgh Castle Rock, which comes in many formats, but Ross’s also offers after-dinner mints and creams in ginger, Champagne, mixed spice and fruit flavours. Toffee, dairy and whisky fudge is made for the Scottish trade, as well as a selection of hard boilings.Stand FH44

Ruthys luxury scone mixes combine quality ingredients in unique recipes to enable home bakers to create scones “with a difference” by just adding water. Available in retail packs of 500g and catering tubs of 5kg, varieties such as cranberry & white chocolate and wholemeal raisin & cinnamon are included in the nine flavour range. New for 2010 is a 200g Christmas red berry scone mix, suitable to inclusion in hampers.Stand FH197

A number of whisky-enhanced products will be shown by Scomac, including its original Scotch whisky sauce and malt whisky vinegar. The sauce has found favour with a number of Scottish chefs who have apparently been won over by its bright flavour, often preferring it over

Just Trading Scotland – Stand FH112

38 January-February 2010 · Vol .11 Issue 1

Vol.11 Issue 1 · January-February 2010 39

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

Established for over 20 yearsand still a family concern

Bake-Off Pies

Nationwide distribution

BBC Olive magazine“Winner” May 2007 for

caramelised Bramley apple pie

Great Taste Awards2005, 2006, 2008 & 2009

The only English pie maker toachieve three gold stars in the

GTA 2008

OrganicFairtrade

Coffee Beans

227g

Organic certification UK2

Perufrom Central Piurana de Cafetaleros (CEPICAFE).

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from the farmers of the Sierra Nevadade Santa Marta.

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SumatraGayo Highlandsfrom the Koperasi Baitul Qiradh Baburrayyan Cooperative.

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New range of coffees from Suma Cooperative

launched for Fairtrade Fortnight(22nd Feb - 7th March)

All six ground coffees are both organic and Fairtrade, and the three most popular

varieties are also available as beans for grinding at home.

6 x 227g pack in shelf ready box.

Introductory RRP all £2.79 (except Decaff £3.89)

Available from:Suma Cooperative 01422 313845 www.suma.coop

Winner of Grocer Gold Award for “Specialist Wholesaler of the Year 2009”

fine food digest.indd 1 23/11/09 11:00:04 am

The Deeside Smokehouse produces a range of artisan smoked meats including venison in hot smoked, chorizo, spicy salami and cold smoked parma ham styles. There is also hot smoked pheasant, Deeside Glider stuffed with haggis and smoked, and a salami, as well as bresaola – a Continental-style air-dried salted beef which is hung for two to three months. All the meats are smoked using traditional methods over whisky-soaked oak shavings from the Speyside Cooperage.Stand FH192

Established in 2003, The Dessert Pot is a family-run company producing cheesecakes, tray bakes, tarts and large round cutting cakes. This will be the first year the company has exhibited at Scotland’s Speciality Food Show, and it will introduce several new products including two new cheesecakes.Stand FH80

Ecobags is exhibiting at the Scottish show for the fifth consecutive year and will be showing its new foldaway bags. Like all of its other reusable ecobags, they can be made to suit individual specifications and have been designed to meet the needs of specific client requests. These new logo-printed bags fold neatly into their own integral pouch which in turn fits easily inside a pocket or handbag, helping customers ensure they have a shopping bag with them every time they leave home.Stand FH132

New to the range from Edinburgh Preserves are hot sauces, ketchups, world relishes, dipping crackers and compotes for cheese. The company’s new gift food boxes will also be on show in Glasgow. Latest products in its Langrove range are children’s mugs and bowls and a new range of textiles to go with Honey Bee Ceramics. Stand FH170

Edinburgh-based El Olivo will be showcasing its chorizos Caseros, which are reported to have proven popular since their launch at Olympia last autumn. The company now offers a range of 13 different extra virgin olive oil products, five of which are organic. Roasted red peppers, which have been smoked in a fire, and black olive paté with chocolate will also be available to sample in Glasgow.Stand FH160

Fudge Kitchen is launching two new flavours and a home fudge-making kit. This speciality producer is now supplying its creamy concoctions to delis, food halls, restaurants and independent retailers across the UK and passing on its own retail experience to its trade customers. Its new home fudge-making kit includes a glass board, thermometer and spatulas as well as enough ingredients to make three batches.Stand FH178

Established in 1949, Gardiners of Scotland continues to produce a wide range of confectionery, including flavoured fudges, and will launch several new products at the show. This family company is run by Tom, his wife Maureen and their son Tom to ensure high standards are maintained all the way from production to despatch.Stand FH4

The Garlic Farm, on the Isle of Wight, was established by Colin Boswell 30 years ago. Today it’s a thriving food business providing a range of garlic to eat and grow. New for 2010 is the Heritage range of fermented vegetables, high in lactobacilli, which offers health benefits as well as tasting great.Stand FH150

Showing for the first time in the UK is a range of African speciality foods from Just Trading Scotland. Eswatini’s range of 27 jams, marmalades and sauces is full of the flavours of African fruit and vegetables, while Malawian kilombero rice and macadamia nuts are also being launched. All these products are fairly traded to provide a cash income to small producers and farmers.Stand FH112

Low-cost desktop label printing systems that can be used on PC or Mac are offered by KTEC Group Labels-U-Print. Quality full-colour labels can be printed with no wastage, no print plates and no delays. The systems are designed to suit all budgets, printing tens, hundreds or thousands of labels with expiry dates, prices, barcodes, ingredients and nutrition information. The complete model LX400 colour label printer kit is available at the show for £850 plus VAT.Stand FH16

L’ailolive is showing two products: roasted chopped garlic in extra virgin olive oil and crispy garlic. These products can be used with noodles, spaghetti and pasta, fried rice and as a topping for steamed fish, vegetables and chicken. They are full flavoured and crispy with no overpowering after-taste, and are also said to promote and encourage healthy eating.Stand FH88

A new company, Laura’s Chocolates, will be selling handmade chocolates at the Glasgow show. Laura’s uses Belgian chocolate to create a range of chocolate bars with a variety of fun confectionery toppings suitable for all ages. Its chocolate fudge is also made using Belgium chocolate and is said to melt in the mouth, leaving a “beautifully chocolaty” aftertaste.Stand FH6

Little Doone Foods is a small specialist producer of sweet balsamic dressings, which it supplies to the retail trade in glass bottles with a distinctive red wax seal. Each variety is handmade in small batches to produce pure, vibrant flavours with depth and character. The range includes chilli, orange zest, ginger, garlic, strawberry, minted strawberry and raspberry varieties. The products are also used in five-star restaurants and by Michelin-starred chefs. Stand FH195

Indulgent treats from Mackie’s of Scotland include luxury dairy ice cream made entirely with natural ingredients. The rural company has a ‘sky to scoop’ production chain for its smooth textured ice cream, with wind turbines providing power on the farm, and its own dairy herd. It

preview

now also offers six flavours of thick-cut premium potato crisps.Stand FH50

Ola Oils was launched last year by husband and wife team John and Connie Sorrie, who say they were inspired to launch Ola extra virgin cold pressed rapeseed oil to give Scotland a healthier, locally produced alternative to olive oil. They grow the rape on their farm near Inverurie and cold press and bottle the seed oil themselves. The countryside and climate of Aberdeenshire provide the terroir that gives Ola its light, nutty flavour.Stand FH63

The many award-winning patés from Patchwork Foods include chicken, game and fish variants as well as vegetarian, cheese and vegan options. The North Wales company’s range also includes tarts, pies and pastry cases, chocolate dessert fondues and terrines. Recently launched lines include the first ambient, Italian recipe paté, as well as organic spelt blinis and finger biscuits with paté relishes.Stand FH25

Pentic Price Ticketing supplies personalised ticketing systems to butchers, delis, cheese-makers, fishmongers, bakers, cafés and specialist stores. Its rigid PVC tickets come in a wide range of shapes and sizes to give flexibility in corporate branding, logos and product descriptions. The company also stocks a range of stands, spikes and tray clips.Stand FH202

Rick Stein Food hero Ramsay’s has been producing traditional Ayrshire bacon for over 150 years. Using outdoor pigs, Ramsay’s creates old-fashioned, full-flavour bacon as well as a range of black pudding, white pudding, fruit pudding, sausages, cooked meats and champion haggis. According to chef Nick Nairn, Ramsay’s black pudding is the best in Scotland.Stand FH126

Reids of Caithness launched a range of five biscuits and five cakes last year that were specifically aimed at fine food shops and delicatessens. Each of these products is based on traditional family recipes, but with a modern twist. The addition of toffee pieces to the treacle biscuit also gave Reids a Great Taste Awards winner.Stand FH28

Quality sugar confectionery for the specialist gift trade is offered by Ross’s of Edinburgh. Its best known product is Edinburgh Castle Rock, which comes in many formats, but Ross’s also offers after-dinner mints and creams in ginger, Champagne, mixed spice and fruit flavours. Toffee, dairy and whisky fudge is made for the Scottish trade, as well as a selection of hard boilings.Stand FH44

Ruthys luxury scone mixes combine quality ingredients in unique recipes to enable home bakers to create scones “with a difference” by just adding water. Available in retail packs of 500g and catering tubs of 5kg, varieties such as cranberry & white chocolate and wholemeal raisin & cinnamon are included in the nine flavour range. New for 2010 is a 200g Christmas red berry scone mix, suitable to inclusion in hampers.Stand FH197

A number of whisky-enhanced products will be shown by Scomac, including its original Scotch whisky sauce and malt whisky vinegar. The sauce has found favour with a number of Scottish chefs who have apparently been won over by its bright flavour, often preferring it over

Just Trading Scotland – Stand FH112

38 January-February 2010 · Vol .11 Issue 1

Vol.11 Issue 1 · January-February 2010 41

Course costsMembers of The Guild of Fine Food just £60 plus VAT (£70.50). Non-members £85 plus VAT (£99.88). For more information: E-mail: linda.farrand@finefoodworld.co.uk | www.finefoodworld.co.uk*NB. There is a £10 plus VAT surcharge (£11.75) for London training dates due to higher venue costs.

UK Cheese Guild On returning to my shop, I immediately

put into action your 'pro-active selling' programme and increased cheese sales by £400 on the first day. Tremendous!

Capitalise on the two major differences between independent fine food retailers and the supermarkets: the best selection of quality cheese and staff who can talk intelligently to customers about them. You can increase cheese sales by as much as 17 per cent, we know many stores that have done just this and more after attending the Guild's invaluable cheese training course.

You can only achieve this increase with:• an exciting range of high quality artisan cheeses. • and professionally trained staff (including you) capable of

selling these cheeses.

What will you learn.• The five golden rules for increasing cheese sales• How to select the best cheeses and create the best counter• How to avoid bad quality cheese• How to sell proactively rather than reactively

Cheese dates for 2010Date VenueThurs Feb 18 London*Tues March 16 Wincanton, SomersetTues April 13 Stockport, ManchesterTues April 27 GlasgowWeds July 7 York

The Charcuterie GuildI learnt more in a morning about British

hams than in my previous five years in retailing.

This comment was made by one satisfied deli owner after attending this interesting and entertaining full days' training seminar. Following in the footsteps of the successful UK Cheese Guild training programme, this course tackles hams and charcuterie and is designed to help develop knowledge and build confidence. This course is a must for all retailers, buyers and those involved in the supply trade.

What you will learn:• The importance of the way the pig is reared in

determining quality• The various curing techniques• The difference between mass produced and artisan• The impact of tumbling, added water, dry and wet cured

and comminuted meats.• The best ranges to stock and the stories that

encourage sales.• To acquire skills in cutting, storing and selling

Charcuterie dates for 2010Date VenueWeds Feb 17 London*Weds March 10 Wincanton, SomersetMon April 12 Stockport, ManchesterMon April 26 GlasgowTues July 6 York

Six good reasons why you and your staff should attend these seminars:• Improve the quality of your cheese, hams and charcuterie• Reduce stock wastage• Increase sales

• Reduce staff turnover and increase motivation• Create better customer loyalty• Deliver a unique shopping experience

Avilton foods

January-February 2010 · Vol .11 Issue 142

Recipe Cards available

PureHeaven

from Devon

Contact Mary on 01225 812712 or v i s i t www.thedevoncreamcompany.com

Fresh tasting cream that lasts and lasts . . .

Lemon Creme Fraiche is a creamy and luxurious dessert topping, perfect for sponge cakes and brandy snap baskets and a light and scrumptious addition to Springtime menus. It may also be whipped and served as part of a trifle or your favourite dessert. Available in 12 x 170g fully recyclable jars.

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

Speciality Food Mag_1xx.pdf 16/12/2009 14:24:44

Stand Enquiries Ticket Hotline01934 73345601934 733433

stands@tasteofthewesttradeshow.co.uk tickets@tasteofthewesttradeshow.co.uk

tasteofthewesttradeshow.co.uk

FOOD

TS

EW

HTU

OS &catering

Sponsors and Supporters

19th – 20th April 2010 at Westpoint, ExeterMeeting the needs of food andfood service industries in the South West

sourceexhibition.co.uk

TRADEONLY

Vol.11 Issue 1 · January-February 2010 43

shelftalk products, packaging & promotions

Play the ‘provenance’ cardto ensure a cracking EasterBy MICK WHITWORTH

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REDITED With the choc-fest of Easter just round the corner, how can you make the most of the big seasonal selling opportunity – and

compete against all those supermarket three-for-two egg offers?

According to Jeremy Moore, MD of gift chocolate specialist House of Dorchester, it’s important to play the ‘provenance’ card where possible, just as you would with other fine foods in store. Look to stock chocolates with a strong back-story, whether that means ‘local’, ‘hand-made’ or ‘special ingredients’. “Tell customers the story behind the Easter chocolates you stock,” Moore advises, “and highlight the ones that have won awards.”

Aim to cover the widest possible age range by offering a decent spread of prices, product formats and packaging styles. “Our traditional Easter pictorial packs and tins appeal strongly to grandparents,” says

Moore, “So to appeal to a wider customer base, we always recommend some contemporary designs too, like caramel bunnies and Easter tiles. But don’t forget the adults who may simply want a box of grown-up chocolates.”

Think carefully about merchandising, not just in terms of the product selection but the height and accessibility of displays too. Should you have a display lower down so children can see the smaller eggs to buy for parents – or higher up so that they can’t reach them?

“Keep the Easter chocolates topped up, and freshen the display regularly,” says Moore. “Place some samples by the till and offer tasters of different chocolates – dark, milk, creamy, bitter, crisp, smooth.”

Good suppliers should be able to provide samples. And why not ask them to join you in sponsoring a local Easter egg hunt?

www.hodchoc.co.uk

Try to offer products to suit

all ages and styles

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REDITED • The Gourmet Candy Company’s Easter Buttons (65g) are new for 2010 as part of the Easter Collection from

distributor Cotswold Fayre. Handmade in Holland, the 5cm milk and white chocolate buttons are hand-decorated with tiny sugar jelly eggs and presented in a clear acetate box finished in with a

checked ribbon. Trade price is £1.98 per box, with a £3.30 RRP.

www.cotswold-fayre.co.uk

• Gemma Parker and Mike Hennessey at

Humble Cake in Suffolk are offering a classic home-baked and hand-decorated simnel cake (right) for this season. A layer of natural marzipan is melted into a moist, spice scented fruit cake to create a rich, almond flavoured cake, topped by a traditional caramelised marzipan surface. Humble Cake is selling a 6" round version at £12 and an 8” round at £20, with RRPs of £16 and £26 respectively.

www.humblecake.co.uk

• Hilton of London has the exclusive UK distribution deal for the classy red and gold Maxim’s egg from France, with its design inspired by the Art Nouveau style of Maxim’s restaurant. Each egg is filled with milk chocolate balls truffled with crunchy ‘feuillantine’ praliné, individually wrapped in a cello paper with a design similar to the egg. John Lewis and Peter Jones stores are currently selling Maxim’s eggs at £10.

0208 421 7191 www.maxims-sapp.com

• Master chocolatier Bill McCarrick of the Sir Hans Sloane Chocolate House in London has come up with a kit that will let keen foodies try luxury truffle-making in their own kitchens. The YourChocolate@Home kit contains all the necessary ingredients for a truffle – hollow shells, truffle centres and chocolate for dipping – made from Sir Hans Sloane’s 64% Venezuelan dark chocolate. Unlike most UK chocolatiers, McCarrick sources cocoa direct from plantations and produces his own award-winning couverture. YourChocolate@Home will be available from February, with an RRP of £25.

www.sirhanssloane.com

• The Shetland Fudge Company has launched a new range of handmade chocolates in time for Easter gifting. Peerie Nips – Shetland dialect for a wee dram – feature chocolate ‘shot glasses’ filled with ganache, favourite liqueurs and what Shetland Fudge calls “organic embellishments. Peerie Nips were reportedly described as “stunning” by celebrity chef Jean-Christophe Novelli on their launch at the Shetland Food Festival

sales@shetlandfudge.com

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REDITED • Cottage Delight has come up with 30 new lines for Easter 2010, ranging from a new Chocolate Shop and Sweet Shop for

kids (RRP £5.95) to the Springtime Family Favourites Tin (RRP £12.95), which includes a mini iced loaf tin cake, Easter spiced biscuits, handmade fudge, jelly beans and jelly babies. The company’s Easter egg collection (right) includes a new range of hand-crafted Belgian chocolate eggs (RRP £12.95) embedded with fillings including cranberry & blueberry, brazil nut & sultana and milk & white chocolate fudge.

www.cottagedelight.co.uk

• This new gift set from Bellevue Tea is a bundle of wallets bringing together its breakfast tea, Ceylon

black, Earl Grey, Sencha green and rooibos herbal tea. Each wallet contains six individually wrapped string & tag tea bags and is designed as an ideal gift for Mother’s Day. Trade price is £2.75 and it retails at £5.

07732 844 828 www.bellevue-tea.co.uk

• Family based business Casa de l’Oli has added four new individual oils to its range of extra virgin olive oils. The company produces all its flavoured oils by pressing fresh Arbequina olives with different fresh fruits, herbs or vegetables. Nothing is added after the pressing. Orange, wild herb,

green chilli and smoked garlic make up the range.

01394 420306 www.casadeloli.com

• A Winter Warmer apple juice has been launched by Chegworth Valley to “revitalise consumers on a cold day”. Small batches of apple varieties grown for their taste are

pressed and then infused with nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon to produce a spiced pure juice which can be chilled or heated for a winter treat.

01622 859272 www.chegworthvalley.com

• Fudge Kitchen will launch two new flavours and a new home fudge-making kit during its first appearance at Scotland’s Speciality Food Show this month (see page 37). The speciality fudge-maker is now supplying its creamy concoctions to delis, food halls and independent retailers across the UK.

01303 864400 www.fudgekitchen.co.uk

• My Chocolate Bar is a new chocolate company individually handcrafting truffles using Venezuelan chocolate, blended with local ingredients and infused with a variety of flavours. Madagascan vanilla, rose & raspberry liqueur and Caffe Macchiato with coffee roasted in Hampshire are just some of the varieties available. A variety of other chocolates are available at prices starting at £4.50.

01264 323973 www.mychocolatebar.

co.uk

• Pentic Price Ticketing has added the option of a chalkboard effect to its budget range of tickets. The original blank white version of its ticket shape is a cheaper alternative to its personalised tickets, but these are now available with a black chalkboard effect

on the reverse, creating a rustic look when used with white pens, which are also available from the company.

0208 461 9383 www.pentic.co.uk

• Food and drink distributor Pride of Place has added East Sussex-based cake and biscuit maker Kent & Fraser to its portfolio. Products available from the gluten-free bakery via Pride of Place now include lemon butter shortbread and Stilton & walnut biscuits – both Great Taste Awards gold winners in 2009.

01344 860636 www.aprideofplace.co.uk

44 January-February 2010 · Vol .11 Issue 1

shelftalk

Scotweigh, in partnership with Toshiba, will be demonstrating the latest Uni 7 counter-top scale series at Scotland’s Speciality Food Show in Glasgow this month (stand FH124). A long-standing specialist scales reseller for Toshiba Tec, Scotweigh’s owner Ian McVicar says: “The uni-7 counter top scale series provides a world-class scale at economy-class prices.” Seven different models are offered, from a standard counter-top scale right up to specialised models such as hanging scales and a price computing scale with printer for bakeries. Each has a space-saving, compact footprint with frontal cassette loading. The colour LCD screen gives crisp and clear images while the user friendly touch screen makes it easy to access information. Toshiba Tec also offers the Uni-7 series with an optional PC connection.

01324 611311 www.scotweigh.co.uk

Classic Foods has been set up to import the Shikar range of ‘guilt free snacks’ made by Hunter Foods, a Middle East-based snack specialist. Shikar poppadums are low in fat and high in protein as well as being gluten-free. Produced using lentil flour, the four flavours of poppadum are designed to accompany Indian cuisine, while Shikar corn poppatillas are described as a contemporary fusion snack where Indian poppadums meet Mexican tortillas. These are also available in four flavours. Both products are packed in resealable drums with a shelf life of 9-12 months.

01243 788338 sales@classic-foods.co.uk

Guilt-free snacking with Indian style

Counter-top scale on show in Glasgow

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REDITED Dorset-based artisan producer Chococo The Purbeck Chocolate Co

has created a range of handmade Easter chocolate gifts suitable for independents. Each egg in the range is handmade and hand-decorated using carenero bean chocolate, sourced from Venezuela, which is high in cocoa solids and low in sugar. These are packaged in boxes that have been designed with a different colour and window design on each face for maximum impact on shelf. The range includes milk and dark chocolate eggs studded with coloured chocolate spots outside and edible goods inside, such as assorted chocolate Easter shapes, dried fruits, nuts and chunks of honeycomb made with Dorset honey. Chococo is also offering a Dinosaur egg studded with mini dinosaurs and with ‘fossils’ inside, and bright pink real egg boxes filled with foil-wrapped eggs, each hiding a chocolate surprise.

01929 421777 www.chococo.co.uk

Hand-decorated eggs from Dorset

product news from Guild accredited suppliers

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REDITED

45Vol.11 Issue 1 · January-February 2010

shelftalkLooking for suppliers accredited

by the Guild of Fine Food? Follow the logo SU PPLIE

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REDITED

SU PPLIE

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REDITED Davenport’s Chocolates is launching its range of distinct chocolate Easter eggs, each crafted with antique artisan moulds, passed

down from two generations. Each Easter egg is moulded twice to give a thick, double layer of milk or dark chocolate and various chocolate treats can be found inside. The use of traditional techniques and cocoa butter on the surface gives the chocolate a high gloss. Eggs are available in five flavours: Signature collection, fudge mallow, gingers, chilli buttonettes and raspberry & rose. These eggs are

then decorated with subtle colours and abstract motifs to create what Davenports calls “a fusion of flair and tradition”.

07813 954368 www.

davenportschocolates.co.uk

Antique moulds produce beautiful Easter options

• Pure Flavour is launching a range of 10 seasonal ready-meals made with fresh, locally sourced vegetables, free range meat and fish from Marine Stewardship Council certified sustainable sources. Put together by Roux brothers-trained chefs

into a range of dishes suitable for all palates, the meals are blast frozen to preserve quality and flavour. The 350g portions have a RSP of £5.99 each.

07772 462 983 www.pureflavour.co.uk

• A range of four Indian-made ready-to-cook pastes is being launched in the UK by Purity Trading. Garlic paste adds flavour to curries, soups, pastas and vegetable dips or can be basted onto meats. Onion paste can be used in soups, while garlic & ginger paste is mainly used as a condiment. A

pungent, aromatic ginger paste completes the range.

0845 127 7400 info@currytree.co.uk

• Verjuice UK is the sole importer of South African Verjuice, a versatile flavour enhancer produced from a blend of unripe red and white noble grape varieties. It is a premium alternative to cooking with vinegar, lemon juice or white wine and, according to Verjuice UK, is becoming an indispensable ingredient to have in the kitchen. Supplied in cases of 6 x 750ml bottles, it

wholesales at £8.74 per bottle (RRP £13.99). 0800 567 0128 www.verjuice.co.uk

• Dairy ice cream producer Yummy Yorkshire has linked up with coffee distributor Cooper’s Coffee to create a smooth ice cream with a fresh ground coffee taste. It’s made using an award-winning blend of Fairtrade espresso coffee from Cooper’s and contains no additional flavourings.

01226 762551 www.yorkshiremilk.co.uk

• London-based Tiny Teas has launched a premium range of loose-leaf teas that it says offer consumers a quality alternative to mass market versions. Priced from £2.69 for 50g, the teas come in a range of single estate and blended varieties, from traditional English Breakfast through to new chilli mango and apple

crumble blends. 0208 621 0034 www.tinyteas.co.uk

• Vallecoppa has released its new harvest extra virgin olive oil, picked, pressed and bottled in Italy in the past few months. The single variety Leccino has a fruity flavour with a peppery finish. Last year the oil picked up a Great Taste Award for its fresh flavour.

0039 340 854 3759 info@vallecoppa.com

Premium option for liquorice loversWith the liquorice market worth £50m and growing faster than the wider confectionery category, Bon Bon’s, the supplier of traditional, hand-packed sweets, has launched a new speciality gourmet range specifically for independents.

The company says it has sourced 18 flavours of high quality liquorice from Holland – seen by many as the home of liquorice – and the Abruzzo region of Italy.

They range from Dutch soft chewing liquorice through to more exotic varieties, such as minty ‘School Chalks’ and Zout, an authentic Dutch Liquorice made with salmiac salt.

Liquorice was already among Bon Bon’s best sellers, but co-owners Peter Julian and Mark Rowntree say there is a “significant and un-met consumer need” for more speciality products.

“There are no other ranges that are packaged in the same way and offer the provenance arrived at by Dutch liquorice,” Peter Julian told FFD. “The primary choice up to now has been factory-produced bags.”

Julian says consumers have struggled

to find quality liquorice, while retailers have been selling products at anything up to 70% below the potential price for a real premium liquorice.

The new Bon Bon’s range – hand-packed in tubs designed to appeal to “a broad spectrum of liquorice lovers” – retails at around £3.50. It is being pitched as an indulgent personal treat or an inexpensive gift.

Bon Bon’s is also providing free tasting notes and tasting samples and a free display stand to help retailers maximise sales.

01937 584600 www.bonbons.co.uk

v100g

No MSG

No Chemical Preservatives

No Artificial Colours

No Gluten

Ingredients:

Fried Onion Paste

Nutrition Facts Per 100g

e t r i

Ready to Cook

FriedOnion

Paste

Aberfeldy Oatmeal Ltd p35Anthony Rowcliffe & Son Ltd p22Bringing Home the Bacon p30Burbush Penrith Ltd p39Carron Lodge Cheese Ltd p22Casa De l'Oli p44Chapman's Finest Fishcakes p33Chegworth Valley Juices p44Cherizena Coffee Beans Limited p27Chococo p44Davenport's Chocolates p45The Devon Creamery p42Fudge Kitchen Ltd p44Grumpy Mule Distinctive Coffee p27Gurkha Fine Foods p30H B Ingredients Limited p46Infinity Foods Ltd p20Innavisions Limited p47Interprofession du Gruyère p17Jardine Lloyd Thompson p46Keylink Ltd p46Kingscroft Logistics Ltd p36Mantinga UK Ltd p10Medallion Chilled Foods p18My Chocolate Bar p44Olives Direct Ltd p24Olives Et Al Limited p8Parkers Packaging p47Pride of Place Ltd p44Pure Flavour p45Silver and Green of Lakeland Ltd p36Suma Wholefoods p39The Bellevue Tea Co Ltd p44The Cornish Cheese Co Limited p22The Curry Tree p44The Hawkshead Relish Company Ltd p24The Inkreadible Label Company p47The Spencerfield Spirit Co. Ltd. p36The Tracklement Company Ltd. p16Tiny Teas Ltd p44Tyrrells Potato Chips Ltd p48Vallecoppa Ltd p45Verjuice p45Verner Wheelock Associates Ltd p47Yummy Yorkshire Ice Cream Company p45Zumo Zest p46

SU PPLIE

R

ACC

REDITED

in this issue...

January-February 2010 · Vol .11 Issue 146

BAKING EQUIPMENT BOILERS BOTTLES & JARS BUSINESSES FOR SALE CLOTHING COLD TRANSPORT DESIGN CONSULTANTS EPOS TECHNOLOGY EXHIBITION EQUIPMENT FOOD PROCESSING EQUIPMENT HYGIENE PRODUCTS INGREDIENTS INSURANCE LABEL SUPPLIERS LEGAL SERVICES PACKAGING PHOTOGRAPHY RECRUITMENT REFRIGERATION SECURITY SHOPFITTING & DESIGN SUNDRIES TICKETING TRAINING VEHICLE LEASING WANTED WEB DESIGN BAKING EQUIPMENT BOILERS BOTTLES & JARS BUSINESSES FOR SALE CLOTHING COLD TRANSPORT DESIGN CONSULTANTS EPOS TECHNOLOGY EXHIBITION EQUIPMENT FOOD PROCESSING EQUIPMENT HYGIENE PRODUCTS INGREDIENTS INSURANCE LABEL SUPPLIERS LEGAL

• labelling

Do you make PIES?We make PIE MACHINESVisit www.johnhuntbolton.co.uk

TO SEE OUR RANGE OF MACHINES, PLUS

VIDEO CLIPS OF THE MACHINES IN OPERATION

OR CALL + 44 (0) 1204 521831 / 532798

OR FAX + 44 (0) 1204 527306

OR EMAIL spencer@johnhuntbolton.co.uk

JOHN HUNT (Bolton) LtdRasbottom St, Bolton, England BL3 5BZ

� Confectionery andGift Packaging

� Chocolate � Ingredients

� Griottines andFramboisines

� Machinery andDisplay Units

Suppliers of:

www.keylink.org Tel: 0114 245 5400

• baking equipment • bottles & jars • ingredients

• food processing machinery • ingredients

• bottles & jars • food photography • ingredients • hygeine / safety products

• insurance

Freshness & Flavour sealed in icePure, Chilled or Frozen Lemon, Lime & Orange Zest & Juicescan be supplied as non-organic, organic or wax-freeProduced to order by FA Young Farm Produce LtdTimsbury, Bath, Somerset BA2 0FQ EnglandT: 00 44 (0)1761 470523 F: 00 44 (0)1761 471081E: info@zumozest.com w: www.zumozest.com

• refrigeration• baking equipment

Suppliers of equipment for artisan producers of fruit juices, wines, ciders and oils. Our wide range extends from extraction processes to filtration, bottling, sealing and labelling.

Tel: 01404 892100Fax: 01404 890263Email: info@vigoltd.comwww.vigoltd.com

• food processing machinery • ingredients• food processing machinery

Need a new van?Find it in

digest

classified

Do you make PIES?We make PIE MACHINESVisit www.johnhuntbolton.co.uk

TO SEE OUR RANGE OF MACHINES, PLUS

VIDEO CLIPS OF THE MACHINES IN OPERATION

OR CALL + 44 (0) 1204 521831 / 532798

OR FAX + 44 (0) 1204 527306

OR EMAIL spencer@johnhuntbolton.co.uk

JOHN HUNT (Bolton) LtdRasbottom St, Bolton, England BL3 5BZ

E: sales@machines4food.co.uk

Unit 40, Second Avenue,Westfield Trading Estate,

Midsomer Norton,Somerset BA3 4BH

Tel: 00 44 (0) 1761 410345Fax: 00 44 (0) 1761 410332

www.machines4food.co.uk

Suppliers of newand top

quality factoryreconditioned

ProcessingEquipment forall types and

sizes ofproduction lines

HSF F

HS French Flint Ltd

Speciality Glassware for the more discerning producer.

Unit 4G, The Leathermarket, Weston Street, London SE1 3ERTel: 020 7407 3200 Fax: 020 7407 5877

www.FrenchFlint.com

Tel no: 01404 892100Fax no: 01404 890263Email: info@vigoltd.comwww.vigoltd.com

Suppliers of equipment for artisan producers of fruit juices, wines, ciders and oils. Our wide range extends from extraction processes to filtration, bottling and sealing.

www.bakeryequipment.co.uk

103 London Road, Leicester LE2 0PF

See our extensive rangeof bakery and food

processing equipment at

Contact us at: 0116 254 2121or email

sales@bakeryequipment.co.ukD T Saunders Ltd

Vol.11 Issue 11 · January-February 2010 47

BAKING EQUIPMENT BOILERS BOTTLES & JARS BUSINESSES FOR SALE CLOTHING COLD TRANSPORT DESIGN CONSULTANTS EPOS TECHNOLOGY EXHIBITION EQUIPMENT FOOD PROCESSING EQUIPMENT HYGIENE PRODUCTS INGREDIENTS INSURANCE LABEL SUPPLIERS LEGAL SERVICES PACKAGING PHOTOGRAPHY RECRUITMENT REFRIGERATION SECURITY SHOPFITTING & DESIGN SUNDRIES TICKETING TRAINING VEHICLE LEASING WANTED WEB DESIGN BAKING EQUIPMENT BOILERS BOTTLES & JARS BUSINESSES FOR SALE CLOTHING COLD TRANSPORT DESIGN CONSULTANTS EPOS TECHNOLOGY EXHIBITION EQUIPMENT FOOD PROCESSING EQUIPMENT HYGIENE PRODUCTS INGREDIENTS INSURANCE LABEL SUPPLIERS LEGAL

• refrigeration

• sundries

• labelling • packaging • safety / hygeine products

• insurance• labelling • refrigeration

• ingredients • packaging • shopfitting • sundries

• ingredients • refrigeration • packaging

• refrigeration

Heat seal machines for pots, bottles, trays and ALL types of packagingLow cost hand operated, semi automatic and fully automated systemsSpecialist suppliers to small & medium sized food companies

Seal-it-Systems (SIS) LtdTel: +44(0)1254 239619Email: info@seal-it-systems.co.ukWeb: www.seal-it-systems.co.uk

SiSSeal-it-Systems

• training

Call our sales team on 01963 824464 today to discuss the right classified heading for your equipment, ingredients or services

Made by: Norfolk & Suffolk

Speciality Foods, NR34 8NY. Tel: 01 986 780 902

Once opened, store at

1 - 5˚C. Consume within 6 weeks .

See Tag for bbe & Lot No.

Warning: Contains Mustard

Honey & Lavender

MustardIngredientsWater, Mustard (26%),

Gram Flour, Honey (10%), Vinegar,

Demerera Sugar,Lavender Flowers (1%)35g net wt .

71756 Inkreadible Must Out 3/6/09 11:59 am Page 6

• Labels and Swing Tags for food producers, delicatessens, farmshops, independent

retailers, cafes, foodhalls, award winners...

• Extensive range of cutters• Personal and Professional –

excellent customer care• Quick turnaround

and reliable delivery

Serving the food and drink industry since 1980

Ring us on Freephone 0800 096 2720

www.inkreadible.comsales@inkreadible.com

Do your labels lack lustre? Find something flashier in

digest

Don’t leave advertisers in the dark – tell them you saw them in

digest

01963 824464

January-February 2010 · Vol .11 Issue 146

BAKING EQUIPMENT BOILERS BOTTLES & JARS BUSINESSES FOR SALE CLOTHING COLD TRANSPORT DESIGN CONSULTANTS EPOS TECHNOLOGY EXHIBITION EQUIPMENT FOOD PROCESSING EQUIPMENT HYGIENE PRODUCTS INGREDIENTS INSURANCE LABEL SUPPLIERS LEGAL SERVICES PACKAGING PHOTOGRAPHY RECRUITMENT REFRIGERATION SECURITY SHOPFITTING & DESIGN SUNDRIES TICKETING TRAINING VEHICLE LEASING WANTED WEB DESIGN BAKING EQUIPMENT BOILERS BOTTLES & JARS BUSINESSES FOR SALE CLOTHING COLD TRANSPORT DESIGN CONSULTANTS EPOS TECHNOLOGY EXHIBITION EQUIPMENT FOOD PROCESSING EQUIPMENT HYGIENE PRODUCTS INGREDIENTS INSURANCE LABEL SUPPLIERS LEGAL

• labelling

Do you make PIES?We make PIE MACHINESVisit www.johnhuntbolton.co.uk

TO SEE OUR RANGE OF MACHINES, PLUS

VIDEO CLIPS OF THE MACHINES IN OPERATION

OR CALL + 44 (0) 1204 521831 / 532798

OR FAX + 44 (0) 1204 527306

OR EMAIL spencer@johnhuntbolton.co.uk

JOHN HUNT (Bolton) LtdRasbottom St, Bolton, England BL3 5BZ

� Confectionery andGift Packaging

� Chocolate � Ingredients

� Griottines andFramboisines

� Machinery andDisplay Units

Suppliers of:

www.keylink.org Tel: 0114 245 5400

• baking equipment • bottles & jars • ingredients

• food processing machinery • ingredients

• bottles & jars • food photography • ingredients • hygeine / safety products

• insurance

Freshness & Flavour sealed in icePure, Chilled or Frozen Lemon, Lime & Orange Zest & Juicescan be supplied as non-organic, organic or wax-freeProduced to order by FA Young Farm Produce LtdTimsbury, Bath, Somerset BA2 0FQ EnglandT: 00 44 (0)1761 470523 F: 00 44 (0)1761 471081E: info@zumozest.com w: www.zumozest.com

• refrigeration• baking equipment

Suppliers of equipment for artisan producers of fruit juices, wines, ciders and oils. Our wide range extends from extraction processes to filtration, bottling, sealing and labelling.

Tel: 01404 892100Fax: 01404 890263Email: info@vigoltd.comwww.vigoltd.com

• food processing machinery • ingredients• food processing machinery

Need a new van?Find it in

digest

classified

Do you make PIES?We make PIE MACHINESVisit www.johnhuntbolton.co.uk

TO SEE OUR RANGE OF MACHINES, PLUS

VIDEO CLIPS OF THE MACHINES IN OPERATION

OR CALL + 44 (0) 1204 521831 / 532798

OR FAX + 44 (0) 1204 527306

OR EMAIL spencer@johnhuntbolton.co.uk

JOHN HUNT (Bolton) LtdRasbottom St, Bolton, England BL3 5BZ

E: sales@machines4food.co.uk

Unit 40, Second Avenue,Westfield Trading Estate,

Midsomer Norton,Somerset BA3 4BH

Tel: 00 44 (0) 1761 410345Fax: 00 44 (0) 1761 410332

www.machines4food.co.uk

Suppliers of newand top

quality factoryreconditioned

ProcessingEquipment forall types and

sizes ofproduction lines

HSF F

HS French Flint Ltd

Speciality Glassware for the more discerning producer.

Unit 4G, The Leathermarket, Weston Street, London SE1 3ERTel: 020 7407 3200 Fax: 020 7407 5877

www.FrenchFlint.com

Tel no: 01404 892100Fax no: 01404 890263Email: info@vigoltd.comwww.vigoltd.com

Suppliers of equipment for artisan producers of fruit juices, wines, ciders and oils. Our wide range extends from extraction processes to filtration, bottling and sealing.

www.bakeryequipment.co.uk

103 London Road, Leicester LE2 0PF

See our extensive rangeof bakery and food

processing equipment at

Contact us at: 0116 254 2121or email

sales@bakeryequipment.co.ukD T Saunders Ltd

Vol.11 Issue 11 · January-February 2010 47

BAKING EQUIPMENT BOILERS BOTTLES & JARS BUSINESSES FOR SALE CLOTHING COLD TRANSPORT DESIGN CONSULTANTS EPOS TECHNOLOGY EXHIBITION EQUIPMENT FOOD PROCESSING EQUIPMENT HYGIENE PRODUCTS INGREDIENTS INSURANCE LABEL SUPPLIERS LEGAL SERVICES PACKAGING PHOTOGRAPHY RECRUITMENT REFRIGERATION SECURITY SHOPFITTING & DESIGN SUNDRIES TICKETING TRAINING VEHICLE LEASING WANTED WEB DESIGN BAKING EQUIPMENT BOILERS BOTTLES & JARS BUSINESSES FOR SALE CLOTHING COLD TRANSPORT DESIGN CONSULTANTS EPOS TECHNOLOGY EXHIBITION EQUIPMENT FOOD PROCESSING EQUIPMENT HYGIENE PRODUCTS INGREDIENTS INSURANCE LABEL SUPPLIERS LEGAL

• refrigeration

• sundries

• labelling • packaging • safety / hygeine products

• insurance• labelling • refrigeration

• ingredients • packaging • shopfitting • sundries

• ingredients • refrigeration • packaging

• refrigeration

Heat seal machines for pots, bottles, trays and ALL types of packagingLow cost hand operated, semi automatic and fully automated systemsSpecialist suppliers to small & medium sized food companies

Seal-it-Systems (SIS) LtdTel: +44(0)1254 239619Email: info@seal-it-systems.co.ukWeb: www.seal-it-systems.co.uk

SiSSeal-it-Systems

• training

Call our sales team on 01963 824464 today to discuss the right classified heading for your equipment, ingredients or services

Made by: Norfolk & Suffolk

Speciality Foods, NR34 8NY. Tel: 01 986 780 902

Once opened, store at

1 - 5˚C. Consume within 6 weeks .

See Tag for bbe & Lot No.

Warning: Contains Mustard

Honey & Lavender

MustardIngredientsWater, Mustard (26%),

Gram Flour, Honey (10%), Vinegar,

Demerera Sugar,Lavender Flowers (1%)35g net wt .

71756 Inkreadible Must Out 3/6/09 11:59 am Page 6

• Labels and Swing Tags for food producers, delicatessens, farmshops, independent

retailers, cafes, foodhalls, award winners...

• Extensive range of cutters• Personal and Professional –

excellent customer care• Quick turnaround

and reliable delivery

Serving the food and drink industry since 1980

Ring us on Freephone 0800 096 2720

www.inkreadible.comsales@inkreadible.com

Do your labels lack lustre? Find something flashier in

digest

Don’t leave advertisers in the dark – tell them you saw them in

digest

01963 824464

January-February 2010 · Vol .11 Issue 148