Anila's Authentic Sauces to attend the Prince of Wales' Eco-Festival

Anila’s Authentic Sauces has been chosen as an exemplary local food business to attend a farmers’ market at ‘A Garden Party to Make a Difference’, 8 -19 September, in the historic gardens of Marlborough, Lancaster and Clarence Houses and along the Mall in London.

The 12-day festival is part of the national Start initiative launched in February by The Prince of Wales, and will play host to spectacular installations, concerts, fashion demonstrations, food, debates, gardening, music and comedy by many household names, but all sharing the single theme of sustainability. A full line-up can be viewed at http://www.startgardenparty.co.uk/

The farmers’ market will be centre stage at the food area of the show, hosted by Kate Humble, amidst cookery demos by celebrity and local chefs. Anila Vaghela, who operates Anila’s Authentic Sauces based in Walton-on-Thames and Hounslow will be one of the producers attending the farmers’ market on September 9th and 10th and will be selling her range of curry sauces, pickles, chutneys and dips.

Laura Waterton of FARMA, which represents farmers’ markets across the UK and are supporters of Start, commented, “FARMA is delighted to be working with some excellent local food and craft producers from farmers’ markets across the South of England at such a high profile event as A Garden Party to Make a Difference. We are thrilled that Anila’s Authentic Sauces are able to be part of the area as it will give them the opportunity to showcase their fantastic food to a great audience.”

http://www.anilassauces.com/

Regional and Speciality Food and Drink Market boosts visitor numbers

Latest statistics have revealed that a monthly speciality food and drink market brings up to 10 per cent more visitors to the heart of a city.

Regional food organisation East Midlands Fine Foods has been running a regular Regional and Speciality Food and Drink Market in the Old Market Square, Nottingham, since April 2007 in conjunction with Nottingham City Council.

The market is the chance for producers and suppliers of food and drink from across the East Midlands to sell direct to the public, and has built up a loyal following of customers.

Now statistics have revealed that footfall to the Old Market Square goes up by between 7 and 10 per cent on market days, representing an extra 3,000 to 5,000 visitors to the city centre.

“The positive relationship between East Midlands Fine Foods and Nottingham City Council has helped to create a vibrant and popular monthly market which attracts visitors to the heart of the city,” said Councillor David Trimble, portfolio holder for leisure, culture and customers at Nottingham City Council.

“The Regional and Speciality Food and Drink Market has been a great asset to Nottingham, and very much welcomed by shoppers, which is reflected in our latest statistics on visitor numbers to the Old Market Square.”

As well as the Nottingham market, which takes place on the third Friday and Saturday of each month, East Midlands Fine Foods organises a number of speciality food and drink markets across the region at specific events, such as the Burghley Game and Country Fair near Stamford.

The Nottingham event features around 30 stalls from Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland selling a wide variety of produce, including meat, cheese, condiments, cakes, fruit and vegetables, ethnic snacks and other items.

“Speciality food markets continue to be very popular with shoppers,” said Briony Clarke, operations manager of business support organisation The Food and Drink Forum, which runs East Midlands Fine Foods.

“Our members and associated stall holders produce some of the finest regional and speciality food and drink from across the East Midlands, and we’re delighted to see that this monthly event in Nottingham city centre is such a draw for the public.

“As one of the largest food and drink organisations in the region, we have links to a wide variety of food and drink producers, so between us and the council we’ve been able to run a successful regular event.”

East Midlands Fine Foods provides a range of focused support and assistance to small and medium-sized speciality food and drink producers in the region, including regular exhibiting and selling opportunities. It is based at Southglade Food Park, Nottingham.

http://www.foodanddrinkforum.co.uk/

Food and Drink Forum survey provides snapshot of industry in the East Midlands

A snapshot of the food and drink sector in the East Midlands has revealed the impact that the current economic climate is having on firms working in the region in the industry.

The food and drink sector is one of four priority sectors of the East Midlands – contributing 17.5% GDP (gross income) to the region. It is around twice as important in the East Midlands economy as it is nationally.

Now a survey carried out by The Food and Drink Forum - one of the region’s largest organisations offering business support to the sector - has revealed how the sector is being affected.

The majority of food manufacturing firms questioned at the Food and Drink Forum’s annual general meeting said that the economic situation was impacting on business in some way – both positively and negatively.

Cash flow difficulties, volatility in markets, reduced orders from customers, and the public cutting back on spending were some of the problems listed by companies.

But for others, the economic climate had given them new opportunities to innovate, vie with competitors and to shine, as well as the opportunity to discover new markets for their products.

The majority of those questioned reported that things were going well, despite the recession that the country has experienced, and none were undertaking or threatening redundancies.

“The Food and Drink Forum AGM and networking supper offered the perfect opportunity for us to ask as many East Midlands food manufacturers as possible how things were going and it proved to be a very interesting and valuable experience,” said Food and Drink Forum managing director Fiona Anderson. “The majority of firms questioned said that the current economic climate was affecting business – although for some it was business as usual. The effects varied enormously from negative ones such as losing orders and difficulties accessing finance to very positive ones like doors being opened to new markets and the opportunity to invest in new innovations.

“Overall the findings revealed that the majority of firms are coping well, and that they are planning for a robust future with investment in new product development, capital expenditure on plant, skills training and development.”

Other key findings of the survey were:

• Those who had approached banks for finance reported more stringent terms and increased demands for security.

• There had been lower demand for products from some sectors, such as pubs.

• A handheld snack producer reported that fewer corporate events had impacted on business.

• Companies had introduced stricter terms for payment for their customers.

The firms questioned ranged from a home-run business operated by two people up to a company with a £5.5m turnover.

More than 150 delegates attended the annual general meeting and networking supper of the Food and Drink Forum at Kelham Hall, near Newark. They included food and drink business owners, employees of companies associated with the sector, as well as others linked to the industry in the region.

The Food and Drink Forum, which is based in the Business Centre at Southglade Food Park, Nottingham, was launched in 1998 as a not-for-profit membership-led organisation to stimulate and support the sustainable growth and development of the food and drink industry in the East Midlands.

“The Food and Drink Forum’s links with firms working in the food and drink sector in the East Midlands gives us a unique insight into the challenges the sector faces, its needs, and trends in the industry,” said Fiona Anderson. “This snapshot has provided us with valuable information about how firms in the sector are faring and ways that we can help them develop in the future.”

For more information visit www.foodanddrinkforum.co.uk or call 0115 9758810.

Design-a-sausage competition winners announced at Croots Farm Shop

Two new sausages designed by customers have gone on sale at Croots Farm Shop & Kitchen this week as part of National Sausage Week.


Buck in the Park – a venison sausage marinated in stout with garlic and redcurrants – and Ketchup Sausage – a pork-based banger flavoured with red sauce - were chosen as the winners in a design-a-sausage competition run by Croots Farm Shop during British Food Fortnight, which ran from September 19th to October 4th.

Customer Mary Smith, from Holbrook, created the Buck in the Park flavour, while four-year-old Berty Jackson, from Belper, was chosen as the winner in the children’s competition for his idea of combining pork and ketchup to make his ideal banger.

“We had some fantastic flavours suggested, with almost 50 entries in our design-a-sausage competition,” said Steve Croot, who runs Croots Farm Shop at Wirksworth Road, Duffield. “Customers were really imaginative with their ideas.”

The winning sausages are taking centre stage during National Sausage Week, which runs from November 2nd to 8th. Croots will also be staging a Sausage Festival on Saturday November 7th where a number of its sausages will be available for sampling and tasting.

The farm shop has become renowned for its bangers, which are made on the premises by Croots’ in-house butchers using free range pork from Packington Pork, near Burton-upon-Trent. The shop sold more than 20,000 lbs of sausages in its first year after opening in June 2008.

It now has a range of around 30 different flavours, although not all are on sale at the same time. Earlier this year it won a gold star Great Taste Award for its black pudding sausage at the ‘Oscars’ of the food industry.

Mary, pictured, won a £25 Croots voucher, while Berty picked up a £25 Toys R Us voucher.

Design-a-sausage competition at Croots Farm Shop to mark British Food Fortnight

Sausage fans are being invited to conjure up their fantasy flavour for a competition being run by Derbyshire farm shop Croots as part of British Food Fortnight.

Croots Farm Shop & Kitchen is running a sausage competition throughout British Food Fortnight from September 19th to October 4th and is asking customers to design a banger.

The winning sausages will be made by the in-house butchers at Croots and will take centre stage during British Sausage Week celebrations at the Duffield farm shop during November.

“Croots is becoming legendary for its sausages now, so we thought British Food Fortnight would be the perfect time to ask our customers to devise their own favourite flavours,” said Steve Croot, who runs Croots.

“Our butchers have been pretty creative so far, with our range including flavours like pork, leek and Roquefort cheese, and chilli and chocolate. In fact, we now have around 30 different flavours of sausages in our range, although they’re not all on sale at the same time.

“We recently won a gold star Great Taste Award for our black pudding sausage, but now it’s the turn of our customers to come up with some really stunning suggestions for flavours.”

Croots sources the free range pork for its sausages from Packington Pork, near Burton-upon-Trent, and makes its own bangers at the farm shop. The shop sold more than 20,000 lbs of sausages in its first year after opening in June 2008.

Entry to the sausage competition is free, and there are categories for 12 years of age and under, and for adults. The winner of the children’s category will receive £25 Toys R Us vouchers, and the winner of the adult category will receive a £25 Croots voucher.

Competition entry forms will be available at Croots at Farnah House Farm, Wirksworth Road, Duffield, during British Food Fortnight from September 19th to October 4th.

Now in its eighth year, British Food Fortnight is the biggest national celebration of the diverse and delicious range of food that Britain produces.

Croots Farm Shop also plans to have a special British Food Fortnight menu during the event. Visit http://www.croots.co.uk/


Ends