Speciality Bites from Paul Hargreaves of Cotswold Fayre

It really does seem that we are all heading into this summer in a much more positive frame of mind than last year.  All the farm shop, deli and food hall retailers I talked to in the first quarter of 2012 had a much better start to the year than last year, and many said it was the best since 2009.  So spirits are high heading into the summer!  So what can we do in our stores to maximise sales during this busy summer period?

To say the obvious first, it is a big British Year and many producers are making special products to cash in on the Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics  - yes they will be the ones with the Union Flag all over them!  Most definitely a bank of products like this will make an eye-catching display, and certainly most speciality retailers should do this, and why not put up some Union Flag bunting as well and draw attention to all the British cheese and meat that you sell. (more…)

It is a long time since I have been to the Balkans - too long in fact! The last time was just up the road from here in Kosovo (then part of Serbia) and war was breaking out all over the former Yugoslavia just as I was leaving, which was a little awkward. This part of Europe has within it some hidden gems, one of which is Macedonia, which is where I am writing from now. I am here to spend some a few days with our Macedonian supplier - Pelagonia, whose products are gaining a increased following in the UK, only 3 months after we launched in January. In fact there are a few aspects of this embryonic business that are an example to us and that we can learn from.

The products themselves are absolutely delicious by the way - see http://bit.ly/IMjIoP for more information. It is a tight range in attractive jars and all 6 products are very typical Macedonian products, unlikely to be found anywhere else. (more…)

Well, the Grocer confirmed in this week’s issue what I had first published the week before, that the wife of Waitrose CEO, Mark Price, has been the director of a business that has been treating food suppliers appalling for years at Plant and Harvest in High Wycombe.  Her company never once paid their invoices on time, frequently taking over 90, and finally went into administration just before last Christmas - at the time of year when they had most stock in the shop.  This is, of course, the best way of gaining most free stock from their suppliers, whom they now won’t be paying.

To see £3,500 going down the pan like this is frustrating to say the least.  Even more so that the site is still trading as Plant & Harvest, simply under a different limited company name.  The shares of the new company are owned in entirety, by a 76 year-old gardener, (more…)