Thursday, 10 November 2022
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Le Beaujolais Est Arrivé!
Beaujolais Nouveau is all about festival and fun, and Wickhams are delighted to be inviting consumers to join the celebration by offering two nouveau wines and an English nouveau. All are available to pre order now, for delivery by 17th November. The purchase of nouveau wine from Wickhams also gives customers a free place at an online event on the evening of Thursday 17th November to taste the fruits of the 2022 harvest together.
Beaujolais Nouveau 2022, Domaine Bel Avenir
£13.33 Single Bottle £12.00 Any 6 Mix
(if purchased as part of the Any 6 mix they are honouring the 2020 price which is just £12 per bottle.)
Beaujolais Nouveau 2022, Domaine de Mont Joly
£15.50 Single Bottle £13.95 Any 6 Mix
Sharpham New Release 2022
£14.00 Single Bottle £12.60 Any 6 Mix
Always a champion of English wine, Wickhams are also offering the fast and fun new release from Sandridge Barton, the home of Sharpham Wine.
Wickhams offers over 250 wines and spirits, including individual bottles as well as curated cases, encouraging customers to try new varieties, all at accessible price points. By building close working relationships with winemakers they are able to reduce the length of the supply chain to give better quality at a lower price whilst also using 100 % recyclable packaging.
Delivery is available to mainland UK from a centrally located Mansfield warehouse allowing the whole of the UK to be serviced with fast deliveries. Orders over £40 are shipped free of charge.
For more information about Wickhams' products and to keep up to date with their events, visit www.wickhamwine.co.uk. You can also follow them on Facebook and Instagram @wickhamwine.
Time to lay some in for Christmas? we think so!
Wednesday, 9 November 2022
That's Christmas: Christmas Gifts for the Cheese Lovers in Your Life
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That's Christmas: Love Tyrells Crisp? Then you'll really love them o...
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Freddie's Farm wins Hit Channel 4 TV show Aldi's Next Big Thing
 |
| Charlie & Laura making their pitch |
Their dried fruit snacks for kids are made with only British produce, as much as possible from their own orchards and fields in Kent –and are in stores nationwide from now on.
Hearts melted as the nation was given an insight into Charlie and Laurie’s life at Bramley Mount Farm and their son Freddie, 6, after whom the snacks are named, and his sister, Ottie, 3.
In the show, which is hosted by Anita Rani, of Countryfile, and Chris Bavin, of Britain's Best Home Cook, hopeful suppliers compete for a space on Aldi’s shelves, before Julie Ashfield, Managing Director of Buying at Aldi UK, decides on the winner. Last night was the turn of healthy and wholesome food and drink producers and Freddie’s Farm fought off tough competition from manufacturers of fava bean snacks, kimchi, and even camel milk, to secure a space on Aldi’s shelves.
Charlie and Laurie impressed from the off with the taste of their snacks, paper packaging, as well as health credentials.
Co-founder, Laurie Fermor explains how the healthy snacks came about: “When Freddie [now 6] was little, we didn’t like the snacks that were out there in the market so we came up with Freddie’s Farm. The drying process has been perfected over a long time so it’s quite special. We try to keep the flavours you get in raw fruit and veg. As a result, we have lower free sugars, which help prevent kids getting sugar highs and crashes, which we certainly like to avoid with our two at all costs.”
With everything grown, dried and packed within metres of the couple’s home, the carbon footprint also appealed to Aldi, which has tough sustainability targets and has been a carbon neutral business since 2019. However, to secure the contract the small business had to scale up significantly to meet the order of 325,000 packs – more than 10 times bigger than their previous biggest order.
Viewers watched with anticipation as Charlie and Laurie discussed the challenges such a huge order would create. Not only does it depend on a good harvest, but the couple need to wait 4-6 weeks for the unique paper packaging to arrive, and with their current machinery would need to be packing for 16 days straight to pack enough for Aldi’s order alone – a problem that could only be fixed by purchasing expensive new machinery.
However, Julie decided to take a risk on the Kent farmers. And it’s a risk that’s paid off as the product is available from today (4th November) in Aldi stores nationwide.
Charlie Fermor, Co-founder, Freddie’s Farm, says: “It’s just been such a long time getting to this point. I started the journey as a student studying agriculture at Reading University. I took such a risk when I invested in our unique dehydrating machine. Then with the pandemic happening just as business was taking off, at one point we thought we’d never get here. Actually during the show we’d convinced ourselves we hadn’t won, but when Julie announced our name it was crazy. We can’t be happier, and it was so exciting to tell the kids – we can’t wait to get them down to an Aldi store to see it on shelf now!”
Julie Ashfield, MD of Buying at Aldi UK, says: “It’s a fantastic product. It just ticks every single box. It’s made in Britain by British farmers, using British produce. It’s a healthy snack that I’d be happy to give to my children.”
The multi-category competition is part of Aldi’s ongoing commitment to locally sourced products. Aldi has pledged to prioritise home-grown suppliers as it works towards spending an additional £3.5 billion a year with British businesses by the end of 2025.
Freddie’s Farm dried fruit snacks are available in stores now, but shoppers need to get in quick to get a chance to try, as with all Specialbuys, once they're gone, they're gone!
Devon Stands Out in World Cheese Awards
The biggest 'cheese-only' competition in the world received a record-breaking 4,434 entries from 42 countries, as artisan cheeses were delivered by boat, truck, train and plane.
The entries were blind-tasted by the most astute palates of cheese experts, food writers and buyers to determine if they were worthy of a Bronze, Silver, Gold or Super Gold award.
Rising to the top of the 4,000 entries, Ticklemore's Devon Blue from Totnes came eighth in the world, outperforming each and every every other blue cheese, securing a phenomenal Super Gold status. This is a clear signal for an outstanding cheese that has met rigorous judging criteria for a flawless product.
Sharpham Dairy won Gold for its Ticklemore cheese, which is a goat's milk cheese with a firm flinty texture featuring hints of lemon and herbs. Also, their Camembert cheese created to celebrate Sharpham Dairy's 40th anniversary last year, won a Silver award.
Sharpham Dairy's Ticklemore also recently won its category of 'Best Hard Cheese' in the Great British Food Awards, which represent the very best of modern British foods. The category was judged by Adrian Boswell, the Senior Buyer of Fresh Food at Selfridges.
Greg Parsons from Sharpham Dairy says, “All of these awards are testament to the hard work and dedication which goes into making our high-quality products. From the farmers who care for our cows and goats, to the drivers who deliver our products and everyone else in between. World Cheese Awards receive thousands of entries from every corner of the globe, so to achieve recognition for our quality products is high praise indeed.”
In mid-Devon, Quicke's Cheese achieved five accolades at the World Cheese Awards for their cheddars, including Silver for Lady Prue Clothbound Cheese, Elderflower Clothbound Cheese and Buttery Clothbound Cheddar.
Proudly creating slow-food, Quicke's herds graze on land nurtured by the Quicke family for in excess of half a millennia.
The truckles of cheese are bound in cloth and left to mature for months or even years in some instances. Their cheddar recipes go back generations and the secret to such a complex flavour is their precious starter which has been slowly developing for over half a century.
Mary Quicke MBE says, “We're delighted to return with such high recognition for five of our cheeses and for Devon to shine so brightly. The World Cheese Awards unites our industry in celebrating the full spectrum of flavours, textures and colours. The alchemy of transforming milk into cheese never ceases to amaze me, which is why working with such an alive product is a genuine thrill.”
John Farrand, who is the MD of the Guild of Fine Food, organisers of the World Cheese Awards, said: "What a finale! This year's World Cheese Awards has been a fantastic and huge success and Wales has been the perfect canvas for this colourful event."
A selection box from Devon's finest cheese-makers is available to order. The Essential Devon Cheese Board features five artisan cheeses, including:
Sharpham Brie
Quicke's Mature Cheddar
Ticklemore Devon Blue
Plus a 'Grader's Choice' from both Sharpham and Quickes
Customers will receive five pieces (circa 300g each) of artisan cheese individually wrapped along with tasting notes for each, all boxed up and ready to go.
The Essential Devon Cheese Board costs £25 and is available for home delivery from www.sharphamcheese.co.uk.
This sounds like an excellent Christmas gift for the dedicated foodies in your life. And also for your own Christmas cheeseboard.
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