Sweet Freedom to launch first all-natural Barista coffee syrups this autumn

Coming soon to www.sweetfreedom.co.uk and ALDI. RSP: £3.79 for 250ml (in a premium glass bottle), £7.99 for 1 litre.

Sweet Freedom, the much-loved plant based brand renowned for its exceptional all-natural syrups and spreads, is excited to unveil its latest innovation… a range of Barista Coffee Syrups which is set to make their debut this autumn.

Available in convenient 250ml and 1 litre bottles Sweet Freedom’s Barista Coffee Syrups will be available in three delicious flavours: Hazelnut (which has already won a Great Taste Award this year), Vanilla and caramel. These syrups have been carefully and meticulously crafted to infuse coffee with rich flavours and natural sweetness, offering guilt-free indulgence as we embrace the colder months.

Reasons to say yes:

No refined sugar or artificial sweeteners

All natural ingredients – the sweetness comes from apple and grape

No potassium sorbate or citric acid (which many existing coffee syrups contain)

Nut free… even hazelnut!

Vegan friendly

According to the Allegra World Coffee Portal (2023), the UK coffee machine market has surged by 3.5%, driven by a growing desire for specialty coffee experiences at home. Consumers are increasingly seeking to personalise their home-brewed coffee and replicate the quality of specialty coffee enjoyed in restaurants and coffee shops. Now they can achieve just that, knowing that the syrup they are using is not only good for them but also for the planet, too.

Boost your hot chocolate drinking now!

I'm a hot chocolate lover and I'm always on the lookout for new hot chocolate treats, ideas and experiences.

If you love hot chocolate as much as me, I'm sure you'll be nipping down to your nearest Asda to seek out the amazing Flavour Up sachets.

Each pack contains three deliciously tempting flavours. Mint, Orange and Caramel.

So, whether you're after a bit of a tangy twist, sweeten it up or add some minty goodness, this'll me ideal for you!

Just add the Flavour Up sachet to your favourite hot chocolate powder, mix it with either hot water or milk, drop in marshmallows if you'd like and hot chocolate perfection is yours!

You'll find 15 sachets in each pack, so plenty for a week's chocolaty goodness or to share with friends and family.

There's good calorific news, because each sachet contains a mere eight calories and they are suitable for  vegetarians and vegans.

As I mentioned they are available from Asda, now.

https://www.marschocolatedrinksandtreats.com

www.asda.com

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What's the Whey forward? It's Performance Diet Whey V2!

There are many different brands of whey protein that are available but, in our opinion, Performance Diet Whey V2 is "the Whey Forward, in our opinion."

Performance Diet Whey V2 is jam-packed with protein, but at the same time being able to maintain a low-fat, low-sugar and low-carbohydrate profile.

As a result this means it is an absolutely perfect replacement shake meal for anyone who wants to regulate their calorie intake and to enhance their general physique. But who needs to be aware of their sugar intake at the same time. 

Their strawberry flavour is utterly delicious and my wife said: "I believe this is working for me! I feel good taking it!" 

It's clear that a great deal of time, energy and expert knowledge has been expended on making sure that Performance Diet Whey V2 is a leader in the field of performance shakes and that it will work for you, if you work with it.

In their own words "Performance Diet Whey V2 is low in fat, low in sugar and carbohydrates and packed with protein. Performance Diet Whey V2 is ideal meal replacement shake for anyone trying to effectively manage their calorie intake and enhance their physique as part of a high protein diet and exercise regime."

To learn more or to make your purchases please visit https://www.bodybuildingwarehouse.co.uk.

Salcombe Brewery Co. Announces Donation to the Seahorse Trust from beer sales

Salcombe Brewery Co. is absolutely delighted to be able to reveal that it has just awarded over £2,000 to The Seahorse Trust, the money having been raised via donations for every bottle of its Seahorse beer that it sold.

Jordan Mace, who, in our opinion, has the wonderful and enviable job of being the MD at Salcombe Brewery Co., explains: “The surrounding coastal environment has always been hugely important to Salcombe Brewery Co. 

"The Salcombe Estuary is one of the few places in the UK where you can find the rarer of the two species of seahorse and we partnered with The Seahorse Trust four years ago to raise funds to support these endangered creatures. 

"We give a regular donation to The Seahorse Trust and are pleased to be handing over another £2,032.32 this month. This money was raised by making a donation of 5p from every bottle of Seahorse beer that was sold.”

The Seahorse Trust was founded back in 1999 by Neil Garrick-Maidment to preserve and conserve the natural world, especially the marine environment, with the seahorse as its flagship species. The Trust makes a genuine difference through education, conservation and campaigning for protected areas. 

Neil explains: “Salcombe Brewery Co. has been really incredibly supportive of our work over the last four years. Their regular donations are an invaluable resource for our much-needed conservation work.”

Salcombe Brewery's range of beers is available nationally in pubs and hospitality venues, plus through  retailers and online direct from from www.salcombebrewery.com. 

If you are a venue or retailer wanting to retail Salcombe ales, it's available to the trade directly and through a number of key wholesalers. For further information on Salcombe Brewery Co. please visit www.salcombebrewery.com follow Salcombe Brewery Co. on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

(PICTURED L to R, Jordan Mace, Managing Director of Salcombe Brewery Co., Neil Garrick-Maidment, Founder of The Seahorse Trust, Sam Beaman, Head Brewer of  Salcombe Brewery Co.)

To learn more about the fantastic work of The Seahorse Trust please visit them here https://www.theseahorsetrust.org

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Indoor pizza ovens is a new trend in the UK

Following on from the utterly dismal British summer, indoor wood-fired pizza ovens Are the latest major trend.  

They say that it's an ill wind that blows nobody any good and such is the case with British company, Orchard Ovens.

Because Preston, Lancashire-based Orchard Ovens, has experienced a spike in enquiries about its Cucina oven, which is a special oven, one designed to be installed at the heart of a kitchen and creating a wide variety of wood-fired cooked foods in doors.  

Orcard Ovens now views the Cucina as the immediate future of wood-fired oven ownership in the UK, due to the credentials required of any indoor oven.

Orchard Ovens says more diligence is being shown by indoor oven seekers than is normally the case with those looking for an outdoor oven. 

Hardly a second thought is ever given to money wasted on so-called outdoor pizza ovens, which fall apart due to poor quality and the fact that they are constructed using inappropriate materials. 

Anyone installing an indoor oven is fully aware that they can't afford to fit an oven not fit for purpose.

The fear of having to renew their entire kitchen, not just the wood-fired oven, disrupting design, layout, worktops and surround, is leading to the new boom at Orchard Ovens, where authentic, artisan-built woodfired ovens have a reputation when it comes to their lifespan.

Notably, astute homeowners, making the right choice, are often of Italian descent.

One is Luca Ferrazzano, who is now a resident of Bristol but originally hailing from Naples, the spiritual home of pizza, where pizza has protected UNESCO status. Such is the guardianship over Neapolitan pizza that severe rules govern its cooking and promotion.

It's fairy to say that Luca had previously struggled with British made pizza ovens. He found them too unreliable for a financial investment and not authentic enough to match his high native Italian standards. Unfortunately he also found them to be just about incapable of cooking anything, unless the weather was absolutely perfect.

After further consideration this led him to investigate indoor pizza ovens as an option and, wanting an oven that wouldn't see him mocked by visiting Neapolitan relatives, he turned to Preston-based Orchard Ovens.

Orchard Ovens is the only UK supplier of top-notch Tuscan Valoriani ovens, including the Cucina, a ready-built oven that can be fitted quickly inside an indoor kitchen, once the correct flue arrangement is installed.

The Ferrazzano family had the Cucina fitted by the Orchard Ovens’ team and is now wowing his friends who had no idea it was possible to have an indoor woodfired pizza oven.  

And Luca’s relatives from Naples can't detect any difference between its pizza and that enjoyed in a downtown Naples pizzeria.  

Obviously using only traditional ingredients plays an important part, but the oven ensures accurate cooking of food, due to the best insulation and best construction materials. There are no issues with cold spots and no problem in retaining heat.

Luca has realised that, unlike other ‘pizza ovens’, the Valoriani ‘Cucina’ is superb, with no temperature differential between the top of the oven and the bottom.  In others he'd previously tried, users either have to burn the pizza’s top or bottom and compromise on this.

But now, regardless of what the British weather brings us, sun, rain or snow, his Cucina pizza oven can be fired up and, thanks to its massive versatility, used for a wide variety of dishes, from curries to Lancashire hotpots and bread to shellfish, steaks and even chips and Yorkshire puddings.

Orchard Ovens’ director, Andrew Manciocchi, says, “We couldn't have a better recommender of the Cucina oven than a native of Naples, for whom oven authenticity and quality are obviously crucial.

“Luca is one of a number of customers who decided the way forward, in an era of climate change and wet summers, is to install an indoor, rather than outdoor, woodfired pizza oven.  The shift in thinking we've seen this summer is notable, so we shall be going all out to supply Cucina ovens right through the late summer, autumn and inot winter.  These will be in situ in time to cook up wood-fired festive treats for Christmas, providing lots of joy.”

To find out more about the Cucina (£3495), which comes in a wide variety of colours and for which installation can be quoted, call 01772 250000. More information can be found at www.orchardovens.co.uk  

Lidl has officially been named both the cheapest AND most popular supermarket in the UK

Lidl is now officially the cheapest and most popular supermarket in the UK. Lidl topped YouGov’s list of most popular supermarkets and was also named cheapest supermarket in The Grocer’s ‘Super Grocer 33’ –beating the UK’s major supermarkets and fellow discounter, Aldi.

Lidl's unbeatable value has won shoppers’ hearts up and down the entire country. In YouGov’s survey exploring the percentage of shoppers with a positive opinion of a supermarket chain, Lidl nabbed the number one spot. Scoring 79%, placing it ahead of rivals Aldi and M&S.

Meanwhile, The Grocer’s ‘Super Grocer 33’ index, which compares the price of 33 everyday grocery items across the UK’s seven major supermarkets, learned that Lidl was significantly better value than others on a range of products, including fresh fruit and veg. From apples (£1.49 for a six-pack) to aubergines (85p), and cabbages (69p) to carrots (50p for 1kg), Lidl was the cheapest across 26 items in total.

Lidl was exclusively cheapest for its free range eggs (£1.09), with the price accolade coming mere hours after it announced a bold, new approach to boosting British egg production, by offering farmers special financial incentives to move into egg farming.

Even when compared to the traditional supermarkets with discount schemes, Lidl customers found themselves better off. Sainsbury’s shoppers using their Nectar card still paid £6.75 more than they would have if shopping at Lidl, while Tesco Clubcard holders paid £8.09 more.

Premium supermarket Waitrose, which claims it is implementing price cuts, was a massive £15.79 more expensive than Lidl. Rapeseed oil was almost double in price, while a whole chicken was nearly £2.00 more.

Peter De Roos, who is the Chief Commercial Officer at Lidl GB, said: “It’s no surprise when we’re continually shown to be the cheapest supermarket that we’re also topping popularity polls at the same time."

He went on to say: "Our customers, new and old, know shopping with us doesn’t mean they have to compromise on quality. Also, they can be assured we remain committed to keeping our prices low, which we know is more important than ever.” 

For nearly 30 years, Lidl’s unparalleled quality-value combination has been winning customers over from across the country. While the discounter has won The Grocer’s Super 33 five times out of seven, it’s also been named the cheapest supermarket by Manchester Evening News for over seven months in a row.

www.lidl.co.uk

Aldi opens applications for its Area Manager Programme. With an opening salary of £50,000

Aldi has just launched the application process for its latest Area Manager intake.

Aldi is now Britain’s fourth-largest supermarket and was recently named Employer of the Year by The Grocer Magazine for the second consecutive year. 

And Aldi is looking to fill 100 roles within its Area Manager programme. 

Applicants enrolled on the scheme will participate in a special, year-long training programme, equipping them with all the skills they would require to run a collection of stores successfully. 

Salaries begin from £50,000 for the opening year, with pay increasing to over £90,000 per annum by year eight.

Successful applicants will also be eligible for a number of additional benefits, including a company car and various third-party discounts, plus access to private healthcare and online wellbeing support.

Said Kelly Stokes, who is the Recruitment Director at Aldi UK: “We’re on the hunt for bright, driven and hardworking individuals to join the Aldi team as part of our Area Manager programme.

“Those joining the scheme can learn the ins and outs of the supermarket sector through in-depth training and support. And where better to learn than at the country's fastest-growing supermarket?

“At Aldi, our colleagues are at the heart of everything we do and we’re always looking for even more amazing people from all backgrounds to join our team.”

Those interested in applying for the Area Manager programme with Aldi can visit: www.aldirecruitment.co.uk/area-manager-programme

Also, Aldi is looking to recruit for 500 Store Apprentices across the UK as well as over 100 Logistics ‘Career Starter’ Apprentices by the year's end.

Those interested in applying for an apprenticeship with Aldi can visit: www.aldirecruitment.co.uk/apprenticeships.