Wal-Mart has gone to great lengths recently to market locally-produced food, most likely in an effort to blunt its reputation for destroying Mom and Pop stores and treating its workers badly.
Some say this new focus on buying fruits and vegetables grown closer to Wal-Mart stores may actually help save America’s small farmers. However, what they fail to acknowledge is that the movement to re-localize our food consumption was born out of more than just wanting to decrease how far food travels….
Click to continue reading “Why Wal-Mart Won’t Ever Please Locavores”
Butchery skills began to recede in the 1960s, when beef and pork, already cut and boxed, started arriving at supermarkets. The neighborhood butcher, the one who could be relied upon to save the best cuts for preferred customers, began to evaporate.
There has been a resurgence of interest in the neighborhood butcher…
Maybe Not Today’s Wealthy Consumers Favor Brands That Represent Quality, Aesthetics and Authenticity by Tim Arnold
Guess who says the following attributes are most influential in making “important purchases” today: value, price, overall quality, good design and functionality? A clue: 84% of this group texts from cellphones; 78% use social networking; 66% use the mobile web and 57% use mobile apps.
It’s not who you think it is. In fact, it’s a group whose median age is 45, not 19.
According to “The New Face of Affluence,” an in-depth study from Dwell Strategy and Research, San Francisco, these are the attributes that drive purchase decisions of the “New Affluents.” Indeed, the median household income of the more than 1,000 survey respondents is nearly $200,000. They’re the same people who have the economy and the environment top-of-mind when making these purchase decisions.
Wedged between the bell desk and an antiques store in the lobby of the Grand Hyatt New York hotel on East 42nd Street is an elegant new market offering designer pastries, salads of baby greens and hot meals to go. With sleek, dark wood floors, white stacked-tile walls and pillars bathed in sky-blue light, the space — designed by the architectural team behind the restaurants Craft, Gramercy Tavernand the Modern — feels more like a specialty food shop than an alcove in a chain hotel.
Called simply the Market and set to open on Monday, it welcomes the public and will eventually be open around the clock, providing an upscale dining option for office workers and Grand Central commuters in an area with few choices after 9 p.m.
It’s not sexy, but it could change how food is marketed. Claims about origins will in future will subject to black or white security. Isotope testing has been around for a while, no it has a commercial application to make it come to life… Read on:
Picarro, Isoforensics Announce Revolutionary Milk Origin Verification
Solution at Food Safety Summit
Washington D.C. — Sure, you’ve got milk. But where’s that milk from? Until now, the only authentication for milk origin was a bar code on a container. Picarro and IsoForensics are announcing at the Food Safety Summit the world’s first Milk Origin Verification Solution (MOVS) for the food and beverage industry. Now food companies can quickly verify the geographic origins of wholesale milk purchases with a high degree of confidence. “With MOVS, a ‘Wisconsin cheddar’ cheese company can independently screen their supply chain for milk that does not come from Wisconsin,” says IsoForensics CEO James Ehleringer. “They can verify milk origin on a regular basis without disrupting production.” MOVS adds to Picarro’s growing suite of food fraud detection applications.
Click to continue reading “Claims about Food origin, just got a proper guarantee…”
Click to continue reading “What makes a Great Farmer’s Market?”
Johann Tasker
Farmers could be among the few beneficiaries of a hung parliament after next week’s General Election.
Click to continue reading “Election 2010: Will a hung parliament be good for farming?”
JOB DESCRIPTION & PERSON SPECIFICATION
JOB TITLE: Membership & Groups Development Director
REPORTS TO: Chief Executive
TEAM: Memberships Coordinator, Interns
PURPOSE / UNIQUE CONTRIBUTION
Slow Food’s reach and influence depends on implementing a set of engaging messages and relevant activities with our local groups in the organisation’s core thematic areas of biodiversity, knowledge sharing within food communities and taste education. Slow Food UK’s Membership Development Manager will focus primarily on driving the membership of the organisation and supporting local group leaders in all areas of their volunteer work with Slow Food.
Click to continue reading “Job Opportunity: Membership & Groups Development Director Slow Food UK”
“Snacks are providing a huge opportunity right now for restaurants ranging from quick service to fine dining,” notes Eric Giandelone, director of foodservice research at Mintel. “By innovating menus with various snacking options, restaurants can boost sales throughout the day and drive guest traffic during non-peak hours.”
Click to continue reading “Snacks, the New ‘Meal’ Restaurants Are Serving Up”
|
Click to continue reading “Local Food Systems: Concepts, Impacts, and Issues”
British grocer Waitrose JLP.UL is planning its first foray into the United States through the relaunch of a premium food range founded by Prince Charles, heir to the British throne.
Managing Director Mark Price told the Reuters Consumer and Retail Summit that the new ‘Duchy Originals from Waitrose’ range, due to go on sale in September, would act as a catalyst to accelerate Waitrose’s expansion in international markets.
Some things don’t change…
Hartmans Info-Graphic has just been launched and it show (as a picture, which makes it easy to read), showing how fascinating the evolution has been over the last 200 years in product development for ‘Wellness’.
Click to continue reading “200 years of ‘Wellness’, time for a change – or is it?”
Buyers and Sellers networks for the Food Market…
Your opportunity to propose ideas and solve challenges with like minded professionals from around the world.
LinkedIN: ‘Food Marketing Network’
Or also join LinkedIn Groups: BELOW
Speciality Food Buyers & Sellers Network
Fresh Produce Buyers & Sellers Network
Fresh Meat & Poultry Buyers & Sellers Network
| Wensleydale | |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | England |
| Region, town | Wensleydale North Yorkshire |
| Source of milk | Cows or ewes |
| Pasteurised | Yes |
| Texture | Medium, crumbly |
| Aging time | 3-6 months |
| Certification | PDO (pending) |
Wensleydale cheese is a cheese produced in the town of Hawes in Wensleydale, North Yorkshire, England. There are five main types:
- Real Yorkshire Wensleydale is usually shaped into a variety of weights moulds ranging in size from a small flat disc known as a “truckle” that is highly pressed, and preserved in wax, to several larger cheeses—it is a mild cheese with an acidic-honeyed flavour
- Mature Wensleydale is a harder, more highly-flavoured version of the Real Yorkshire Wensleydale and highly prized by cheese connoisseurs
- Extra Mature Wensleydale the strongest Wensleydale cheese, matured for nine months
- Blue Wensleydale has blue veins and is produced in range of sizes. It is highly flavoured but less salty than the classic British blue Stilton
- Oak Smoked Wensleydale is cold smoked to produce a cheese with a special tang and texture
Contents |
Flavour and texture
The Wensleydale pastures give the cheese the unique flavour for which it is renowned. Good Wensleydale has a supple, crumbly, moist texture and resembles a young Caerphilly. The flavour suggests wild honey balanced with a freshacidity.[1] [2]
History
Wensleydale cheese was first made by French Cistercian monks from the Roquefort region, who had settled in Wensleydale. They built a monastery at Fors, but some years later the monks moved to Jervaulx in Lower Wensleydale. They brought with them a recipe for making cheese from sheep’s milk. During the 14th century cows’ milk began to be used instead, and the character of the cheese began to change. A little ewes’ milk was still mixed in since it gave a more open texture, and allowed the development of the blue mould. At that time, Wensleydale was almost always blue with the white variety almost unknown. Nowadays, the opposite is true, with blue Wensleydale rarely seen. When the monastery was dissolved in 1540 the local farmers continued making the cheese right up until the Second World War, during which most milk in the country was used for the making of “Government Cheddar“.[3] Even after rationing ceased in 1954, cheese making did not return to pre-war levels.[4]
Dairy Crest
Wensleydale Creamery has been hand crafting cheese for more than 100 years to time-honoured traditional recipes.
In May 1992, Dairy Crest, a subsidiary of the Milk Marketing Board, closed the Hawes creamery with the loss of 59 jobs. This was the last creamery in the dale. Dairy Crest transferred production of Wensleydale cheese to Yorkshire’s traditional rival, Lancashire.
Six months later, in November 1992, following many offers to rescue the Creamery, a management buyout took place, led by local businessman, John Gibson, and the management team. With the help of eleven members of the former workforce, cheese making recommenced in Wensleydale. Today Wensleydale Dairy Products is a thriving business, producing award-winning cheeses.[5] It employs 190 local people and buys from 36 farms in Wensleydale.
Wallace and Gromit
In the 1990s, sales had fallen so low that production was at risk of being suspended.[6] However, the popular Wallace and Gromit animated shorts A Grand Day Out and A Close Shave had the main character Wallace, a cheeseconnoisseur, mention Wensleydale as a particularly favourite cheese. Animator Nick Park chose it solely because it had a good name that would be interesting to animate, unaware of the company’s financial difficulties.[7] The company contacted Aardman Animations about a licence for a special brand of “Wallace and Gromit Wensleydale”, which proved to be an enormous success.[8] When the 2005 full-length Wallace and Gromit film, Curse of the Were-Rabbit, was released, sales of Wensleydale cheeses jumped by 23%.[9][10]
Protected status
Wensleydale Dairy Products is seeking to protect the name Yorkshire Wensleydale Cheese under a submission for Protected designation of origin.[11][12]
Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) aims to promote and protect food products in the European Union, and is used to describe foodstuffs which are produced, processed and prepared in a given geographical area using recognised know-how. This will mean that any manufacturers outside Wensleydale will be unable to call a cheese Yorkshire Wensleydale.
The application process involves the first stage submission and approval by DEFRA after which the application is submitted to the European Union.[13]
Common flavour combinations
The flavour of Wensleydale is suited to combination with sweeter produce, such as fruit. A popular combination available in many restaurants and delicatessens is Wensleydale containingcranberries. In the north-east of England it is often eaten with fruit cake or Christmas cake.[14][15]
Wensleydale Creamery Cheese Packaging
The Wensleydale Creamery is one of the leading producers of genuine Wensleydale cheese in the UK.[16]
- ^ “Real Yorkshire Wensleydale”. Wensleydale Creamery. Retrieved 2008-07-03.
- ^ “Wensleydale Cheese”. Lawsons Cheeses Direct. Retrieved 2008-07-03.
- ^ Potter, Mich. “Practically Edible”. www.practicallyedible.com. Retrieved 2008-07-31.
- ^ “History of Wensleydale Cheese”. Wensleydale Creamery. Retrieved 2008-07-03.
- ^ McAteer, Owen. “Cheese firm wins overseas contracts worth millions (From The Northern Echo)”. www.thenorthernecho.co.uk. Retrieved 2008-07-31.
- ^ “Wensleydale is big cheese in world awards – Yorkshire Post”. www.yorkshirepost.co.uk. Retrieved 2008-07-31.
- ^ “A Grand Day Out with Wallace and Gromit (1989)”. uk.imdb.com. Retrieved 2008-07-31.
- ^ “WallaceAndGromit.net”. www.wallaceandgromit.net. Retrieved 2008-07-31.
- ^ Reardanz, Karen (2005-11-15). “Wallace & Gromit Boost Cheese Sales”. Hearst Communications Inc.. Retrieved 2008-07-03.
- ^ Reardanz, Karen (2005-11-15). “SFGate: Daily Dish : Wallace and Gromit Boost Cheese Sales”. www.sfgate.com. Retrieved 2008-07-31.
- ^ “Yorkshire Post: News, Sport, Jobs, Property, Cars, Entertainments & More”. www.yorkshirepost.co.uk. Retrieved 2008-07-31.
- ^ EU Application for Yorkshire Wensleydale (accessed 16/04/2009)
- ^ “Yorkshire Wensleydale Cheese” (PDF). DEFRA. Retrieved 2008-07-31.
- ^ “Tesco Finest Wensleydale – Cranberry And Blueberry – Review – The Finest Wensleydale in the land”. www.dooyoo.co.uk. Retrieved 2008-07-31.
- ^ “Hawes United Kingdom – Wensleydale and Swaledale. [photos later"]. www.globosapiens.net. Retrieved 2008-07-31.
- ^ http://www.packaging-gateway.com/projects/wensleydale/
External links
The mystery of the Oakham chicken
Where on earth does M&S’s bird come from? Harry Wallop asks if supermarkets are abusing our growing appetite for ‘local food’.
By Harry Wallop, Consumer Affairs Editor – Telegraph, UK
Published: 8:31AM BST 28 Sep 2010
Oakham, in Rutland, is possibly one of England’s finest towns. It has
everything that Richard Curtis would ask of an English location: a
14th-century church, a cricket-playing public school (Ashes hero Stuart
Broad was educated here), a pretty market square, and three butchers.
That’s a lot of meat counters for a place with fewer than 10,000 residents.
But this is in the heart of agricultural England – a mere 10 miles down the
road from Melton Mowbray, the home of the pork pie, and surrounded by
rolling hills with grazing sheep.
I visited the town last week in search of meat, specifically an Oakham
chicken. A few days before, my family and I had tucked into one of Marks &
Spencer’s Oakham chickens. It was delicious and, at little over £5, very
good value.
But something caught my eye on the label. There was a little e_STmk trademark
symbol after the name Oakham. Is it really possible to trademark a town?
Well, no according to one of the butchers on Oakham high street. “They’ve
just come in and nicked our name,” says John Cork, who runs Nelson’s.
“I’ve had people coming up the A1, and they see the Oakham sign and they
come into the town and say, ‘Can I have an Oakham chicken?’ And I have to
tell them there is no such thing.”
It turns out that M&S, a supermarket that quite rightly prides itself on
the quality of its food, has branded a whole line of its chicken as Oakham.
They come from farms as far apart as Northern Ireland and the Suffolk coast,
but none is in Oakham.
This is not the only example of supermarkets’ sense of geography being a
little off-kilter. Tesco has a line of chicken called Willow Farm. Where is
this charming, thatched-cottage place, where the chooks run free?
Shropshire? Devon?
Tesco explains: “There are two suppliers of Willow Farm chicken with 42
farms across the South-West and Northern Ireland growing these birds.”
Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Mey Selection beef and lamb has a label
showing a picture of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother’s favourite Scottish
retreat and the words: “Castle of Mey, from the walled garden.”
Only in smaller letters do you get the crucial words: “Inspired by His
Royal Highness The Prince Charles, Duke of Rothesay” and the caveat
that the food comes from within 100 miles of the castle. That’s a big walled
garden, even for a royal residence.
M&S has even gone as far as to invent a place called Lochmuir (again,
e_STmk), which a glance at the label’s picture suggests is a wild,
wind-swept part of coastal Scotland, where burly fishermen land their catch.
It is, in fact, “a brand name chosen by M&S for all of the Scottish
salmon grown to the M&S specification” produced on multiple farms
in various locations around Scottish waters.
Does any of this matter? After all, these brand names – even if they bear no
relation to a specific place – guarantee a certain quality and do not
technically break any labelling laws.
Yes, say food experts, it matters very much. That’s because the most important
food trend of recent years has been “local” food, produce with a
guaranteed provenance. Sales of local food have grown much faster than sales
of other premium categories, such as organic or Fairtrade, according to IGD,
the industry research body. It was the one type of food that flourished
during the recession, as shoppers chose to support their local shops and
suppliers.
Rob Ward, the founder of the Food Marketing Network, which advises both
supermarkets and farm shops on their strategy, says: “Foot and mouth in
2001 was the real catalyst. Before then we had just 250 farm shops, and a
handful of farmers’ markets in Britain.
“Foot and mouth made shoppers question what they were eating and where it
had come from. Only then did millions realise for the first time that their
steak could have been trucked 400 miles across the country to be
slaughtered, before being trucked 400 miles back to the supermarket.
“We now have 1,100 farm shops and over 600 farmers’ markets. And the big
retailers know this is what consumers want. They have realised they need to
go from being high‑tech to high-touch. That’s why they’ve jumped on the
bandwagon and started putting pictures of farmers on their labels.”
Mr Cork, too – during his 43 years as a butcher – has noticed a substantial
change in what his customers ask for. “In the old days they just asked
for a chop or pie. Now they ask where it’s from, who the farmer is, is the
pie a proper Melton Mowbray?”
And, of course, his pork pies always are, with thick pastry, proper chopped
meat, and generous amounts of jelly.
An increasing number of areas in Britain have won Protected Designation of
Origin, the European benchmark that ensures only champagne comes from
Champagne, stilton comes from Stilton and Cornish clotted cream really does
come from England’s most westerly county.
Melton Mowbray won its special status after an expensive and often bitter
series of court battles against a supermarket supplier that wanted to use
the Melton name on pies made outside of the area.
This desire for ever more authentic food has led to an increasing number of
cases of not just questionable but downright dishonest food labelling.
Over the weekend, trading standards officers in Hampshire published findings
that showed a quarter of all food sold as “local” in the county
could not be verified as being so.
A restaurant in Fareham was selling “Hampshire spring lamb”, which
was from New Zealand, and a pub in Romsey was selling pork advertised with
the specific name of a local farm that does not even rear pigs.
And the problems extended well beyond Hampshire. A “home assured apple pie”
sold by a restaurant in Fylde was actually bought from a supermarket.
Possibly the most outrageous was “local samphire”, an ingredient so
quintessentially British that it merits a mention in King Lear, on
sale in Lancashire but imported from Israel.
Food fraud is nothing new. But while our Georgian forebears railed against
chalk being used to bulk up bread flour, we have more subtle concerns about
the authenticity of certain products.
Can we really trust what is on the label? Especially when there are more than
30 separate and often conflicting ethical food emblems that can be used to
satisfy insatiable shoppers’ appetites for yet more detail: free range,
organic, Red Tractor, Freedom Food, the Leaf scheme, dolphin safe,
Rainforest Alliance. The list goes on.
“It’s become absolutely crazy,” says Mr Ward. “Most sensible
people look at the labels but they are bombarded with information. They
don’t know what to trust. It is all so confusing.
“So when a supermarket or manufacturer jumps on the ‘local food’
bandwagon and oversells the product, either by making up a name or making
exaggerated claims, it causes the consumer just to switch off.”
And it would be a shame if that happened. Of all the manufacturing sectors in
Britain, food production is arguably one of the most successful.
Food exports are booming and set to hit a record £10 billion this year – in
part because the rest of the world’s consumers have fallen in love with
Stilton and Wensleydale cheeses, our Welsh lamb and Highland shortbread.
The good work of these manufacturers is undermined by the cavalier approach of
the others.
Harry Wallop reports on food provenance for ‘Food: What Goes In Your
Basket?’ on Channel 4 tomorrow at 8pm
Related Articles:
-
Organic boom over as consumers rein in food luxuries during recession
-
Waitrose: no one thought it would go to war on price – until it did
-
Property in France: c’est la folie
-
Lidl and Aldi olive oil beats M&S, expert testers find
-
Supermarket salads can have more fat than Big Mac, watchdog finds
-
Back to the Good Life: thousands take up chicken ownership
Regional and Local food marketing has gone mainstream. Available almost everywhere, from shiny Supermarkets to humble Farmers’ Markets – booming in popularity the world all over, looking ’small’ is BIG business.
And yet it has never been so confusing… (to consumers)
Why?
Food Branding has taken a new level of interest in all things cute and human, marketeers around the world have finally worked out that people buy people (not products). Often these people come from a specific place where the product is made. This explains the extended effort now dedicated to the ’story’ behind food.
And when it’s a good story, alleluia – leep for joy! When it’s just a ’story’ (ie. fiction) then BS! – sorry, but this stuff annoys me immensely.
For the unconverted (and believers) take a moment to watch this clip from a recent TV programme in the UK. If you need one, this is a salutary lesson in food branding and marketing for rule number one:
1. Don’t try to fool the consumer.
(I personally helped this programme, including an interview regards food branding… so I hope you find it interesting, if not controversial).
Enjoy!
http://www.vimeo.com/15718468Feel Welcome to join the debate at our LinkedIN Group:
Stay in touch,
Rob Ward | Founder of Food Marketing Network
When bearing it all is a really good idea…
Why ‘busy’ and ‘Flashy’ web sites are as useful as a chocolate fire guard!
Firstly, ‘busy’ web-sites:
This is a basic mistake that most businesses fall into. Most websites are saddled with expensive and complicated sites, resulting with a near death experience when it comes to viewing on a mobile device, such as an iPhone or iPad.
Next problem, what’s wrong with using ‘Flash’ Macromedia?
The main problem with Flash is it isn’t available on the iPhone, iPad and many other mobile devices. According to Adobe (the owners of ‘Flash’), 98 percent of desktop computers and laptops currently support Flash, but the truth is it’s not compatible with all browsers including those on the iPhone, iPad and cell/mobile phones. Unlike Flash, jQuery supports screen reader accessibility.
It is worth knowing that tablets (eg. iPads) and smartphones (eg. iPhones) where less than 2% of internet use in 2009, now they are 7% and set to double as a share of internet use every 3 years. And internet use through a mobile device is growing at 300% faster than through a normal desktop/laptop computer.
The future is to find ways to simplify the user experience, which also goes hand in hand with reducing the bandwidth (time required to down load the full web page) to get to the point of your web page.
As ‘app’ mania continues to gather pace, the simplification and ease of use will gain in momentum – hurray, I her you say, well so will your customers.
Never has it been so important to have Less to make More from internet users.
Get your food businesses website analysed – our experts will research your site and send you a free ‘Web Marketing Report’…
Apply NOW: http://bit.ly/free_web_marketing_review
For simply and practical help in making your website more successful at being simple, and effective.
take care,
Rob
Rob Ward – Founder of www.FoodMarketingNetwork.com & www.MyFoodTrader.com
| So, what’s going to happen to your business in 2012?
More importantly, what financial condition will your business be in in a year’s time? Let’s face it, the outlook is extremely uncertain. The reality is that only the star food businesses will make 2012 a great year. Sadly, most businesses will just hope for the best and will not perform to their potential. For a start, who your customers are and what they want to buy is changing dramatically. I believe you are sitting on a Golden Opportunity for your business, but how can you make it happen for you? These next few days could be the most important days for your business so far. My concern is that many businesses are missing out on what I call ‘The 2012 Golden Opportunity’. So… Here’s your FREE Gift… A FREE scheduled 30 minute, personal one-to-one telephone or Skype call with me, Rob Ward. > Ways you can find and retain more of your ideal customers. We will be focused on making sure your business is less vulnerable to the impending financial crisis and able to start the New Year with the best chance of making 2012 a brilliant financial success. The journalists call me ‘The Food Marketing Expert’ – I think that’s just nonsense – all I’m interested in is helping food businesses grow and be more profitable. Book your call with me now, and let’s get your business ready to make 2012 your best ever year. (here’s the link to book your FREE call with Rob) Best wishes and here’s to a prosperous New Year. Rob P.S. – Sorry, but this invitation will only be available for 12 hours from now, or the first 100 places – whatever comes first (yes, I am human!) (here’s the link, again, to book your FREE call with Rob) P.P.S. – Here are a few words people that I’ve worked with have used to describe me: ‘…original and innovative…’ (last time – here’s the link again, to book your FREE call with Rob) I look forward to hearing from you… Rob Rob Ward Founder: Food Marketing Network & www.MyFoodTrader.com You are welcome to call me directly on skype: ‘robwardskype’ or our office Tel 0845643260 |












What will STOP Food Businesses THRIVING In 2011? Third Video
What will STOP Food Businesses THRIVING In 2011? Second Video
What will STOP Food Businesses THRIVING In 2011? First Video
Ultimate Fast Food Marketing Profit System.wmv 

