I make no apology for continuing my message to you asking for your continued support for our Welsh food and drink producers and to encourage, well actually I’m pleading with you – to support your local shops and buy Welsh produce from your local High Street. These local shops have done a sterling job during the Covid-19 crisis and it certainly hasn’t been easy for them and they really need your support so their businesses can thrive. Ever the optimist I believe High Streets can survive but only if you keep shopping there! I am not totally anti-supermarkets but I am without a doubt much more pro Welsh food and drink. If I could get more Welsh supermarkets stocking our Welsh produce I’d be much happier, but as I haven’t got a magic wand to achieve that then I must rely on you dear readers to not neglect your High Street and some councils are still offering free parking. Free parking is another bee in my bonnet as it were, I believe it should either be free or a nominal fee all day so people aren’t panicking and checking their watches to rush back to their cars. But make the most of this free parking because I can promise you it will not last for ever!
As always over the lockdown period we’ve been talking to many producers and really do think it is important that their stories are shared with you. I’m so impressed with how many of them have found either different avenues for their businesses or have simply thought through carefully how they can keep serving their customers – safely. But if it is not possible for you to visit your High Street then please look online as I think I can safely say that all Welsh producers have improved their websites and got good mail order systems in place.
Kath Rhodes
The Grate Cheese Deli
Owner Cheryl Parry explains:
Wow, where do I begin? What a crazy 5 months we have had, a rollercoaster of emotions and changes. Now lockdown has eased we’ve more changes are taking place daily.
Customers are returning to the High St, in Colywyn Bay there’s more footfall than before lockdown if I’m honest, as people are keen to ‘shop local’ and support the traders that helped them through the tough times we had.
It’s ‘Grate’ to be so busy in The Grate Cheese Deli! I had missed the customer interaction, and being able to let my customers try before they buy……cheese definitely needs trying first. The joyful look on faces, when they try an artisan cheese, is what I’ve really missed!!! I still only allow one person or ‘bubble’ in the shop at any one time and so far this hasn’t caused any issues. There are benches outside for people to sit and wait but I may have to re think when the weather changes, but if the past 5 months have taught me anything, it’s that I’m adaptable!!
My husband has returned to work, which only allows us to deliver one day a week now, but thankfully, with less people isolating, we can still fit everyone in. It’s been lovely to meet the customers I only knew from the end of the phone when they placed their orders for delivery, but most of them now come in on their old delivery day!!
Thankfully tourism is back up and running now and I have noticed a huge increase in holidaymakers from the UK who are staying and shopping in the area.
The community spirit is definitely on the up as Seaview Road in Colwyn Bay, before lockdown, had quite a few empty shops. Now they are all full and with the market back up and running on a Tuesday and Saturday, things can only get better.
We were unable to celebrate our first birthday here in June, so I’m really looking forward to organising another open day, when it is safe to do so, where people can meet some of our producers and suppliers and try lots of tasty samples.
Hafod Bakery
Company owner Pinel Raval gives us an update:
Since restrictions on lockdown have been loosened it’s been all change for us at the bakery again. Some shops have re-opened, restaurants and cafés with outdoor seating have been able to serve food outside, but of course only if it’s not raining! B&B’s have also been given the OK to re-open allowing Welsh tourism to begin again.
This felt almost like it happened overnight! So many of our customers were unsure whether or not to re-open for various reasons so we weren’t sure how many of our customers were planning on opening and most were now operating from home, so we had no way of contacting everyone to get an idea of how many customers we needed to supply once restricted were lifted. So, one day, all of a sudden, the phones started lighting up with orders from our customers who were re-opening, and we had inquiries from some new customers too.
Luckily, since we bake to order fresh every day, we were able to quickly change our plans so we didn’t let our customers down, as they already had enough to worry about trying to re-open and adapt to all the new guidelines. So, we redirected our vans and multiplied our recipe quantities to account for the new influx of orders and once again, what we had previously considered a potential weakness actually had proven to be our strength. The fact that we are a smaller traditional bakery with flexibility allows us to quickly adapt and diversify to suit the needs of our customers and that has been our saving grace.
At the same time our door-to-door deliveries are still in demand. Although not quite at the same rate as the beginning of lockdown, as some people have gone back to work, we are trying to add more Welsh local produce to our deliveries to help support other businesses and provide more products to cater for our shielding and rural customer’s needs. We are still working with Carmarthen County Council providing bread and cakes for shielding boxes across Carmarthenshire, and that has been so gratifying and humbling to be a part of the scheme. We have had lovely feedback and messages of thanks from people who have received our products in their shielding boxes. We are very grateful we have been in a position to help our community.
