Over the years I’ve had a common thread running virtually through each issue and my message was quite straightforward which is to give your support to our Welsh food and drink producers. I’ve asked and often pleaded with you to visit your local produce markets and any food festivals that you can get to and of course I must say thanks that so many of you heeded my suggestions. But now, as Covid -19 is still sadly with us, the food and drink scene, like many other sectors, has been decimated. Food festivals, markets and the likes of The Royal Welsh, as well as every other show have been cancelled. Add to that the ongoing difficulties of living in lockdown, shopping has been a nightmare for many of us. Of course my concern is as always to our food and drink producers and wondering how they are coping. Some appear to have put their shutters up, some maybe for the long-term, or hopefully just until our Welsh lockdown is over. Others have decided they’ll not go down without a fight and have updated their websites ensuring all visitors know they can do mail order. Plenty of them have taken to social media not allowing people to forget them and their products.
For those still able to trade from their shops have reaped their reward by being as busy as many people didn’t wish to supermarket shop. I loved hearing from readers who have realised the benefit of provenance and local supply. Thankfully many have discovered farm shops, direct farm deliveries and discovered new small local brands. The benefit is that many have re-discovered the value of food, the attention to quality and service as well as the feeling of community. Some readers have been pleased to discover that local food is not necessarily more expensive, as local shops don’t have the additional costs of marketing, branding and head office overheads to cover.
Many shops have taken on an additional van and a driver so they could cope with the extra deliveries, whilst often dropping off prescriptions and checking up on the vulnerable living alone. My wish is that those of you that have found local producers so helpful will continue to support them when Wales gets back to a new normal – whatever that might be. If we can do this we can perhaps breathe new life into our High Streets and continue to let our traditional corner shops thrive. I’ve said it before, but will still say again, please support our local Welsh producers, remembering that you buying local food and drink will help to stimulate the Welsh economy and keep more of our money circulating in Wales.
First Minister, Mark Drakeford has stated that as from 22nd June non-essential shops can re-open if social distancing measures are in place. The 5 mile travel limit still applies, but could be lifted from 6th July.
Kath Rhodes
Here’s what’s happening on the food & drink scene across Wales:
Bluestone Brewing
Just over the Ceredigion/Pembrokeshire border and based in the Preseli hills, the Bluestone Brewing Company is a brewery that has great credentials for producing an array of top ales and lagers whilst respecting the environment. But their business, like all breweries had been closed through the lockdown but they still had 3,000 litres of beer and no market for it as pubs and restaurants were also shut down. It was too disheartening to pour their beers down the drain so the company had a light bulb moment and set about to work with In The Welsh Wind, a local Gin Distillery to create a Welsh Craft Vinegar. Vinegar is an ingredient on the cusp. We all think we know it well: a stalwart of every chip shop worth its salt (and vinegar), a sometimes throat-shattering base for chutneys and pickles and perhaps occasionally the basis for a salad of tomato and mozzarella if we’re feeling particularly Mediterranean. The reality is that vinegar is so much more – and the world is just starting to wake up to its subtler qualities. Created in a craft environment, with thought and care, vinegar is as vital as salt or citrus in the kitchen, with the power to lift flavour and finish dishes with depth. Produced from a further fermentation to remove the alcohol, vinegar might seem the obvious solution to a surplus of beer, but investigations showed that to develop a successful artisan Welsh craft vinegar, expertise was needed. So Bluestone reached out to Orkney Craft Vinegar, based in Kirkwall, where some of the most exquisite artisan vinegars in the UK are produced. Run by ex-chef Sam Britten and his brother Tom they have spent their last few years to the development of a suite of top quality vinegars.
With expertise and invaluable input from Orkney and Bluestone’s surplus beer, the development of a Welsh craft vinegar: fermented in Wales from Welsh beer, matured in casks that have Welsh heritage, has begun. Whilst they wait for their Welsh Vinegar to develop the company are pleased to be able to offer you a taste of Orkney Craft Vinegar through their own website. So add a bottle to your case of beers by heading to their online shop: bluestonebrewing.co.uk
Cariad Chocolates
Based in the heart of Snowdonia, Cathy O’Connell has continued working throughout the Covid 19 pandemic, despite all her trade orders disappearing. Online sales have been the way forward for her and she’s been very busy with her ‘Say It With Chocolate’ message boxes, ordered via her Etsy shop – CathrynCariad and then sent directly to a loved one. This idea has proved to be the perfect unique and delicious gift for birthdays, anniversaries, Ramadan, Father’s Day or just to say “I Love You” or “I Miss You”. Made using top quality Belgian milk and white chocolate, the chocolates are available in two row boxes which hold 16 chunks of chocolate, or four row boxes which hold 32 chunks of chocolate. Including p&p, they are priced at £10.95 for the two row box and £20.95 for the four row box. For more information visit: cathryncariad.com
Fingers and Forks
Owner Shirley Friend gives us a business update:
Powys based Fingers and Forks have had to do a huge amount of work to change their business from catering for events to home delivery. Their kitchen needed re-organising, but the packaging and labelling was probably the most challenging. I then had to redesign all our admin and kitchen paperwork, sort out PPE for staff, allocating who can work where, as even with 8 out of 10 staff furloughed, that still presented problems. Add to that the marketing, purchase of extra insulated boxes and ice packs, but struggled with so many companies that we needed to buy from being closed. Then I had to find my way around the myriad of lanes in the hills here, which was something else, twice I swear I’ve found the end of the world, totally convinced they sent Christopher Columbus in the wrong direction! I knew there were a lot of isolated properties in this area but I just had not quite realised how many there were.
I then finalised our brochure which has been uploaded onto our website. I also hadn’t realised how many holiday cottages, lodges, treehouses and caravan sites there are in our area until I started doing the deliveries into the back of beyond. So my next plan is to target these with a Welsh culinary experience delivered to their door when they can start accepting guests again. A bonus is that enquiries can now be directed to our website instead of having to send out individual menus. One of the biggest difficulties has been trying to market our new delivery service with most of the people shielding and many of them not having access to a computer or a smart phone. But when we have had contact from these customers I think that has been the most pleasurable part, being able to assist where I am really needed. It isn’t about just selling our products, but being able to help with a variety of other problems for them and especially when there is no family living locally.
Word-of-mouth from individuals that knew of and used our service in the past has worked as they’ve put many neighbours and friends in touch which really formed the base for us start ‘The VE Day Teas’. This was another very lucky break, helped by welshcountry.co.uk. From a cancelled buffet we were asked by the organisers to deliver the teas in boxes. But because we had to buy quite a large quantity of boxes I thought to it would be sensible to highlight them on Facebook. The response was totally overwhelming, we did over 400 teas across Powys and beyond. One was to an army veteran and his wife, plus their 93 year old neighbour. One thing I would have liked to have done on the VE Day project was to collect from the many of the customers who actually celebrated VE Day their experiences of that day. I discovered my Mother was in Tenby dancing in the streets as a thirteen year old with her older cousin. I knew that she had spent many of her holidays as a child in Manorbier with my great aunt, but not that she had been there for VE Day, or that my great aunt had a little café on the edge of the American base there called Skrinklecroft, so I am hoping to research my family story a bit more, which is a good excuse for a holiday if I ever get the time!
My hope now is that I can build up this new side of the business and be able to afford to bring back a few more staff. I really miss having my youngsters around as they are a great crew. All of our regular work was cancelled from early March this year, until March next year. I haven’t heard yet about Winter Fair, but all my large work events planned for this autumn have been cancelled. For all the latest news visit: www.fingersandforks.net.
Tŷ Tanglwyst Dairy
Once a familiar sight, doorstep milk deliveries are proving to be a vital service for many people who are self-isolating. For south Wales dairy, Tŷ Tanglwyst, doorstep milk deliveries are also helping to keep open an essential outlet for the farm’s award-winning dairy produce.
The Lougher family has long been supplying milk from their 110-strong herd of Pedigree Holstein dairy cattle to customers’ doorsteps around a ten-mile radius of their farm in Pyle, near Bridgend. Now, as their round gets bigger, it is even prompting the business to expand its workforce.
“With premises such as schools, offices closed, the commercial and wholesale side of our business has taken a downturn. However, our domestic deliveries have increased,” says dairy farmer Rhys Lougher, whose family have been farming at Tŷ Tanglwyst for several generations. Demand for doorstep deliveries has been such that we’ve had to extend our rounds. As a result, we’ve created extra roles in the company and when our commercial trade does come back, we’ll be looking to take on additional staff. We’re a small family business with dedicated, hard-working employees. Luckily, we’ve been able to adapt very quickly to changes to our customer base and respond to people’s needs.”
The award-winning business, which produces butter and cream too, also supplies customers with eggs and fruit juice. But in these challenging times, some changes have had to be made to meet demand. Rhys explains,
“There has been a shortage of cardboard egg boxes, so we have had to use plastic and we’re buying fruit juice in bulk. With more people baking at home there has been a surge in orders for butter – so stock has been tight at times. People have said how grateful they are for the deliveries and that it is helping them while they have to stay at home. Many people have also said they can taste the difference with our milk and that when the Covid crisis is all over they will keep ordering from us.”
Orders are placed via Facebook and social media. For many customers, Tŷ Tanglwyst’s deliveries are particularly welcome. For more information visit: www.tytanglwystdairy.com
Little Grandma’s Kitchen
With the outbreak of Covid-19 we, like many other artisan micro businesses, saw our sales opportunities fall to near zero as all festivals & shows were cancelled. As we are not registered for VAT, we were not eligible for any Government Grants. But we were still able to supply mail order, local customers and farm shops with our products.
We immediately increased our presence on Carmarthen Food, a group of artisan producers in Carmarthenshire, selling on a single website where customers can either collect once a week from The Nurture Centre in Carmarthen, from several points around the county, or by delivery. We became a collection point in St Clears as well as delivering orders every Friday. We have also added 2 new products, Indulgent Chocolate Spread and Crunchy Peanut Butter to our range and are developing 3 new flavours which will be available soon. As we use a lot of fruit in our products it was a natural progression to add mixed fruit boxes to our list of products.
It is safe to say that with the measures we have taken and the fantastic support of our customers, Little Grandma’s Kitchen will come through this crisis. Thank you all for your continued support. For our latest news visit: littlegrandmaskitchen.co.uk
Wye Valley Meadery
Our plans, like for many other businesses, have had to rapidly change due to Covid-19. Late January we decided to refurbish the premises where our Meadery is based, upgrading the building and also the brewing equipment that we used initially to launch our business. We invested in a lot of new equipment and also spent time laying new flooring, decorating, installing new drainage, water and power. We also took out a loan and invested in larger brewing vessels to give us greater brewing capacity. We also wanted to make a space that meant we would be able to open a small tap-room. The idea was to have all work completed and the tap room open and operational by the end of May, which turned out to be unfortunate timing.
Due to lockdown we had to stop refurbishment work on the Meadery and postpone the tap-room which left us in limbo with our existing brewing space taken apart and the new equipment not yet fitted. Thankfully we had a lot of stock already made so we diverted efforts into launching a local producers ‘Drive-Through Click & Collect Market’ that gives a platform to support us as well as 15+ other local high quality food and drink companies with an easy and safe way for locals to be able to buy our produce. We launched this “Wye Valley Producers Market” on the 1st of May and with so much positive customer feedback, we’ll continue this market for as long as possible, during and after the Covid-19 crisis.
With the recent easing of lockdown restrictions we have been able to resume work on our expansion plans. We have experienced a dramatic loss of business as a result of Covid-19 and are sadly not eligible for any current business support grants so far, so our growth may not be quite what we have been hoping for this year. Being able to rapidly create this new outlet for us and other local producers has helped immensely and probably been crucial to our survival as a business. Different producers take it in turns to run it each week which is a fair and sensible way for it to work.
We’ve also spent time re-evaluating our business model and plan for some alternative products. Next month sees the launch of a ‘Honey Cider Vinegar’ (Honeygar) as well as a new range of honey beers to complement our current range of sparkling meads. Being adaptable has been essential in this current situation and something we will ensure we maintain in the future. For more news visit: wyevalleymeadery.co.uk
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