It will come as no surprise to my readers that I am still on my soapbox and I hope you will not be cross with my staying there!! As Wales continues trying to tackle the second wave of Covid-19 I am still on my mission to persuade you to support your local shops, be that in your local High Street or your corner shop. Apart from World War 2, few of us have lived through such tough times and if you are running a micro/small business your stress and worries are heightened to astronomical levels. Hence my ongoing plea to support your local shops, many of which have now taken on selling many Welsh food and drink products. I’m sure though, this is down to some of you that have been shopping locally and you have asked the shop owner if these can be ordered for you. Any shop owner who knows and understands his/her own local market will do his/her best to order Welsh products if they know there’s a demand for them.
I know producers who have taken this Covid crisis by the scruff of the neck and approached their local shops and garages to get their products stocked and quite often that has worked. Customers should never underestimate how important they are and certainly not in the context of shopping locally. I’ve always tried to shop locally but I appreciate that is because I’m obsessed with Welsh food and drink! I do though always try to remember to say when paying, that I am here shopping so I can support you. I know not everyone will be bothered to do that, but I must say that to date, it is always appreciated! Local shopping means your money stays locally and allows your local shops to stay trading, which of course means a healthier local economy and also more local employment.
Kath Rhodes
Cheers Wine Merchants
Director Dafydd Morris explains the growth of their wine merchants:
Cheers Wine Merchants are a family owned, Independent business started by my father, Andrew Morris in 1983. Initially set up to supply the local area with good value for money, unique wines, we have now grown into a company with two retail shops, one in the Mumbles and one in Swansea and a wholesale business. We supply some of the finest restaurants, bars and wedding venues around the South Wales area and we have a website that supplies wine, beers and spirits to the entire UK. Our online sales of spirits and beers are dominated by local products.
The advantage of selling local products for us is that we get to know the producers and their process of production which means we can pass on their enthusiasm and knowledge to our customers, which ultimately means we can offer something different to a supermarket chain.
Our customers definitely seek out and appreciate the local products we sell. It has become such a part of our business that we now produce our own gin, sloe gin and rum which are all produced exclusively with a local distillery. Again these products are not only a good focus for our business but they offer something unique for our customers.
We never struggle to find or source locally produced products. We have many suppliers contacting us regularly and so long as we physically have the space for them, we normally stock them. Beers, cider, gin, vodka, rum and even local-ish wines make up a good percentage of our range now.
Visit: cheerswinemerchants.co.uk | Tel: 01792 403895 / 366377
Dylan’s Restaurants
Their ethos is: Celebrating the local produce, character and natural beauty of North Wales
Since opening at Dylan’s Menai Bridge in 2012 we knew the area was crying out for local seafood. Building working relationships with local suppliers over the past 8 years has also earned us a reputation among our loyal customers for ‘Celebrating the local produce, character & natural beauty of North Wales, something we set out to do from day one.
By sourcing our produce locally, our chefs can prepare the freshest North Welsh produce – seafood from the Menai Strait and Llŷn Peninsula, lamb from Anglesey, beef from the award winning Edwards of Conwy – and our customers benefit from that in the quality of the meal on their plate.
Supporting local supply chains and ensuring money goes into the local economy and not out of it benefits both customer and producer. It’s a win-win for the locality, something increasingly important in the present climate.
Our customers come back time and again for the provenance of the produce we use in our dishes. Whether it is local gin in the glass or line caught seabass on the plate, the praise and feedback we receive directly reflects the quality of the local Welsh food and drink on offer.
This support led us to create our own retail range of sauces pickles and preserves, using the condiments we made ourselves in the restaurants for our dishes and to go alongside them. Today, they’re still made and bottled by our chefs on Anglesey, Ynys Mon, ready to be enjoyed at home. As we develop our own sauces, pickles and preserves for our dishes, if a product is not readily available, we do sometimes step in and create that ourselves. After approval from our customers, we often add it to the Dylan’s retail range. A fantastic example of this would be our Tartare Sauce & Pickled Samphire, which both earned Great Taste Awards this year.
Increasingly, thanks to the work of local groups, Food & Drink Wales and backed by customer demand, we have had less difficulty in sourcing our produce and beverages in recent years but we could definitely use some local Sushi-grade seaweed!
Visit: dylansrestaurant.co.uk | Facebook: @dylansrestaurants
The Welsh Gift Shop
Becca Hemmings explains how her shop works:
We love selling locally made food at our online shop for many reasons and have to use test-tasting as one of my jobs! It is very important to support local businesses especially during these uncertain times. It is also great for the environment with a low carbon footprint and Wales offers such a wonderful array of foods that not many people are aware of. There is also a rich history associated with many of our products, such as the scallop shelled Aberffraw biscuits which were created many centuries ago by Welsh pilgrims, but made fresh for our shop of course!
One of our best-selling gifts are our ‘Fat Bottom Welsh Cakes’ made by Ben and his partner in Bancyfelin. He uses locally sourced ingredients including free range eggs, although many companies still use barn eggs! They are available in many flavours including a vegan version so everyone can enjoy them. Our customers also loved last year’s Christmas hamper, stocked with ’The Best of Wales’ foods including Halen Mon sea salt and Little Welsh Company Chocolate. It made an interesting and delicious gift which we had great feedback from. I am now putting together this year’s hamper.
There is such a variety of food and drink that we don’t struggle to source at all. I’m pleased to say all our suppliers are doing well during Covid and are still in business which is perhaps due to online shopping. Our only hardship is keeping it stocked as it often sells like hot welsh cakes!
Visit: welshgiftshop.com | Email: becca@welshgiftshop.com
Baravelli’s
Emma Baravelli gives us an insight into their Conwy business:
For us the advantage of selling Welsh food and drink is that it has an excellent reputation which is why thousands of visitors come to Wales for the food and hospitality alone. Conwy especially has grown to be known for its food and drink and our visitors are telling us that is one reason that they return to Conwy again and again.
Our customers know that we make everything ourselves and so shop with us knowing that they can get premium quality chocolate that is not made anywhere else. Our years of knowledge means that the customer can enjoy in-depth conversations about chocolate with myself and Mark which adds to the trust they have in Baravelli’s.
Everything is made here on the premises which means we are therefore able to supply what our customers need, but also to drive their enthusiasm of wanting to try whatever is new. With well over 50 international awards under our belts they are more than confident in putting their trust in us.
Appearing on Channel 4 and 5 recently has also helped tremendously. We are always keen to promote Conwy as much as possible when we are televised and this has brought many new customers to visit not only to Baravelli’s, but Conwy as a whole.
Our customers know that we make products for some of the most famous names in London and often ask us if we’ve any plans to open a shop down there. But for us, this is a magical country to live and work in and we love that we can still be on the international stage whilst working in the most beautiful part of the world.
Visit: baravellis.com | Email: sweetstuff@baravellis.com
Seafood Cluster Collaboration Creates New Customers
With support from Wales’ Seafood Cluster, seafood from West Wales is being served in East Wales thanks to a partnership between two food businesses. Torfaen restaurant wholesaler, Vin Sullivan Foods Ltd and Pembrokeshire seafood business Cardigan Bay Fish.
Blaenafon-based restaurant wholesaler, Vin Sullivan Foods Ltd, who lost 99% of their trade overnight, has turned to collaboration to work its way out of the Covid-19 crisis.
General Manager Chris Parker explain further,
“We’ve been working on ideas with Owen at the Seafood Cluster and they have provided us with initial packaging and Welsh Seafood signage for our delivery vans. The home deliveries took off and now with restaurants re-opening, we are selling three times the amount of Welsh lobster and crab as we had done previously”.
Chris has created an online shop – The Fish Shack – and orders have also come in via social media, email and telephone. Through The Fish Shack’s van, Chris and his team have always provided a valuable service to many retired and elderly people via the local weekly food markets such as Abergavenny, Pontypool, and Newport.
Visit: vinsullivan.com & fishshack.co.uk
Cardigan Bay Fish
Owners Len and Mandy Walters are no strangers to collaboration as they are involved in a number of initiatives to highlight the Welsh seafood industry and the quality and abundance of the catch.
Len and their son Aaron, fish all year-round for a variety of fish and shellfish. Their award-winning St Dogmaels-based enterprise is also a stalwart of local produce markets, with customers eager to purchase dishes created by Mandy, such as potted crab and mackerel pâté.
Said Mandy,
“We’ve known Chris at Vin Sullivan for a while and we were happy to join their new venture. Now, they visit us weekly for our live lobster and crab, as well as our potted crab and mackerel pâté. Being part of the Cluster has helped our business and enabled us to build on our relationship with Vin Sullivan. It is good that more Welsh seafood is staying in Wales, and is being sold in the home market.”
Visit: @CardiganBayFish
Myddfai Community Hall & Visitor Centre
Myddfai is a small rural village and community on the western edge of the Brecon Beacons; it was an important centre of herbal medicine as long ago as the 12th century. Steeped in the Welsh history and legend of the “Physicians of Myddfai” the community has developed a new state of the art facility that operates as a community centre, an award winning tourist destination and events venue.
Our Farmers’ Market which attracts high quality local suppliers takes place on the last Sunday of each month and is well worth a visit. The Centre has gone from strength to strength and attracts visitors from all around the world. You will find a warm welcome and quality local produce used to make the delicious food in our café, where we support local businesses, suppliers & farmers, who in turn support us. Our customers love to try produce they can’t buy in the supermarket. Our shop also stocks a wide range of Myddfai branded and local artisan crafts and art.
Myddfai is proving how a small community can regenerate itself both socially and economically and offers an authentic welcome, beautiful landscape, fascinating history and a wonderful venue for all.
Visit: myddfai.org or call 01550 720449
Blas ar Fwyd
Since the company started 32 years ago from a small kitchen, it has grown into one of Wales’ renowned wholesale distribution services to retail, hospitality and general public. Our range of services have grown to include wholesale, retail, home delivery, bespoke event catering, delicatessen and café bar. Our Welsh Food Hub has a wide variety of Welsh produce that has come directly from the producers with the help of goats, sheep and cows grazing naturally and freely on the hills of the Welsh uplands. Our wines come from independent wine growers throughout Wales and specialised vineyards throughout the world, imported especially for Blas ar Fwyd. We also manufacture, in our Salsa approved kitchens, a range of award winning soups, salads, desserts, preserves, dressings and bakery goods which have scooped 47 Great Taste Awards.
Selling Welsh food & drink allows the company to become part of a community, one big family. You get to know people and what they want and with this knowledge, you can source the best Welsh food and drink products to bring to them, quite literally – to their door with our dedicated fleet of chiller vans offering a delivery service. Many elderly local people in the community find it difficult to get out, either because of difficulties walking, rurality of location or due to keeping safe through self-isolation, so our delivery service has proved to be a vital service to them.
Being part of a community means you gain a certain element of trust, which turns to customer loyalty. The company has a responsibility to be able to source the best Welsh food and drink to offer the community and wider counties, and in return the community responds by supporting our business. This extends through the shops and restaurants and helps grow the business to sustain longevity and diversity while helping the producers in Wales. Over time this need to source the best develops into a passion that you want to share with others throughout Wales and beyond!
Visit: blasarfwyd.com or call 01492 640215
Siop y Pentre
Siop y Pentre, Llanrhaeadr is based in the Vale of Clwyd between Ruthin and Denbigh. It’s a busy little shop that provides a post office, newsagent, off licence and a convenience store serving fresh fruit and veg. The shop has been offering a local delivery service and a click and collect service through our website. Siop y Pentre is a treasure trove when it comes to buying local and Welsh produce – from local butcher fayre to ice cream, chocolate and even coffee and wine, chutneys, jams and cheese. Welsh hampers are our speciality and there’s no shortage of beautifully presented products bursting with flavour and originality to fill them with.
At the beginning of the pandemic it was the local suppliers that stepped up to the mark and we were never short on stock on essentials like bread, meat, fruit and veg and milk, importantly sourced from local Welsh producers. For our shop it was business as usual thanks to them, but interestingly we really struggled for stock and customer service from our mainstream suppliers!
We are so proud to be selling such top quality and interesting local produce and know that that’s where we stand out from the supermarkets. Not only are we supporting the local economy but we are also giving our customers a reason to visit us for something extra special.
We are so passionate about our Welsh food and drink that we are selling our products nationally and internationally on our website: welshfood.co.uk.
Visit: llanrhaeadrshop.co.uk or call 01745 890397
The Grate Cheese Deli
Cheryl Parry tells us more about her Deli:
The great advantage of selling locally produced food and drink, is actually knowing on a personal level, the producer. I quite often have the producers in my deli in Colwyn Bay to chat with the customers, allow them to try the products, ask questions, make suggestions and generally just be able to know what goes into producing good quality local food and drink.
I find my customers really appreciate the opportunity, to be able to support our local businesses, at the same time as enjoying good quality products and knowing who has been involved in the making of it, something we can’t do with mass produced, imported goods.
Christmas is coming and we can use it to support our Welsh producers. Imagine sitting down to Christmas lunch and it has all being produced within miles of your table. Give gift hampers of local tasty goodies, which we can make to order, just try something new and discover what real flavour is.
We have so many great producers in Wales that it doesn’t need hard work to find them. Local producers are always happy to share information of other producers in our area, spreading the love of Welsh food and drink…#CaruCymruCaruBlas…
Visit: gratecheesedeli.co.uk| Tel: 01492 338327/07833 251397
