On tour: Speciality Fine Food Fair 2019
Earlier this week, two of us stepped away from our desks and headed down to London for the Speciality Fine Food Fair 2019. Held at Olympia, the fair had over 700 producers and suppliers from across the food and drink industry, including two of our very own clients. Proud to support Two Farmers and Morris of London, we quickly beelined to their stands upon arrival.
First stop was Two Farmers, whose stand included a fantastic display of their delicious range of hand-cooked crisps (complete with samples, of course). Two Farmers’ compostable crisp packets are made from eucalyptus, therefore in order to give something back, Two Farmers lined their display with eucalyptus seedlings growing in the compostable crisp packets - a lovely sight and certainly a conversation starter. Proud to display the full range, Two Farmers were also exhibiting their new 400g sharing tins. These tins are 100% recyclable and are perfect for reusing around the home once empty.
The next visit was to Zarina Morris, founder of Morris of London, a conscious lifestyle brand who we have been working with ahead of the launch of the UK’s first fairtrade black seed oil, which was taking place at the fair. The single-origin oil uses 100% organic and certified fairtrade black seeds from the Nigella Sativa plant, grown in Egypt.
We’d teamed up with the amazing Russell and Ellie from Objective Furniture who created the most incredible stand which certainly echoed the calibre of this well-sourced and produced oil. The stand proudly boasted an array of the oil’s sleek gloss black bottles, with delicate gold foiling. It was definitely a stand which caught the eye of passers-by and having worked on the brand from the beginning, it was a real treat to see it finally all brought together.
During the day, we were able to meet some real stand-out brands. Here's a shout out to some of our favourites!
We met with Nicola Stransky, creator and founder of The Urban Fermentery, a London based artisan fermentation house producing kimchis and hot sauces. Now, there really is no exaggeration when we say you really haven't tasted kimchi until you've tasted this kimchi! The Original Sesame kimchi was bursting with flavour which certainly packed a punch, but there was also a No Spice Golden Miso option for those with tender taste buds. However, what really amazed us about this brand was that in order to reduce the waste when it came to making the kimchi, Nicola realised she could use the leftover liquid to make a hot sauce - which was just as good, of course!
We could have spent the day at Beyond Living’s stand, with the wide selection of gorgeous gifts, we just didn’t know where to look first. From organic nordic honey (so beautifully presented, we’d be lying if we said we didn't get a little emotional) to salt crystals which you can simply grate across your dishes. We know where we’ll be shopping this Christmas.
Not only was the visit to the fair a brilliant chance to support the brands we work with, it was also a fantastic opportunity for networking across the food and drink industry, including meeting brands such as Sleep Well, Inolivia, Love Leaf Tea, Crafted Drinks, Grecious, Screaming Chimp and Go Bites. We already can’t wait to visit Speciality Fine Food Fair 2020!