“We don’t want to have our car parking spaces taken up with people coming in for a cup of coffee” was the standard reply from Sam Bosworths father when the subject of introducing a coffee shop at Bosworths Garden Centre, near Kettering was brought up.

The “battle” was eventually won and in 2007 Poppies Coffee Shop was opened with 60 covers in a converted polytunnel.

Seven years on and the coffee shop turned over £389k in 2013, 15% of total annual turnover which has grown significantly every year since the coffee shop opened, having been almost static for the four years prior to 2007.

20 extra covers including some easy seating have since been added, the car park is busy at times of year it would have previously been quiet and the average transaction value in February was £7.47 excluding VAT.

And all that achieved without a cooker!  With a restricted site, Sam and his wife Tania are unable to expand the existing garden centre, so they’ve had to build their coffee shop business with minimal “back office” space.  A portacabin has been added to the “kitchen” but that just houses the dishwasher and fridge’s for storage.

With only a small combi oven and two grills the menu is mainly panini’s, jackets, sandwiches, baguettes, soup and a special of the day.  Breakfast was added 2 years ago and afternoon teas are a big hit today, especially as a gift.

Tania explains; “we don’t have the space to make our own cakes or soups so we buy in the best we can locally and then prepare everything fresh to order.”

“We’re not trend setters, we just provide a service to our customers, doing what we do very well for a real mix of people who come in.  Our aim is for people to come here every week, not just for a treat.”

Local celebrity vicar, Richard Coles, who partnered Jimmy Sommerville in The Communards, certainly backed up the Bosworths objectives:  “It’s a great place to bunk off for a coffee and a bite to eat” he told GTN Food Xtra, “and it’s Bossies, so it’s great for shopping too!”

Joy Smith, taking tea with the vicar, used to run a market stall selling plants in Corby alongside Sam's dad when he was selling eggs & chickens.  She uses the Poppies Coffee shop as a regular meeting place to catch up with her friends “I wouldn’t go anywhere else.”

When it comes to drinks they sell 2.05 cups of coffee to each pot of tea, even with a choice of 6 different tea blends.  Arden supplies their tea range, hot chocolate and filter coffee.  After a visit to the HTA Catering Conference in 2013 Tania changed to Illy coffee for their espresso coffees.

Sam and Tanias Top Tips

• Checkout second hand options when buying replacement equipment – there are some great bargains to be found.
• Be careful with the price of products.  Ham must look good and taste good.  Don’t compromise on the quality but it doesn’t have to be the most expensive.
• Have two sandwich grills rather than one double grill.  That way if one fails you can still deliver hot food while the other is being repaired.
• Use a catering offer to drive garden centre footfall.  Our Reward card holders get free coffee and cake for two on their birthday; we now have over 4000 members.
• Coffee Shops are great cash generators.  Where else in the garden centre can you deliver nearly £400k turnover with only £3k stock?
• Customers expect Wi-Fi now, they live in the digital age.  Our TV screens display our offers and garden events.
• If anything goes wrong it needs to be sorted straight away: “If you sell a houseplant and it dies the customer often blames themselves.  If you sell them a luke warm cup of coffee all hell breaks loose!”
• When seeking ideas and inspiration, look at things on your scale.  The HTA Catering Conference, Choice Marketing and the RBIS scheme have all been rich sources of advice and ideas for us.

Given the restricted nature of the site in Burton Latimer, just off the A14, it’s no surprise, and no secret, that Sam and Tania are planning for a new Bosworths Garden Centre as soon as a suitable site can be found.  That will mean a new Poppies Coffee Shop and Restaurant.  “We look forward to being able to employ a patisserie chef and make our own cakes and other products.  We’d love to be able to sell them in the new food retailing area too,” said Tania.  “Bosworths started as a farm gate shop,” added Sam “and we already make a lot of our ‘Grown at Bosworths’ logo.  It’s our point of difference and as a local business we look forward to adding ‘Made at Bosworths’ to our food.”

But what would Sam’s father, who sadly died not long after Poppies opened, make of the catering side of the business now:  “He would absolutely love being able to pop in and sit and have a coffee and a chat with our customers” said Sam, “he would be in his element!”

Nearly a quarter of the countries in the world will be represented at this year’s Natural Food Show at Natural & Organic Products Europe, when it returns to London’s Olympia on 13-14 April.

Firmly established as Europe’s leading natural and organic trade event, the Natural Food Show boasts more natural, organic, Fairtrade, vegan, vegetarian, free-from and special diet food and drink products from around the world than any other European event this year.  Or indeed any year – as a 38% increase in food and drink companies for 2014 has filled the show to capacity.  It sold out of all available exhibition space last week.

Event organiser Diversified Communications UK says that the strong exhibitor uptake paints an encouraging picture of growing market confidence.  Similarly, the event’s New Products Showcase is now also fully booked, with a record 279 entries.  Over half of these have been entered into the food, organic food, drink, and special diet categories.

As a snapshot of the natural and organic food and drink market, the 2013 event certainly reflected a more buoyant mood than in recent years (attendance for the Natural Food Show was a significant 52% up on 2012, for one).  Feedback from the show floor saw many delighted exhibitors commenting that the attendees – 8,810[1] in all – were ready and, perhaps more importantly, able to do business.  While 92% of surveyed visitors rated their show experience as excellent/good.

For 2014, The Natural Food Show is looking to build on that success, with over 400 food and drink companies from 45 countries preparing to showcase thousands of brands when doors open next month.

So what can visitors expect from the biggest edition in the event’s 18 year history?  More new companies for a start – including (some of the most recent additions to the exhibitor list) cold pressed juice company Plenish Cleanse; Gusto Organic Energy Drinks; Morynga Moringa artisan teas; Coconut Merchant; and Emmett's of Peasenhall (named one of the ‘Five of the best: bacon curers’ by the Financial Times last year).

With all the stands booked, many of the show’s pavilion participants have also now been confirmed.

Soil Association Organic Chilled Food Pavilion (new for 2014)

Chilled food already accounts for more than 40% of the UK’s £1.64bn^[2] organic market, and sales across the category are on the increase.  This new pavilion will showcase everything from cheese, milk, yoghurt, cream and butter, to meat, drinks and baby food from a host of first time exhibitors.  Among them are Riverford Farm Dairy, Brown Cow Organics, Godminster, Heavenly Tasty Organics, Real Nice Organic, Plenish Cleanse, Bio-tiful Dairy, and PIP Organic.

Organic Trade Board (OTB) Pavilion

Marthomi Allergy Free Foods GmbH (whose fun range of chocolate bars and figure cookies are free from all 14 EU recognized food allergens, including nuts and soy) will be making its debut this year alongside returning exhibitors like Clearspring; Alara Cereals/Of The Earth Superfoods; Organico Realfoods; Queenswood Natural Foods; Tideford Organic Foods; Seed and Bean Organic Chocolate (promoting its new flavour Cornish Sea Salt and Lime Milk); Trioni (which is launching a new high protein sports drink called Daionic); Doves Farm Foods; and Hampstead Tea London.

USA Pavilion

Confirmed exhibitors include Wild Planet Foods (which is renowned for its sustainably sourced canned seafood – tuna, sardines, salmon, and shrimp), EZ Squeezees (promoting its new refillable and reusable food pouches for kids and adults), and Define Bottle (recognised as one of the 100 Brilliant Companies of 2013 by Entrepreneur Magazine for its new eco-friendly water bottle that promotes nutrient-rich, fruit-infused water to go).

Vegan Society Pavilion

The Vegan Society is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year.  To mark the occasion, its pavilion at the show is 40% bigger for 2014 to accommodate 17 member companies.  Although there are no specific figures for veganism, Mintel estimates that the meat-free market could be worth £800m by 2017 (it was £634m in 2012).  New companies at the show include Holy Llama (whose new concentrated Spice Drops range has recently been shortlisted in Ocado's Britain's Next Top Supplier Competition); Ronan Foods (creator of the Yi brand of ice cream alternatives); Divina Teresa – The Veggie Company (vegan fish specialist); Govinda (organic desserts); VDelicious Cupcakery; Conscious Chocolate; Venture Foods; Zingology (fruit and vegetable whole food and juice powders); and Jeeva UK (which is launching its new organic and cold-pressed raw virgin coconut oil exclusively at the show).

Returning exhibitors include Creative Nature Superfoods; Smooze (natural fruit ices made from 100% freshly pressed coconut milk, real fruit juices and purees); Chimpanzee Bars; GOOD Hemp; The Field Roast Grain Meat Company; and Violife by Viotros (dairy-free cheeses).

Raw Food Pavilion

Another market gaining increased momentum over the last few years is the raw/living foods movement, which has seen more consumers turning to pure, uncooked, unprocessed food and drink to complement their natural lifestyle.  Reflecting this growing trend, the number of raw food products available across the show has doubled for 2014.  Pavilion highlights include Primrose's Kitchen (award winning raw vegetable mueslis, superfood blends and raw nut butters); Pana Chocolate (handmade, hand-wrapped chocolate bars from Australia); Green Gate (each daily packet of its Signature Blend offers high quality extracts from over 50 of the most enzyme-rich, nutrient-dense foods on the planet); and Nosh Raw (the world's first range of 100% raw smoothies, juices and wheatgrass shots).

Sicilian Organic Food Pavilion (new for 2014)

Sicilian producers are renowned for creating some of the finest quality olive oils on the market and visitors to the new pavilion will be spoilt for choice; with Sicilian Frantoio Olerio Gaspare Sarullo, Favacchio Emanuele, Azienda Agricola Serra di Mezzo, Azienda Agricola Antonino Centonze, and Az. Agricola Cataldi all showcasing their unique varieties.

Other Sicilian food and drink specialities are also well represented, including hazelnuts, almonds and pistachios from F.lli Caprino; honey, jams and marmalades, liquors, sweets and chocolates from Melauro di La Ferrera Aldo; Bio Global Gap certified vegetables, tomatoes, zucchini, sweet peppers, and aubergine from Alba Bio Soc. Coop; organic wine from Maggio Vini Sas and Aziende Tamburello; cherry tomato sauces, toppings for bruschetta, patés and pesto from Salemipina; and Il Modicano – Organic Chocolate.

French Food Pavilion

New participants this year include winery Caves de Rauzan; Atalaya – Holonage (producers of organic oils rich in omega-3); and GAIA (cereals, pasta and pulses).  They join returning exhibitors Emile Noel (home to the world’s largest range of first cold pressed organic virgin oils); distiller Combier (fruit-liqueurs from the Loire Valley); Les Jardins de Gaia (the no.1 supplier of organic and Fairtrade tea in Europe); and Arcadie (its brands include L'Herbier de France and Cook – spices and herbs).

Italian Food Pavilion

New exhibitors include organic baked goods specialists A.T.& B. Srl (brands include Verde&Bio, Bocchietto 1878 and Special Diet); Peltuinum – Antica Azienda Agricola (traditional producer of L'Aquila Saffron); and Maiello Antonio – Olives.

Argentinean Pavilion

New participants include Natural Nutriseeds (Chia Seeds, Flax Seeds, Sesame, Quinoa, and Sunflower); Pachamama Products (produce edible seeds and by-products such as chia, flax, sesame and amaranth); ProNut (organic Peanuts, peanut butter, soybean meal, and soybean-peanut meal).  They join returning exhibitor Building Bridges (dulce de leche, traditional yerba mate, chimichurri sauce, empanada pastry and alfajores).

HFMA Pavilion

Exhibitors include Heath & Heather (fruit and herbal tea infusions); Bravura Foods Limited (exclusive distributor of Panda Confectionery products in the UK and Ireland); Natural Trade Brokers; Booja-Booja (organic, dairy free, gluten and soya free chocolate and ice-cream); Anyone 4 Tea (European distributor of XyloSweet Xylitol sweetener and Cheeki stainless steel bottles); and the Health Food Manufacturers' Association (HFMA).

To view the show’s full exhibitor list, visit http://onlineexhibitormanual.com/nope14/exhi/exhibitorList.aspx.

Natural & Organic Products Europe takes place on 13-14 April 2014 at Olympia London, and includes four show sections:  Natural Living, Health & Nutrition, Natural Beauty & Spa and The Natural Food Show.  Entry includes access to Keynote sessions, Natural Beauty & Spa seminars and live Natural Kitchen demonstrations.

To register for a free trade pass to the Natural Food Show at Natural & Organic Products Europe 2014, please visit www.naturalproducts.co.uk and quote NPEPR (www.eventdata.co.uk/Visitor/NPE.aspx?TrackingCode=NPEPR).

As part of its on-going initiative to create top quality soft drinks for adults, Cawston has developed a four-strong RTD range in 330ml glass bottle format.

The range is designed to exploit a gap Cawston sees in the soft drink market – high-quality drinks that are all-natural, not made from concentrated juice or artificial flavours and which appeal to adults.

Three of the flavours, Sparkling Apple, Sparkling Ginger Beer and Sparkling Lemon & Lime have won Great Taste Awards, while Sparkling Apple & Rhubarb won The Grocer’s Product of the Year in 2013.

The latter is a unique flavour in the market and sees Cawston use the finest rhubarb balanced with pressed apple juice and sparkling water to temper the vegetable’s distinctive, fruity, ‘tang’.  It has an impressive juice content of 40%.

With summer on its way, Sparkling Lemon & Lime is another great choice for any garden centre café.  It’s a punchy and defiantly ‘adult’ take on a traditional lemonade with none of the usual over-powering sweetness. It features Sicilian lemons blended with pressed apple juice and sparkling water, gently rounded off with a dash of lime juice.  Total juice content is a healthy 25%; comparing favourably with rival lemonade drinks that rarely reach above 18% and use concentrated, not pressed, juice.

Also, as with all Cawston juices and drinks, the apple juice in both drinks comes from fruit that has been pressed within 48hrs of being picked, thereby ensuring maximum freshness. 

The bottles have an RRP from £1.69 and are available via fine food wholesalers such as Cotswolds Fayre, Hider Foods and other regional wholesalers.

Simon Roberts, Cawston’s Sales Manager for garden centres, told GTN Food Xtra:

“All four drinks are perfect for adults looking for interesting, high-quality and all-natural alternatives to the soft-drinks out there. They are uniquely placed in the fact that we use high percentages of pressed juice compared to a lot of other brands that scrimp on the juice content and just use concentrate.  The glass bottles are perfect for this market where they offer consumers a really satisfying and sophisticated soft drink option!”

Cawston is offering fifty readers of GTN Food Xtra who are café owners/managers a complimentary case (x12 330ml bottles) of Apple & Rhubarb.  Just be one of the first fifty to email: simon.roberts@cawstonpress.com with ‘GTN Food Xtra Offer’ in the subject line.

For those cafes unable or unwilling to sell glass bottled product, Cawston has also just introduced two new 330ml canned drinks too – featuring lighter blends of juice and sparkling water.  Cloudy Apple and Rhubarb are again all-natural and made from pressed juice and not concentrate.  

Website:  www.cawstonpress.com 

Being on trend can often seem unfamiliar, irrelevant or daunting.  However, garden centres and farm shops who wish to successfully tempt customers away from the High Street competition need to keep ahead of the game according to catering design specialits The Catering Design Group.

The key is to translate the latest trends into your restaurant or café, inspiring and exciting your existing clientele and appealing to a wider audience.

Storytelling is the ‘buzz word’ in interior design for 2014. Customers want to understand your story and learn about your heritage, culture and values.  Design is an extremely powerful tool in the art of storytelling. Telling your story can be really easy to achieve and doesn’t need to be expensive.  Use framed pictures, statement wall graphics or maps and memorabilia to showcase your produce and local history.  Customers still love to see one-off vintage pieces especially if they have a story behind them. They can be a real talking point and give a unique touch.

The key to successfully translating interior design trends is about how you use them and make them relevant for your space. I suppose it’s a bit like fashion – we often wonder who on earth would wear those outlandish ‘catwalk creations’, but nine times out of ten they make their way into the shops, courtesy of designers and fashion buyers who cherry-pick the elements of the design with wide appeal and translate it into a High Street ‘must-have’.

By translating the latest trends and committing to telling your story, you’ll be well on the way to being on trend in 2014. 

For further information visit www.cateringdesign.co.uk or call: 01327 314 860 

Manchester based Antonelli is a family company born of Italian ancestry, passed on for four generations, originally known for the manufacture of ice cream cones.

In 2009, to compliment their growth in the competitive arena of the food production industry, Antonelli took on the UK exclusive agency for Italian manufacturers MEC 3.

MEC3 are the world number one manufacturer of ingredients for artisan ice cream, gelato, and desserts; bringing innovation, variety and high quality to UK chefs, bakers and manufacturers alike. An exciting new development to the MEC 3 dessert range is the practical and delicious Macaroon Kit. It comes in the form of a complete powder with a separate one for each colour: Green, Red, Yellow, Pink, Neutral, Caramel. All the baker has to do is mix up the powder, pipe and bake for a consistent and delicious tray of Macaroons.

Said Mark Antonelli, Sales and Marketing Director “We are sure that it will be a big hit with delis, farm shops, coffee houses and garden centres as it makes a fantastic display piece as well as tasting marvellous.”

Traditional pudding flavours for the ice cream season

In addition to the macaroons and with the anticipation for the new ice cream season heightening, there has been great enthusiasm for this year’s new flavours as ice creams follow the trend in traditional desserts. The new MEC3 flavours for ice creams and gelato, which Antonelli can supply include “Apple Pie” and “Cheesecake” as well as the exceedingly popular “Cookies Black”.

Mark Antonelli described that given the opportunity to sample these new flavours, customers faces lit up both at the sight and with the taste of these new exciting varieties. “The intensity and natural flavour profile have produced some amazing expressions of delight and left customers wanting more!"...

Top Banana!

…And actually there is more - just when you think the variety of flavours couldn’t get any better, Antonelli topped the tables by scooping an ICA (Ice Cream Alliance) award for their
specialist banana gelato. People tasting it for the first time were heard to exclaim “it even smells like real banana!” Zelica Carr, Chief Executive of the ICA, said: "Antonelli is one of the most highly respected companies in the ice cream sector and this award is well deserved."

For full list of our extensive product range please see our
website www.antonelli.co.uk or call us on 0161 789 4485.

Alternatively you can email info@antonelli.co.uk.

There’s no better way to engage with your cafe and restuarant customers and find out just why they think your garden centre food offering is great than by taking part in The Greatest Awards customer voting categories.

The awards for The Greatest Garden Centre Catering Teams and The Greatest Garden Centre Teams will once again be decided purely by customer votes.  There will be regional and national winners plus awards for different sizes of garden centre operations, so even the smallest of garden centre team can take part and be in with a chance of winning – it’s just down to how many customers your teams can get to vote for them.  If you’re good you’ll get votes, if you’re the greatest you’ll get the most votes!

And the real winning factor is all of the wonderful customer comments you’ll capture as part of the process.  They will give you great marketing insight and deliver huge motivation to your staff.

Voting runs during May but you need to register for a voting pack now so that you get all of the pre-voting material to enable your teams to make the most of the opportunity. 

Register by e-mailing trevor.pfeiffer@tgcmc.co.uk or calling The Greatest Awards team on 01733 775700 today.

With an ethos of freshly prepared food using quality seasonal ingredients from local producers and suppliers it is no wonder that Belle and Joe’s Kitchen at Timmermans Garden Centre was voted Nottinghamshire’s Best Garden Centre Café in May 2013.

Owners Greg and Sophie Timmermans-Delves work in partnership with local suppliers, such as the dairy and butcher, helping to support local businesses. They pride themselves in cooking from scratch from pizza dough to homemade cakes (highlighting the just made cakes on a chalk board) and use herbs and rocket grown on-site.

HTA Catering Conference workshop delegates learned how the team raised their profile further by adding Belle and Joe’s Kitchen Bus to their portfolio in 2013. When not busy in their car park serving up drinks and tasty snacks the bus can be seen at venues far and wide helping to spread the word about this enterprising business.

Word of mouth, local awards and a sell-out supper club have all helped the venture which has seen a doubling of turnover in two years. See more at www.timmermansgardencentre.com

Cottismore Garden Centre in Kingsclere, Berkshire could have a new Tea Room run by local boutique bakery CakeyPigg Originals whose cakes have been featured in OK! magazine and include various garden cake designs as well as celebration cakes.

According to the Baisingstoke Gazette, CakeyPigg Originals has applied to Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council to change the use of an unused part of the Cottismore Garden Centre for a tea room and a kitchen.

If approved, the café will provide two full-time jobs and three part-time jobs.

Websites: www.cottismore.com  and  www.cakeypigg.com

With a desire to create a unique catering offer with year round appeal Steff’s Kitchen at Fairweather’s Garden Centre in Beaulieu, Hampshire prides itself on producing affordable and good quality food, the workshop audience at the HTA Catering Conference heard.

Wanting to be aspirational and special the ethos is very much centred around homegrown cooking and once the kitchen had been transformed attention was turned to small half acre site opposite which was developed into Patrick’s Patch - a unique learning garden.



Now a visitor attraction in its own right Patrick’s Patch attracts over 500 school children a year and employs a head gardener along with a loyal army of volunteers. Along with providing produce for Steff’s Kitchen (with any surplus being sold in the garden centre) they run courses and drop in GYO clinics helping to create a real community around the business.

Their supper club, which runs every six weeks, is always sold out and they invite guests chefs to cook up dishes using seasonal items from the garden.

Find out more at http://fairweathers.co.uk/patricks-patch/

Patchwork Pâté was founded in 1982 by Margaret Carter. A family business, the company began with a start-up fund of £9, invested from then single mother Margaret's housekeeping funds. Today the company occupies purpose built kitchens in nearby Ruthin where it employs 25 people.  Over 30 years Patchwork have extended their range which includes frozen, chilled, ambient and foodservice specific, making their award winning products available to all.

Their 120g range of products can be sold from a chiller or a freezer and with their brightly coloured packaging make a great visual impact.  Also available in the attractive packaging are the 230g retail packs that can be sold direct from the freezer.  Ideal for the serve over counter is the range of 450g cutting pâtés that come with brightly coloured dishes and counter labels.

For foodservice, Patchwork have designed piping bag pâtés which save time, cut down on waste and allow easy portion control and versatility of use.  They can be piped into ramekins, canapés or as an ingredient solution.  A piping bag introduction video can be view here: http://youtu.be/ksrGFrsbDk8 .

As these are available in their bestselling pâtés it means that customers can cross sell throughout their business.  For those who have limited or no freezer or chiller space, Patchwork also have an extensive range of delicious ambient pâtés and chutneys.

Website: www.patchwork-pate.co.uk

Contact: info@patchwork-pate.co.uk  

Telephone: 0845 123 5010