Food

Tesco's ground-breaking 'Free Fruit for Kids' initiative has proved a real hit with children and parents, after the retailer revealed it has given out 20 million pieces of free fruit since its launch in July last year.

The scheme, which was the brain child of Customer Assistant Maria Simpson, launched last summer in over 800 stores across the UK and has seen kids enjoy over six and a half million apples, eight million bananas and five and half million oranges so far.

New research by Tesco and Mumsnet has highlighted the positive effect the initiative has had, with a third of participating parents saying their children have eaten more fruit thanks to the scheme.

The research, which surveyed over 1,400 Mumsnet users with at least one child also found three quarters of participating parents feel the initiative has made their shopping trip easier, with nine out of ten parents saying they feel more positive towards Tesco as a result.

The 'Free Fruit for Kids' initiative is just one of the ways Tesco is helping customers make healthier choices.

Earlier this month, Tesco launched its 'Little Helps to Healthier Living' campaign, including lower prices on hundreds of products, such as fruit and vegetables, and helpful 'little swaps', many of which contain lower levels of salt, fat and sugar than the standard alternative.

Matt Davies Tesco UK CEO said “As the UK's largest green grocer, and with millions of customers shopping with us every week, we have a unique opportunity to help them live healthier lives.

“Our Free Fruit for Kids initiative plays a really important role in this, helping to create healthy eating habits that will stay with children as they grow up. We're incredibly proud that kids across the UK have already been able to enjoy more than 20 million pieces of free fruit so far”

Justine Roberts, Mumsnet CEO and Founder said "Small things - like encouraging healthy eating - can occupy a lot of headspace for parents. Helping children towards their five-a-day while at the same time making the weekly shop less stressful is a thoughtful move from Tesco and one that Mumsnet users have given an unequivocal thumbs up to."

Billed as the cities tastiest fun run, Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice combined chocolate and running at the 2017 Chocolate 5k to raise funds for individuals and families from across Birmingham who are living with a terminal illness.

Now in its third year the event took place on 6^th May in Bournville, the home of Chocolate. The fun 5k attracted a Hospice record of 700 runners and is well on the way to raising over £20,000 for the local charity.   On the day chocolate fans ran around the course collecting chocolate bars from several chocolate stations and stashing their lout in a special Chocolate 5k goody bag. Everyone was rewarded with a unique Chocolate 5k medal and a golden ticket gave participants entry into a post run chocolate buffet.

Event Manager Lucy Watkins said “We devised the event to not only give participants the opportunity to indulge in chocolate, but to also enable them to run off the calories and support a local charity all at the same time. We had an overwhelming response to the event this year and are delighted with the continued support of the local community.  Events like this are crucial for us in order to raise money as the Hospice operates a free service for all who come through our doors, or those we look after in the community.”

“We will be hosting a 2^nd Chocolate 5k event on 3^rd September at Elmdon Park, Solihull. It would be great to see even more chocolate runners join us for that event”.

Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice is an independent adult hospice providing free end of life care and support for over 1,200 individuals and their families, carers and loved ones across Birmingham and Sandwell. It costs over £8 million per year to run the Hospice services and over half of these running costs come from voluntary incomes.

Part of the enjoyment of having eggs for breakfast is how colourful they look on your plate. There's nothing like poaching an egg and breaking it open on a bed of toast to discover a river of bright, sunset orange yolk; the perfect Instagram picture.

With #eggs being mentioned seven billion times on Instagram in the last month alone*, it's no surprise we're all looking for more interesting and exciting ways to display this British favourite. Now to add more taste and vibrancy to a typical breakfast, brunch or lunch, Sainsbury's has launched new British Blue eggs to liven up your eating routine and make your followers wild with envy.

These blue shell eggs are now being produced after years of testing by the Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Egg supplier, LJ Fairburns & Sons Ltd. Adding further colour to our plates, these new British Blue eggs are available nationwide in Sainsbury's stores.

The hens that lay these delicious new eggs have a bespoke diet consisting of a grain mix including maize and corn along with extracts from brightly coloured flowers, like marigolds, that help deliver a richer tasting, golden yolk.

James Curtis, Sainsbury's Egg Buyer, said: We've been working with our supplier Fairburn's for five years to make our Taste the Difference Egg range really distinctive. The unique British Blue breed produces an amazing pastel blue shell egg with a larger, more golden yolk and a luxuriously rich taste.  Eggs are a classic brunch component and I'm confident that these beautiful eggs will be really popular with customers.

Sainsbury's Taste the Difference British Blue Eggs are now available to buy in store and online, £1.85 for a pack of six. Part of the Taste the Difference range, they also carry the Woodland Trust badge as 1p from every dozen goes to support the Woodland Trust.

And for the perfect Instagram shot try out your Sainsbury's Taste the Difference British Blue eggs soft boiled. With the right angle, the blue shell and golden yolk will give a beautiful effect… #nofilterneeded.

Candy Mechanics are bringing the ultimate selfie experience to the heart of Covent Garden in London, where visitors to the pop-up can be turned into a chocolate lollipop!

Running from the 25th - 29th of May, visitors will be able to experience having their own heads carved in chocolate, right in-front of their eyes.

Called Lolpops, because what’s funnier than seeing your own head in chocolate, the lab-coated Candy Mechanics will 3D scan heads and machine carve using CNC Mills to create perfectly formed chocolate selfies. These are finished with a dusting of gold lustre.

Starting at £8, the Lolpops come in a choice of smooth milk, indulgent white or luxurious dark Belgian chocolate and promises any chocolate lover the sweetest selfie around.

Local artisan bakery, Breadren, is starting a quiet food revolution from its West London kitchens. After three years of trading at some of the most iconic Farmer's Markets in London, Salima Dhalla, founder of Breadren, understands exactly her customers' daily struggles with food – whether it's trying to deal with dietary restrictions or simply a lack of inspiration. Thanks to its fad-free, inclusive eating philosophy, the local business is going from strength to strength, and is now launching a series of cookery classes designed to promote natural, unpretentious food and demystify 'free from' cookery.

Championing a new concept and style of cooking, Breadren produces a range of sweet and savoury baked goods (both naughty and nice), and many of its recipes naturally don't require ingredients like wheat, dairy, eggs or sugar to make them delicious. Rather than replacing these ingredients with processed substitutes, Breadren's chefs draw on a broad range of cuisines and cooking techniques from communities and cultures across London, using local, seasonal produce, to develop unique recipes that transcend cultural boundaries and can be universally enjoyed - termed #bakingwithoutborders.

This new approach to the 'free from' diet sector shows people that it is possible to avoid the trap of trendy food fads and getting pigeon-holed by your diet, and the new cookery classes will help customers to follow this at home. Classes are available throughout the year from Breadren's Fulham location and include courses such as 'Finding Flavour – Seasoning and Spice', 'Vegetarian Feasting without Gluten' and 'Vegan Seasonal Cooking and Baking' - where the menu promises to deliver a feast of roasted cauliflower with tahini, quinoa with roasted brussel sprouts, crispy kale & fresh pomegranate, Vietnamese-style summer rolls, charred sprouting broccoli with harissa, and a matcha and coconut mochi cake for pudding.

Salima Dhalla comments: “Dietary restrictions can be unnecessarily politicised and exploited. But there is a natural way to address these restrictions without being faddy. Breadren draws on different ingredients from around the world including our mixed British/ Gujarati / East African heritage, to offer unique products like our fennel and cardamom cookies. They're one of our most popular products as they're clean and nutritious but taste indulgent – treats without the guilt. The ingredients simply happen to not contain gluten or cane sugar and are vegan. But I can guarantee it's not just our vegan and gluten-free customers that are disappointed when they're sold out.

Here at Breadren, we love to eat, learn and talk about all kinds of food with our customers, and be inspired to develop recipes that cater for different diets without slaving exclusively to those categories. We hope that, through our cooking classes, we can enable our customers to bring this philosophy into their own kitchens and experiment without fear.”

Breadren uses local and seasonal ingredients wherever possible – sourcing primarily from London & the South East; from Shipton Mill and Dove's Farm flour (Gloucestershire, Wiltshire) to fruit & veg from Chegworth Valley (Kent). The company supplies a number of businesses across the City, from luxury catering companies to cafes, and is in particular demand for its grown-up celebration cakes, which offer a different take on the usual icing and glitter creations.

Nestled beyond the blossoms, borders and butterflies, there will be a host of award-winning food and drink at three of this year's historic RHS shows, as the Great Taste Market comes to RHS Chatsworth Flower Show, RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show and RHS Tatton Park Flower Show. Bringing everything from juice and gin to cheese and chutney, the Great Taste Market will be the only food offering at these shows this year and promises to tantalise taste buds with recent winners from Great Taste, the world's most coveted food awards.

Showcasing the finest food and drink, in amongst inspirational show gardens, butterfly domes, talks, demos and marquees flooded with flowers, these events have treats in store for all the senses, bursting with the fragrant, the beautiful and the downright delicious. Hosted by the Guild of Fine Food, organisers of Great Taste, these artisan markets are a must-visit for those in search of exceptional food and drink, bringing together a collection of some of the best tasting products from the UK and beyond.

Anyone wishing to taste 1- 2- and 3-star award-winners, whether tempted by sweet treats or with a penchant for pies, can visit the shows on the following dates:

RHS Chatsworth Flower Show: 7 - 11 June 2017

RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show: 3 July 2017

RHS Tatton Park Flower Show: 19 - 23 July 2017

The Guernsey Food Festival returns for a third year in 2017 running from 16 – 24 September with the aim of showcasing the best of the island's local produce and varied cuisine.

During the festival, there will be a range of special promotions in bars and restaurants on the island, as well as gastronomic tours, chef masterclasses, street markets with local goods and live interactive events for budding cooks and families to enjoy.

The festival is organised by Taste Guernsey, a non-profit organisation based on the island with the purpose of supporting local food and drink producers and restaurants through a number of events, benefiting both the local community and improving the experience for people visiting Guernsey.

In the lead up to the festival, Taste Guernsey will be running a series of mini-festivals during the summer celebrating the local food industry under the titles of 'Locally Caught' (13/14 May), 'Locally Grown' (10/11 June), 'Locally Produced' (5/6 August) and 'Locally Reared' (19/20 August). The events will combine with the island's 'Seafront Sundays', where St Peter Port's seafront is closed to traffic for a series of markets, tasting events and cooking demonstrations.

It's already one of the UK's most popular cuisines but now shoppers across the UK will be able to complete the Oriental dining experience with a bottle of Chinese wine.

Tesco has started selling an impressive Chinese produced Cabernet Sauvignon that it believes could finally open the doors in Britain to this fast emerging wine-making nation.

The new wine, Chateau Changyu Moser XV Cabernet Sauvignon 2015, is a cross between a classic Bordeaux and a rich fruity Australian wine, and is available for less than £10.

While China may not immediately conjure up images of classic vineyard country, the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) has placed China- after Spain- as the country with the second biggest vineyard area in the world.

In fact, the Chateau Changyu Moser XV estate claims to have become one of the world's biggest wine producers- with 100 winemakers who make 150 million bottles a year.

The wine is produced in the region of Ningxia, in northern China, which has a warm and dry climate and boasts an average of 3000 sunshine hours a year – 800 hours more than Bordeaux - earning it a reputation of being the country's Napa Valley.

Tesco's Master of Wine James Davis believes China will soon be a powerful player in the wine world and this launch could help give it its first major push in the UK.

He said:

“China is one of the world's biggest consumers of wine, drinking almost two billion bottles of red wine each year.

“And now they are one of the largest wine producing countries in the world, ahead of the more traditional regions of Chile and New Zealand.

“Produced in a warm and dry climate, the Chateau Changyu Moser XV Cabernet Sauvignon 2015, is a dark ruby red.

“The smooth, full bodied wine is a combination of a classic Bordeaux style with the riper, richer fruit flavours which are characteristic of Australian wines.

“At a great introductory offer of £7, this wine offers customers an opportunity to discover a unique, but quality wine at an affordable price.

“This Chinese wine is very food friendly and works well with a variety of dishes – they are also a great talking point at the dinner table!”

James recommends trying the wine with Crispy Aromatic Duck or a slow roasted lamb shoulder as it compliments and balances the rich meat flavours.

The addition of the Chateau Changyu Moser XV Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 means that Tesco now sells wine from 20 countries around the world- including Hungary, Israel and Greece.

Proud to be one of the 'Spice Islands', the rich culinary heritage of Zanzibar, with its Swahili, Persian, Portuguese, Arab and Indian influences, is celebrated in the hands of Executive Chef and Zanzibar resident of 21 years, Jussi Husa, and his team at Essque Zalu Zanzibar. The island's only premier resort, this deluxe destination hotel promises a true culinary adventure to delight, surprise and inspire the most seasoned foodies.

A half-day Spice Tour to a local shamba, or plantation, offers the chance to discover the spices and herbs synonymous with Zanzibar's rich history, reflecting the island's status and importance on the ancient trading route.  Guests will be introduced to a heady mix of cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, green and black pepper and vanilla as well as exotic tropical fruits. Back at the resort, guests' new found knowledge on local ingredients can be employed in a Swahili Cooking Class, led by native Tanzanian chefs Rose Mosha and James Zole.  Mosha and Zole share their passion and local insights, demonstrating key techniques and recipes to recreate at home, from Mishkaki, a spiced meat skewer perfect for barbeques, or Pweza a nazi, an octopus curry prepared with coconut.

Chef Jussi believes ingredients should be fresh and local, and the best way to understand a destination and its culture is through its cuisine.  He and his passionate team are always eager to recommend tailored ways in which to discover the island's eating.

Middleton Foods exhibited at Anuga in Cologne for the first time in 2015 thanks to the support from the team at the Department for International Trade in the Black Country, which included an exhibitor grant from the trade show access programme. This was Middleton's first overseas exhibition and was research to gauge the size of the market for their products outside of the UK.

Throughout the show, Middleton Foods cooked British Fish and Chips for all the visitors and served thousands of portions over the five days of the show. The exhibition was a success, producing huge interest in their range of products from overseas and UK buyers.

This year, the Middleton team are going back with a new wider range of products, reacting to customer’s comments and the interest generated at the last exhibition. In particular, they will be showing their new range of Gluten Free catering products alongside their Chicken Breading and Marinades which they are hoping will prove very popular with the international community.

Heather Crocker, International Trade Adviser with the Department for International Trade, commented: “Middleton Foods are a great example of how enthusiasm, commitment and willingness to continually build their knowledge of international markets and diversify their product range to meet the demands of the international customers, can deliver tangible results for a business. I will be working with the company over the coming months to prepare for this year’s show, including research into new market opportunities through my colleagues based in British Embassies in Europe.”

Paul Stanley, Foodservice Manager at Middleton Foods, added: “We are delighted to be working with the Black Country Chamber of Commerce and the International Trade Team by exploring new opportunities within European markets. At Anuga this year we will be showcasing our new gluten free range of products made in our dedicated stand-alone, gluten free factory here in Willenhall. This new dedicated factory creates an environment where all wheat products are removed, giving us full control over manufacturing and eliminating the risk of cross-contamination completely. We believe there will be a strong export demand for these products."

Anuga 2015 not only had a record number of exhibitors, but the delegate attendance figures also increased. Around 160,000 trade visitors from 192 countries attended Anuga in Cologne from 10 to 14 October 2015. Anuga is a specialist exhibition for the food industry and is attended by a vast number of international visitors and exhibitors.

Waitrose has launched the latest instalment in its award-winning brand campaign, giving customers the chance to see where their food comes from.

The latest advert transports viewers to the Indian Ocean where fresh Waitrose tuna is responsibly sourced in the Maldives using the handline-caught method of fishing.

Highlighting the quality of its food is not new for Waitrose, but the use of innovative technology means the supermarket can now demonstrate its sourcing credentials in a new and contemporary way.

Viewers are able to explore the ad online with 360° 'access all areas', giving customers a chance to see behind the camera lens into Waitrose's fishing and sourcing practices.

The campaign is in response to the demand Waitrose is seeing for quality food and shoppers wanting to be reassured about the provenance of what they're buying.

Waitrose guarantees that all its own label fish are responsibly sourced, including its fresh, handline-caught tuna. The retailer is also on track to meeting its commitment that all the branded canned tuna it sells will also be MSC certified or pole and line caught by the end of this year.

Rupert Ellwood, Head of Marketing, Waitrose, says: “We've always been proud of the care and commitment our farmers, fishermen and suppliers put into producing our food.  All Waitrose own label fish are responsibly sourced and this shows customers where it comes from in an open and honest way.”

The first advert in the campaign was filmed on a dairy farm near Newbury that supplies milk to Waitrose. Waitrose is the only supermarket able to guarantee that all the dairy cows that supply its milk and cream have access to grazing for a minimum of 120 days.

Tesco has increased its craft beer range to over 70 beers in stores throughout the country.

Following last year's success to expand the craft beer range to more than 400 high street stores, Tesco has increased the offer by nearly a third to over 70 beers in shops throughout the country. Drawn from our partnerships with nearly 30 breweries from the UK and around the globe, customers will be able to sample beers from Cornwall, Whitstable Bay and Scotland, and from as far afield as Sweden, Japan and the USA.

Reflecting the growing trend for craft beer in pubs and bars across the country, Tesco will become the first major retailer to stock the craft drinkers favourite tipple - sour beer. Sour beers are intentionally acidic and tart, and are most commonly seen in Belgium. Despite the name, sours are refreshing and a perfect accompaniment to food.

Tesco craft beer buyer Chloe Harrison explains:

“Britain's thirst for craft beer shows no sign of slowing down. It's a drink that is popular with both millennial and older drinkers looking for a more artisan experience and exciting flavours.

"We've scoured the globe to bring a range together which we hope will satisfy all tastes, and are thrilled to be able to introduce customers to some fantastic new beers from both little-known and highly recognisable breweries.

“And our new sour beer is the jewel in our crown. With summer just around the corner, its wonderful thirst-quenching quality and is perfect for drinkers looking for palate-tingling flavours.

“We think that sour brews are destined to become the next frontier for beer lovers, in the same way that golden ale helped convert die hard lager lovers over to light and refreshing ales.”

Tart sour beer is priced at £1.90 and is available in store and online. Brewed by Thornbridge Brewery in Derbyshire, it has a golden colour, white head with a combination of citrusy hops and hints of grapefruit and lemon, and has an ABV of 6%.

Tesco has seen its annual growth for craft beers increase by more than 40 per cent – the arrival of sour beer on supermarket shelves is likely to raise interest even further. The retailer is allocating an extra 350 per cent of shelf space in its beer aisles.

If you're a food business, food blogger, or Instagrammer, then you know that beautiful food photography is an essential for standing out from the crowd. Demuths Cookery School is now taking bookings for a one day course on the 14th May, led by food photographer Rob Wicks of Eat Pictures. Rob will teach you how to create beautiful food images that will get attention. He will cover a breadth of skills, tips and tricks to make your food photos look as delicious as the food itself.

Rob Wicks has been taking photographs of food for 25 years. He'll bring his unparalleled expertise and knowledge to the kitchen to make this day both creative and very rewarding. The day will include different approaches to composition and framing, simple food styling, best use of available light, and how to make the most of your camera settings, and easy post-production tips.

Students will take their own photographs throughout the day – beginning with simple ingredients and working our way to shooting finished dishes and cookery in action. This course promises to be practical, enjoyable and delicious.

Demuths Cookery School is based in a light and airy former Georgian townhouse providing a truly inspirational space to further your knowledge. Demuths Cookery School has a huge range of vegetarian and vegan courses which are fun and hugely informative. All courses are well paced, informative and fun and their extremely knowledgeable tutors ooze professionalism with an excellent mixture of demonstrations and hands on practice.

Meat is on the menu four times a week for over a third of Brits, a new survey has found. A study of 1,000 people saw 34% of Brits tucking into meat four times every week with a further fifth (20%) getting stuck in to up to six times per week. 7 per cent eat meat up to 10 times every week. 65% said that meat made up the main part of their regular diet.

The research, by independent convenience retailer Nisa, commissioned for National Butchers Week, also highlighted the people of Bristol as top of the meat eating foodchain, with 53% eating meat up to four times a week. Hot on their heels with forks at the ready is Edinburgh (52%), Belfast (50%), Dublin (43%) and Newcastle/Manchester (36%).

When it comes to knowing our meat, the majority of Brits are more interested in eating it than knowing where it is cut from with only half in the know when it comes to asking for different cuts of meat. 27% of Brits found themselves bottom of the class after admitting they don’t know where a rump steak comes from. 62% are in the dark as to where a ribeye steak is from, 54% are clueless when it comes to sirloin and 73% unaware of where brisket belongs.

Despite loving meat, two thirds (66%) reported that they don’t eat as much meat as they did five years ago with over a quarter (27%) scoffing more meat as part of their diet compared with five years ago.

The survey also found that chicken is top of the chops, getting the thumbs up as the favourite type of meat from 40% followed by beef (35%), pork (10%), turkey (4%) and duck (3%).

76% like to know where their meat comes from as it goes into their shopping bag with a further 47% refusing to eat it if they don’t know its origin. 72% of Brits said they completely trust their local high street butcher.

Almost three quarters (74%) think a meat based diet is healthy with almost two-thirds (62%) trying to go meat free at least once a week. 7 out of 10 meat lovers thinks quality meat is too expensive.

A quarter of Brits (27%) don’t eat meat as regularly since the horse meat scandal in 2013 although 40% eat more than their parents. 60% of parents said that their children eat the same or more meat than them every week.

And although 71% of meat eaters said they enjoy tucking into a vegetarian dish, over two thirds would find it hard to give up meat for a longer period.

Commenting on the research Kim Brown, head of fresh, frozen and DTS at Nisa Retail Limited, said: “Our research highlights that Brits love their meat but changes in diet, scares over quality and scandals in recent years have affected meat eating habits.

“Our research proves that provenance and trust is important when buying meat and this is something Nisa is very keen on – providing high quality, British sourced meat at affordable prices with everything from Heritage Gourmet Cumberland sausages and skinless chicken fillets to Wiltshire cure smoked bacon and whole fresh chickens.”

Waitrose dairy farmers have exceeded their own target for outdoor grazing, achieving an average of 167 days last season. As a result, Waitrose has increased the number of days it guarantees all its dairy cows spend outside, from 100 to 120 days.

As the first supermarket to make a guarantee of this kind, the pledge highlights Waitrose commitment to animal welfare and ensures a consistent approach for all of its dairy farmers. The realistic target factors in the occasionally challenging weather conditions across the UK, as cows don't like being outside in bad weather.

The milder temperatures this month will provide the perfect conditions for outdoor grazing to start on Waitrose farms.The grazing season lasts from early spring to the end of autumn, when the conditions are best and the pasture is at its most lush and nutritious.

During the winter, the cows live in well-ventilated barns with clean, dry and comfortable bedding and are fed on a forage-based diet of grass or maize silage.

To tie in with the start of the grazing season,  Waitrose will air its dairy advert on TV from this week. The advert was filmed on a dairy farm near Newbury that supplies milk to Waitrose and gives customers the opportunity to see the benefits of grazing and the environment  for themselves. The campaign is in response to the demand Waitrose is seeing for quality food and shoppers wanting to be reassured about its provenance.

Heather Jenkins, Waitrose Director of Agriculture and Meat, Fish and Dairy Buying said: “We're proud of our dairy farmers for exceeding the targets that we set out in our original grazing pledge and it's fantastic that we're now able to extend it to 120 days. Grazing ensures our dairy cows are producing great quality milk and contributes to our high animal welfare standards, which has always been fundamental to our business."

Brian Barnett, Chair of the Waitrose Dairy Farmers Group, added:  “Waitrose dairy farmers have always allowed our cows to graze outdoors but this is the first year that we've recorded the precise number of days that they spend outside - and it is fantastic that we averaged 167 days. We have worked closely with Waitrose for many years and this joint commitment to ensure the welfare of our animals is industry leading.”

Waitrose has an exclusive pool of 60 dairy farms across the UK in Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, Buckinghamshire, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Dorset, Somerset and Devon. Milk is produced from cows bred specifically for milk production, including British Friesian and Holstein Friesian. The supermarket always pays its farmers a fair and leading price for their milk.

Compassion in World Farming (CiWF) has endorsed animal welfare standards at Waitrose with the Good Dairy Award and CiWF Retailer of the Year Award. In addition, Waitrose has maintained its top tier status for the third year running in the annual Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare (BBFAW) report, which assesses standards in the world's leading food companies.