Food

One in five Britons now experience a food intolerance* and while many are using technology to help them manage their diet, until now there’s never been a single app dedicated to offering food options for those who deal with intolerances. From April 2016, the new Spoon Guru app, initially available for iOS (iPad, iPhone) will offer the most comprehensive choice of ingredients, products and recipes for those living with multiple allergies, food intolerances or unique dietary preferences.

The Asian Curry Awards are now in their sixth year, which sees the awards expanded to include Turkish and Middle Eastern restaurants and takeaways for the first time. New award categories for vegetarian, curry pub, buffet and event caterer have also been created. The ACA organiser, the Asian Curry Federation (ACF), is to give away 500 tickets for the awards ceremony, being held at the Grosvenor House Hotel on Park Lane in London's Mayfair on Sunday 23rd October 2015.

With the celebrity chefs we have lined up to appear at this year's Nantwich Food Festival in September, you can expect to see some hot, sizzling cooking demonstrations at what promises to be the best festival yet! On the 2nd, 3rd and 4th September 2016 The Nantwich Food Festival is one of the largest events of its kind in Europe and this year it will be featuring two famous chefs who everyone who knows anything about food will recognise - including the Prime Minister! 

The organiser of the only dining awards specifically for eateries with a wood-fired oven is firing up pizza chefs and urging them to put their wood-fired food on the map. Logs Direct, kiln-dried log supplier to the restaurant trade, as well as woodburner fuel specialist, has seven more of its iconic wooden, flame-shaped Woody Awards to bestow on Italian restaurants, and other eateries and pubs cooking with wood-fired ovens, this year.

A former North East Chef of the Year winner, Mark Percival, has been appointed head chef at 14th century luxury hotel and restaurant, Langley Castle. Mark, aged 30, has returned to head up a kitchen in which he was a sur sous chef at the time of his title-winning success in 2011.  He has also entwined his life even further with Langley Castle, by getting married within its impressive seven-foot thick walls on Good Friday (March 25 2016).

Sophi Tranchell, CEO of the acclaimed farmer-owned company Divine Chocolate, is today named as a Schwab Social Entrepreneur of the Year – the most prestigious international award for social innovation. Tranchell was chosen, after a rigorous selection process, for the role she has played in demonstrating how a much more equitable trading relationship with smallholder farmers in Africa can not only work, but also flourish in highly competitive environments in both UK and USA, and provide a model for a sustainable future for cocoa.

With so many farmers being forced out of business, something needs to change and it is up to shoppers to vote with their wallets. Throughout May shoppers are being urged to 'make one change' to the way they shop for food. In a bid to end supermarket domination, Anthony Davison, a Cambridgeshire farmer and founder of local food and drink website www.bigbarn.co.uk says buying local could help preserve the UK food industry and ensure the survival of rural communities.

Foster's, the most popular classic lager in the UK, is to be the Official Lager of England Cricket having signed a two-year deal with the England and Wales Cricket Board. The partnership sees Foster's return to sports sponsorship for the first time in a decade. The major new sponsorship deal will be supported by a nationwide campaign appealing to cricket fans across the country throughout the summer.

Following the hugely popular Cook for The Queen competition for children that was held for the Diamond Jubilee, the organisers, Love British Food, are inviting schools to join in this summer’s Royal celebrations and commemorate Her Majesty’s 90th Birthday by making a Cake for The Queen. 

Warrens Bakery has been placed firmly in position as the nation's favourite producer of authentic Cornish pasties after a series of public polls and national and world championship award wins. Recently voted Cornwall's favourite pasty maker by the Cornish public in four independent radio and newspaper polls, a winner at The World Pasty Championship and recipients of a 'Highly Commended' and 'Gold' at The 2016 British Pie Awards, the craft Cornish bakery is delighted with the victories which also coincide with their expansion across the country.

The Blenheim Palace Food Festival returns for the 2nd year running, for the late May bank holiday weekend, 28th-30th May 2016, from 10am-5pm.  Building on the huge success of the 2015 festival, which saw 20,000 visitors to the festival over 3 days, this year's enhanced festival will feature more demonstrations, more local producers and more tastings, with a fantastic range of food, drink and activities for the whole family to enjoy. 

The Free From Food/Functional Food Expo, the only dedicated showcase of free from, and functional, food and drink in Europe, returns for 2016. The show, now in its fourth year, has an impressive line-up of exhibitors specialising in free from products, speakers and new attractions. With more producers than ever before - additional features this year include vegan, lactose free and functional products - the show boasts dedicated UK, Finland and Ireland Pavilions, and a Functional Food section.

Food trucks from Qatar and around the region will feature in the 7th Qatar International Food Festival, adding a new urban feel to the long-awaited annual event, organizers have revealed. The 12 food trucks will feature at the QIFF satellite experience in The Pearl-Qatar, which joins Katara Cultural Village as one of the Festival’s new locations this year.

Easter eggs might be disappearing fast from the shelves of supermarkets across the country, but the best chocolate is still found a little further afield... Journey deep into the remote and beautiful rainforests of Ecuador, and you will discover some of the highest quality chocolate in the world.

From the organisers of Penzance Farmers Market, Penzance is to host a brand new monthly market, starting Easter Saturday, 26th March at the top of Causewayhead. Penzance Town Market will offer locally grown, reared and created products, with a plethora of stalls ranging from antiques and collectibles, to produce and crafts on the last Saturday of every month, between 9am-2pm.

Sacre bleu! Don't tell the French but British shoppers are falling out of love with the traditionally crescent shaped croissants – preferring ones that are straight. Both shapes have been sold on British high streets for some time, but recently demand for the curved ones has fallen. And it's all because of something known in the baking trade as 'the spreadability factor' with Brits finding it easier to spread jam and other fillings on the straight ones.