Speciality Food April 2025

specialityfoodmagazine.com 31 wellbeing and the environment, to the economy. “One thing we’re seeing at the moment,” he reveals, “is younger people are unable to have big ticket items like a house, they’re not affordable, but they’re valuing experience and good food, and that might be where they spend their money. We need to nurture them.” However, this shouldn’t be to the detriment of existing, loyal customers. “Baby Boomers and ‘the grey pound’ continue to be important to businesses like ours. They are time-rich. They have more disposable income. We need to be more holistic, I think, taking the experiences of all age groups into consideration. A lot of the same values are shared across demographics. If you’re delivering an experience, and people feel it’s personalised and you’re proactive, it doesn’t matter if they’re 25 or 75.” ‘Sincerity’ is another thing Stefano thinks will keep food halls, delis and farm shops thriving into the future. “It’s at the heart of everything, absolutely! It’s that element of, cash can buy an experience, when it comes to the big boys, but it can’t buy sincerity - recognising people, acknowledging them, remembering what they like, making recommendations you know they’ll enjoy.” Knowledge is a speciality retail power too. During tricky economic times, we tend to shift our priorities when it comes to treating ourselves. Rather than an expensive weekend away, or a night at a fancy restaurant, Stefano says we’re buying better quality cheese, for example, “and wanting to knowmore about where it’s from, who made it and what wine to pair it with”. Finally, the ‘whole basket shop’ can be a dealbreaker. And as more, and younger, shoppers tune into what artisan stores have to offer, these retailers must have the bandwidth to meet their demands for not only experience and quality, but time, making sure all the essentials are readily available, from bread andmilk to flour and sugar. “People have to want to do their grocery shop with us. It’s not enough for them to use us as a lovely place for breakfast at the weekend. We want them to come and buy Kentish- grown apples, or local beans. To make this workmore efficiently and affordably in the future, those in the industry need to take a long hard look at margins and supply chains and longer-term strategies.” Owners like himself are, says Stefano, in a position now to make an impact that will be felt in 10, 20 or even 30 years’ time. “We have a generation now,” he explains, “of business owners who have 20 years behind them, and 20 more ahead. And some family members are coming out of farm retail businesses, opening upmore opportunities. It’s a massively dynamic time.” with the shop’s ethos for absolute deliciousness and quality, though it took a bit of convincing to get his father on board with some of his ideas. “He got frustrated by farmers’ markets and farm shops not run by farmers. I had to tell him it was more about what we were growing as a business, and howwe could differentiate. At that time we also saw the growth of wholesalers, and brands like Cottage Delight were quite small and coming through. There was a lot going on.” The most important thing about joining a family business, he says, is working out where you personally fit. Where you can add value. “I realised very early on that my parents had unwittingly crated this amazing lifestyle brand inMacknade. People had an emotional attachment to it. I saw a brilliant opportunity to build on that further, and part of that involved us moving to being amission-focused business that, at its core, was about bringing the community together to enjoy incredible food and drink.” Making your mission work Privately owned SMEs such as Macknade, Stefano says, create meaningful, stable jobs, and places where communities can be built… where customers and staff can build relationships. “We’ve got customers who’ve been shopping with us since before I was alive,” he laughs. “They’ve watchedme grow up. That’s part of the magic of the independent shopping experience. Personalisation. Knowing who your customers are.” Alongside relationship building, a core value at Macknade is truly caring for the environment, but on this Stefano is realistic, saying Rome wasn’t built in a day. “As an SME we’re not going to solve the climate crisis by ourselves within a week, a month or even six months, but we canmake strategic decisions that take us closer to our objectives. Whether that’s looking more closely at the producers we choose to work with, at packaging, the way our site operates…even giving consumers reference points, such as understanding the difference between beef finished on grass, compared to soy. I genuinely think in small, incremental ways, we can be better, and we can help others be better in the way they eat and shop.” Futureproofing There are two sides to innovation, says Stefano. One is getting in cool new ‘big ticket’ items, and expanding, perhaps your food and beverage options. The other is to act as almost a conduit between consumers and producers, platforming emerging brands. “More andmore, rather than having wholesalers in for sampling, we’re looking at businesses that might not be quite ready to come onto the shelves yet, but that could come and do some consumer testing with us in the form of pop-ups,” he explains. “That way we can build dynamic relationships, and create an experience for shoppers, who are able to try something no one else has access to yet.” Anything ‘new’ has to push the business forward. For Stefano, futureproofing means regularly looking at trends emerging in the food and drink sphere, from People have to want to do their grocery shop with us. It’s not enough for them to use us as a lovely place for breakfast at the weekend. We want them to come and buy Kentish-grown apples, or local beans. Tomake this workmore efficiently and affordably in the future, those in the industry need to take a long hard look at margins and supply chains and longer-term strategies