Speciality Food Feb/March 2024

@specialityfood 36 STOCK CHE C K S P E C I A L I T Y F O O D M A G A Z I N E * 2 0 2 4 * GUNNA DRINKS TWISTED LEMONADE Bright with natural lemon, lime and mint, this sparkling drink also contai ns just 66 calories per can, and has added Vitamin C and zinc. gunnadrinks.com OCELOT BUCKWHEAT CHOCOLATE Dark-milk chocolate made with rare Amelonado cocoa beans grown by a women’s co-operative, with toasted buckwheat for a nutty taste. In plastic-free packaging. ocelotchocolate.com SUMA ORGANIC BROWN LENTILS Ready to eat organic lentils. Ideal for using in soups, salads and stews. Filled with gut-friendly fibre. wholesale.suma.coop BONSAN ORGANIC CASHEWCHIVE CHEESE-FREE SPREAD A creamy alternative to cheese spreads. Full of flavour, with a velvety texture. Perfect in sandwiches or stirred into sauces. bonsan.co.uk PADDY & SCOTT’S CHIT CHAT The sustainable coffee brand’s signature blend, designed for sharing with friends. Smooth, with chocolate and caramel flavours. paddyandscotts.shop FIRETREE SOLOMON ISLANDS MAKIRA ISLAND 75% A gorgeously dark bar made with cacao sourced from the remote Solomon island of Makira. With hints of grapefruit, raisin and caramel. firetreechocolate.com BIO ORTO PUTTANESCA TOMATO SAUCE Bio Orto grows all of its own produce organically, and this exquisite sauce is an authentically delicious expression of ripe tomatoes, olives and capers. justgourmetfoods.co.uk MR ORGANIC CHICKPEA & TOMATO ANTIPASTI DIP New to the brand. Part of a range of organic jars ideal for dipping and spreading. Made in Italy with all-natural ingredients. mr-organic.com S eggiano founders David Harrison and Peri Eagleton recently handed the reigns of their business over to Certified Origins. And the duo are confident the brand will retain its ethos of quality and sustainability – something that has naturally been the essence of the business for three decades. “There are so many buzz words at the moment,” says David. “Sustainable, vegan, vegetarian, organic, local. That’s always been at the heart of everything we’ve done. People are talking about something that’s always been high on our list.” Sustainability, he adds, starts with choosing great ingredients, grown in a clean way, by people who really do care. All of Seggiano’s producers work on a small scale. “There’s nothing industrial about it. It’s all artisans, and they are constantly looking at ways to produce energy,” David explains. “The olive mills Seggiano works with will be using waste from the olive stones for heat. Everybody’s using waste for fertiliser or for energy. Seggiano’s roast artichoke producer is just up the road fromme. I jump on a tractor and trailer and collect the artichoke leaves and spread them aroundmy olive groves. All food producers will have a byproduct, andmost of that byproduct has a secondary purpose.” Organic is something else David feels is important, with Seggiano choosing organic ingredients wherever possible. “We all knowwe are what we eat. There are certain products I think should be organic. Take wheat. There’s somuch fertiliser involved in growing wheat, and so much pesticide used storing flour. Using organic wheat, for us, is a no- brainer.” Seggiano’s slow-dried pasta is made in Sicily using biodiverse ancient organic wheat grains, which are not onlymore resistant to climate change, but grow deeper roots, requiring less water. The factory takes 90% of its energy from solar panels, and the end product is packaged in paper. This is just one of dozens of success stories for the brand, built on David and Peri’s conviction and tenacity to source only the very best. “As a brand for nearly 30 years, we’ve been obsessed with provenance,” David says. “You just have to understand every ingredient and sub ingredient. Our ethos was very simple. Would we feed it to our children? If your obsession is to create clean, tasty food, it means you’re also concerned about the world they are growing up in.” SEGGIANO ‘Sustainability has always been high on our list’ O ur food system is broken. One-third of all food produced is wasted, whilst 10% of the world’s population goes hungry; and for every dollar spent, society pays two back in health, environmental, and economic costs. It is a system which fundamentally does not work for farmers, retailers, and consumers alike. But it doesn’t have to stay that way. Brands, retailers, and leading fast-moving consumer goods have an incredible impact on the food we eat every single day, and the food systems from which ingredients are sourced. Take the European and UK markets, for example, where a staggering 40% of agricultural land is influenced by the top 10 companies RENIERAO’DONNELL FOOD INITIATIVE LEAD, THE ELLEN MACARTHUR FOUNDATION ‘Retailers have the power to make nature-positive food the norm’ within this group. Rather than being viewed as part of the problem, these companies have the power to be the drivers of the solution. By leveraging their size, scope, and influence to rethink and redesign their approach, food which allows nature to thrive can become the norm in our society. Applying circular design strategies, such as using diverse, lower impact or upcycled ingredients to how food products are designed gives brands, retailers, supermarkets, and all those involved in the supply chain the opportunity to harness regenerative processes and create products which encourage nature to thrive. Seen through to its full potential, it is estimated that redesigning food to be nature-positive can reduce GHG emissions by 70% and halve the impact on biodiversity compared to business as usual – all whilst actually increasing food production and improving profits for farmers. With such a strong case, it is time to change the way we design our food to allow nature to thrive. Many key players within the food industry are beginning to take this journey and rethink their ingredient selection and sourcing choices. Through The Big Food Redesign Challenge, participants have been tasked with designing new food products – or redesigning existing ones – using circular design principles. From farm to fork, this is the start of the food sector embracing the circular economy. Redesigning our food system to be regenerative has the power to be a game-changing tool in the fight against climate change and biodiversity loss. Brands and retailers now have the power to join this journey and bring regenerative products to supermarket shelves.